Contenders and Pretenders after Week 6: Are the Seahawks and Panthers for real?
Every division leader through six weeks of NFL action has a chance to make noise in the postseason. What about the eight teams in second place?
Most current division leaders deserve to be called legitimate Super Bowl contenders after six weeks of regular season action in the NFL. The much more interesting group to evaluate is the group of team’s sitting in second place.
A few teams lurking in that spot have the goods to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the season’s end, but most deserve to be labeled pretenders who will be lucky to win a single playoff game. The majority will be scratching and clawing for Wild Card spots deep into the regular season. As such, you can safely expect the pretender list to be longer than the contender list in this piece. Please note, any division featuring a tie for first or second place was broken by our perception of which team should be considered the favorite moving forward.
The Contenders
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks are off to a stellar 5-1 start, but they sit just behind the 49ers who remain unblemished at 5-0. Seattle could easily be considered the favorite in the NFC West despite trailing San Francisco at the moment.
They are clearly the strongest team that currently sits in second place in their division. Russell Wilson is playing the quarterback position like an MVP. That, coupled with the team’s physical ground game makes Pete Carroll’s offense a tough match up for defensive coordinators every week.
The team’s defense isn’t what it was during their “Legion of Boom” era, but it’s a terrible group. If things break right, it’s a unit that can finish the year in the middle of the NFL standings. Combining a top-five offense with an average defense is a recipe for a lot of success. The Seahawks absolutely have a chance to win it all this year. Anyone who doubts that is sleeping on what Wilson can do in big games.
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings have been maddeningly inconsistent this season, but there’s no denying the presence of top-end talent on the roster. Mike Zimmer’s defense always has the ability to shut down an opponent. This season, the offense has shown signs of catching up.
Predictably, it’s all about the quarterback in Minnesota. When Kirk Cousins plays well, the offense hums along at a high level. Skill position players like Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs make life pretty easy for their signal caller. No one is going to trust Cousins until he proves he can thrive in big games, but this team has the chance to get hot and ride momentum all the way to a Super Bowl title.