Pretenders
Baltimore Ravens (5-4)
Every team in the AFC North has a winning record. The Ravens happen to have the worst of those records and currently occupy last place in the division.
The Ravens have already lost twice to the Bengals and can finish no better than 3-3 in the division. That won’t help if the tiebreaker rules come into play.
Baltimore hasn’t beaten a team with a current winning record since Week 3, when it barely escaped Cleveland with a (23-21) win. Since then, the Ravens have had weeks when they’ve looked like the toughest kid in the schoolyard, bullying Carolina (38-10), Tampa Bay (48-17) and Atlanta (29-7). But no team from the NFC South has a winning record, so those wins prove little. More telling are the Ravens’ two consecutive division losses to the Bengals in Week 8 and the Steelers last week.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s (43-23) loss at Pittsburgh, where Ben Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes, the Ravens cut cornerbacks Chykie Brown and Dominique Franks, according to the Baltimore Sun. They signed journeyman Danny Gorrer. The 28-year-old Gorrer has played for five teams with two career starts. But with Jimmy Smith out for the season, there’s a good chance Gorrer will be called upon to start Sunday when the Ravens host the Titans.
The Ravens have a bye in Week 11, and they’ll miss Smith after the break when they encounter Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Ryan Tannehill in successive weeks.
Buffalo Bills (5-3)
The Bills are pretenders due to their ridiculously-difficult schedule in the remainder of the season.
They face just two teams with losing records the entire rest of the way. They host the (1-8) Jets in Week 12 and are at (0-8) Oakland in Week 16. But they’re also at (6-2) Denver in Week 14, home to (5-3) Green Bay in Week 15 and at (7-2) New England in Week 17. The Bills haven’t won at New England since 2000, and they haven’t made the playoffs since 1999.
Buffalo is part of the contender/pretender discussion because of last-second wins over the Lions and Vikings. Both have come since Kyle Orton replaced E.J. Manuel as starting quarterback. The magic carpet ride won’t last, though. Orton, who will turn 32 later this month, hasn’t started more than eight games in a season since 2010 with the Denver Broncos. And he went 3-10 as a starter that year.
The Bills have had to turn to Anthony Dixon at running back with injuries to Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. A journeyman quarterback and a banged-up running back corps does not add up to a playoff berth for the Bills, unless they can upset the Broncos, Packers or Patriots.
Cincinnati Bengals (5-3-1)
Bengals fans were hoping Andy Dalton version 2.0 would mean that Dalton is taking the next step and might actually win a playoff game for the first time in his career.
Unfortunately, that 2.0 was Dalton’s passer rating in Thursday night’s 24-3 home loss to the Browns.
Dalton completed only 10-of-33 passes for 86 yards with three interceptions. He is the first quarterback since 1983 to throw at least 30 passes and finish with a rating of 2.0 or less, according to STATS, Inc. (via Pro Football Talk). He’s thrown nine interceptions and just eight touchdown passes this season.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are making life easier for opposing quarterbacks. They recorded seven sacks during their 3-0 start, but have just six since then. And they entered Week 10 30th in the league in overall yards allowed (394.9) and rushing yards allowed (139.6).
The remainder of the Bengals’ schedule is brutal. They face three straight road games beginning in Week 11 at New Orleans, where the Saints haven’t lost since 2012. Then they go to Houston and Tampa Bay.
In December, they have both of their games against the (6-3) Steelers, who they’re now looking up at in the AFC North standings. They also go to Cleveland and host Denver.
They’ll be able to watch many of those teams on television when they’re sitting at home during the playoffs.
Seattle Seahawks (5-3)
After falling to .500, the defending Super Bowl champions propped themselves up with a (13-9) win at Carolina in Week 8 and a (30-24) win at home against the Raiders on Sunday.
A pair of one-score victories over teams with a combined 3-13-1 record proves little.
Perhaps the bye week was the worst thing that could have happened to the Seahawks. It came in Week 4, a week after they beat the Denver Broncos, 26-20, in overtime. They’ve been missing their swagger ever since.
Quarterbacks aren’t exactly shaking in their cleats against the Seahawks. Seattle has just 11 sacks this season. That pace points to 22 sacks for the season, or half of the 44 sacks they recorded last year.
On offense, Marshawn Lynch will have to carry this team to the playoffs. The Seahawks are 30th in the NFL with 198.8 passing yards per game. Lynch has run for 549 yards this season and is averaging 4.2 yards per carry. The problem is, he hasn’t run for 100 or more yards in a game since the Seahawks’ season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers.
Furthermore, the Seahawks still have two games each against the Cardinals and 49ers ahead of them. The (8-1) Cardinals are third against the run and the 49ers are fifth against the run. And the Cardinals aren’t afraid of the 12th Man. They beat the 12-2 Seahawks there last year.
Dallas Cowboys (6-3)
The annual December demise in the Big D seems to be getting off to an early start.
After a 6-1 start, the Cowboys have lost two straight and Tony Romo is hurting. He missed Sunday’s (28-17) loss to the Cardinals with a back injury. And he didn’t practice Wednesday. His status for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville in London is up in the air.
Romo’s back kept him out of last year’s season finale against the Eagles with the NFC East title on the line. The Kyle Orton-led Cowboys lost, 24-22, and finished at 8-8 for the third straight year. If Brandon Weeden has to start again Sunday, the Cowboys might be able to slog their way to a win over the woeful Jaguars. But if the 34-year-old Romo misses more time or isn’t at full strength, the Cowboys will have a tough time navigating a schedule that includes two games against the NFC East-leading Eagles and a visit from Andrew Luck and the Colts in Week 16.
Meanwhile, DeMarco Murray has carried the ball 225 times through nine games. He’s already surpassed last year’s previous career high of 217 carries. Murray leads the NFL with 1,133 rushing yards, but he has a history of injuries. He’s never played more than 14 games in a season.
If Murray breaks down due to his heavy workload and joins Romo in the trainer’s room, Dallas would likely miss the postseason for the fifth straight year.