It’s past the half-way point of the NFL season and we still have some undefeated teams in the mix. The Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals are already in strong position to earn a playoff berth having their sights set on a potential 1st-round bye.
Other teams like the Detroit Lions and San Diego Chargers have their sights set on the 2016 NFL Draft.
As usual, this weeks projected 2016 NFL Draft Order uses the updated ESPN Power Rankings with a playoff scenario worked into equation.
Detroit Lions (1-7)- The front office changes aren’t going to do much to change Detroit’s play on the field for this season.
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)- Blake Bortles is showing some real promising and putting up impressive numbers. However, he’s still turnover prone which is costing his team wins. This past week against the Jets, Bortles had two interceptions and a lost fumble.
San Francisco 49ers (3-6)- All Hail Blaine Gabbert! I’m joking, but it’s hard to deny that he looked better than Colin Kaepernick.
Tennessee Titans (2-6)- Marcus Mariota had some nice moments in Tennessee’s win against the Saints, but there were a number of plays where another defense would’ve made him pay for a mistake.
Cleveland Browns (2-7)- Johnny Manziel looked solid in his return to the starting lineup, but there’s still not enough evidence to be convinced his the long-term answer.
Houston Texans (3-5)- It’s a long shot, but the Texans are still in the AFC South picture. The problem is that Andrew Luck appears to be healthy and ready to make a run.
Washington Redskins (3-5)- The Redskins had a rough time keeping pace with Tom Brady and the Patriots, but most teams in the league will have the same problems.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5)- This week’s loss to the New York Giants isn’t on Jameis Winston who looked really good throughout the game. He is the real deal and is gaining confidence with each snap.
Baltimore Ravens (2-6)- I’m curious to see who steps up to replace Steve Smith as the team’s leading receiver. The issue is that the options aren’t all that appealing.
Dallas Cowboys
(2-6)- The Cowboys are in real trouble and are running out of time. It’s going to be tough for them to get back into the playoff picture even when Romo returns.
San Diego Chargers (2-7)- It seems like each week the Chargers are asked to deal with an injury to a starter. The entire team is out of sync because of the revolving door of players.
Chicago Bears (3-5)- Chicago is an underrated team that just competes. They enter each week with a strong game plan that allows them to keep the game close. If Jay Cutler can keep playing well in the 4th quarter this team will have a solid run to end the season.
Miami Dolphins (3-5)- It’s time to stop making excuses for Ryan Tannehill. He got paid like a big-time quarterback and now needs to live up to that contact. His tendency to make dumb mistakes is killing his team’s chances to win games.
Kansas City Chiefs (3-5)- I’m curious to see if the Chiefs can build off their recent offensive surge. A lot is going to depend on the Alex Smith and Jeremy Maclin connection.
New Orleans Saints (4-5)- The Saints will continue to have ups and downs this season because their defense is unable to stop anyone.
Buffalo Bills (4-4)- Buffalo looks like a different team when Tyrod Taylor is healthy and in the lineup. It also helps that they finally got Sammy Watkins involved in the game plan.
Philadelphia Eagles (4-4)- I still don’t believe in this Eagles team that needed overtime to beat the Romo-less Cowboys. Sam Bradford had one of his best games of the year but his slow starts have become a problem.
Oakland Raiders (4-4)- This Raiders team is really fun to watch, but it may be another year until they are legitimate contenders.
Atlanta Falcons (6-3)- Opposing defenses are starting to figure out that Atlanta’s offense is basically Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman. This team needs to get themselves back on track before them find themselves out of the playoff picture.
St. Louis Rams (4-4)- It’s tough to watch the St. Louis Rams offense operate without a legitimate passing attack. Todd Gurley is a stud but Nick Foles and company need to start making plays down the field.
New York Giants (5-4)- It’ll be a few weeks until Jason Pierre-Paul gets himself in game shape but you can see he still has a chance to help this team. The Giants really struggle generating pressure on the quarterback and any help Pierre-Paul can provide will be welcomed.
Indianapolis Colts (4-5)- Andrew Luck looked like his old self likely because he’s finally healthy. The Colts are still in strong position to earn a playoff berth, but still need some major improvements if they want to make a Super Bowl run.
New York Jets (5-3)- The lack of a running game is starting to become a major concern. Chris Ivory has a total of 84 yards on 55 carries over the past three games. Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t going to be able to carry this team—especially with his thumb injury.
Minnesota Vikings (6-2)- Minnesota might be living on borrowed time as they just barely squeaked out wins the past two weeks. In fact, it took the other team imploding for them to secure the victory.
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)- Pittsburgh just can’t catch a break in the injury department. Losing Ben Roethlisberger again likely spells the end of their playoff hopes.
Seattle Seahawks (4-4)- I expect the Seahawks to come out of the bye week and feed the ball to Marshawn Lynch. This team wins football games when he’s the focal point of the offense.
Arizona Cardinals (6-2)- Not much has changed in Arizona except that the bye week allowed John Brown to get healthy.
Denver Broncos (7-1)- It was a tough loss for the Broncos who were looking to remain among the unbeaten. However, they ran into a healthy and determined Andrew Luck so we shouldn’t read too much into the loss.
Green Bay Packers (6-2)- It’s time for Aaron Rodgers to give everyone another R-E-L-A-X talk because there’s a lot of the-sky-is-falling talk. Green Bay is a talented team that has gone through a tough stretch of their schedule.
Cincinnati Bengals (8-0)- Andy Dalton and company continue to roll and have their eyes set on a first-round bye in the playoffs. The one concern is the streakiness of the running game which needs to find more consistency moving forward.
Carolina Panthers (8-0)- This weekend’s win against the Green Bay Packers was huge as it puts Carolina in control of home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It’ll be nice for Carolina not to have to travel to Green Bay in December if these two teams face each other again n the playoffs.
Forfeited- New England Patriots (8-0)- Losing Dion Lewis might have a bigger impact than we expect because no other New England running back looked nearly as effective as a receiver out of the backfield.
