The NFL season is underway and three teams are falling from grace. In fact, they’re in danger of blowing the whole season! Of course, there’s nothing too shameful about a 5-3, especially when compared to appalling records earned by the likes of the Dolphins, the Rams and (sob) the Colts.

However, coming from the New England Patriots, we expect a little more than 5-3 (as of November 7th, 2011) since this was, at one time, the “dynasty” of the NFL. The Patriots have slipped to number nine in the rankings after losing two games straight, most recently to the New York Giants. What’s the problem? The Patriots are suffering from defensive problems, and are attempting to coast through the season with powerful offense. While this strategy worked at least three times, it’s getting to the point where other teams are starting to study New England in advance and exploit their defensive problems.

What about the Washington Redskins? At one time, one of the most valuable franchises, and at one time a contender, now the Redskins have fallen four weeks in a row, taking them to a 3-5 record. This is all the more discouraging since they started out strongly at 3-1. However, offense problems are significant, including the flawed performance of quarterback John Beck.

The Buffalo Bills are also suffering, maintaining a 5-3 loss, but losing a significant game to the Jets. Besides turning the ball over three times, there were also offense problems. In fact, they didn’t even start scoring major points until the third quarter of their game with the New York Jets.

Meanwhile, this season is becoming increasingly “Bizarro World” in terms of top playing teams. After all, the Bengals are now the #1 ranked team in the AFC North, followed closely by the Ravens, both maintaining a 6-2 record. The Houston Texans are holding their own at 6-3 of the AFC South, while the New York Giants are controlling the NFC East.

The only lack of surprise this season is the tank-like performance of the Green Bay Packers who are maintaining an 8-0 win-loss record. However, your dreams of seeing a Packers vs. Patriots, or a Packers vs. Bills are slowly deteriorating. Now is the time to root on your former champions and get them back in the competitive season!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 5:33 pm and is filed under NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.