NFL: Contenders or Pretenders?

Can Megatron and Detroit continue their dominant start?

After the first quarter of the season, I wanted to take a look at teams that seem to be overachieving their expectations. Sometimes it can just be a fluke. It's still early in the season and some schedules are weaker then others at this point. Today I take a look at five teams that could either be a contender or pretender.


Detroit Lions: Contenders

I love how this team is built and it continues to improve every year, mainly from additions on offense from the NFL draft with Calvin Johnson (2007), Matthew Stafford (2009), Brandon Pettigrew (2009) and Jahvid Best (2010). After the skill position players were in place, they slowly made their transition into defense once Jim Schwartz took over in 2009, as they drafted two defensive monsters in Ndamukong Suh (2010) and Nick Fairley (2011), both drafted in the first round. These parts of the team are now essential to the Lions' success.

We all knew that Matthew Stafford could throw, but we really haven't seen it yet until this year. He is finally staying healthy, and letting it fly, mostly to Calvin Johnson, who through 4 games has 8 touchdowns. There is so much to like about this team, their run game was in question before the year. Now with Jahvid Best, their have been a lack of running, but when you need the rush game he is a great weapon to have in the backfield.

Now all the hype of this team was on the offensive side of the ball, but let's move onto the defense. Of course it starts with Suh. He is a dominating force in his second year in the league. Quarterbacks and defensive coordinators already fear him. It is great to get pressure to the quarterback, and that is exactly what they're doing. The only thing is their rush defense is lacking a little, so we'll see how they transition during the season to improve in that area.

This team is a playoff team. I pegged these guys to make the playoffs this year and as of now I'm still confident in my pick. The only thing that really concerns me is in the past two games they have been behind both by 20 plus points at one point in time. Granted they did comeback and won, but you can't be doing that every week. They need to get ahead early and stay ahead, because against high powered teams you will not be able to comeback from a 20 point deficit.

Washington Redskins: Pretenders

This team has definitely exceeded expectations. They lead the NFC East at this point, with a head to head win against the New York Giants, but I'm not yet sold on this team. Any time you have Rex Grossman leading your team on offense anything is up in the air. I just do not have faith in the offensive weapons they have, such as Tim Hightower and Santana Moss being the prime guys.

One thing that really has me against them is the fact that their in the NFC East. You have to play the Giants, Cowboys and the Eagles twice a year and yes they did defeat the Giants, but if you look at the Giants team at that point, they were riddled with injuries. So not a win to really brag about. The other opponents that they have defeated are all NFC West teams, the division known to be one of the weakest in the NFL.

As of right now they are top ten in both rushing and passing defense. I find that very impressive, but as I have mentioned, they have played a banged up Giants, a couple of NFC West teams, and a frail Tony Romo. The point I am trying to get across is I need to see more from this team.

Tennessee Titans: Pretenders


Matt Hasselbeck has never started this hot, not even the prime years in Seattle. He is exceeding all of his career averages. He has passed for 1152 yards, 8 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 104.7 in the first quarter of the season. It also amazes me that the Titans have the record they do even with Chris Johnson struggling.

Yet, it's so difficult to jump the gun on teams like these and call them a contender. Especially in a division with the Houston Texans. They have a really good test in the next two weeks, with opponents of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their divisional foe the Houston Texans. You cannot forget that they lost their rising star in Kenny Britt to a season ending injury last week too.

These opponents will finally give their top ten defense a run for it's money. In my opinion the statistics do not tell the whole truth, sometimes they can be deceiving. They have a few playmakers on defense, but not enough to be a true top ten team throughout the season.

Buffalo Bills: Contenders

I really like how this team is built right now. They have an incredible balance on offense in Buffalo. Ryan Fitzpatrick has become a true team leader over the past couple of years and has emerged into a early MVP candidate. In the backfield you have a very unhappy Fred Jackson, that is essentially playing for a new contract (see contract disputes), who right now is having career highs in all categories. And if I were to mention the Bills without talking about Stevie Johnson, it would not be complete. This wide receiver is showing so far that he no one-hit wonder or a Cinderella story either. There is no doubt this is a playoff type of offense. They are sitting at top five in rushing and a little out of the top 10 for passing. And if you did not know, they gave the New England Patriots their only lost.

On the defensive side is where they really need to improve. I chose this team to be a contender strictly on offense as of right now. They are towards the bottom of every list when it comes to the defensive side of the game. They have some tools such as Terrance McGee, Shawn Merriman, and Nick Barnett. So they aren't slacking on great defensive players, but one thing I do see is they need to start getting younger on defense if they want to keep contending every year.

This week the Buffalo Bills will play the Philadelphia Eagles. I really like the timing of this match up. It will really show if the Bills are for real. The Eagles are coming off three straight loses and Michael Vick is not a happy camper. If they can stop Vick and work the their offense, then this team will be around all year.

San Francisco 49ers: Contenders 

To simply put it, they are in he NFC West, so they'll always be contending for a title. I just think this team is the best in the West. They've had solid play in their rush defense and Frank Gore is finally starting to be the running back we all feared of. This is the way people believed that 49ers could play like and win this division just a year ago.

I love the way the players have played for their new coach Jim Harbaugh. It's been a nice transition into his system and it's starting to show. I think the next couple of games will really show if San Francisco is the real deal, they've got Tampa Bay and then the Detroit Lions.

If the play of Alex Smith improves so will the rest of the offense. Frank Gore needs a little bit of help from his number one pick quarterback. He has the offensive tools around him, now to get rid of the "bust" stage he'll need to step up and keep the 49ers as contenders.