BALANCE OF POWER: A SHIFT AT THE TOP

BALANCE OF POWER: A SHIFT AT THE TOP By Danny Zyskind for Football Reporters Online

Before the season most would say the elite teams in the league are the Pats, Colts, Chargers, Jaguars and Cowboys. Ask someone now and you’ll probably hear Giants, Cowboys, possibly the Redskins, Titans & Panthers and maybe even the 2-3 Eagles. While it’s only been five games and certainly with a healthy Tom Brady the Pats would still be the premier team in the league, the shift is occurring and it’s landing mainly in the NFC East.

Watching the Colts, their problems go far deeper than a rusty Peyton Manning. They are unable to run the ball, can’t protect Manning and can’t stop anyone. They could easily be 0-4 if not for some terrible play calling by the Vikings and the unbelievable lack of judgment by Sage Rosenfelds. Age is starting to catch up to their offense. The Jaguars are not as imposing on defense as they’ve been in past years and are battling a host of injuries. The Chargers are the wild card. They are off to another slow start but without question have the talent to jump back to the top of the league if they get their act together.

The Giants have made the transition from a team that got on a great roll to a great team. They have an emerging quarterback, exceptional line play on both sides of the ball and what appears to be a never ending array of weapons. The emergence of Jason Campbell has vaulted the Redskins to the top of the conference, coming off road wins against the Cowboys and Eagles.

The NFC East has three emerging stars at quarterback and an elder statesman still playing at a high level. The recipe is there for this division to dominate the league over the next five years. Unfortunately for them, one will definitely not make the playoffs which will make the rest of their divisional games a must watch.

While the overall depth of quality teams in the conference still favors the AFC, the super bowl favorites now reside in the NFC. The AFC has won eight out of the last eleven super bowls. Look for those numbers to start changing.