Real vs. Mirage teams at the 8/17ths point of the season.

[Rain Man]

Looking at all of the teams that are 6-3 or better, which ones are legitimately good teams in 2022, and which ones are a mirage thriving on luck or scheduling?

Poll coming faster than a Khalen Saunders pass rush.

[Rausch]

I'm not sure what the measuring stick is but I think Seattle makes the playoffs. I could see the Vikings winning the division or not even making the playoffs. Flaky team...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by notorious

Minnesota will get ass****ed by a physical playoff team.

Eagles are the 2014 Chiefs. Ball bounces the right way for half a season, but when they run up against real teams their warts will appear.

So will everyone else's.

Who has fewer of them in the NFC?

Again - what obvious weaknesses do they have? It's a strong roster.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

They're 8-0 and yes, it's a light schedule, but we lost to the Colts who are as bad as anyone Philly has played.

Philly also beat Dallas and Minnesota, who are good teams.

And to take a different tact - what DON'T they do well? Very good in the trenches, very good skill position players, a strong secondary, quality LB play. They don't have a truly great RB and their QB is untested, but he's playing extremely well.

I have a hard time saying they aren't a good football team.

I dunno, I feel like the Chiefs are practically a Golden State/NBA type of team that plays pretty vanilla and 'meh' in the regular season sometimes, or a lot of the times.... while other teams with something to prove more or less don't take teams for granted to the same extent.

Look at 2020 Bills and 2020 Chiefs, point differential champs vs skirting by against the Falcons at home.

I feel like the Vikings are fraudier than the Eagles and Cowboys with how they've pulled games out of their asses against their shit schedule... but any of those teams could make the SB at this point with how awful the NFC is right now and I'd still have big doubts they're all that good.



Granted, I think much of it comes down to what is 'Real' or 'Good'.... playoff contenders? Yeah, any ~.500 team can make the playoffs, so I guess most of those teams would qualify.

Super Bowl contenders? I mean, I guess a couple of NFC teams will actually by default contend for the Super Bowl, but would you be THAT surprised if any of them lost their first playoff game?

I think the only 'real' teams at this point are the Chiefs and Bills... teams you'd be legitimately surprised if they lost their first playoff game (as long as it's not against each other, of course), and even mildly surprised if one didn't make it to the SB.

[Coochie liquor]

Eagles, Vikes, Cowboys, Bills, Seahawks, Dolphins are the ones I took as good.

None are as good as the Chiefs, but those are the ones I feel are real. Don’t trust Jets, Ravens (although if they get healthy that could change), and Giants just feel like mirage teams.

Could you imagine the Vikes starting out 7-1 and then not winning that shit division?

[Megatron96]

PHI - soft schedule, and Jalen isn't in the same league w/JA or Pat, but he's led the team to an 8-0 start, and you are what your record says you are in the NFL.

DAL - mirage, because Cowboys. Until they actually do something I aint buying. Great defensive front though.

NYG - mirage, because Danny Dimes. They have many of the pieces to be a pretty good team, but Danny is a waste of space.

SEA - For real, though Geno isn't the second coming of Joe Montana. He's better than I thought he was, but still not a top-10 QB

MIN - mirage, until they can come out of NOV-DEC with a winning record

BUF - for real. Best team in the AFC, probably the NFL untl proven otherwise, and dropping a game to the NYJ aint it. See KC dropping one to IND for reference.

NYJ - mirage, but best NYJ team in maybe a decade or more. Trending in the right direction, but still not actually a good team

MIA - good team. Tons of weapons, a good defense that could get better as the season progresses. Tua is the weakest link for now

KC - for real, but a lot of moving parts still. Defense is still gelling, but trending positively, and offense is developing as well.

BAL - mirage. Lamar is basically a finished product at this point, still not that dangerous as a passer. Defense isn't that good and running game is very average without Lamar padding the stats on the ground.

[NJChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

PHI - soft schedule, and Jalen isn't in the same league w/JA or Pat, but he's led the team to an 8-0 start, and you are what your record says you are in the NFL.

DAL - mirage, because Cowboys. Until they actually do something I aint buying. Great defensive front though.

NYG - mirage, because Danny Dimes. They have many of the pieces to be a pretty good team, but Danny is a waste of space.

SEA - For real, though Geno isn't the second coming of Joe Montana. He's better than I thought he was, but still not a top-10 QB

MIN - mirage, until they can come out of NOV-DEC with a winning record

BUF - for real. Best team in the AFC, probably the NFL untl proven otherwise, and dropping a game to the NYJ aint it. See KC dropping one to IND for reference.

NYJ - mirage, but best NYJ team in maybe a decade or more. Trending in the right direction, but still not actually a good team

MIA - good team. Tons of weapons, a good defense that could get better as the season progresses. Tua is the weakest link for now

KC - for real, but a lot of moving parts still. Defense is still gelling, but trending positively, and offense is developing as well.

BAL - mirage. Lamar is basically a finished product at this point, still not that dangerous as a passer. Defense isn't that good and running game is very average without Lamar padding the stats on the ground.

I would say if Seattle is for real we have to say Dallas is for real. Unless you are saying Dallas has fooled us too many times. I would need Geno to show me something in a big moment as well in that case.

[Bearcat]

[B_Ambuehl]

The jets are a freakshow as far as talent & depth on defense, just talent all over the field. Elite corners on both sides. Their backup pass rushers could start for a lot of teams. Offensively they have tons of talent at receiver and Mike Lafleur is very creative with his run blocking schemes like Shanahan. If Zach Wilson starts getting it together look out.

[displacedinMN]

Forgot Niners. I think they win the NFC.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by NJChiefsFan

I would say if Seattle is for real we have to say Dallas is for real. Unless you are saying Dallas has fooled us too many times. I would need Geno to show me something in a big moment as well in that case.

That's it. DAL has proven to be nothing more than a little smoke and mirrors way too often to be taken seriously as a SB contender. For now. maybe this year they don't shit the bed down the stretch, win their division, and make a deep run in the playoffs.

But there's literally nothing in their previous 30-odd years that says that's going to happen.

SEA, on the other hand, I just saw live vs. the Cards on Sunday. They're good, but Geno didn't particularly impress me from a pure passer standpoint. He looked a lot like prime Alex Smith to me, actually. A game-manager style, don't throw it anywhere risky, hand it off a bunch of times.

The last drive or two he showed some scrambling and running skills, yes. But as a passer he missed a bunch of open receivers, mostly just didn't see them, but still. I could break down all the weaknesses I saw in his game, but really it comes down to this:

Geno has become a mature, high-percentage game-manager QB. He's not putting the ball in dumb places, and he's been pretty accurate inside about 25 yards. He will throw it deep, but that's not his strength. And he's not going to carry a team on his own.

What's carrying SEA is their defense. They looked pretty good on Sunday. They got pressure fairly consistently without having to blitz, their LBs were making plays both in the run and the passing game, and their secondary held up well vs. DHop. Yeah, DHop made some plays and was really the only bright spot on the Cards offense, but SEA didn't allow anyone else to do very much.

But that defense is legitimate. The offense is working because they have some good to elite players over there, and a decent run game. But they aren't going to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league.

You know what Geno is, I just realized it. He's a system QB. Geno has become a top-tier QB within that SEA system.

[1COOLDOG]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

So, ignore the fact that they lead the league in points per game by a good margin, because their kicker occasionally misses extra points.

Thanks for the insight.

Yes, "they lead the league in points per game by a good margin"..but the Chiefs still have 2 losses. How do you explain how that happens?

And Butker misses too many 3-pointers. He's 32nd in the league this year in FG percentage made (62.5%), and tied for 27th in Extra Point percentage made (92.3%).

Check out the Chiefs' running offense and turnover differential statistics through your rose-colored glasses.

I'm not saying they're in the bottom third of the league overall. But I am saying that they have too many flaws in certain key areas.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by 1COOLDOG

Yes, "they lead the league in points per game by a good margin"..but the Chiefs still have 2 losses. How do you explain how that happens?

And Butker misses too many 3-pointers. He's 32nd in the league this year in FG percentage made (62.5%), and tied for 27th in Extra Point percentage made (92.3%).

Check out the Chiefs' running offense and turnover differential statistics through your rose-colored glasses.

I'm not saying they're in the bottom third of the league overall. But I am saying that they have too many flaws in certain key areas.

Explain how that happens? They’re on pace for a 13-4 record. Why should they apologize for that?

It was obvious to everyone that the Colts game was a fluke that required a lot to go wrong.

The last thing I’m worried about is Butker. Especially after he recently set a Chiefs record by drilling a 62 yd FG.

[Rasputin]

I picked my favorite football team The Kansas City Chiefs to be the only good for real team and all other teams are mirage.

[New World Order]

The entire NFC just wreaks of aids

[carcosa]

Originally Posted by 1COOLDOG

Yes, "they lead the league in points per game by a good margin"..but the Chiefs still have 2 losses. How do you explain how that happens?

And Butker misses too many 3-pointers. He's 32nd in the league this year in FG percentage made (62.5%), and tied for 27th in Extra Point percentage made (92.3%).

Check out the Chiefs' running offense and turnover differential statistics through your rose-colored glasses.

I'm not saying they're in the bottom third of the league overall. But I am saying that they have too many flaws in certain key areas.

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