The NFL has five unbeaten teams through Week 7. The Packers, Broncos and Bengals, who were all on bye this Sunday, are 6-0, while the Patriots and Panthers earned wins and now match them.
So do any of these teams have a shot to go unbeaten in 2015? Let’s rank their chances.
There are now five 6-0 teams for 1st time in NFL history; each has at least 1 game against another unbeaten, starting Sun with GB vs DEN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 26, 2015
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5. Denver Broncos
One of the teams will be knocked off the list for sure barring a tie, because the Broncos will host the Packers on Sunday Night Football. This feels very disrespectful to Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, to rank his squad last in this group when he’s at home.
The fact of the matter is that Manning has resembled his DirecTV alter-ego “High-Pitched Voice” Peyton, as opposed to the shoo-in Hall of Famer. He’s only thrown seven touchdown passes and been picked off 10 times. He will have had two weeks to prepare for this one, but Green Bay’s defense has been surprisingly opportunistic this season. It’ll be tough sledding.
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4. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are definitely for real, but their schedule remains too difficult to actually run the table. Their next two games are against an increasingly desperate Colts team on Monday night, followed by a date with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Even if they get through that unscathed, the latter part of their schedule includes road tilts with the Cowboys, Giants, Falcons and Saints.
3. Cincinnati Bengals
It’s difficult for these rankings to change much when three of the teams, including the Bengals, were on bye. Going forward, the Bengals need to make sure they consistently involve WR A.J. Green. Last time we saw them, they won comfortably by mixing up the running attack, and picking apart the Bills through the air with Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert. The Bills stink, but most teams will be able to do a better job containing those two. A special few can contain Green.
2. New England Patriots
The Pats dropped a tad, even though they beat a very solid Jets team. The Jets revealed some warts on New England, namely their lack of a bona fide star receiver. TE Rob Gronkowski is a world-beater, but Julian Edelman is a low-end No. 1 receiver, and the rest of the Pats’ pass-catchers are prone to bad outbreaks of the drops. Brandon LaFell was a disaster in his return to action, and his multiple bouts with butterfingers had to shake Tom Brady’s confidence in him.
Also, the Patriots’ defense is no great shakes. They have the easiest remaining schedule of the unbeatens, but it’s easier to envision them getting clipped after last week than it had been previously.
1. Green Bay Packers
Green Bay will face the Broncos and Panthers back-to-back on the road, and will also face the Cardinals in Arizona in their second-to-last game. And yet, this team is so well-rounded they lead the pack anyway. A week off should help RB Eddie Lacy get healthy, and if he returns to being a top playmaker, that will only make Rodgers’ ability to raise his receivers’ level of play greater. The Packers’ opportunistic defense led by Clay Matthews is just icing on the cake.
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