Just When We Thought We Knew These Teams...

In a league of uncertainty, it is certain that Blaine Gabbert still can't play.

If you follow my pick em blog on Spin It! you'll know that I have been getting rather cocky about my picks and my pursuit of embarrassment over ESPN experts. Well for the second time in this six week season, conventional wisdom over where teams stand in the league this year has been blown to bits. Vengeful were the football Gods this weekend. We were on the cusp of death knells for the likes of the Packers and Lions while ready to anoint the Houston Texans as the team to beat in the league. Now as week 7 looms, no one knows what to think once again, so I'll try to stream some consciousness together in hopes of clearing up a muddy NFL picture.

Bears = Best in the League?

Has any team in the history of the league had a better bye week than the Chicago Bears? Usually teams can move up during a bye week because a team or two in front of them embarrasses themselves. However, with the majority of the top 5 looking downright awful this weekend (49ers, Texans, Falcons, Patriots, Ravens) one has to start considering the Bears as one of the best teams in the league. The Jay Cutler stink bomb against the Packers still rings clearly in my head, but now at this point in the season, every elite team has had an egg laying performance, so that game can no longer be held so starkly against them. If the offensive coaching staff just lets the smokin' Jay Cutler do his thing, the Bears will put enough points on that board for that defense to be downright unbeatable.

So who is the worst team in the league?

Conversely for the Jaguars, as good as the bye week was to the Bears, it was similarly unfriendly to the Jaguars. I was ready to say that the Titans and the Browns would be battling it out for worst in the league, they went out and handled business this week. While I think the Browns are heading in the right direction (that offense actually looks like it has some life to it now), the Titans and Jaguars will be battling it out for that first pick come April. They are horrendous on defense, and they have offenses that can score 14 points on an explosive day. And when you don't have a defense like the Bears, Texans, and 49ers, 14 points is never enough to win games in today's NFL.

Stumbling Out the Gates.

Is it just me, or is everyone following the Giants blueprint? I feel like teams are laughing at the Falcon's 6-0 start. When you consider that out of the last 4 years, only the Saints in 2009 were the only true wire to wire dominant team to win the Super Bowl, it seems like teams don't value looking like real contenders in the early part of the season anymore. Obviously, you can't win championships starting 1-5, but I don't think teams panic over 1-3 early season losses, it's all about how you play come November and December that. Remember this, Falcon fans still looking for playoff success under Matt Ryan.

Who do I like Thursday Night?

I'm riding high off my Seattle upset pick, but I don't think I'm ready to double down on them just yet. I like what Pete Carroll is doing with this team defensively, but I just think San Francisco will just come ready to play after getting their pants pulled down by the Giants on Sunday. COunting on the 49ers to end my current Thursday Night Cold Streak.