Time puts everyone in their place
Teams that dazzled at the start of the season have been on the decline as the level of competition has risen in recent weeks.
Surely you have heard the phrase: “Time puts everyone in their place”.
Always, the start of an NFL season brings some doubts and expectations. Even predicting who will be the best or worst teams is a long shot. The preseason will never be a parameter to use the “crystal ball”.
This season, for example, some teams started with a surprising winning streak that quickly put them under the spotlight.
But, father time has taken care of stripping them naked.
Denver Broncos
They came into Week 4 with an unblemished 3-0 record. True, the arrival of Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback seemed to open up possibilities for Vic Fangio’s team.
Three wins in the beginning of the season are not negligible and make anyone’s eyes turn around, but that record was as fake as a 3 dollar bill.
Beating the three worst teams in the NFL has no merit. The Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and New York Jets have 15 total games played, but between the three of them they have only two wins.
Against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, they showed their true colors. And this game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that is very depleted, they could not win.
Las Vegas Raiders
The black-and-silver team had more complicated opponents than the Broncos. They started with a win in “Monday Night Football”, in a great game against the Ravens, and then they defeated the Steelers. It was a dream start, because they would later beat the Miami Dolphins.
Applause for those from the “capital of the game”.
But in Week 4, they came up against their harsh reality, losing to a division rival, which made the stumble hurt even more.
The Los Angeles Chargers exposed the Raiders, who were unable to respond.
As if that were not enough, in Week 5, they lost to the Chicago Bears, who lined up rookie Justin Fields as starting quarterback.
Perhaps, the worst thing in this case was not the defeat, but the poor display, so lacking in arguments and creativity. On both sides of the ball, Jon Gruden’s men disappeared.
Carolina Panthers.
Matt Rhule’s second year as head coach forced him to have a better season. Quarterback Sam Darnold arrived from the Jets, with the objective of redeeming his career, which in the first stage with the New Yorkers was to be forgotten. Without Christian McCaffrey, this team is nothing and it was evident in the last two weeks.
They lost in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, and this week against a team with many limitations like the Philadelphia Eagles they also fell. Darnold was intercepted twice.
True, like the Raiders, they still have a positive record, but for neither the schedule is accessible.
San Francisco 49ers
In one of the most difficult and competitive divisions such as the Western Division of the National Conference, the 49ers started with a 2-0 record, of course beating Detroit Lions and Philadelphia. Nothing to brag about, but the start of the season sounded good.
But, in Week 3, they lost to the Green Bay Packers and in Week 4, to a division rival, the Seattle Seahawks.
This time, with rookie quarterback Trey Lance as the starter, they faced the only undefeated and also their division rival, the Arizona Cardinals. The result ended in disappointment for their fans.
They started 2-0, and then they have lost three consecutive games, the last two against division rivals, which -in an eventual position to qualify for the playoffs- could complicate their ticket.
Many things can happen between now and the end of the season in a league as competitive as the NFL, but after almost a third of the season has elapsed, it does not appear that any of the four teams mentioned above have the arguments to reach the playoffs.
There is no doubt that time will put everyone in their place.
