Heading into the season, many prognosticators viewed the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers as clear-cut top three teams in the NFC.
But through six weeks of action, none of those three NFC favorites have been juggernauts.
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (4-2) have lost two straight, including a 17-point defeat to the lowly New York Giants. The Packers (3-1-1) lost to the lowly Cleveland Browns. The Lions (4-2) have a pair of double-digit defeats.
By one measure, Seahawks are among the best 4-2 teams ever
Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks (4-2) have surpassed most national expectations so far – to the point where they’re starting to generate some noise as an NFC contender.
The Seahawks are tied for the NFL’s second-best point differential at plus-49. Their offense has been among the league’s best, ranking fifth in points per game (27.7), first in yards per play (6.3) and fourth in offensive DVOA. Their defense has picked up where it left off last season, ranking sixth in points allowed per game (19.5), sixth in yards allowed per play (4.8) and fourth in defensive DVOA.
And the Seahawks are just a couple plays away from being 6-0, having held a lead with less than two minutes remaining in both of their losses.
So, how do the Seahawks stack up among the NFC’s best?
Quite well, according to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.
During his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, Jeremiah said he’d pick the Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1) as the top two teams in the NFC right now. The two teams squared off in an epic shootout two weeks ago, with the Buccaneers rallying to beat the Seahawks 38-35 on a game-winning field goal as time expired.
“I think those two teams (Seattle and Tampa Bay) are playing the best right now,” Jeremiah said. “(They’re) the teams that impress me the most – that when you’re watching them, (they) kind of jump off the screen a little bit.
“And I say that knowing Philly’s got time to figure out what’s going on with them. We’ll see Green Bay, as they go throughout the year, do they take it up to another gear? … There’s some good options out there. But just in terms of the week-to-week stuff with what I’ve seen, I don’t think I’ve seen better teams (in the NFC) than those two.”
Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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