With a month of NFL action in the books, the league's elite teams have already completed their rise to the top. It's obvious that the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots are the cream of the crop in the AFC again, but the situation in the NFC is much more interesting.
Ask most people to name best team in the NFC, and the likely answer is the Dallas Cowboys. They're 4-0, they lead the NFL in points and total yardage, and Tony Romo has proven himself to be the best quarterback in the NFC.
But all of these accomplishments have come against some pretty poor competition. Their four opponents this year - the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears - have a combined total of three wins.
The Dolphins and Rams are winless on the year, and the Giants failed to put together a respectable defensive performance until last week. Meanwhile, the Bears haven't been close to what they were last year - on offense or defense.
Their quarterback platoon of Rex Grossman and Brian Griese has been terrible, and when the defense, the team's strong point, allows Jon Kitna to go 20 for 24, something's wrong.
With that kind of opposition, the Cowboys haven't proven much yet. They'll have a chance to make a statement on Oct. 14 against the 4-0 Patriots, but until then, the Cowboys are not safely on top of the NFC.
The Cowboys' biggest worry in their rearview mirror comes from the Seattle Seahawks. They may not be as sexy as the Cowboys, but they're a proven team that's been there before. Two years ago, the team reached the Super Bowl and lost, in part, due to some controversial officiating.
Last year, even though the team suffered significant injuries to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander, it still managed to win its division and break the streak of Super Bowl losers missing the playoffs. This year, the story has been same old, same old for the Seahawks. They're 3-1, they sport an offense that ranks third in the NFC in yards per game, and their scoring defense is the conference's second-best.
Matt Hasselbeck has been consistent as always, completing 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,032 yards and seven touchdowns against just three interceptions. His passer rating is 100.1, good for fourth in the NFC.
Shaun Alexander has gone for 353 yards in four games and two touchdowns. Maybe that's not quite up to par with his normal statistics, but he's still only 30 years old, and Walter Jones and Mack Strong are still blocking for him. He may never again put up his numbers of two years ago, but he should still be regarded as one of the top five running backs in the game.
Deion Branch, the man indirectly responsible for bringing Randy Moss to New England, has proven himself to be a legitimate number one receiver, averaging 16.5 yards per catch, second only to Chad Johnson among receivers with at least 20 receptions. Bobby Engram and Nate Burleson, two experienced veterans, round out the group, going for 250 and 166 receiving yards, respectively, and two touchdowns apiece.
On defense, the Seahawks have plenty of playmakers. Lofa Tatupu, who led the team to the Super Bowl in his rookie season, leads the team with 31 tackles, and fellow linebacker Julian Peterson already has five sacks through only four games.
While the Seahawks are not undefeated like the Cowboys, they have faced tougher competition so far this year. They beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another 3-1 team, as well as the 1-3 Cincinnati Bengals and 2-2 San Francisco 49ers. Their only loss came in a devastating fashion at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals when Hasselbeck and Alexander bungled a handoff on the would-be game-winning drive.
Other than that botched play, the season has been almost flawless for the Seahawks. Their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend should be a good test for both teams. Nevertheless, with the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams coming up in the following weeks, the Seahawks could easily be 6-1 or 5-2 heading into their Week 8 bye.
