The NFL's 5 Biggest Pretenders

The second half of the NFL season is underway. This is often when winning matters most, as teams begin to jockey for playoff seeding and fight for home-field advantage.

It’s also when teams fall for their high perch. The pretenders tend to show themselves in these hard-to-win games when other teams begin to grow more desperate or more diligent. That’s what we saw on Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers downright embarrassed the Carolina Panthers, 52-21.

Here a look at some of the NFL’s biggest pretenders, who will surely get exposed heading into the second half of the season.

Carolina Panthers (6-3)

Their defense got a look at a legitimate contender, and Carolina shriveled up. The Panthers got pantsed on national TV.

Their biggest wins this season have come over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles. But they’ve taken losses from the Atlanta Falcons, the Washington Redskins and the Steelers. Carolina seems to have gotten an early-season opportunity to pad their stats and their record. What may deliver the final blow for the Panthers is their schedule from Week 15 to Week 17 when they play the Saints twice and the Falcons once. That could help Atlanta jump over the Panthers for a wild card spot.

Quarterback Cam Newton’s pass-catchers are struggling to get open with the exception of running back Christian McCaffrey, but feeding him didn’t allow the team to keep pace with the Steelers, who scored quickly and easily on almost every possession. What’s worse, Newton’s offensive line couldn’t protect him, and allowed five sacks. The defense might be a strange mix of players who are too old and players who are too young. Linebacker Luke Kuechly can’t do everything, though he’ll probably try.

Washington Redskins (5-3)

The early bye may prove problematic for the Redskins, who are dinged up and vulnerable. What’s more, the Falcons exposed their shortcomings.

Washington relied heavily upon their offensive line during the early phase of the season, but injuries have prevented them from trench-takeovers. The same thing is happening to their pass-catchers. Running back Chris Thompson, probably their most consistent receiving threat, is dealing with an injury. Receiver Paul Richardson, who the Redskins signed for $40 million this offseason, is on injured reserve. Never healthy, Jordan Reed has a neck issue. Their offense could begin to fade, because of injuries and because they weren’t particularly talented when healthy.

The defense, meanwhile, is solid all around, but doesn’t have any one thing that they do well. They don’t seem to have any defensive game-changers, as evidenced by their 25th ranking in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).

They’ve managed to float to the top of a pathetic NFC East, but the Philadelphia Eagles’ rally seems inevitable.

Green Bay Packers (3-4-1)

Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to turn this season around. He is sixth in passing yards, 16th in touchdowns, eight in sacks and 13th in quarterback rating. Twelve different quarterbacks have ratings above 100. Rodgers is not one of them. His most important positive statistic is his one interception, an astounding achievement with so much turnover at receiver. And at running back, they’ve been experimenting with their options, too.

The Packers defense isn’t doing their offense any favors. When Patriots backup running back Kenjon Barner put Clay Matthews on his butt during a snap last Sunday, it served as a reminder of how the defense has struggled.

And in reality their pass defense has been quite good, thanks in large part to the emergence of rookie cornerback Jaire Alexander, but the defense is averaging the 13th most points allowed (25.5). They lack toughness and speed in the running game, where they have allowed 4.4 yards per carry (11th worst in the NFL).

Cincinnati Bengals (5-3)

I’ll admit it. I was wrong. I thought the Bengals were legit just a few weeks ago when their offense was surging, and their defense appeared to be on the verge of turning a corner. Running back Joe Mixon looked outstanding. Quarterback Andy Dalton was riding the wave of inflated passing statistics.

My colleague, however, seemed to be spot on: the Bengals are pointless. They’ve regressed. Their defense hasn’t improved and their offense has failed to show up in big games (looking at you, Andy Dalton). They win when it doesn’t matter and lose when it does, which spells a team with solid talent and a good record but with zero championship ambitions.

The losses to the Chiefs and Steelers over the last three weeks prove as much.

Houston Texans (6-3)

There’s so much to like about this team. Quarterback Deshaun Watson appears to be back and at full strength after his ACL tear. And he’s got a great options with DeAndre Hopkins, Demaryius Thomas, Lamar Miller, Keke Coutee and others.

The defense is fast, talented and intimidating in every phase on every down. But there seems to be one, big problem. They can’t beat the Patriots. Odds are good that they’ll see New England on a path to the Super Bowl, and odds are bad that Houston will win. The Patriots took care of the Texans in Week 1, just like they did in every single game since 2010, including two playoff matchups.

Until the Texans can move past that mental blockage, they’ll never be contenders.