National Football Conference Championship Contenders – Best Of The Rest

While many pundits had the Packers, Cowboys and Vikings pegged as the main contenders in the NFC Championship race, some surprise teams have made early season statements. With the Vikings and Cowboys both struggling at 0-2 the door is open for some dark horses to slip into the NFC Championship conversation.

Here is a look at the surprise teams early in the 2010 NFL season and their chances as contenders or pretenders.

Chicago Bears Sprint Out To 2-0 – Lead The NFC North

Based on the NFL tie breaking system, the Chicago Bears are actually leading the NFC North at 2-0 through two weeks of play. Chicago got a gift win in Week One on a rule interpretation call that was just plain wrong as they defeated the Detroit Lions 19-14 in their home opener. The Bears then went on the road and beat the Cowboys 27-20 in a game that went back and forth throughout.

QB Jay Cutler has rebounded from a sub-par 2009 NFL season and has looked good through two weeks. RB Matt Forte who suffered from a sophomore jinx in 2009 has also made a strong statement early in 2010. The Bears defense has allowed just 56 rushing yards through two games but that is a direct result of their very suspect pass defense which ranks 27th in the league. Oppositions teams can pass at will on the Bears so their isn’t much of a need to run the ball.

Title Prediction: The Bears NFC Championship chances are slim at best but there is hope with both the Vikings and Cowboys sitting at 0-2 and stalled at the gate.

NFC Contenders – Teams Sitting With A 1-1 Record

Philadelphia Eagles: Philadelphia hung tough in Green Bay in Week One before falling 27-20 to the Packers. Then they barely hung on to defeat the Lions in a Week Two 37-34 thriller. They actually looked better in the loss than they did in the win. Michael Vick (as much as I despise him) has sparked the Eagles offense that is young, talented and confident. The only thing holding this team back is their defense and we think that will start come around sooner rather than later.

NFC Title Prediction: The Eagles are a playoff contender and sit as our third favorite to win the NFC Championship behind the Packers and the Saints.

Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta was very competitive in a tough start on the road against the Steelers vaunted defense. They followed that up with a whitewashing of the Cardinals in their own home opener. Atlanta has a tough schedule ahead and it starts with trip to the Bayou this weekend to face the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.

NFC Title Prediction: A very tough schedule makes the friendly skies not so friendly to navigate for the Falcons.

There is still a long way to go, as we are just an eighth of the way through the NFL 2010, but parts of the NFC picture could be much clearer as early as the end of Week Five. The field is very short as they head out of the gates and into the first turn. If the Cowboys and Vikings continue to stumble; the field with get even shorter and the NFC Championship chase won’t be much more than a race of futility.