1. Dallas Cowboys

• Never before has an NFL team underachieved like the 2010-11 Cowboys, but at the same time-has any team ever been as unapologetically arrogant heading into a new season? Dallas talked itself up all throughout the offseason despite the team’s coaching staff admitting that training camp and the preseason did not go as well as planned. Now, owner Jerry Jones is left with a billion-dollar establishment and one of the worst teams in football. Whenever Dallas has looked like it’s about to turn everything around, the team has self-combusted and waved the white flag. The popular sentiment at the moment is to fire head coach Wade Philips, but Jones has candidly stated that no replacement can fix the ongoing disaster. Not exactly what fans want to hear from their team’s owner. Dallas obviously has all the pieces to compete for a place among the league’s elite, but the culture has to change in a huge way between now and the start of next season.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

• As much as Dallas was predicted to succeed this year, Kansas City was expected to fail. After a miserable 4-12 season in 2009-10, many though that the Chiefs would once again struggle on the defensive end and allow opponents to run up the score against them. While KC has still had trouble stopping other teams from controlling the air-the Chiefs are ranked 23^rd in opponents’ passing yards-the Chiefs have allowed less than 100 rushing yards per game. On the offensive end, Kansas City has been sensational. Quarterback Matt Cassel has five games with no interceptions thrown, but it has been the Chiefs’ rushing game that has their opponents at a loss. The running back tandem of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones has been largely unstoppable, leading the Chiefs to the best running offence in the NFL and a place in the top third of the NFL standings.

3. Minnesota Vikings

• Expecting Brett Favre to put together a repeat of last season’s awesome performance-excluding the last play of the Vikings’ postseason-was probably unrealistic, but no one predicted Minnesota to be as bad as they are right now. The Vikings are 2-5, and Favre has been nothing short of awful as the

  team continues to play itself out of a postseason berth. A glance at the football scores doesn’t really do justice to some of the Vikings’ inspired outings this year, but losses are losses. The acquisition of Randy Moss last month injected some hope into a dying team, but the latter failed to make a significant impact in his two games with the team before being placed on waivers, in part for disrespecting the caterers at a post-practice team meal. Nothing has gone right this season for Minnesota, and now Favre is injured again. There is a silver lining to this latest setback, though: the team might start giving their other pivots a chance, thus giving fans a glimpse of what life will soon be like without Brett Favre.

In a league with so many elite quarterbacks, the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees has always managed to stick out as one of the best, and this season is proving no different. Fresh off his Super Bowl MVP campaign in 2009-10, Brees has been among the NFL’s passing and touchdown leaders again this year, leading the Saints to a 4-2 record with three games left to go before the team’s bye. Despite constantly achieving at the highest level, Brees has nevertheless faced doubt and criticism throughout his entire career. Questions about his size and throwing ability hurt his draft stock coming out of Purdue in 2001, and in San Diego, concerns about his durability and potential steered the Chargers away from offering him a max deal. In New Orleans, though, Brees has received the recognition and success he has desired, and with a Super Bowl victory under his belt, has finally entered the discussion of best quarterback in the NFL. This season, Brees started out relatively slowly, but following an injury scare in Week 3, has been leading the Saints to impressive football scores.

In New Orleans’ opening day tussle with Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, Brees completed 75 per cent of his passes for 237 yards and a touchdown to kick-start the Saints’ title defence. History has shown that it takes a few regular season games for Brees to get back into top form, and sure

enough, most of Brees’ passes in both the opener and his second game were short throws, with his longest completions being only 29 and 30 yards, respectively.

The Saints dropped to 2-1 in Week 3 after a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but concern in the locker room after the game centered more upon Brees’ health than the stunning late-game defeat. Brees was sacked in the second half of the game and injured his knee, but was ready to go in Week 4, leading New Orleans to 16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers.

After a rough game against the Arizona Cardinals in which Brees was picked off three times and completed less than 62 per cent of his passes, the 10-year veteran came out on fire against Tampa Bay, throwing for two scores in as many quarters and finishing the game with 263 yards and three touchdowns.

Brees’ knee has apparently stopped bothering him, and the quarterback participated in the team’s full practice this week, as the Saints prepare to take on rookie pivot Colt McCoy and the lowly Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Unsurprisingly, Brees’ most successful games this season have come against teams with weak pass defences. Against Cleveland, expect Brees to be able to hook up with his receivers more or less at will; the Browns allow their opponents to pass for nearly 230 yards per game. It remains to be seen if Brees can recapture the magic from last year, but it’s looking like the quarterback is gathering steam as the season progresses, which should translate directly to New Orleans’ rise in the NFL standings.

Sprotsbook odds have been up and down for the Lions-Vikings matchup all week with the pending potential suspension of Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams.

Both tested positive for a banned NFL substance, appealed their suspensions, and found out on Wednesday that they were facing four-game suspensions. On Wednesday, they filed a lawsuit to try and block it and the judge accepted their appeal. For now, it looks like they will be able to play this week, which is awful news for the Lions.

Sportsbook odds will probably list the Vikings as a 9.5-point favorite if they play. Bad news Lions, you’ll be 0-13 after this week.