Is Tom Brady, right now, "for real"? He just scored three points to lose by 18 to a team that had given up on its season, that traded its best player, that was led by an interim coach and a backup quarterback. Yet Brady and his Bucs, at 3-4, own the fourth seed in the NFC and shouldn't be counted out just yet.
Are the 6-1 Giants "for real"? They're the third team in NFL history to have six wins of 8 points or fewer in their first seven games. The other two: The 1988 Saints, who went 10-6 and missed the playoffs; and the 2000 Vikings, who were smoked 41-0 in the NFC title game.
Is Geno Smith and the Seahawks, at 4-3 and holding the NFC's third seed, "for real"? Smith has come out of nowhere with the third-highest passer rating in the league (107.7). The only two higher ratings belong to guys named Mahomes and Allen. From 2014 to 2021 — eight seasons — Geno won five games as a starting quarterback. The last seven weeks, he's won four.
Are the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams "for real"? They hold the NFC's seventh seed. They're also 3-3 with three double-digit blowout losses and a quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who has more interceptions (eight) than touchdown passes (six), his worst passer rating in 11 years (84.5) and 22 sacks, only eight fewer than he suffered in 17 games a year ago.
Are the Cowboys "for real"? They're 5-2 and hold the NFC's sixth seed. They're second in the league in scoring defense (14.9), but they also score only 19 points a game. And, oh yeah, Dak Prescott is deadlocked with Kirk Cousins in career playoff victories at one apiece.
Are the 6-0 Eagles even "for real"? Sure looked that way in prime time against the Vikings. But they also gave up 35 points in a three-point win over the Lions, 1-5 and the worst team in the league. And doesn't a lot of what we're saying about the upstart Eagles this year sound a lot like what we were saying about the upstart Cardinals when they were 7-0 last year en route to a 4-7 finish that included a 23-point, one-and-done playoff loss?