–The NFL teams reached the one third pole of the 18 week season last week and now head into the second third with no unbeaten teams and only one winless team, the 0-6 Panthers. With six teams having byes, there are only 13 games with the Sunday night game featuring two 5-1 teams — the Dolphins at the Eagles. This is the first real test for the Eagles and they need a win if they are to show they are contenders. The Eagles defense has to slow down the Miami offense and Jalen Hurts has to rebound from a three pick game in their first loss to the Jets last week if the Eagles are to have a chance.
–The Monday night game has the 49ers going to the Vikings. The Vikings 2-4 record raises questions of whether the Vikings can challenge the 49ers, who lost their first game last week to the Browns. Brock Purdy has to regain his form after suffering his first loss to the Browns last week He had been unbeaten except for the playoff loss to the Eagles when he was injured.
–The Thursday night game pits the Jaguars at New Orleans. The Jaguars are playing their third game in 12 days in three time zones with Trevor Lawrence not at 100 per cent so it could be a struggle for the Jaguars. But since it is an NFC game, a loss probably wouldn’t hurt their chances of winning the AFC South.
–Fox has a single game with the feature the Lions at the Ravens. The Lions at 5-1 are looking like a contender in the NFC but they can’t overlook the 4-2 Ravens. These two teams don’t have a history, but it should be a good game.
–CBS has the doubleheader but it may be the worst of the year. The pickings are slim. In the early game they are giving a lot of coverage to the 4-2 Bills at the 1-5 Pats. The Bills have played two poor games in a row but should still easily beat the Patriots, who are having their worst season since 2000 when Bill Belichick went 5-11 in his first season as the Patriots coach. Even five wins may be a stretch for the Patriots this year. The feature doubleheader game is the Chargers at the Chiefs matching Justin Herbert vs. Patrick Mahomes. But the Chargers have been disappointing at 2-3 so the Chiefs should dominate the game even though they have yet to play at top form..