VITO'S VIEWS

Parity continues to be the theme of the NFL season.

There has yet to be a team to emerge as a strong favorite to get to the Super Bowl.With five weeks left, 12 of the 16 AFC teams are at .500 or better. All four division leaders have four losses.

The battle for the top seed is wide open although New England at 9-4 is currently in the top spot with just four games left and one of them is against Jacksonville. The Patriots managed to beat Buffalo while throwing only three passes in windy conditions.

If the Patriots beat Indianapolis this weekend and win the rematch with Buffalo the day after Christmas, they should get the bye.

Baltimore had the top seed but suffered its fourth loss when coach John Harbaugh went for two instead of kicking the extra point to send the game against Pittsburgh into overtime.

In the NFC, Arizona has two losses and Bucs and Green Bay have three each and one of them will likely get the bye. None of top three NFC teams will play against each other in last five weeks.

The Cardinals, who boosted their road record to 7-0 with a victory at Chicago, have a key Monday night game with the Rams. They also have road games with Lions and Cowboys and home games with Colts and Seahawks.

Tampa Bay, which beat Atlanta last week, has home games coming up with Bills and Saints, road games with Carolina and the Jets and a home game with Carolina.

The Packers, who had a bye last week, have a tough game at Baltimore in two weeks but figure to beat the Bears, Browns Vikings and Lions in their other four games.

In the NFC division races, Tampa Bay and Green Bay are virtual locks with four games leads so all they have to play for is the bye the rest of the season.

Dallas and Arizona have two game leads over Washington and the Rams and since the Cowboys play Washington and Arizona plays the Rams, they both can boost their lead to three games with four to play and virtually lock up their division title.

In the AFC division races, Tennessee has a two game edge over Indianapolis but the Patriots, Chiefs and Ravens all have only a one game lead.

The NFL saved its best for last this weekend.

The weekend ends with a game with major ramifications in the AFC East and even the entire AFC as Buffalo hosts New England in Buffalo’s first home Monday night game in December.

Each team has four losses and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

New England, which has won six in a row with rookie quarterback Mac Jones, is trying to show it can be a playoff team without Tom Brady.

Buffalo started out 4-0 but the Bills are 3-4 in their last seven games and have had trouble running the ball, which has made them too one dimensional. And quarterback Josh Allen has made too many mistakes.

The Bills have spent the last two decades trying to end New England’s domination of the division. This is their chance to take a step towards ending it. The Bills play Tampa Bay next week and have a rematch the day after Christmas at New England, so they face several challenges down the stretch.

The winner of the Pats-Bills game also will have a shot at a first-round bye. Baltimore currently leads in the race for the AFC bye with an 8-3 record. Every other AFC team has four or more losses.

In another primetime game featuring contenders, Denver is at Kansas City Sunday night. The Chiefs are 7-4 with the other three division teams including Denver at 6-5.

In the key Sunday game featuring contenders, the Chargers are at Cincinnati. The Bengals are 7-4 and Chargers are 6-5.

In the Thursday night game, the Dallas victory over New Orleans boosted the Cowboys’ record to 8-4 and if Washington loses to the Raiders, the Cowboys will have a three-game lead in the division. The Washington team at 5-6 currently has the seventh NFC playoff spot. New Orleans fell to 5-7 after the loss. If Washington loses, the Falcons and/or Vikings can get to 6-6 and move ahead of Washington in the NFC playoff race. But Atlanta has the tougher task against Tampa Bay while Minnesota figures to beat Detroit.

In the other games involving contenders, Indianapolis is favored over Houston, Baltimore is expected to beat Pittsburgh, Arizona figures to beat Chicago and the Rams are likely to beat Jacksonville.

It remains to be seen if any upsets will scramble the playoff picture, Green Bay at 9-3 and Tennessee at 8-4 both seem playoff-bound and have byes.

The Packers, Ravens, Bucs and Patriots took positive steps towards punching their tickets for a berth in the playoffs Sunday. All are in first place with six games left after posting victories.

Meanwhile, the Rams, Colts, Vikings and Chargers all lost and may wind up settling for battling for a wild-card berth.

The 8-4 Titans lost at New England but stayed two games ahead of the Colts, who lost to the Bucs. The Bucs at 8-3 remained three games ahead of the Falcons, who beat the Jaguars. And two teams with byes, 9-2 Arizona with the best record in the NFL and the 7-4 Chiefs, remained in first place.

The Packers boosted their record to 9-3 and extended their lead to three games over the Vikings, who lost to the 49ers. The 49ers are in the wild card race at 6-5. The Vikings at 5-6 are also in wild-card race.

—Leonard Fournette scored four touchdowns in the Bucs victory over the Colts that kept them a game back of Arizona in the battle for the NFC bye.

—The Patriots are the hottest team in the league as they posted their sixth victory in a row with the triumph over the Titans. They now play the Bills twice down the stretch to determine if they will win the division title. They play the Bills on Monday night and the day after Christmas. The Pats are 8-4 and the Bills are 7-4.

—The Chargers fell a game behind Kansas City at 6-5 with loss to Denver. The Chargers, Broncos and Raiders are all tied at 6-5, a game back of the Chiefs.

—Washington’s victory over the Seahawks Monday night moved them within two games of the Cowboys in their division despite their losing record.

—The Rams went all in to win the Super Bowl this year but suffered their third loss in a row when they lost to the Packers. They’re 7-4 in second place in their division, two games back of the Cardinals and just a game ahead of the 49ers. They figure to beat the 2-9 Jaguars this week, but may have to settle for a wild card spot if Arizona doesn’t stumble.

—Cincinnati routed the Steelers and are a game back of the Ravens at 7-4. The Steelers are 5-5-1 and not looking like a contender.

—Although the Ravens are only a game ahead of Cincinnati at 8-3 after beating the Browns, they have the best record in the AFC. The critical loss dropped the Browns to 6-6 and they are now battling for a wild card spot. If they had beaten the Ravens, they would have been a game out of first place. Now they are three back.

—The NFC race is so wild that Washington’s third straight win over Seattle made them one of four teams at 5-6 battling for the final NFC playoff spot. The other three are Saints, Falcons and Vikings with Washington currently having the tie breaker. Washington is also now just two games behind the Cowboys in their division.

—So unless one of the 5-6 teams finishes 4-2, a team with a losing record at 8-9 will get the seventh NFC playoff spot. That is the downside of having seven teams in each conference in the playoffs.

—So with six games left, there is one two-loss team (Arizona), three three-loss teams (Packers, Bucs and Ravens), seven four-loss teams, five five-loss teams and six-six loss teams. That means 11 teams with two, three or four losses have the inside track on the 14 playoff spots and if all 11 make it, three of the 11 teams with five and six losses will have to fight for the final three slots. The 10 teams with seven or more losses are the longest of long shots.

The NFL will have some tasty leftovers on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Although two division leaders – Arizona and Kansas City – have byes, there are a lot of good matchups this weekend.

CBS has three games wth playoff implications – Tennessee at New England, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati and Chargers at Denver. Its other game – Jets at Houston – has no playoff implications.

In the Fox early games, Tampa Bay at Indianapolis and Philadelphia at the Giants have playoff implications. The game pitting 5-6 Carolina and 4-7 Miami features two teams that are long shots to get in the playoffs. Ditto for 4-6 Atlanta, which plays at 2-8 Jacksonville.

Both Fox late games, Rams at Green Bay and Minnesota at San Francisco both have playoff implications.

The Sunday night game features two teams – Cleveland at Baltimore — battling for playoff spots.The Monday night game – 3-7 Seattle at 4-6 Washington – is more important for Washington.

Here’s how the games will affect the playoff races:

AFC EAST; A win by 7-4 New England will put the Patriots in first place over 7-4 Buffalo going into next week’s game between the two teams. A loss drops the Patriots a game back of the Bills in the loss column.

AFC NORTH: A win by 7-3 Baltimore over Cleveland keeps the Ravens in first place. A loss ties them in the loss column with theCincinnati-Pittsburgh winner with four losses while the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh loser would be a game back with five losses. A Cleveland upset win over the Ravens would leave the Browns a game behind the Ravens in the loss column with the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh winner with four losses while the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh loser would be a game back with five losses. A Cleveland upset win over the Ravens would leave the Browns a game behind the Ravens in the loss column while a loss would drop them to 6-6, leave them three games back of the Ravens and virtually end their division title hopes.

AFC SOUTH: An upset win by 8-3 Tennessee at New England would leave them with a two- or three2game lead over Indianapolis, depending on whether the Colts can upset Tampa Bay. A Tennessee lost and a Colts win over Tampa Bay would cut the Titans lead to a game over the Colts.

AFC WEST: The Chiefs have a bye so will stay in first place at 7-4. The Chargers can tie them if they beat Denver, which will fall three games behind the Chiefs if they lose. The Raiders are 6-5 after their upset win over Dallas on Thanksgiving Day.

NFC East: Dallas once had a four-game lead in the division but it was cut to two when the Cowboys lost to the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day. The Eagles can stay two games behind in loss column with a win at Giants.

NFC NORTH: Green Bay can keep at least a two game lead over Minnesota by winning at Rams. A Viking win over San Francisco and Green Bay loss to Rams will cut the Packers lead to a game.

NFC SOUTH; Tampa Bay at 7-3 can keep at least a three game lead in loss column with a win at Indianapolis.

NFC WEST: Arizona has a bye at 9-2 – the best record in the NFL – so it will stay in first place. The Rams at 8-2 and 49ers at 5-5 need wins over Green Bay and Minnesota to stay within striking distance of the Cardinals.

Imagine the hype for a Super Bowl featuring Tom Brady facing Bill Belichick and the Pats.

That happening would seem like the longest of longshots, but they are currently leading their divisions so they can’t be ruled out in this topsy turvy season.

New England started Week 11 with a Thursday night victory over Atlanta and Tampa Bay ended it Monday night with a victory over the Giants to end a two-game losing streak.

New England is now 7-4 in the AFC East with a half-game lead over 6-4 Buffalo, a team it faces twice in the next month, while Tampa Bay has 7-3 record and a two-game edge in the NFC South over 4-5 New Orleans.

The reason the Pats and Bills can’t be ruled out is that no team has emerged as the odds on favorite to make the Super Bowl.

There is so much parity that since Week 9 there have been 11 wins by a team with a .500 or below winning percentage over division leaders.

One of those teams was Houston, which upended Tennessee last Sunday. Houston and Minnesota beat teams that entered Week 11 with at least four more wins than the team they beat. There have been eight such wins this year tied for 1974 when there were also eight.

And Minnesota’s game winning field goal as time expired was the 23rd decided on the final play, the most such games since 1970 through Week 11.

Kansas City, tied for the Chargers in loss column in AFC West with four, is starting to recover its form of the past two years as it beat Dallas, but it is too early to anoint them in the AFC.

Tennessee and the Ravens have three losses and six teams have four losses so the odds are that a five loss team could grab the last playoff spot.

Arizona has the best NFC record at 9-2 while four teams — Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Dallas and the Rams –have three losses. No team has four losses and just three have five, so the five-loss teams are in midst of playoff hunt.

The last seven weeks are shaping up as a wide open race for the two bye slots.

As the teams head down the stretch in the second half of the season, one key factor will be how many players will be sidelined after testing positive for Covid.

The Cowboys were hit this week and have to live with consequences.

The Cowboys will go into Sunday’s game against the Chiefs without Amari Cooper, who wasn’t vaxxed and tested positive for Covid. It will probably mean he’ll also miss the Thanksgiving Day game against the Raiders.

Although some vaxxed players have also tested positive, it is totally irresponsible for players not to get vaxxed.

The good news for the Cowboys is that the game isn’t that important for them except in the battle for the first-round bye. They have a four-game lead in the loss column over the other three games in their division. The other three teams have all lost six games.

The Cowboys are one of the three two-loss teams in the NFC along with 8-2 Arizona and Green Bay. If they lose their third game, they could fall a game behind those two teams in the loss column. Arizona plays Seattle and Green Bay plays Minnesota.

The game, though, is critical for the Chiefs, who have struggled this year but looked like they were back last week when they routed the Raiders. Now they have to show it wasn’t a mirage. They lead their division at 6-4. But Chargers and Raiders are 5-4 and Denver is 5-5 so they have no margin for error.

Another team to watch is defending champion Tampa Bay, which has lost its last two games sandwiched around a bye to fall to 6-3, although they still lead their division.

They should stay on top Monday night since they have what happens to be an easy game against the 3-6 Giants, but they can’t afford an upset.

In the AFC, Tennessee is the only team in the division with just two losses at 8-2 and is in the lead for the battle for the top seed. But they face a tough task against 5-4 New Orleans.

Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Buffalo are all a game behind at 6-3 while the Patriots are 7-4 after their Thursday night win over the Raiders and the Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders and Bengals also have four in losses. There is no clear favorite in the AFC, especially since Tennessee will play the rest of the regular season without Derrick Henry.

Baltimore figures to beat Chicago and the Bills are expected to beat the Jets while Pittsburgh has a tough Sunday night game against the Chargers in the Sunday night game.

Another factor to watch is whether underdogs will continue to pull off upsets the way they did the last two weeks when nine teams who were in first place or tied for first lost to teams at .500 or below.

This is the season of parity run wild.

Every team in the league now has at least two losses at the 10 game mark. The last one-loss team, Arizona, lost to Carolina with Kyler Murray sidelined. Cam Newton had a winning homecoming for the Panthers.

And just three other teams besides Arizona – Dallas, Packers and Titans – have two losses.

For the second straight week, four teams at .500 or below upset division leaders. And the Rams, who are now 7-3, lost to the 49ers, who were desperate at 3-5.

So it is too early to say even the two-loss teams have the inside track in the Super Bowl race although they figure to at least make the playoffs in a 14-team field.

One of the three-loss teams is Tampa Bay. The defending champions have lost two in a row sandwiched around a bye. Tom Brady threw a couple early picks and was outplayed by Washington’s Taylor Heinicke, but the Bucs defense was the real problem as Washington put together a 19-play drive that lasted over 10 minutes to wrap up the game.

The only two loss team in the AFC is Tennessee at 8-2, which edged New Orleans, 23-21, but faces the challenge of playing without Derrick Henry.

Dallas routed the Falcons 43-3 and has a four-game lead in its division and could be the team to beat in the NFC, but then they lost to Denver 30-16 a week ago.

Kansas City looked the Chiefs of the last two years when it routed Las Vegas as Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes. The Chiefs now get a big test against Dallas this week.

A 6-4 team to watch is New England with rookie quarterback Mac Jones. The Patriots posted their fourth win in a row by routing Cleveland to stay a game behind Buffalo. The Patriots play the Bills twice down the stretch.

While Dallas has a four/game lead in its division, Tennessee and Green Bay have three-game leads in their divisions.

Put those three teams down for division titles and a home playoff game. They’re going for a first-round bye. The other five divisions are up for grabs in this year of parity.

The 10^th week of the season started off with another upset, continuing the trend of the last two weeks.

Baltimore’s loss to 2-7 Miami Thursday night came just five days after the 1-6 Jaguars knocked off the Bills. Both Baltimore and Buffalo are now 5-3 and Tennessee is now the only AFC teams with just two losses but the Titans will play the rest of the regular season without Derrick Henry.

There are now five 5-3 teams and five more four loss teams so the AFC race continues to be wide open.

In the NFC, Arazona has the best record in the NFL at 8-1 and the Rams, Bucs, Packers and Cowboys have two losses. But those teams all seem vulnerable.

The Rams, Cowboys and Packers all lost last weekend and the Packers are dealing with the fallout of Aaron Rodgers’ positive test and his apparent lie giving the impression he was vaxed.

In the Sunday night game, the 5-3 Raiders will play the 6-4 Chiefs as they jockey for position in AFC West while the 5-3 Chargers play the 3-5 Vikings in a late Sunday game.

A Minnesota upset win wouldn’t be a surprise because all but one of the Vikings games has been decided in last minute of play. They are probably better than their record.

Another vulnerable team is the 5-4 Broncos, who face the 3-6 Eagles. The Eagles may be better than their record. A fifth loss this year would likely be a major setback to the Broncos’ chances of making a playoff run.

Tennessee also could stumble against the 5-3 Saints because they are playing without Henry and New Orleans is desperate for a win to stay in midst of NBFC playoff race.

Another game to watch is the Cleveland-New England game, a battle of four loss teams who both need to avoid a fifth loss.

In the other games, Buffalo is favored over the Jets, Indianapolis over the Jaguars, Tampa Bay over Washington, Pittsburgh over Detroit, Arizona over Carolina and Dallas over Atlanta.

Considering all the recent upsets, it won’t be a surprise if some of their favorites stub their toes.

Four teams – Cincinnati, Chicago, Giants and Houston — have byes but only Cincinnati at 6-4 has fewer than six losses and the Bengals have lost two to the Jets and Browns in a row after a fast start. They need to use the bye week to regroup.

Jordan Love isn’t ready to step in at quarterback, the Titans proved they can beat a top foe without Derrick Henry, the Bills may not be a Super Bowl contender if they can’t improve their running game and the Super Bowl race is wide open.

Those were some of the conclusions after the ninth week of the season, which is virtually the halfway mark of the league’s first 17-game season.

Just a week ago, the Cowboys, Rams and Bills were all considered prime Super Bowl contenders, but they all were upset to scramble the Super Bowl picture.

Arizona, playing without Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, showed it can win without its two best offensive players by beating the fading 49ers to boost its record to 8-1, the best in football. The 49ers dropped to 3-5.

But behind the Cardinals are six teams with between two and four losses in the NFC and 11 in the AFC. With 14 teams getting playoff spots, those 18 teams are all in playoff hunt.

Even the four five loss teams can’t be counted out.

This is parity run wild.

As far as division races, Tennessee, Dallas and Green Bay all have a three-game lead in their divisions, but Tennessee will have to play the rest of the regular season without Henry. They beat the Rams without him, but they will miss him down the stretch.

Dallas remains a puzzle. They won last week with Cooper Rush only to get smoked by Denver after Dak Prescott returned, 30-16.

Buffalo was considered a contender but is now 5-3 after losing two of the last three. The problem is their running game has collapsed and they are the worst rushing team in the league the last three weeks. They now only lead the Patriots by a game and play them twice in second half of the year.

And Green Bay’s future looks up in the air after the Aaron Rodgers Covid fiasco and the fact that Love struggled when he started for Rodgers against the Chiefs.

Baltimore leads the AFC Central at 6-2 but Pittsburgh is 5-3 and Browns and Bengals are 5-4 so it is wide open.

Cincinnati is fading after a fast start.The AFC West is also wide open with Chargers and Raiders at 5-3 and Chiefs and Broncos at 5-4.

The NFC South and West are both two team races. In the South, the Bucs are6-2 and the Saints 5-3 and in the Wet, the Cards are 8-1 and the Rams 7-2.

When the NFL schedule came out this spring, the Green Bay at Kansas City game seemed like one of the highlights of the season.

The idea of Patrick Mahomes dueling Aaron Rodgers figured to be ratings gold and Fox wanted the game to be a late afternoon doubleheader.

Now it turned out Rodgers won’t play because he tested positive for Covid, but that hasn’t deflated the matchup. Jordan Love will now make his first start for the Packers, and now it is even a better story.

To start with, Rodgers did not admit he was not vaxxed before he tested positive and didn’t follow the protocols for players who aren’t vaxxed and then tried to act as if he is the victim.

Anyway, how Love plays is critical to the Packers’ future. Rodgers wants out and if Love, drafted in the first round a year ago, is the long-term answer, they don’t have to find a new quarterback once Rodgers leaves.

There’s also the question of how long Rodgers will be sidelined and if the NFL will issue fines for him and the Packers for not following protocols for players who aren’t vaxxed.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have a lot of issues on their own. They haven’t played like the team that made the Super Bowl the last two years and desperately need a win to stay in the race. There is a lot at stake in this game.

This game overshadows the two prime time games. The Titans-Rams Sunday night game lost a lot of its luster when Derrick Henry was sidelined with a foot injury. It would have been must-see TV if he were running against Aaron Donald.

The Monday night pits Chicago vs. Pittsburgh. Fox has the doubleheader and Arizona and San Francisco is the other second game but it will get limited exposure compared to the Green Bay-Chiefs game.

Fox has three 1 p.m. games featuring Dallas-Denver, Baltimore-Minnesota, New Orleans-Atlanta and Houston-Miami.CBS has a single game in each market including four 1 p.m. games. Cleveland-Cincinnati is the feature attraction. The other three 1 p.m. games are Las Vegas-Giants, New England-Carolina and Buffalo-Jacksonville. Their late game is Chargers-Eagles.