What if the Cardinals do not improve this season? What if Derek Carr misses more than six weeks? What if the Falcons cannot close games in the fourth quarter? We will see some changes in the way that Vegas is setting lines in the league for week five? There are certain teams, including the Patriots, that are just not well equipped to handle swings like this, and others will keep pace with what Vegas expected to start the season.
Only the Bucs have been consistent
It is difficult to choose a team that has been consistent, and there are a number of people who would not even consider the Bucs consistent.
The Bucs have been good enough to stay in their lane, and they have steadily improved without becoming a superstar team. This is really the only team in the league that has not surprised us one way or the other. Everyone else has done something crazy since the first week of the season.
The Raiders are in bad shape
The Raiders are in bad shape because Derek Carr has broken his neck and they took a bad loss just before they found out that he broke his neck. The combination of those two factors is something that will keep the Raiders out of contention to go tot he AFC title game. They could get Derek Carr back in a good time frame, and he could become a superstar when he returns. That would not be the first time someone did that, but it would be strange if that happened.
There are too many cases of players coming back with a lot of rust, and Carr could just get hurt again or be completely ineffective.
The Panthers are rising for no reason
The Panthers are jumping up, but the Falcons look like they are falling down. The rise of the Panthers against the Patriots seems to coincide with the Falcons looking a little bit weak.
The two teams will be competing with the Bucs for the NFC South title, and the Panthers might use their momentum to topple a Falcons team that is just not playing well on offense. Odds on the Falcons will go down, and their fan base will start to get nervous. Fans cause a lot of problems for teams when they get nervous, and that is why the Falcons could start to drop off if they do not solve their problems.
Atlanta sports personalities love to talk about how much the media disrespects them, but the reason they get disrespected is because Atlanta teams are not consistent.
These teams have been hit by a wave of speculation and bad vibes. The Raiders could see another season wasted, and the Patriots might be losing their advantage over the league.