Don't worry, Cowboys will still make the playoffs and go and win a superbowl.

I'd be more inclined to believe you if Dallas had done anything of note in the playoffs in the past 20 years. Cowboys haven't even been past the Divisional round since the 1995 season.

But but...but MTZ.....that was a catch!

So a few weeks back, Sethnintendo said that this was turning out to be a crazy and utterly unpredictable year for the NFL, whereupon I said to wait until about the midpoint of the season and then cast judgement. And, well, here we are. Every team except the Lions and Packers have played at least 8 games. So let's take a look back at the season thus far, and see how predictable or unpredictable it seems compared to previous years.

At the end of this week, only 3 of the 8 divisions in the league will be led by teams that won them last year. This may sound pretty crazy at first, but it's not all that unusual; at the same time point last season (2016), only 3 of the 2015 division champs were leading their divisions. By the end of 2016, that number had climbed to 4. In 2015, only 3 of 2014's division champs repeated in that role. Perhaps adding to the feeling of familiarity, all of last year's division champs are still very much in contention; each of last year's champs will be, at most, two games out of their division's lead by the end of tomorrow night. And this is despite two of them missing their starting QBs.

The sheer parity that was so heavily present early in the season seems to be lifting, somewhat. There are six remaining teams with two or fewer losses, which is actually more than usual for this point in the season. Last year, there were only four (or five, I guess, if you count Seattle which had two losses and a tie). If teams continue at their current pace, and if history has taught us anything, they almost certainly won't, the NFC would be the first conference since the 2006 AFC to have every single division champ hold a 12-4 record or better, which could make for a very interesting playoff. The flip side of this is that there are some very bad teams as well; I do not believe the NFL has had multiple winless teams this late into the season (8 games) in the Super Bowl era.

So is the NFL gone utterly nutty? Probably not, it just took a while for things to settle down. We had to adjust our expectations; the Jags and Rams are much better than just about anyone thought they would be, while the Raiders and Falcons are worse. The Texans' defense is no longer good enough to compensate for the completely terrible situation at QB without Watson. Philadelphia is way better than anyone thought they'd be, and appears to have only improved now with Ajayi. Sean McDermott has been the spark needed to get Jared Goff and Todd Gurley going (although not Sammy Watkins, unfortunately for my fantasy team). And, of course, there's the usual pack of teams that you will never know quite what you're going to get from them. One week, Pittsburgh gets embarassed on its home turf by the Jags and people start wondering if Ben is done. The next, the Steelers walk into Kansas City and put on a show against the previously undefeated Chiefs. One week, Seattle puts up 41 points while allowing 38 to a rookie QB. The next, they hold Washington under 20, but their offense can only manage 14 against what would seem to be a worse defense.

But that's kind of the beauty of the NFL, or at least, whatever beauty is left to be found in a league that tried covering up the risks that concussions pose for a solid 20 or so years. It's largely unpredictable. Teams are still trying to figure out their identity, and the ever present injury bug will not hestiate to throw a wrench in those plans. This year is probably not any crazier than last year was, but it is just as wacky and fun as ever...provided you're not a Browns fan.

Nah, but being all the way down in the standings I'm just picking out any little reason that might cause an upset. I got nothing to lose 

C'mon Abdullah I need passing touchdowns not rushing touchdowns.

Well it only took me like 9 weeks, but I finally got SCAB to trade with me. I wonder if he was just super sick of seeing my name pop up in his inbox, and was like fuck it....anything to have him leave me alone.

You're just bitter nobody ever wants to trade with you. Don't be such a sour puss lol

Anyway, there's nothing unfair about it. The guy desparately needs WRs, I'm giving him 2 capable ones, and Doug Martin is plenty capable of being a low end RB1, or high end RB2 ever week.