Panthers, other unbeaten teams should improve to 9-0

SuperCAM has officially taken flight and so have the Carolina Panthers.

“Things are not going to always go your way”. As the season continues, only time will tell just which one of these mid-season contenders can stay strong and make it into the post-season.

Panthers (-5.5) at Titans: Call me insane, but I like the Titans in this battle of former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. Minnesota, at 6-2, is now tied with Green Bay on top of the NFC Central.

So look at this as a valid test for both Carolina and Green Bay. It’s also portends good things to come.

Cincinnati is at home Monday night while the other two are on the road. New England is averaging an NFL-best 34.5 points per game and its 420.2 yards per game is second-best.

The Panthers visit the 2-6 Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and the Bengals host the 3-5 Houston Texans on Monday night.

Chiefs at Broncos (-6.5): Pity the Chiefs, who have to travel to Denver one week after the Broncos’ suffered their first loss of the season. Denver clearly is on a path toward another postseason berth, using a powerful defense more than Manning’s arm. Many people think this is the same old story with Cincinnati, good regular season team that can’t get it done in the playoffs.

In the coming National Football League action, my son and I agree on all but four games. Bradford also connected with Jordan Matthews in overtime for the game winning touchdown, putting the Eagles record even at 4-4, just one game behind the NY Giants in the division.

No place is tougher for a visitor than Foxborough, and the Redskins are 1-10 on the road under coach Jay Gruden. Tom Brady and his offensive weapons have been basically unstoppable. He has responded well by throwing 18 touchdowns and only four interceptions so far this season, while having a 111 passer rating, the second highest amongst quarterbacks with at least 10 throwing attempts. JJ Watt has two sacks in this one, but that just isn’t enough to slow down the Bengals. So has Philadelphia’s, relatively speaking, allowing less than 20 points a game. John Madden and Chuck Noll. Arizona’s offense is as good as it gets, and the Legion of Boom is not what it was. They manhandled the Jets’ supposedly superior defense last week. Through 9 games, Gordon has rushed for 413 yards for 0 TDs to go along with 4 fumbles.

If it comes down to defense, as these matchups often have, watch out for Jack Lambert and Jack Tatum.

With that kind of intense stratification in the standings, we become more aware of the league’s de facto ninth and 10th divisions: The AFC and NFC wild-card races. The Bears rank 31st in DVOA defending the run, giving Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley his most favorable matchup of the year. Their coach, Jeff Fisher, is 1-6 against the Vikings.

Chicago at St. Louis, 11 a.m. During their 1-3 skid, the Falcons have only been averaging 16.8 points per game. He leads the league with 115 yards per game rushing, and Minnesota star Adrian Peterson is next at 90.4. Does Washington have the fire power to keep up with Drew Brees?

The other team that has changed coaches so far, the Dolphins found instant success with two wins after Dan Campbell replaced Joe Philbin.

A recent team that nearly accomplished this was the 2007 New England Patriots. The Giants started of 0-2 and Coughlin was already on the hot seat, while the Cowboys were off to a 2-0 start. As bad as Colin Kaepernick has been this season, the ceiling on Gabbert is considerably lower. The 49ers have no touchdowns in their past two games and three in five.

After a 5-0 start, the Falcons have struggled. Dallas finds a way to come out on the right side of a close game for once and snap its six-game skid.

With eight weeks left in the season, there is still a lot to be decided. After missing the first four games with a fractured hand, Thomas has just 13 catches in his four games with the team.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (18-to-4) of his career and tight end Tyler Eifert has nine touchdown receptions in those eight games, putting him on pace to set the single-season franchise record for receiving touchdowns. The last time he caught a pass thrown by someone else was in 2010, before he switched from receiver to quarterback at Texas A&M.

The Bucs are more than capable of making the Giants pay for poor defending as Jameis Winston improves on his reads and decisions. In Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson, he has the targets to hurt a weakened defense.

Not exactly a prime-time must-see, especially with Bears star RB Matt Forte (knee) and Chargers standout WR Keenan Allen (spleen) injured.