NFC: Can it be any worse?

With one of the AFC's worst teams giving one of the NFC's best teams all it could handle Monday night, it has become clear that the NFC is as bad as any conference has ever been. The Cowboys appear to be clearly the best team in the NFC, but what does that even mean anymore? Now, after this week's New England/Dallas showdown, we will really know how good, or bad, they are, and how good or bad the conference is.

The NFC has been pretty bad for a number of years now. In the last three seasons, there have been three teams make the playoffs with an 8-8 record. But, so far this season, it looks like the National Football Conference has sunk to all time lows.

We'll get back to Dallas a little later, but let's look at the rest of the conference, starting at the bottom. The Saints, just about everyone's favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this season is staring at a goose egg in the win column. Whatever the reason for their collapse, this team simply looks lost out there. They are only "topped" by the St. Louis Rams, who did the Saints one better in the loss column. With an 0-5 record, the Rams' brass will probably spend the remaining Saturdays this season watching the senior class closely. Not much better, is the Falcons. Although I don't think there are that many people who are surprised by this start.

Minnesota is finding out where not having an NFL caliber QB will take you. The Eagles may be the league's most schizophrenic team this year. The Bears weakness are being exploited after taking advantage of this weak conference the last two seasons. And the Niners seem to have forgotten that they were an up and coming team.

That takes care of the teams with losing records, but it doesn't get much brighter. Seattle, at 3-2, looks like a shadow of the team that went to the Super Bowl just two years ago. The Cardinals are also 3-2, but they were testing out the new quarterback by committee approach before Leinart broke his collarbone. There hands now rest with Mr. Fumble himself, Kurt Warner. Tampa Bay and Carolina are both atop the retched Southern division, but Carolina just signed Vinny Testeverde; so you know what shape they are in. Detroit is a fraud at 3-2, as are the Giants.

Now the "good" teams. Washington is off to a nice 3-1 start, and look to have regained that defensive form that led them to the playoffs two years ago. But I need to see more from this team before I crown them a true threat. Green Bay is 4-1, but they showed they were not ready to be an elite team, but letting the Bears steal a win from them. And we'll see how well they do throwing 70% in December.

Now, back to the 'Boys. Yes, I feel they are definitely the best team in the conference, but what does that really mean. And I will go to the ever popular, "Who have they played" defense. They have beat up on teams with a combined 6-19 record, nearly dropping one to the 0-5 Bills. They Cowboys have their share of weaknesses. Tony Romo, as shown Monday, still has an ability to throw the game away. And defensively, they still have major coverage problems. Only one team has been good enough to expose it; the Giants who put up 35 points in a losing effort. And they are just one injury in that linebacking corps away from losing the pass rush like they did last season. However, I take it all back if they beat the Patriots.

Regardless of the outcome of that showdown this Sunday, the fact remains that we have never seen this much parity, or mediocrity if you prefer, in the NFC. I'm actually a fan of parity, so I'm not saying we should go back to Green Bay/Dallas/San Francisco dynasties. But what we have now is just so many bad teams, and even the good teams, can be beaten anyone at any time.