Mike McMahon
Journal Staff

We’re 10 weeks into the NFL season and everything is still up in the air. First though, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Colts will not be in the playoffs this season. But on a serious note, the season is just past the halfway point and there are so many teams in playoff spots right now that were not even expected to play .500 football.

So I’m going to answer some questions. Are the 49ers for real? Is Oakland really leading the AFC West? Did Denver seriously win despite completing two passes? Who is for real and who is just pulling our leg? Obviously, there are some teams like the Packers, Steelers, and the Saints, where it is pretty obvious they are for real.

This is focusing more on those teams that have faced doubts and weren’t expected to be where they are after ten weeks.

Jim Harbaugh is getting the job done down by the bay in San Francisco. The 49ers are in business sitting at 8-1 and have solidified themselves as the team to root for.

Alex Smith was a quarterback that had just about been given up on by everyone. He might not be an elite but he is not making mistakes and proved in week 10 against the Giants that he can win even when Frank Gore does not run the ball well.

With two games each against the Cardinals and the Rams, the 49ers will finish the season with the second best record in the NFC behind Green Bay. But Smith is not the only quarterback that has brought his team to places that no one expected.

More quietly than the 49er’s 8-1 record, the Cincinnati Bengals are 6-3 with rookie Andy Dalton under center. Who would have thought that the rookie tandem of Dalton and wide-out A.J. Green could help establish this team as a threat in the AFC North? I certainly did not, and I stand by that, but it just goes to show how far a good defense can go.

However, The Bengals still have to play Baltimore, with whom they are tied for second in the division twice, as well as the Steelers, whom they just lost to, and the 7-3 Texans. The defense will be tested much more. The road ahead could be bumpy for the hopeful Bengals.

Let’s talk about another quarterback, Tim Tebow. He is a quarterback right? Well, this actually might be up for interpretation. Tebow is a QB in the sense that he is the one taking snaps, but he is the first to have more rushes than passes in a game since 1974.

The man completed two passes in a winning effort over the Chiefs and it’s not like he has the best supporting staff around him. It seems that the Broncos finally found a way to let Tebow succeed with his own game instead of trying to form him into an under center quarterback.

Luckily for Tebow and the Broncos, they play in the AFC West, and have a legitimate chance at making the playoffs, which is scary. The Chargers are coming off four losses and Oakland is leading the division at 5-4 ahead of the Broncos, Chargers, and Chiefs all at 4-5.

Moving to the AFC East now. Remember when everyone in New England was freaking out about the Patriots? What a difference being 6-3 makes over being 5-3. Last week at this time, there was total panic.

Let me remind you all, this is Tom Brady and the Patriots. They find a way, every time. The Pats will win the division and lock down home-field advantage in the AFC. The Bills are finally showing that, well, to put it simply, that they are the Buffalo Bills and the Jets showed against the Pats that they have plenty of issues as well.

The Pats also have one of the easiest remaining schedules in football; their biggest test is against “the dream team,” by dream team I am of course talking about the 3-6 Eagles, who have not finished a game all season, and there schedule only gets harder down the stretch.

That brings me to the NFC east, which I do not necessarily count the Eagles out of. The Giants have this ability to look really good one week and really disappointing the next. They also have a brutal schedule. They play the Eagles this week, then move on to the Saints, and then Green Bay, as well as two games against the surging Cowboys.

Things are going to get interesting in the division. Eli Manning needs to dig deep and live up to the expectations he gave himself before the season.

All in all, the tail end of the season is going to be a remarkable one. There are so many key games and so many teams that are striving to stay alive and other good teams that are trying to climb back into the race that have fallen out.