Pinpointing the Achilles Heel for Each Super Bowl Contender

It's Week 7 of the 2012 season, and as is usually the case in the National Football League, most of the carefully thought out and well-reasoned conclusions that pundits made about the 2012 NFL season have already gone flying out the window.

Parity has run amok, as evidenced by the fact that all of two teams in the AFC have won more games than they've lost while nearly half the NFL sits at 3-3.

However, a handful of teams have separated themselves from the pack somewhat, and it's those teams we'll examine here by looking at the Achilles' heel of some of the leading Super Bowl contenders at this point in the season.

That same parity could easily have made this list a very long one, so if you don't find your team listed here, that doesn't mean I don't think they have no shot at New Orleans; just that they're presently mired in the mass at the middle of the NFL.

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears come out of their bye week sitting pretty in the NFC North at 4-1, and with an opportunistic defense and running back Matt Forte back at 100 percent, the Bears appear very well-equipped to remain in contention when the weather turns frosty.

In fact, the Bears' biggest weakness may well lie in one of their biggest strengths, if that makes any sense.

When he's on his game, quarterback Jay Cutler can hang with the best of them in the NFL, and the seventh-year pro's arm is as strong as they come.

Unfortunately, Cutler sometimes trusts that arm a little too much, and all it takes is one ill-advised throw to derail Chicago's championship aspirations.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are currently 5-1 and have a two-game lead in the AFC North, and yet their Super Bowl dreams may already have been dashed.

Not only was their Achilles' heel exposed, it was smashed repeatedly with a ball-peen hammer last week.

Already struggling without 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the year Terrell Suggs, the Ravens were dealt two more crushing blows in their win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Both linebacker Ray Lewis and cornerback Lardarius Webb suffered season-ending injuries in the game, and there's just only so many hits that one roster can take.

San Francisco 49ers

Entering last week's game with the New York Giants, the San Francisco 49ers looked to be the class of the NFL after throttling their previous two opponents by a combined score of 79-3.

Apparently, the Giants didn't get the memo.

New York proceeded to go into San Francisco and spank the 49ers 26-3, sending a message to their NFC rival while also exposing a weakness that was already pretty apparent with the 49ers.

For as formidable as the 49ers front seven is, the secondary is average.

Neither Carlos Rogers or Tarrell Brown is exactly what one would call "shutdown" cornerbacks, and strong safety Donte Whitner is a classic in-the-box "thumper" who is a liability in coverage.

That's a problem in a conference littered with elite quarterbacks.

New York Giants

Given how good the New York Giants looked in slapping the 49ers around, it feels like nitpicking to start calling out weaknesses on this team, but that's what I'm here for, so...

One could point to their nicked-up secondary, which hasn't been healthy since 1996 (at least that's how it seems), but as you can see from this list, the defensive backfield is a question mark for a number of contenders.

However, the Giants' biggest issue is an enigmatic one.

Even in last year's Super Bowl season, the G-Men were an inconsistent bunch that would rise to the occasion against good teams and then come out flat against mediocre ones.

That phenomenon has reared its head against this season (look at the Cleveland game two weeks ago), and while it may not hurt them in the playoffs, they have to get there first.

Another nine-win season like last year may not be enough to do that this season in the NFC.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten last week with a resounding thud, as the team was jackstomped by a desperate Green Bay Packers squad 42-24.

The game wasn't close, and in blowing out the Texans quarterback, Aaron Rodgers exposed the biggest flaw in Wade Phillips' 3-4 defense in throwing a ridiculous six touchdown passes.

Much like the San Francisco 49ers, the Texans have a very stout front seven, but supposed shutdown corner Johnathan Joseph must be getting an early start on the holidays.

He's been getting lit up like a Christmas tree.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are the lone undefeated team in the National Football League, heading into their bye at a spotless 6-0 after edging the Oakland Raiders 23-20 last week.

However, there are a couple of issues with the Falcons that are cause for a measure of concern.

First, the Falcons have won all their games despite ranking in the middle of the pack in both total offense and total defense due in large part to playing opponents with a combined record of 11-22 to this point in the season.

It's how Atlanta has played those opponents, especially recently, that's the real worry.

Twice in the last three weeks, the Falcons have needed last-second drives to beat one-win teams at home.

That seeming lack of a "killer instinct" may not have cost the Falcons yet, but if they don't find one before the playoffs, this year's postseason is going to end the same way the last two have for Atlanta.