7 NFL Teams That Have It All to Do the Rest of the Season

There are two main concepts in the NFL that every fan, player and coach is intimately familiar with. First, expectations are fickle creatures that are rarely met. Second, in any game, anyone can do heroic things, and sometimes the craziest outcomes are those that come true. Entering Week 8, teams such as the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys find themselves the victims of the former while hoping to be the beneficiaries of the latter.

For entirely different reasons, be it injuries or team disconnect, these two squads, along with many others, see the window of opportunity for success in their 2015 seasons closing, some at a more rapid rate than others.

That isn't their only common denominator, however. All of these teams have the power to right their fortunes as the season hits the halfway point and the number of games behind them grows larger than the diminishing number of weeks ahead.

By emphasizing, turning to or relying on key plays on their rosters, the future already looks brighter, but with their work more than cut out for them, the uphill climb will undoubtedly be hard. 

So, which teams will be the ones to pull off a comeback headed into the home stretch? Check them out! 

Honorable Mention: San Diego Chargers

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Is there any more that Philip Rivers can do?

Despite the fact that the recently re-signed quarterback is currently leading the NFL with a whopping 2,452 yards passing, via ESPN.com, the 2-5 San Diego Chargers simply don't seem able to get off the ground.

Their division isn't particularly kind either. Major struggles from Peyton Manning aside, the Denver Broncos remain undefeated and the firm incumbents of the AFC West crown, while even the Oakland Raiders, now 3-3, have cobbled together some impressive wins with their electric, young talent.

The window of opportunity has certainly been reduced to a sliver, but the Chargers have far too much talent to be discounted just yet.

Key Player: Melvin Gordon

San Diego needs to run the football. Period.

Melvin Gordon, the Chargers' 2015 first-round pick, has seen very little field action, partially for good reasons, such as fumbling, but with their season hanging by a thread, committing to the ground and providing Rivers some relief is a must. 

According to ESPN.com's Eric Williams, the Bolts attempted 65 passes against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6 and an almost equally high 58 in Week 7 against the Raiders. It just isn't sustainable.

San Diego has been trying to find a running back to build a franchise around for years, and with Ryan Mathews in Philadelphia, it can't keep relying on the capable but limited Danny Woodhead.

It's time the Chargers get serious and start taking a real look at their investment by putting him to good use.

7. Buffalo Bills

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

There aren't many more challenging divisions to be in at the moment than the AFC East. The New England Patriots are, well, looking at a perfect season, while the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins have appeared surprisingly competitive.

Why is there any room for the 3-4 Buffalo Bills?

Only one game out from .500, the Bills currently breathe down the neck of the 3-3 Dolphins, and although the Jets are surging, if there's any person who's motivated to take them down, it's their former head coach, Rex Ryan, who is now commandeering the Bills.

Revenge and their fantastic defense are without a doubt their greatest assets, but their athletic passer will make the difference.

Key Player: Tyrod Taylor

As evidenced by backup quarterback EJ Manuel's inconsistent performance on Sunday, the Bills are not going to be winning very many, if any, games without Tyrod Taylor (this season at least).

In fact, they may only win half of their remaining games with him! Why?

Because apparently the fifth-year quarterback only plays up to his potential every other game.

Starting from Week 1 and working down the Bills' 2015 schedule, Taylor's quarterback ratings have been 88.2, 32.6, 95.3, 16.6 and 85.9, according to ESPN.com.

In every single one of those high-figure outings, the Bills emerged victorious, and in all three of those games, the versatile signal-caller didn't turn over the ball once.

So, can Taylor lead this team to victory? He's more than proved he can. Now, he just needs to turn in those game-winning performances every Sunday—and perhaps remember that he does have receiver Sammy Watkins on his team.

6. Philadelphia Eagles

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

In Chip Kelly we trust, or do we not trust? It's difficult to say, particularly with the Philadelphia Eagles getting off to a slow 3-4 start. 

The definitive positives are that first, the Eagles find themselves very close behind the 4-3 New York Giants, and second, they own the tiebreaker with their division rivals (thanks to a convincing 27-7 victory a week ago). In addition, it should be noted that Philly dominated the now-escalating New Orleans Saints 39-17 in Week 5 and edged out the fairly formidable New York Jets 24-17 earlier in Week 3.

Their defense, led by defensive end Fletcher Cox's strong play, is starting to find its way. It's time for the offense to do the same.

Key Player: DeMarco Murray

Bradford is not an untalented signal-caller, but, particularly with few exceptional receiving weapons, he simply can't be counted on to win games, and he shouldn't have to. After all, former Dallas Cowboy DeMarco Murray was brought to Philly in order to carry a bulk of the load.

In what has thus far been a severely lackluster and inconsistent season, one thing has been steady: The Eagles win when Murray is at his best.

En route to defeating the New Orleans Saints and the division rival New York Giants, the 2014 leading rusher posted his highest yardage totals, 83 and 112 yards on the ground as well as 37 and 14 yards receiving, respectively, via ESPN.com.

In the Eagles' four losses, however, Murray only totaled a woeful combined 112 yards rushing, via ESPN.com.

While the Cowboys offensive line deserves a lot of credit for the running back's tremendous performance last season, Murray's capabilities shouldn't be undermined. He's the most talented offensive player Philly has, and in order to stay relevant in the race for the NFC East banner, the team will need to shift its thinking to planning games with him specifically in mind.

5. Miami Dolphins

Weston Kenney/Associated Press

No Joe Philbin? No problem.

Interim head coach Dan Campbell has inspired a talent-heavy team into playing even above its potential, convincingly defeating the Tennessee Titans 38-10 before dismantling the Houston Texans 44-26.

The AFC East, however, is a great deal more competitive than the lowly AFC South, but sitting at .500, the 3-3 Dolphins are poised to take charge of the season from almost a clean start, making use of the exceptional talent they have on both sides of the ball, including the electrifying Jarvis Landry, who is making a major stamp in his sophomore season.

Key Player: Cameron Wake

Miami may have gone out and snatched up defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh for a pretty penny over the summer, but veteran defensive end Cameron Wake has been and continues to be the squad's centerpiece.

In the Dolphins' last two dominating wins, Wake caught fire for an unbelievable six sacks, six tackles, four forced fumbles and one defended pass, via ESPN.com. Yes, in two games.

It's not merely that Wake's statistical contributions change the tone of a matchup, which they do; it's that his production combined with his role as a leader of the team provides tremendous amounts of motivation for the remainder of the group.

Now that he's broken free and is back on the track of production the league is accustomed to seeing, it's difficult to imagine him slowing down any time soon.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

A year removed from their dramatic, last-minute robbery of the AFC North, the 4-3 Pittsburgh Steelers entered this season hoping to decisively lock down their division. Injury, however, as it has impacted so many teams, put them back two-and-a-half games on the 6-0 Cincinnati Bengals.

Any other year, and the Steel City could be marching toward snatching that crown again with ease, but the Bengals have been one of the more solid teams in the league. 

Currently, barring any further injuries to their team, the Steelers have a spot in the playoffs all but guaranteed to them, but after an early exit and with so much talent on their offense, expectations were that they'd be a top-four seed. It can still be done, but they'll need to enter fifth gear—and fast.

Key Player: Ben Roethlisberger 

Boy did the Bengals catch a lucky break when Ben Roethlisberger went down in Week 3! (Sort of).

As it turns out, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, Big Ben should be good to go on Sunday against the undefeated team in what couldn't be better timing for the Steelers in their quest to gain ground in the tentative and albeit premature playoff picture.

Backup quarterbacks Michael Vick and Landry Jones have done an admirable job in navigating the team to 2-2 in Roethlisberger's absence, but there's just no substitute for the real thing, particularly when, according to ESPN.com, he was averaging 304 yards per game, a 75.3 completion percentage and a quarterback rating of 113.1.

With the hulking signal-caller back under center, receiver Antonio Brown, who saw a sharp decline in his production, notching three consecutive 100-plus-yard games to start the season, then falling to totals of 42, 45 and 41 yards in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, via ESPN.com, should be back to producing at a high rate.

Then, the Pittsburgh three-headed monster of Roethlisberger, Brown and Le'Veon Bell will find itself slashing its way to the top once more.

3. Dallas Cowboys

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Despite losing star running back DeMarco Murray to free agency, the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys looked every bit like the divisional-round playoff team of early 2015—for a few quarters.

Obviously, replacing both a starting quarterback and a receiver is not a feat most can accomplish, and without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, the Cowboys have screeched to an 0-4 skid.

Fortunately for them, they are just a game behind the 3-4 Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins and two wins behind the current NFC East-leading New York Giants, with whom they split the tiebreaker 1-1.

It will be a little bit longer before Romo suits up again, as he won't be eligible to return until Nov. 22, and neither Brandon Weeden nor Matt Cassel has been a high-quality Band-Aid. Help, fortunately, is on the way. 

Key Player: Dez Bryant

Although Cassel's Sunday showing could have been much stronger, he did manage to do what Weeden could not—make (or at least attempt) big downfield plays.

Those efforts did result in three interceptions, but as Dallas Morning News writer Brandon George pointed out, at least one of those was not entirely his fault.

Bryant may just be the most competitive receiver in football, and with about a 50-50 shot at playing against the Seattle Seahawks next week, according to FoxSports.com's Mike Garafolo, he'll be hungrier than ever.

Don't be surprised to see him put the team on his back and clear the NFC East out of his way.

2. Seattle Seahawks

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Sitting at 3-4 following consecutive Super Bowl trips, the Seattle Seahawks are undoubtedly the most shockingly underachieving team of the 2015 season.

With the surging Arizona Cardinals charging at 5-2, the NFC West seems to be all but getting away from them. In reality, however, at only two games behind, the defending division champs are well within striking distance of a team that in recent years has had a propensity for losing steam in the home stretch of the season.

Key Player: Jimmy Graham

The Seahawks traded away the anchor to their offensive line in Max Unger for Jimmy Graham, arguably one of the most unstoppable offensive weapons.

Unfortunately for them, Unger's absence has been more prominent than Graham's presence, as Wilson has been sacked a whopping, league-leading 31 times this season, via ESPN.com.

Although it is true that Wilson's lack of protection has made getting passes to his new target difficult, the big-bodied tight end needs to better help his quarterback and start making the plays he's capable of.

The Seahawks need a spark to jump-start their team back into dominance, and there may not exist a more underused X-factor in the league. 

On one hand, the Seahawks needs to acknowledge that Graham is a player best used as essentially a super-sized wide receiver, not an additional offensive lineman. On the other, if Wilson can scramble to find a guy the size of Doug Baldwin or Tyler Lockett (each 5'10"), then the 6'7" former New Orleans Saint should have no problem going up and getting it.

1. Indianapolis Colts

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How many people predicted a Super Bowl appearance for the high-flying Indianapolis Colts, now somehow sitting at the top of their division with a 3-4 record? A lot.

After a stunning (and infamous) loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, the Colts strapped Hall of Fame-caliber veterans such as Andre Johnson and Frank Gore to their roster thinking they would act like rockets, launching them into the next level, when in reality, they've epitomized the definition of dead weight. 

Fortunately for Indy, the only "threat" to its division title was wiped clean off the radar with a season-long injury to Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, meaning that the Colts have a luxury belonging to no other team in the league—they can take the remainder of the season to determine the source of their problems, go about fixing them and still be all but guaranteed a playoff berth. 

Talk about a silver lining.

Key Player: Andrew Luck

Will the real Andrew Luck please stand up?

He certainly isn't the one who has been playing as of late, posting a near-league-worst 76.2 average passer rating, according to ESPN.com. And how about the 29th overall completion percentage of 56.2? His current QBR of 38.3, via ESPN.com, is almost half of what his previous season averages have been.

But forget all of the stats. The most telling fact is that Matt Hasselbeck, a 40-year-old backup quarterback, performed better, hours after being released from the hospital with the flu.

Simply put, Luck is too talented a signal-caller to be playing like this, and in order to salvage an otherwise entirely salvageable season, playing in by far the least talented division in the league, he'll have to be a leader to the team, just as he was in the three past seasons.