Wide Open field as AFC Superpowers struggle to remain contenders

"Anything can happen...," is the overused sports expression used to describe how things can change in an instant. But who serious would have guessed that the two football superpowers Indianappolis and New England would be looking up at this point and are thinking "Forget the Superbowl, how do we survive for the playoffs?"

Tom Brady is lost for the season, leaving Randy Moss crying in a tantrum for his fallen teammate. Rightfully he should be. Moss will be struggling to remain a potential threat in the NFL, much less the top tier leader. Matt Cassel will try and command the Patriots who hasn't started a game before the past Sunday since high school. Ben Watson, the Patriots tight-end has yet to play a down this season and the defense is nothing to close to what it was in '07.

Shawne Merriman has come to his senses finally as he decided to end his '08 campaign with the San Diego Chargers. With two torn tendons in his knee with risk of a career ending injury, man thought him to be mad out of mind to risk his career and his team's future with such an idea. The Chargers are 2-0 and show promise to be a playoff contender, although L.T. may face more time out which may hurt the Chargers for the coming weeks.

Peyton Manning, coming off an early injury before preseason, has shown great resilience to having a potential flop in the early comings this season. He has started the season and survived the first couple weeks facing two of the most bruising defensive teams in the NFL in the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. Fortunate for them, Tarvaris Jackson had a horrible game, so they only sit at 1-1, rather then an 0-2 free-fall. Bob Sanders, a key player for the Colts defense, will be out for the next 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. With all but two players on the offensive line being rookies, (those two players being sophomores) this offense will have its work cut out for them heading into Indy against another injury-plagued team in the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Although its only the third week of the season, its quite clear that these AFC superpowers have proved mortal and that the race for superiority in the NFL is up for grabs with teams such as Dallas, Green Bay, and Philadelphia vying for command of a wide-open Superbowl title race.