Seven weeks remain in the NFL regular season and there’s a thick pack of teams working hard to define themselves and secure prime playoff seeding.

Everything’s wide open with half of the 32 teams owning winning records and clinging to hope as the final stretch of the season begins. In a year when fortunes can fluctuate from week to week, however, things aren’t always as they seem.

Here’s a look at the contenders and pretenders.

AFC

Indianapolis Colts (8-2) — Pretender

Daniel Jones has provided a nice story of resurgence. Jonathan Taylor is on a tear. Shane Steichen has pushed the right buttons, and Indy owned the best record in the league at the midway point. The Colts benefitted from a soft first-half schedule, though, and the Pittsburgh Steelers exposed them in Week 9. Then, Indianapolis needed overtime to get past the Atlanta Falcons.

Advertisement

Jones appears to be coming back down to earth (four interceptions and six fumbles in the last two games). The final seven games will serve as the truth-teller for him and the Colts, who return from their Week 11 bye with a road game against the Kansas City Chiefs. They’ll then have two games against the Houston Texans, two against the Jacksonville Jaguars and contests against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. It’s possible the Colts still win their division, but a deep playoff run seems unlikely.

Denver Broncos (8-2) — Pretender

The Broncos have a strong record, but some of those wins may be fool’s gold. Their first-half opponents owned a combined 23-48-1 record, and yet, the Broncos’ average margin of victory is just 6.2 points. Four of those contests were decided by 3 points or fewer. On one hand, four fourth-quarter comebacks show resilience, but the continued offensive struggles and erratic play from Bo Nix are concerning. If not for a dominant defense that leads the league with 46 sacks, Denver would not own a winning record.

New England Patriots (8-2) — Contender

Perhaps no one outside of the Patriots organization could have anticipated this kind of success, bu