The Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes is one of the many young QBs injecting more excitement into the NFLgetty images
The NFL "is fun once again," and with the '18 season at its midpoint, the league is "riding a new high, with television ratings up and fans filling stadiums to cheer their favorite teams," according to Tim Dalhberg of the AP. Sunday's action included a "shootout in New Orleans that was widely entertaining" -- the Saints beat the previously unbeaten Rams 45-35 -- as well as a "showdown of quarterback greats" in the Patriots' Tom Brady and the Packers' Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile, a "group of exciting young quarterbacks are letting everyone know the future of the sport is in good hands." That is one reason why scoring is at "record levels" and why 27 of the 32 teams are "averaging more than 20 points a game." These are "good times for a league that has taken blow after blow the last few years only to emerge with its position of America's favorite sport safely intact." What at one point "looked like a season lost is now looking like a season to remember" (AP, 11/6).
FOUR TEAMS CREATING SEPARATION: In DC, Adam Kilgore notes there is "unusual clarity" at the top of the league midway through the season. Four teams -- the Patriots, Chiefs, Saints and Rams -- have "already defined themselves as obvious favorites" to make the conference championship games. There are several teams that "could challenge the apparent supremacy" for the aforementioned teams, but if "any of the other 28 teams made an appearance on the season's penultimate weekend, barring a serious injury, it would come as an upset." It is "rare that can be said so definitely at this stage of the season" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/6).
