Jets at a mid-season crisis at 5-5

At this point in the season, the Jets are showing their true colors. They are a mediocre football team, who got off to a hot start. Yes, in the past two weeks Todd Bowles has made some questionable decisions and that comes with the price of a rookie head coach. Do you not think that Rex Ryan made some bad decisions his rookie season? Of course, he did.

The roster is constructed as well as it can be. This season, the Quarterback position has not been the problem for the Jets. Ryan Fitzpatrick has played to the best of his abilities and has actually been the Jets best option at that position. Geno Smith is not the answer and never was, and Bryce Petty still has a couple years left to develop into an NFL player. As of now, Fitzpatrick is a good stop gap there.

The biggest issue the Jets face is not being able to overcome their big injuries. Losing Calvin Pryor and Nick Mangold has hurt the Jets more than the eye can see. Pryor has become the anchor of that secondary and Todd Bowles has him playing his natural position. Nick Mangold is a future hall of famer, and the Jets run game lives and dies on him being healthy. Hence why Chris Ivory has not been effective as of late.

Cutting Quinton Coples sends a message, whether the Jets intended it to or not. It sends a message that players who half-ass it on the field and are not a scheme fit, will not be here long. The Jets are implying that it does not matter whether you were a former 1st round pick or not. If you do not perform, you are a goner. This finally allows the Jets to "free" Lorenzo Mauldin and get the rookie, the playing time he deserves.

Lastly, Jets fans have to understand that 10 games will not undo 6 years of bad drafting and 4 years of non-playoff football. The last regime left the Jets with a good salary cap and a bad roster.The new regime has filled the necessary holes. Obviously the Jets still have glaring holes on both sides of the ball, but they are good enough to get by.

Right now the Jets are tied for the final wild-card spot and are still in the hunt. This Sunday vs the Dolphins will make or break this .500's team season and hopefully Todd Bowles going off on his players after Sunday's embarrassing loss and cutting Quinton Coples, will send a message and light a fire under this team, who desperately needs a spark.

Cam and the Cats, best team in the NFC

On August 19th, 2015, the Panthers season looked to be over before it started. Star receiver, Kelvin Benjamin went down with a torn ACL, leaving the Carolina Panthers with a scrap heap at the wide receiver position.

With the Panthers clearly not letting one injury define their season, they improved their record to 7-0 after beating the Colts in a sloppy game, in a torrential downpour.

How are the Panthers 7-0? Well, it starts in the trenches. The offensive and defensive lines have played fantastic this season. Especially the offensive line, they have really done a better job of protecting their franchise quarterback, Cam Newton. Newton looks like a more mature quarterback this season, he has finally put all the tools in place to become of the league's best at his position. He has little to no help on the offensive side of the ball, and he is still getting it done. The Panthers have also been able to run the football effectively this season. They had put their faith in injury prone running back, Jonathan Stewart, and it is finally paying off.

On the other side of the ball, Josh Norman has statistically been the best cornerback in the NFL. Other teams are actually afraid of throwing the ball to his side of the field because he is just that good of a cornerback.

The Panthers have what it takes this season, to go the distance all the way to Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco. They are elite on both sides of the football and finally have a mature leader at QB who can finally take them to the promise land.