By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Oct. 14, 1998

Look quickly at the NFC standings and you'll be surprised.

Yes,

With no victories in Washington, will Norv Turner keep his job for the rest of the season? (Allsport)

now that Bonehead Barry Switzer is gone, the Dallas Cowboys are back atop the NFC East thanks to the rejuvenated spirit provided by coach Chan Gailey (OK, that and the fact the NFC East is one of the worst divisions in the history of professional sports).

Think again, if you are presuming the two-time NFC champion Green Bay Packers are running away with the Central Division. No way. The most explosive offense in football now is played in the Humpdome, courtesy of Dennis Green's Minnesota Vikings. Yes, that really is Randall Cunningham at quarterback for the Vikings with superb Cris Carter, veteran Jake Reed and brilliant rookie Randy Moss leaving secondaries in the dust from coast to coast -- averaging more than 33 points a game.

As for the West, well, if you look at the standings in alphabetical order, the Atlanta Falcons are in first place (or at least tied with the San Francisco).

Dan Reeves, bless his embittered heart, has rallied this hapless franchise from perennial cellardom into what could be a real player by the end of this season. People forget they almost made it to .500 last year. If quarterback Chris Chandler pulls off the upset of the year and stays healthy for 16 games, while Jamal Anderson maintains his 1,600-yard pace ... well, forget it, but they've at least become interesting.

You just have to wonder how long Dom Capers will keep his job with Carolina. After upsetting Dallas and playing Green Bay in the 1996 NFC championship game, they have gone into the tank. They struggled to 7-9 last year and are presently 0-5, having released quarterback Kerry Collins, who went from being rookie savior quarterback to whipping boy who picks up his toys and goes home when things aren't just so.

Something is also very wrong in Detroit, where respected coach Bobby Ross and superstar Barry Sanders just aren't cutting it this year. They were 9-7 a year ago and in the playoffs. Now they're 1-4, have given up on quarterback Scott Mitchell, and counting on rookie Charlie Batch to bail them out.

Last but not least in the pathetic NFC (L)east, there is this thing going on between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. (This is not to ignore the fall from grace by the defending division champion New York Giants. Anybody who considers last season's title anything more than default is simply a sycophant.)

Granted, the Eagles have won one game, which is one more than the 'Skins. Obviously, that's nothing to get excited about. The race is to see who will get fired first -- Ray Rhodes in Philly or Washington's Norv Turner. Odds here are on Turner. The Eagles could win a second game this week in San Diego while Turner and the Redskins will get drilled in the Humpdome by those explosive Vikings.

THE DIVERSITY OF FORM ISN'T QUITE as obvious in the AFC, although the Big Tuna's New York Jets are suffering the same fate as their fellow Meadowlands tenant. After they went from the worst team in the NFL to within a whisker of the playoffs last season, good things were expected.

Instead, they are 2-3, and struggling between the injuries and ineffectiveness of quarterback Glenn Foley, and the urge for Tuna to just ignore him and yell, "Yo Vinny (Testaverde), get in theah!" Problem is, they can't win with either guy, and expensive free agent running back Curtis Martin is running more like Mary Martin (Peter Pan for you youngsters out there), instead of straight ahead. Maybe Neil O'Donnell wasn't so bad after all. (All right, you win. He is that bad.)

The Steelers are 3-2 and trailing the Jacksonville Jaguars by two games, but nobody is paying much attention to that. The Steelers are always 3-2 until they get their bearings with the new coaches, players and everything else that comes with being part of a great franchise despite having no budget to retain personnel.

Bouncing back from the dregs of the basement appear to be the Oakland Raiders, a spry 4-2 despite a torn groin muscle for quarterback Jeff George. A happy team, they are -- so happy was coach Jon Gruden after their pitiful 7-6 victory over San Diego Sunday, he was arrested that night for suspicion of DUI.

Besides, they're not going to catch the Denver Broncos. These days, it doesn't look like anybody can match up with the Super Bowl champs. They'll come down off their Super Bowl high eventually. It will just be a matter of how they respond from the slump that will make the difference. More than just the always brilliant John Elway, Terrell Davis is virtually unstoppable.

MEANWHILE, MARK BRUNELL CONTINUES TO straddle the fence as the next great quarterback in the NFL. He has led Jacksonville to a 5-0 start, and the Jaguars look the part of a team that can be the fastest expansion franchise (1995) to win a Super Bowl (this year?).

There are no real surprise failures in the AFC at this point, unless you consider the Seahawks at 3-3 to be a stunner. They have been a borderline .500 team since the day Dennis Erickson took over as coach in 1995 (26-28), and if they finish that way this year, he'll be gone. Look for them to make a run at 10-6 and slip into the playoffs (maybe).

Sound like strong convictions? That's impossible six weeks into this season. But it's already fun and interesting.

After all, the Falcons tied for first in the NFC West? Next thing you'll tell me is Mike Ditka will coach the Saints to the playoffs, too, with Danny Wuerffel at quarterback.