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I love this article....
BY DAVID MOORE
Special to FOXSports.com
Oct. 22, 2003 11:18 p.m.
Eight teams enter this weekend as division leaders.
Our advice: enjoy it while you can. If last season is any indication, only half of you will make the playoffs.
In a league where upside-down can turn right side-up at the drop of a football, coaches and players will tell you nothing is assured. Peruse last year's standings entering Week 8, and that point will be driven home.
Ten teams held or shared the division lead at this stage of the 2002 season. Only five of those teams advanced to the playoffs, and two of them  Indianapolis and Green Bay  shouldn't have. The Colts and Packers were dismissed in the first round by a combined score of 68-7.
No team was undefeated entering Week 8 last season. The Packers, San Diego and New Orleans owned the league's best record at 6-1.
The Chargers and Saints didn't even make the playoffs.
With that highly informative  and subjective  background in place, we select half of the current division leaders that are most likely to find themselves out in the cold once the playoffs begin
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New England  The Patriots (5-2) have ripped off consecutive wins against Tennessee, the New York Giants and Miami. It has a home game against Cleveland on Sunday. This appears to be a team on the rise, not the decline.
What New England has done is impressive. It also borders on inexplicable. The Patriots have lost key defensive players at an alarming clip. Their running game is erratic and their quarterback can be outstanding one week and bad the next.
These things have a way of catching up with a team over the course of the season. So does a tough division.
Last year, New England, Miami and the New York Jets all tied for the division lead with a 9-7 record. A convoluted set of circumstances and tie-breakers allowed the Jets to advance and the Patriots and Dolphins to miss the playoffs.
A three-way tie at the top isn't out of the question again this season, only Buffalo should be substituted for the Jets. The real possibility that this division ends in a two- or three-way tie could work against the Patriots.
BY DAVID MOORE
Special to FOXSports.com
Oct. 22, 2003 11:18 p.m.
Eight teams enter this weekend as division leaders.
Our advice: enjoy it while you can. If last season is any indication, only half of you will make the playoffs.
In a league where upside-down can turn right side-up at the drop of a football, coaches and players will tell you nothing is assured. Peruse last year's standings entering Week 8, and that point will be driven home.
Ten teams held or shared the division lead at this stage of the 2002 season. Only five of those teams advanced to the playoffs, and two of them  Indianapolis and Green Bay  shouldn't have. The Colts and Packers were dismissed in the first round by a combined score of 68-7.
No team was undefeated entering Week 8 last season. The Packers, San Diego and New Orleans owned the league's best record at 6-1.
The Chargers and Saints didn't even make the playoffs.
With that highly informative  and subjective  background in place, we select half of the current division leaders that are most likely to find themselves out in the cold once the playoffs begin
-------------
New England  The Patriots (5-2) have ripped off consecutive wins against Tennessee, the New York Giants and Miami. It has a home game against Cleveland on Sunday. This appears to be a team on the rise, not the decline.
What New England has done is impressive. It also borders on inexplicable. The Patriots have lost key defensive players at an alarming clip. Their running game is erratic and their quarterback can be outstanding one week and bad the next.
These things have a way of catching up with a team over the course of the season. So does a tough division.
Last year, New England, Miami and the New York Jets all tied for the division lead with a 9-7 record. A convoluted set of circumstances and tie-breakers allowed the Jets to advance and the Patriots and Dolphins to miss the playoffs.
A three-way tie at the top isn't out of the question again this season, only Buffalo should be substituted for the Jets. The real possibility that this division ends in a two- or three-way tie could work against the Patriots.