Now that the NFL is officially past the halfway point of the season, the better teams have started to separate themselves from the rest of the herd.

First off, in the AFC, the New England Patriots are still the team to beat as long as Tom Brady is taking snaps from behind center.

After a 3-1 start to the season without Brady, who was suspended, the Patriots did not skip a beat.

Once behind center, Brady became other-worldly in the four games he has played, leading the league in passer rating at just shade under 144 and has 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions, according to NFL official statistics.

Defense is what could hold them back from reaching the Super Bowl, though. The team is ranked thirteenth in the NFL and is surrendering 16.5 points per game, which is not terrible, but not great either.

After New England, the AFC is wide open. The team that has the best chance to challenge the Patriots is the Oakland Raiders.

This season, the Raiders have really shown that they have something great going on right now. The team is 7-2 after nine games, the best start to a season for Oakland since 2002 when the team made it all the way to the Super Bowl before losing to Tampa Bay in a blowout.

Oakland relies on an offense that is highly explosive and capable of putting huge numbers on the board. The team is second in the NFL in total offense and is scoring a healthy 27.2 points per contest, good enough for fifth in the league.

Like the Patriots, the defense is what has people doubting how far the Raiders can go in the postseason, but the offense might just be good enough to keep the defense off the field by winning the time of possession battle.

Look for those two teams to meet in the AFC championship game in January.

The NFC side of the picture, however, is a mess, to put it lightly.

The Seattle Seahawks, one of the perennial powerhouses of the conference, does not appear to be quite the same caliber of team that made it to two consecutive Super Bowls.

The defense looks like the dominant unit that they have been over the years. The problem has been the offense. They rank 23 in total offense and are scoring just over 20 points per game.

With a great defense, you do not need to score a ton of points though, and that is the reason why Seattle is still the team to beat in the NFC.

The team that has the best chance of knocking off the Seahawks is the Atlanta Falcons.

The team’s quarterback, Matt Ryan, is having the best start in his already impressive career, and his team is reaping the benefits with a 6-3 record.

The offense is ranked first in the NFL, scoring a whopping 34 points per game. With stud receiver Julio Jones also having his best season so far, they appear to be unstoppable on that side of the ball.

The defense is what will likely hold this team back from ultimately taking out Seattle. The team is ranked 29 out of 32 in total yards allowed and is allowing teams to score nearly 29 points a game against them.

Of course, since we have a whole half of a season left to play, these things can change. Expect these teams to be in contention for the Lombardi trophy at the end of the year