th place.Of course, that was of little solace to the Missouri native. He considers the speedway j

A mere five weeks into the NFL schedule and theres already been a massive separation between the true Super Bowl contenders, the pretenders, and the vast ocean of mediocrity in the league.For fans in New England, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Seattle, and perhaps Green Bay, making travel plans for late January and early February is not farfetched. Those appear to be legitimate championship threats.Evaluating other successful teams -- Atlanta, Oakland, Dallas, Philadelphia -- and even the defending champion Broncos, who have lost two in a row, is more difficult.And then there are the clubs who stand just outside the morass that makes up most of the league right now: Buffalo, Los Angeles, Washington, Kansas City. It probably will take two more months to figure out whether they belong in the postseason.I can tell you that 100 percent of our attention and our focus is to try to accomplish that, says Bills coach Rex Ryan, whose franchise has an almost unfathomable string of non-playoff seasons dating to 2000. But playoffs, anything like that, were not even close to that. And as Ive mentioned before, weve still got a lot of dirt on us from opening up the season, losing those first two games.What seems certain is that the NFL has too many substandard teams, even though a few of them (AFC South members, thats you) figure to be in the race right up until 2016 ends.But you cant get ahead of yourself, says Colts coach Chuck Pagano, whose team could tie for the division lead with a win at Houston this Sunday. And with the Titans (2-3) hosting winless Cleveland, a three-way tie is quite possible. You cant sit there and look at what could be. If we do this, were this -- youve got to go take care of business now. You have to worry about today. Youve got to prepare.So, looking at the NFL today:TRUE CONTENDERSTheres no denying that the 5-0 Vikings, the leagues only unbeaten squad despite several devastating injuries (Adrian Peterson, Teddy Bridgewater, Matt Kalil), have proven they belong in the conversation. Their defense, led by Everson Griffen and Harrison Smith, is championship material, and the way Sam Bradford has stepped in to replace Bridgewater at quarterback has been inspiring.Theres also no denying that the offensive firepower of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Co. in Pittsburgh, and Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the boys in New England has those teams on a collision course atop the AFC. We get a showdown in Steel City next Sunday, too.Seattle tends to build toward the winter months, and might have the most-balanced roster around. The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, pedigree as a playoff team and, for once, a defense that looks reliable.POTENTIALSAvoiding overreactions after each game is tough in a 17-week season. So Denvers demise is not at hand, folks; comparing these Broncos to the 2015 champions simply is unfair at this point, particularly on the Peyton-less offense. Dismissing that defense, though, is unwise.Teams on the upswing with more to prove are in position to do exactly that this weekend, when the Cowboys visit the Packers , the Eagles are in Washington,the Falcons are at the Seahawks, and the Raiders host their archrivals, the Chiefs.The biggest statements would be made by Dallas if it can move to 5-1 behind rookies Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott, and by Atlanta. Coming off the most impressive victory of the season at Denver, the Falcons would stamp themselves as legitimate candidates to be in Houston in February with a victory in Seattle.Sure, they went 6-1 last season before flopping to 8-8, but this version is more balanced and experienced.One negative thing happened and then it was like a snowball effect on us, star receiver Julio Jones says of 2015. This year, were definitely a different ballclub as far as the mentality of the team. Were just sticking together and holding each other accountable.MUCH TO PROVEThe Bills, Rams, Redskins, Ravens and Texans all have winning records. Anyone out there really believe in any of them as title threats?Kansas City needs a lengthy streak of wins like it had a year ago to make us take notice, something even less likely with Oakland having emerged in the AFC West.For now, Arizona and Carolina are outsiders who must show they can emulate in some way the clubs that reached the NFC championship last January. The Cardinals seem vastly more capable of that than the banged-up Panthers.THE SORRY SETIt sure is a challenge to have any faith in the Jets and Bengals, who each won at least 10 games a year ago, but have been either unimpressive (Bengals) or unwatchable (Jets).Pretty much everywhere else stands the uninspiring, teams such as the Dolphins and Bears and 49ers, who we expect to remain also-rans when the holidays hit.As for that AFC South race, well, a four-way slog to the finish wouldnt be a surprise.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLKobe Bryant Lakers Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Robert Horry Lakers Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. http://www.lakersteamofficial.com/Jamaal-Wilkes-Lakers-Jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wilt Chamberlain Jersey . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Michael Cooper Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance.KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- After departing the celebration in victory lane at Kansas on Sunday, Kevin Harvick reflected on how his Stewart-Haas Racing team always seems to rally when its back is against the wall.Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski just may need to follow suit.Harvick dealt with a mechanical issue a week ago at Charlotte that put him in a big hole heading to the second stop in the Chases round of 12. But he rebounded by winning the Sprint Cup race at Kansas, not only locking up his spot in the next round but taking the pressure out of Talladega.Things are going to happen, said Harvick, who also rebounded from a poor Chase opener to win at New Hampshire. Things can break and you just have to be able to rebound from them.Elliott and Keselowski are in precisely that situation.While several contenders were busy wrapping up top-10 finishes -- Carl Edwards was second, followed by Joey Logano, Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson , Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon -- Elliott and Keselowski had been snared by late-race trouble that leaves them in desperation mode.Elliott was running near the front when his left rear tire began rubbing on his fender, forcing a stop that left him a lap down. He managed to get back on the lead lap, only to have the same issue with another set of tires that forced him into another unscheduled stop.I dont know if we got the left rear getting up on the track or something, and it got into the fender and it cut it down. I dont know, Elliott said. We had such a good car today.He wound up finishing 31st and is now 25 points out of the eighth and final spot in the next round, which basically turns the unpredictable race at Talladega into a must-win scenario.Race our hearts out and try to win, I guess, he said. Thats about all we can do.Keselowski had a similarly dreadful day. He began wiggling with 78 laps left and Denny Hamlin was unable to check up in time, the gentle tap sending the No. 2 car shooting down the track. He slammeed into the grassy turf and tore up the front of his car.dddddddddddd.Keselowski wound up 38th, putting him seven points out of the final Chase spot.I like Talladega. Talladega has been good to me, said Keselowski, who has won four times there, including earlier this year. Im going to drive my butt off and at the end of the day I have faith that if it is meant to be, it is meant to be. We cant get down. There is a long way to go still.Things are more comfortable for other Chase contenders.Edwards ran up front all day and thought he had the car to beat at Kansas before Harvick pulled away from him on a late restart. He still finished second to move up two spots in the points race and now has a 24-point buffer between himself Logano in eighth place.Of course, that was of little solace to the Missouri native. He considers the speedway just across the Kansas border his home track and always has thousands of fans in the stands. Hes wanted to win at Kansas more than anywhere else on the circuit but has yet to reach victory lane.Theres so many people that come to this track that support me, he said. Maybe a day or two will pass and Ill be more excited about the points situation going to Talladega.Martin Truex Jr. had issues with the refueling mechanism that forced him to pit out of sequence and wound up 11th. Kurt Busch finished two spots back in 13th after having to go to his backup car following a spin in practice. Hamlin dealt with an issue with the front splitter and was 15th.As a result, Logano sits in the tenuous eighth spot in points -- tied with Dillon and six ahead of Hamlin -- as the Chase heads to the elimination race at Talladega.We came out swinging. Thats what we had to do. We did everything we were supposed to do, Logano said. Its not comfortable being tied with Austin going into next week but thatll be fun. ' ' '