Little clarity in surprising NFC

Eight weeks into the 2014 season, the NFC is unsettled.

At the moment, Seattle, San Francisco and New Orleans are outside the playoff picture. The top three seeds are Dallas, Arizona and Detroit -- three surprises. Philadelphia and Green Bay enter the weekend as wild cards.

Unlike the AFC -- where Denver, New England and Indianapolis are the clear top three seeds -- the NFC is a wide-open race. The Cowboys started the season at the bottom of the league in media polls, but they have let DeMarco Murray carry them to the top. Can their success be sustained? We'll see.

No NFC team has been dominant. Injuries have been a hindrance for many teams, and there is no guarantee the next few weeks will sort out the conference's hierarchy.

Here are the top trends heading into Week 8.

1. Underachieving NFC South: Before the season, it was easy to project the AFC South as the league's weakest division. Every team in the division except the Colts was going through quarterback transitions or coaching changes. But so far, it's the NFC South that has been the league's worst division.

NFC South teams are a horrible 4-13-1 outside the division. The problem is on defense. Critics have pointed to the Saints' defense as disappointing -- which it is -- but New Orleans has the best defense in the division, allowing 27.5 points and 373.7 yards a game. Carolina, Atlanta and Tampa Bay rank among the worst six teams in yardage allowed. The Falcons are giving up 28.4 points a game, the Panthers 27.9 and the Buccaneers 34.

Week 8 could make the NFC South's struggles even worse. The Falcons play the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford in London, the Panthers host a desperate Seahawks team, and the Saints host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Lovie Smith of the Bucs hopes a bye and then a game against the Minnesota Vikings and rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will give his defense a chance to regroup and improve.

2. The battle atop the NFC: This week's marquee NFC game features the two teams nipping at conference-leading Dallas' heels, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals, both of whom sit at 5-1. The challenge for the Cardinals will be stopping the Eagles' fast-paced offense. Injuries have depleted the Cardinals' linebacking corps, but their safeties are so good they've been able to fill in at linebacker spots in nickel situations. Arizona is great at stopping the run, but keeping up with Nick Foles' fast snaps and ability to get the ball to LeSean McCoy in space is another story. The next five weeks will be a tall order for Arizona, as it plays the Eagles, Dallas, St. Louis, Detroit and Seattle.

As for the Cowboys, they hope to continue their magical run Monday night when they host the rival Washington Redskins. Dallas is catching Washington at a good time. Robert Griffin III is injured, Kirk Cousins has been benched, and coach Jay Gruden is starting Colt McCoy, his third-string quarterback. And linebacker Brian Orakpo was just lost for the season.

3. Bengals falling fast: The Cincinnati Bengals started off strong, going to Baltimore and beating the Ravens in the opener 23-16. That win sparked a 3-0 start and had the Bengals feeling as though they were in the running for the top seed in the AFC. On Sunday, the Bengals conclude their series with the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium. A loss would drop them to 3-3-1 and put them 2½ games behind the Ravens, essentially handing the division to Baltimore.

Over the past three games, the Bengals' defense is surrendering 35.7 points and allowing opponents to convert 41.3 percent of their third downs. Gone is the pass rush, which has averaged only a sack a game during that stretch, and the defense has forced only a turnover a game. Making matters worse is that Baltimore's Joe Flacco is getting more comfortable in Gary Kubiak's offense and starting to connect on his deep throws. This is a must-win game for the Bengals.