FOX Sports’ Mark Schlereth Breaks Down the Top NFC & AFC Super Bowl Contenders

Rich opened with what he called "a high and tight fastball right off the top." He had just released his power rankings. Who is the best team in football through seven weeks for FOX Sports' Mark Schlereth?

Schlereth still likes San Francisco, even after the loss to Atlanta. The 49ers had no receivers in that game, he noted, and they are going to get them all back. Nick Bosa is coming back, and they just traded for DeForest Buckner. "San Francisco is still really good," Schlereth said.

But he thinks it is close. Seattle is closing ground after getting Quenton Nelson. "That dude is still a phenomenal player," Schlereth said. And the Rams, after what they did to the Raiders, are closing ground too, because they got back to what they do as a football team. Rich filled in the details: running, play action off of it, and almost 200 combined yards from Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.

The AFC was harder. Schlereth's instinct was still Kansas City, but after what happened to the Chiefs in Seattle last weekend, he would probably go Buffalo. He pointed to Josh Allen's ability to make off-schedule plays and still beat you from the pocket, plus the run game. He still has concerns about the Bills' defense, though, and that was his larger point about the conference. "Any given weekend and they're all flawed," he said. "Everybody seems to have flaws." He also called Jacksonville "really solid."

Then Rich turned to the AFC North, where every team is above .500, and asked Schlereth to put his marker on one. Schlereth called it "such a tough question," and Rich admitted, "I've come out of the box like I'm angry."

Schlereth loves Cleveland's defense but doesn't trust the offense. The Browns are young there, and he said Deshaun Watson has an ebb and flow to his game where "he's really good for, you know, a couple of drives and he's really bad for a couple of drives."

The team that intrigues him is Cincinnati, because of Joe Burrow. "That guy is an absolute killer," Schlereth said, calling him "the best pure quarterback in the National Football League." The toughness, the accuracy from the pocket, the weapons on the outside. "He just gives you a chance to win every weekend." He also called Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers a tough out with that defense. In the end, Schlereth said, every team in the division is neck and neck.

Rich lingered in the AFC North for one more question. Ravens coach Jesse Minter had talked about second-half collapses and said he needs to see a little bit more from veteran players during tough stretches, on the sideline as well as on the field. What did Schlereth think he meant?

Schlereth started with who Minter is: a defensive coach who came over from the Chargers, and "that's where he hangs his hat." Being up 13-0 going into the second half and then watching Cincinnati score on every possession, Schlereth said, "is bad football and that's on you and that's on your defense."

So Minter is challenging his defense, Schlereth explained. Lamar has been out with the ankle for a couple of weeks, the team is playing with a backup quarterback, and the coach expects his defense to tackle well, stay on point in coverage, avoid busts and play great gap assignment football, even against what Schlereth considers the best quarterback in football.

The deeper issue, as Schlereth read it, is a mindset. "It feels to me like, hey, we're just waiting around for Lamar to come back," he said. "You can't play the game that way. You've got to go out there and take care of your business and do your job." That, he believes, is what Minter meant when he asked for more from his veteran leadership.