The Zone Read: 6 things I'm watching

The NFL regular season is a little more than half over, and with that always comes some of the most decisive, exciting football games of the year. We saw it on Monday night in the game between the 49ers and the Seahawks, a game that came down to the wire and felt every bit like a playoff game in terms of atmosphere and intensity. We are only going to get treated to more and more games like that down the stretch, and with these games will come plenty of narratives that grow and evolve. Here are some of the narratives, players and teams I’m watching closely from here on out.

1) Lamar Jackson is the story of the season, and with good reason. He’s the most dynamic player in the league right now, to a point where he made juking three professional-grade athletes at once look easy. Jackson has proven the Ravens’ ceiling is the Super Bowl, and he’s pushing for MVP right now.

2) The other name in that race is the superhero Russell Wilson, who just handed the league’s last undefeated team its first loss, in nail-biting fashion. The Seahawks continue to defy logic with their subpar roster and make magic happen. It won’t be pretty, but they can hand a loss to anyone right now.

3) The NFC West is also the home of a struggling Rams offense. The Rams have regressed this season, and are dealing with depth issues across the board. The schedule doesn’t get easier for them either, and this could be a big test of Sean McVay’s adaptability as a head coach.

4) The 49ers and their absolute tear of a run came to an end at the hands of the aforementioned Russell Wilson, and now they look to bounce back against the mediocre Arizona Cardinals. A get-right win will be needed as the 49ers stare down a gauntlet of Super Bowl contenders in Green Bay, New Orleans and Baltimore. How they perform in those matches will be a big indicator of whether this young team is truly ready for a deep playoff run.

5) The New England Patriots look to bounce back from a tough loss as well. Their schedule is much harder in this second half, and the first contending team they’ve faced handed them a big loss. Let’s see how that defense fares against quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes.

6) The absolute disaster that is the Browns have defied all our modest or hopeful expectations with a really sad season. Yes, the Browns just won a game. Yippie. They’ve turned the promising Baker Mayfield into a turnover machine with their terrible offensive line play, and have no business playing this undisciplined and unsuccessfully with so much talent on the roster. If they don’t turn it around in these next weeks, things could get ugly in the offseason.