The Slumping Six: Which NFL contenders will bounce back?

ByMIKE SANDO
November 7, 2016, 9:32 AM

— -- Enduring visuals from Week 9 were not what some of the NFL's would-be contenders had in mind.

There was Ben Roethlisberger limping around the Pittsburgh Steelers' locker room following his first game back from knee surgery. There was Cam Newton, though victorious, disappearing into the Los Angeles Coliseum grass under another helmet-to-helmet hit. There was Aaron Rodgers, though unhurt, hopping around Lambeau Field after someone stepped hard onto his left foot. Then there were the Minnesota Vikings, who somehow did not win after scoring the go-ahead touchdown against Detroit with 23 seconds left in regulation.

These were the leading protagonists among teams with high hopes and wildly fluctuating vital signs. The Steelers, Packers, Vikings, Eagles, Panthers and Cardinals will have to regain their equilibrium following hard falls to achieve contender status again. Below, I've diagnosed their conditions and ranked them by bounce-back potential.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers?(4-4)

Cause of slide: Sunday marked the first game all season that Pittsburgh had franchise cornerstones Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, Cameron Heyward and Ryan Shazier playing in the same game. The Steelers trailed at Baltimore by 21 points deep into the fourth quarter before absorbing a 21-14 defeat. That result was obviously disappointing, but it didn't reveal anything new.

Roethlisberger was rushing back from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The Steelers have struggled in Baltimore, even when Roethlisberger is healthy, and have failed to win there since the 2012 season. The Ravens entered Sunday having allowed a league-low 3.9 explosive plays per game (defined as runs covering at least 10 yards and passes covering at least 20). Pittsburgh, operating with Roethlisberger in the shotgun formation for all but a dozen snaps, managed zero explosive plays through three quarters.

Bounce-back potential: The Steelers will bounce back to whatever degree Roethlisberger's knee can heal over the season's second half. He showed last season that he could carry a severely depleted Steelers roster -- no Bell and no Antonio Brown in a 23-16 divisional-round defeat at Denver -- to the brink of the AFC Championship Game. However, the likelihood that Roethlisberger and Bell would miss games explained why Pittsburgh showed up on my preseason list of overrated teams. It's going to take better luck for the Steelers to reach their potential.

2. Green Bay Packers?(4-4)

Cause of slide: Injuries have wiped out Green Bay at running back, placed No. 1 receiver Jordy Nelson behind schedule and forced the Packers to scramble in the secondary. With no conventional ground game, no deep receiving threat and underwhelming talent at tight end, the Packers are asking too much from their quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is scrambling like never before, drawing pass-interference penalties like never before and avoiding sacks like never before. But he is not consistently shredding defenses with his passing, and he has not done so since Denver exposed Nelson's absence in Week 8 of the previous season.

Bounce-back potential: Minnesota is falling (more on the Vikings later), and Detroit isn't good enough to run away with the NFC North, which means the Packers could still win the division without much else changing. Rodgers' presence obviously keeps the Packers' ceiling high, but this team has too many strikes against it to bank on a deep postseason run.

Nelson could improve as his ACL surgery fades further into the past. However, top cornerback Sam Shields and top running back Eddie Lacy are on injured reserve. Per league rules, only one of them can return this season. It's unclear whether either would quickly regain peak form if activated.

Meanwhile, Rodgers is tied with Lacy for the team lead in rushing first downs, with 15. That is the highest eight-game total for Rodgers' career and two more than he had at this point in 2009, when Ryan Grant led the Packers with 32. Will Rodgers hold up physically at age 32, when there's little hope that Green Bay will become more balanced down the stretch?

"The thing about Green Bay is they have pass-protected well," a rival coach said. "You have the best or second-best QB in the league with pass protection, and that is an explosive mix. But they have all their backs hurt, and then they trade for one, and he gets hurt, so now they have the wideout running it. They are also decimated in the defensive backfield."

3. Carolina Panthers?(3-5)

Cause of slide: The Panthers' secondary fell apart without Josh Norman and the veteran mix that helped Carolina lead the NFL in opponent turnovers with 39 last season. That put additional pressure on quarterback Cam Newton to carry a run-oriented offense that suffered when top running back Jonathan Stewart was unavailable. Newton missed one game to injury and has struggled without his defense providing short fields. In points off turnovers, Carolina has lost seven points per game from the past season.

Bounce-back potential: Bouncing back to 2015 form isn't realistic. That was a special season. Challenging for a playoff spot? That is doable for a Carolina team that has finished strong under Ron Rivera in previous seasons. However, the next four opponents -- Kansas City, New Orleans, Oakland and Seattle -- could return a swift and unpleasant verdict on this season.

Newton has a higher completion rate, more passing yards, a better touchdown-to-interception ratio, a higher passer rating and a higher Total QBR than he had through his first seven games of his 2015 MVP season. Newton tossed 24 touchdown passes with just two interceptions over the Panthers' final nine games to claim that MVP award. He isn't likely to replicate those numbers from this point forward in 2016, but the Panthers have won their past two to give themselves at least an outside shot of making a late run.

4. Arizona Cardinals?(3-4-1)

Cause of slide: Carson Palmer has returned to previous form (or thereabouts) after putting together an MVP-caliber season in 2015. The Cardinals' offensive line was already diminished this season, before veteran left tackle Jared Veldheer landed on injured reserve. Receiver Michael Floyd has all but vanished from the offense. He and the Cardinals' other wideouts not named Larry Fitzgerald aren't making the sensational catches they made last season. It has been a grind for Arizona offensively, and Palmer is looking nearer his age (36).

Bounce-back potential: The Cardinals play six of their final nine games on the road and already lost one of them, 30-20 at Carolina before their bye. The Arizona defense is talented enough to keep games close without the newly injured Tyrann Mathieu, but too much is missing from the offense for the team to bounce back to 2015 form.

5. Philadelphia Eagles?(4-4)

Cause of slide: The Eagles have played four of their past five games on the road with a rookie quarterback, inconsistent wide receivers and no reliable power back. Those four road defeats came by margins of one, seven, six and five points. The Eagles are, for the most part, who we thought they were going to be: a team strong enough on defense to compete while finding its way offensively. This would be the same team even if it had won a couple of the games that slipped away.

Bounce-back potential: It's going to be rough with Atlanta, Seattle, Green Bay, Cincinnati, Washington, Baltimore, the Giants and Dallas left on the schedule. But if you realize who the Eagles really were after they beat Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh to open the season, getting to the season's midpoint with a .500 record should come as no shock.?Development from Carson Wentz could push the Eagles up a notch or two.

6. Minnesota Vikings?(5-3)

Cause of slide: The Vikings got to 5-0 thanks to a plus-11 turnover differential, two defensive touchdowns and two special-teams touchdowns. They are plus-one in turnover differential with zero non-offensive touchdowns on their three-game losing streak. The Vikings might possess the NFL's worst combination of offensive line and running backs, which is why a personnel evaluator who studied them in mid-October saw this slide coming.

"Whenever that glue comes unraveled, it can be bad for a long time because there ain't no cavalry coming for them," the evaluator said when the Vikings were still unbeaten. "You can't find good offensive linemen anywhere."

Bounce-back potential: These problems aren't going away. Adrian Peterson isn't riding to the rescue. As the offensive line continues to struggle, the injury odds will only worsen for Sam Bradford. The Vikings' quarterback has shown that he can throw accurately when protected, but Minnesota cannot protect him well enough. There might not be another starting quarterback with less ability to create offense on his own (Bradford, Eli Manning, Josh McCown and Brian Hoyer are the only regular starters without a rushing first down this season). The defense is talented enough for Minnesota to grind out victories and stay relevant in the NFC North, but the ceiling for Minnesota should only get lower from here.