Strange start to NFL season

By now, a month into the NFL season, the wheat is usually distinguishable from the chaff. Not this year, though. So many contenders have had chaff-like moments, it’s hard to tell who’s Really Good. Consider:

The Seahawks got blasted 37-6 by the Bears.

The Bengals were waxed 38-13 by the Patriots.

The Eagles blew a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead to the Giants.

The Giants were down 42-3 to the Seahawks.

The Patriots’ offense couldn’t do anything in a 17-7 loss to the Broncos.

Neither could the Steelers’ offense in a 9-0 loss to the Jaguars.

But then Jacksonville turned around and gave up 36 points to the Redskins — after the Redskins’ offense had managed only a field goal against the Cowboys.

Here’s my favorite, though: Since that 42-3 lead against the Giants, Seattle has been outscored 64-6.

I wouldn’t want to be a Super Bowl handicapper right now. Even the Colts and Ravens, two of the three undefeated teams left, seem lacking in gravitas. Indianapolis, which led the league last year in blowouts, has won three of its four games by a touchdown or less — and only survived a last-second lateral-fest by the Jets on Sunday because the Stanford Band wasn’t there to run interference. Even more telling: The Indy defense is allowing 155 rushing yards a game.

Baltimore, meanwhile, is trying to make it back to the Super Bowl with the same formula that worked in 2000: A killer D … and just barely enough O (15 points in Week 3 and 16 in Week 4). But can the Ravens pull it off again with Steve McNair cast in the role of Trent Dilfer? Heck, I’m still trying to figure out how they pulled it off the first time.

Then there are the Bears, the least suspect of the bunch, who, given the modest demands of their schedule, should be 8-0 when they play the Giants at the Meadowlands on Nov. 12. Watch the media hype machine shift into overdrive as that clash approaches. Of course, maybe Chicago will deal with the Undefeated Circus better than the Colts did a year ago — and flirt even more seriously with a perfect season. (Nah. The Pats will stop them at 11 in Foxboro.)

The unpredictability of the first month suggests more Strange Tales are in the offing. In just the last two weeks, after all, a quarterback (the Bucs’ Chris Simms) has had his spleen removed and a center (the Cowboys’ Andre Gurode) has had his head stomped on (by the Titans’ Albert Haynesworth). Where do you go from there? I’m not sure I want to know the answer.

A few other observations about Weeks 1 through 4:

• The preseason buildup of the Dolphins was ridiculous — and This Space said as much in early September. Yes, Nick Saban did a nice job last year, coaching a modestly talented team to a 9-7 record and winning six straight at the end. But the streak was accomplished against most second-rate competition and often by the scantest of margins (one point once, two points twice and four points another time).

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