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CHARLOTTE -- These are the strangest of days in the NFL.

The 4-2 Panthers looked like Super Bowl contenders two weeks ago in a 34-0 win over Kansas City, and they looked like the worst team in the worst division last week in a 27-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

Of course, just a few days before that the NFC South was being talked about as possibly being the best division in pro football, in part because of the relative strength of the teams in it and the relative crumbling of preseason predictions in a strange start to still another strange NFL season.

Dallas defeats Washington and Philadelphia on the road then loses at home to Arizona on the same day Washington loses to St. Louis at home? Cleveland scores 26 points combined in its first three games, all losses, then struggles to beat lowly Cincinnati a week before throttling the undefeated Giants? The only unbeaten team in the NFL is Tennessee, with Kerry Collins at quarterback? Arizona is leading the NFC West?

What is going on in the NFL?

A casual poll among the 4-2 Carolina Panthers after practice Wednesday came up with the best answer anyone in the league can come up with.

"I don't know."

That was a common chorus, and no one seemed all that surprised by it. After all, it was always like this before the New England Patriots started dominating. And now that the Pats have been proven mortal, we can probably come up with a couple more conclusions. One, fantasy football is blind luck; and two, anyone who still bets on NFL games is an idiot.

There are other things to draw on as the season enters its seventh week. But you won't get much from the 4-2 Panthers. As John Fox repeated over and over Wednesday, the key numbers so far are 4 and 2.

Asked about the team's running game, Fox didn't hesitate.

"It's a 4-2 running game," he said. "It's not bad. It's not a 2-4 running game. It's not an 0-6 running game."

Asked about the yards-per-carry stats that have the Panthers ranked 26th in the league, he didn't mince words.

"I don't even know what it is, but it's good enough to be 4-2," he said.

Of course, he's right. And since no one in the league is going anywhere anytime soon, 4-2 is not bad right now. Jake Delhomme said every team in the league is going through the same thing, from the 0-5 Detroit Lions to the 5-0 Titans.

"That's the NFL," the quarterback said. "Nobody's going to win them all. It's only been done twice. I know I sound like a broken record, but if you don't come ready to play, you get beat. Everybody has talent. Everybody. Some have a little more than others."

Carolina plays New Orleans this week, and the Saints come in with a 3-3 record and the top passing offense in the NFC and the No. 2 offense in the NFL. Carolina has the top-rated defense in the NFC. Want to predict a winner? Take out a coin.

The 4-2 Panthers came back to Charlotte after their 24-point drubbing at Tampa and talked about fixing their problems, getting healthy and trying to relax a little bit while everybody else was trying to explain what went wrong.

Asked how well he thought defensive end Julius Peppers had played so far, Fox smiled.

"Good," he said. "4-2."

Better than last year? Worse than last year?

"Our body of work's not through yet," he said. "He's played very well for us, good enough for us to be 4-2."

Is he satisfied being a 4-2 coach?

"Could be 2-4," Fox said. "Could be 6-0. It's never perfect. I don't think it'll ever be."

But nobody knows.

Carolina went 12-4 in its second season, then went 1-15 five years later. No one in his right mind would've predicted that, but Washington left here after the third preseason game in August and a lot of people who know a lot about football predicted it wouldn't win a game.

Washington is 4-2, tied with Dallas and Arizona and Atlanta and Tampa Bay and Denver and Arizona. And, of course, Carolina.

"Nobody knows from week to week what's going to happen in this league," Delhomme said. "Anything can happen."

He came home from Tampa and listened to the experts talking about Sunday's strange results and how they didn't even need to play the Monday night game between Cleveland and New York.

So just how did the Browns win 35-14?

"I don't know," Delhomme said.

Welcome to Week 7 of the 2008 NFL season. Strike up the strange music.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com