The Real Deal or a Fake Offer.

The San Francisco 49ers are 7-1 (undefeated on the road; 4-0) at the halfway point of the 2011-2012 NFL season and are clicking on all cylinders.

They are on a six-game winning streak, and have outscored their opponents 149-74 in those six games. With a rookie NFL head coach in Jim Harbaugh one would expect a rough start to his debut season, but he and his team have failed to meet those low expectations.

San Francisco's defense allowed only 15 points per game through the first eight games, while their offense averages 26 points per game. Starting quarterback, Alex Smith, who many critics believe cannot cut it in the NFL, is doing what his job demands him to do.

Smith has taken care of the ball (only two interceptions), thrown for 10 touchdowns, managed the game and put his team in positions to win so far this season.

With that being said, their division is not a tough one to compete in, and they are as much of a surprise team as the 6-2 Detroit Lions and the 5-3 Buffalo Bills are this season. The tougher half of their regular season schedule (week 10 against NYG, week 11 @ BAL and week 15 against PIT) is coming up and this will be the test to find out if the 49ers are the real deal.

They have to beat the Giants, Ravens and the Steelers, as rap artist, Drake says "so I know it's real," before they will be considered a true threat to win it all.

Until they can prove they can perform at this high level for an entire season, as well as the playoffs, then the question will continue to be asked, are they "The Real Deal or a Fake Offer?"

Leading ROY Candidate??

Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton continues to impress people with his performance after leading a balanced attack to defeat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 earlier today.

He completed 20-of-his-39 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions in the win. The former quarterback for the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University has been poised in his debut season as a NFL starter.   

He's thrown for 1,690 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions through eight games so far this season. Dalton has catapulted himself into the Rookie of the Year (ROY) discussions by simply leading his young team to a 6-2 record so far.

Quarterback Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers has been in the top five in passing yards among all quarterbacks in the NFL, and is the favorite to be the Rookie of the Year, but it will not be easy to claim the title with Dalton breathing down his neck.

Dalton is performing at a high level in a tough AFC North division. He's holding his own against exceptional quarterbacks (Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens) within the division.

All in all, Andy Dalton is silencing a lot critics about his team who, according to multiple sources, were ranked last in the preseason rankings at the start of the season.