After last week the panicking over the Packers and Patriots are over, and now we seem to maybe in the week before the Tebocalypse. This may be the best week to have an intelligent football conversation, so let's get into week 5:
Thursday Game Notes: In a battle between two teams in the seemingly surprising NFC West, we saw one of the unbeaten's go down. It shouldn't be a big surprise to many though, as the Cardinals' zero in the loss category was on borrowed time anyways. So what do we take from this game? First off the Cardinals are not as good as their record says, and may be more like the 2011 Buffalo Bills than anything. First off, the defense has played too good. They can be improved this year, but they aren't the Ravens or 49ers. Also, they have the always shaky Kevin Kolb and one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald isn't going to be the answers for all their problems, and their are plenty of problems there.
As for St. Louis, well it seems like a good idea to believe in them going 7-9 or 8-8 and finishing second in the NFC West. They are very talented on defense particularly in the secondary and on the defensive line. This leaves former number one pick Sam Bradford in a position to just make enough plays to put Steven Jackson and Greg Zuerlein in scoring positions (even if Jackson hasn't scored this year, yet). Personally, I like the Rams as a contender for the wild card maybe not this year, but down the road. Adding a free agent or top draft pick receiver to be the number one guy in the passing game could really make this team special.
Game of the Week: Don't have to say too much about this classic rivalry. Tom Brady. Peyton Manning. Brady has much more left in the tank than Manning, who has had arm strength issues early in 2012. 31-28 Patriots.
Upset of the Week: New Orleans gets the monkey off their back and takes down the 3-1 Chargers. Honestly both of these teams have played very similar this year on offense, the Chargers defense has just made enough plays to be 3-1 instead of 0-4. The Saints have lost by an average of 5 points a game, and they have lost each of them by only one score. This week the Saints make enough plays on offense, and the Chargers fall short. 28-24
Almost Upset of the Week: The Giants are actually better on the road than at home, which is such a Giants thing to do. Just when you think they have an easy win at home against Cleveland, the Giants make a mess of this game. On the flip side, Cleveland is THE best team in NFL at pulling the near upset. The moment you sit on your couch going "Cleveland is actually going to win this game", divine intervention comes in and balances out the world. I have even gotten to the point where I would believe the Browns players forget what down it is and unbelievably run a play on 4th down that doesn't get the first down, when a field goal would have won them the game. Oh wait... the Lions already took care of that one. 17-14 Giants.
Chalk These Up: Green Bay will take care of the Colts, 35-17. The 49ers are way too good to lose to Buffalo, 21-10. Baltimore takes down the Kansas City Jamaal Charles, 27-14. (Note: if the under/over for Matt Cassel's turnovers is 4 what would you do? If you take the over I feel like you haven't watched enough Kansas City football to know how bad he has been.) Minnesota has been playing good, and they take on the 1-3 Titans. This is more about Tennessee being bad than the Vikings being good, 27-17. Finally, I BELIEVE Chicago can when this game no matter which Jay Cutler shows up this weekend (now that I said that we will now probably see Jay Cutler take bad up another notch, sorry Chicago). So they beat Jacksonville 16-10, despite 3 interceptions from Cutler.
So We Are Left With This: Atlanta is one of the unbeaten's left, but are taking on NFL's most interesting man Robert Griffin. Almost put this as the upset of the week, and it is going to be close. Redskins secondary isn't really good at stopping things though, even though that is what defenses are told to do. If the Rams can put up 31, this high powered Atlanta attack can put up a really high number. In a shootout, Atlanta gets one score too many for RGIII, 38-28. Carolina and Seattle is very interesting, as neither have really been phenomenal. It is coming down to Cam and Carolina's offense versus Seattle's stout defense, and I feel Cam can't be bottled up forever. Seattle's offense is also not good enough to take advantage of a poor Panthers defense. 20-13 seems like a good score for this one, with Seattle not being able to move the ball.
Cincinnati seems like a shoe in at home against Miami, but Miami has had a couple close run ins that weren't wins lately. Add that to the fact Cincinnati is playing above a level some thought they would be, and it isn't too hard to see Miami sneaking out a win. Dolphins don't let the other team kick the game winning field goal this time, 27-24 Miami. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is very intriguing also, as it really depends on which Michael Vick shows up. I think the good one comes out to surprise most of us and the Eagles put up 35, Steelers don't keep the pace and put up 30.
Monday Night Football Final Note: This game is not in doubt, but Mark Sanchez's job really is, 33-6.
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