Week 5 Recap

As we start the second quarter of the season, there are a lot of surprises around the league. Who would have thought that Buffalo, Arizona, Chicago, Tennessee, Denver and Carolina would be division leaders. Heck, even the Giants starting 4-0 is a bit of a shocker. I guess the only non-surprising division is...Pittsburgh.

Which brings me to my next point. In our Steelers season preview, both John and I had the Steelers starting 4-1. Granted, I had us losing to Jacksonville and John had us losing to Cleveland. But nevertheless, our instincts were in the right place. We did differ in our opinions about post-bye records, with John predicting a 12-4 finish and me taking a more pessimistic attitude and predicting 9-7.

AFC Rundown

Tennessee is the only undefeated AFC team, but they have a league-worst SOS of .347 and was barely able to squeeze by Baltimore this weekend in a defensive struggle. If Baltimore wants to win, their offense needs to produce more than 10 points, even against a good defense. Their offense is 27th in scoring, 31st in passing, and 24th in total offense. Not the rankings of a playoff contender. The Single Wing is back in Miami and it has sparked their offense. Is it sad that Miami is better without a quarterback on the field? San Diego can't stop anyone. Forget the 59 1/2 minute-men defense. They're like a block of swiss cheese. John called the Arizona over Buffalo upset, but we couldn't have predicted Trent Edwards going down. Buffalo needs him to get healthy. Pittsburgh solidified their status as a contender by beating Jacksonville. Denver eeked one out against a good Tampa defense and New England did what they were supposed to against San Fran. Houston...where to begin? Sage Rosenfels played a great 56 minutes. The last 4 will haunt him for the rest of his career. Indy should be 0-4 right now.

NFC Rundown

The Giants sans-No-Catch-ico blasted Seattle. How bad is the Seahawks defense? Which is a perfect segue to Detroit, who is not only bad on defense, but on offense as well. They made Kyle Orton look like the real deal. I'm still not sold on him. Minnesota pulled one out against New Orleans. It was exciting, but AP didn't really show up against a bad run defense. Silver lining for New Orleans: Reggie Bush had 2 punt returns for scores. Dark Cloud for New Orleans: Drew Brees passed for 330 yards and the offense still only had 13 points. Aaron Rodgers played a great game but the Packer D couldn't stop Atlanta when they needed to. Dallas ran up a quick lead against Cincy but let the Bungles back in the game. They need to play Felix Jones more. Carolina and Arizona looked great. Washington is good. Really, really, really good. They are done with their road division games, and are 2-1 in those games.

Best Game of the Week: Pittsburgh over Jacksonville

This game had it all. Early scoring to keep things exciting, both teams moving the ball, big defensive stands, and a game-winning 6-minute drive by an injured quarterback. Epic.

Most Disappointing Game of the Week: Arizona over Buffalo

As tempting as it was to give this to Houston, it goes to Buffalo for getting trounced by Arizona. Buffalo showed a lot of heart after Edwards got knocked out on the 3rd play from scrimage, but Arizona ran up a 14-0 lead and the game wasn't really close after that with Buffalo never getting within a touchdown of the lead.

Top Performance: Ben Roethlisberger

Hometown bias? Maybe. But not only did Ben play hurt, but he threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the game winner to Hines Ward with just under 2 minutes to play. Clinton Portis was a close second here for racking up big yards against a good Eagles defense. DeAngelo Williams and Kyle Orton also deserve shout-outs, but their performances came against teams with bad defenses.

Games with Playoff Implications:
Pittsburgh over Jacksonville
Indianapolis over Houston (for the sole reason it saved their season)
Tennessee over Baltimore
Washington over Philadelphia

Waaaay too Early Playoff Picture:
Image to come later
AFC Standings:
1. Tennessee (5-0, 4-0)
2. Pittsburgh (4-1, 4-0)
3. Buffalo (4-1, 2-0)
4. Denver (4-1, 2-1)
5. New England (3-1, 2-1)
6. Baltimore (2-2, 2-2)
Outside looking in: Indianapolis (2-2, 1-1), NY Jets (2-2, 1-2), Miami (2-2, 2-1)

NFC Standings:
1. NY Giants (4-0, 3-0)
2. Carolina (4-1, 2-1)
3. Arizona (3-2, 1-1)
4. Chicago (3-2, 2-2)
5. Washington (4-1, 4-1)
6. Dallas (4-1, 2-1)
Outside looking in: Tampa Bay (3-2, 2-1), Atlanta (3-2, 2-2)