Week 5 Review

In Week 5 there was plenty of drama, headlines and shake ups around the league - and that's before any of the games started! 

New England, Miami, Pittsburgh and Seattle were on Byes this week.

• If Randy Moss is only worth a 3rd round pick then how is Deion Branch worth a 4th round pick?  Seems like a sense of urgency to swap Moss with a less volatile WR led to the Patriots getting less than fair value on both ends.  However, as the Patriots offense is transitioning back to one that spreads the ball around to a wider variety of reliable receivers, similar to what they used in their Super Bowl years.  With that in mind, Branch may be a better fit for this team going forward than Moss was, despite the large gap in talent between the two.  Branch's familiarity with Brady and the offensive gameplan will allow him to transition quickly into the system, making him a better choice than other available receivers.
• The AFC South is in a 4 way tie, with all teams in the division having a record of 3-2.
• Jacksonville still looks like they are by far the worst team in that division.  Beating Indy last week was impressive, but nobody gets too excited about beating Buffalo.
• Remember Carson Palmer before that knee injury a few years ago?  He used to be good, right?  Not anymore.  Despite the hype of T.Ocho, the Bengals passing game has looked pretty dismal, with much of the blame falling on Palmer.  3 Interceptions in a game is bad.  When two of them come on your last two possessions of the game to set up two scores in less than a minute and a half that give Tampa the win - that's just awful.
• Did Cleveland really think they could send in Jake Delhomme to save the day?  He came in mid-way through the game and predictably threw 2 Interceptions.  Carolina fans are nodding their heads.
• Is it just me, or does Roddy White get 100 yards and a TD every week?
• Atlanta is quietly becoming one of the best teams in the NFC. 
• The Lions finally won a game!  This battle of bad teams seemed like it could be a toss up, but I did not expect a blow out like this.  The ugly season ending injury to Mark Clayton didn't help, but how do you not put up more than 6 points against the Lions defense?
• Not sure if this proves that the Lions aren't as bad as their 0-4 record had shown, or that the Rams aren't nearly as good as their 2-2 record showed.  I'm guessing... a little bit of both.
• The NFL no longer has an undefeated team, as the mighty Kansas City Chiefs have fallen.  Big surprise.
• The Chiefs actually did a decent job of keeping Payton Manning off the field and out of the endzone.  They were hanging in there late in the game, until a TD run by Mike Hart (who?) put the game away.
• There is some talent on this KC team, but you can't go far with Matt Cassell as your QB.
• Popular pre-season Super Bowl pick, the Green Bay Packers, are looking awfully mediocre at 3-2.  An OT loss in Washington is not their greatest concern though.  Players are dropping like flies due to injuries.  QB Aaron Rodgers may miss next week's game with a concussion, that will undoubtedly drop this playoff hopeful team to 3-3.  The injury to TE Jermichael Finley looks more serious and could keep him out 3-6 weeks.
• Donovan McNabb was the only QB to throw for over 300 yards this week and actually win the game.  Yet they claim this has turned into a passing dominant league...
• Todd Collins threw for only 32 yards with only 6 complete passes and 4 Interceptions... but still WON the game!!  His hideous 6.2 QB rating has to be the lowest mark for a winning QB that I've ever seen. 
• The Bears totaled over 200 yards of rushing offense, in case you were wondering how they managed to score at all in this game.
• The Carolina QBs were nearly as bad as Collins.  Jimmy Clausen was benched for the man that he replaced earlier this season (Matt Moore), but neither of them managed to move the ball effectively enough against a tough Bears D to keep them in the game.  When the opposing QB is nearly historically bad and you still lose by 3 scores, you know your offense is struggling.
• Despite dreadful QB play, Carolina refuses to use their two best weapons - RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.  They combined for 20 carries, but that number should be nearly double that.  Or at least involve them more in the passing game (especially with Steve Smith being out).  When the passing game clearly is not working, try giving the ball to your most talented players!
• Kyle Orton continues to impress.  Despite a losing effort, he put up some good numbers against a good Baltimore defense.  The diving endzone catch by Brandon Lloyd was a thing of beauty.  He had 2 TDs of over 40 yds each.  So much for Orton being unable to throw the deep ball!
• Ray Rice is finally starting to show signs of life.  Bad news, since the Patriots have to face him next week, with memories of Rice toasting them in last year's playoffs still fresh in their minds.
• After Willis McGahee failed again to score on a goal line carry, the Ravens finally smartened up and decided to give Rice a shot.  He responded by scoring 2 short TDs.  They may be onto something...
• The Giants D looked good again.  Only 3 sacks this week, so sorry, no more record performances like they had against the Bears, but impressive nonetheless.  Holding Matt Schaub (who had Andre Johnson back for this game) to under 200 yards passing is great, but to also hold this year's breakout star Arian Foster to only 25 rushing yards shows what a great all around effort they Giants D provided.
• Hakeen Nicks is becoming a star.  He's big, fast and makes plays.  He's the much needed endzone threat they have missed since Plaxico Burress went to jail.  Eli may never put up the stats that his big brother does, but having a big play receiver like Nicks helps establish the younger Manning as an elite QB.
• It also helps that the Texans have one of the league's worst pass defenses.
• Maybe it's a Super Bowl hangover, but something is seriously wrong with the Saints.  They aren't playing with the same fire and determination they had last year.  They apparently thought they could sleep walk their way through this game, but it came back to bite them.  Arizona is not a good team, New Orleans just played sloppy.
• Max Hall will forever be able to say he beat the defending Super Bowl Champions in his first NFL start.  He'll just fail to mention that he himself played poorly when telling the story.  This team's offense has become so pathetic that now even their running game can't get anything going against a Saints team that was ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in rushing defense.  Beanie Wells: 20 carries, 35 yards; Tim Hightower: 4 carries, 6 yards. 
• The Cardinals defense isn't very good, in that they give up a ton of yardage on the ground and through the air, but they managed to capitalize on some mistakes by the Saints to score two TDs off turnovers (Interception and a fumble that were each returned for a TD) that decided the game.
• Tony Romo threw for a career high 406 yards, but lost the game.  Typical for his career.  He can put up big stats to help your fantasy football team win, but can't win the game for his team when it counts.
• Chris Johnson got himself back on track with a big game, but that 2,500K yard prediction of his is still looking pretty unrealistic.
• It might be a good idea for Dallas to continue using Felix Jones more, like they did in this game.  He's so much more explosive than Marion Barber.
• Miles Austin continues to amaze.  Romo threw to him in double coverage, on a ball that could easily have been intercepted, but Austin leaped up and snatched the ball away, then somehow split the defenders to carry the ball for a 70 yard TD.
• Phillip Rivers joins the club of outstanding passing numbers in a loss.  He now leads the league in passing on a team that entered the week with the league's top rated offense and defense, yet has a 2-3 record to show for it.
• Oh yeah, and Rivers also lost them the game by fumbling the ball with less than 1 minute to go, which was returned for a TD.  So much for last minute heroics.  The worst part is, they were already in FG range to win the game until a holding penalty knocked them back to the OAK 33 yard line.  A 50 yard field goal is still within range, especially when they could have ran the ball up the middle a few times to try to get a bit closer.  Why go into the shotgun to try to pass in this situation?  Only bad things could have happened - and they did.
• Kevin Kolb gets his first win of the season as the Eagles starter, but will it be enough to keep his job once Vick is healthy?  Probably not, but I can see the two QBs going back and forth as starters several more times this season.
• DeSean Jackson left early with a sprained knee, but you would hardly have noticed since Kolb apparently doesn't like to throw to him anyway.
• The 49ers apparently still think they are a playoff team.  I guess anything is possible in that division, but an 0-5 hole will be pretty tough to climb out of.  Especially when Alex Smith is their QB.
• Nice to see former 1st round pick Michael Crabtree finally contribute.  Still worth noting that the team had a winning record last year during his hold out but a losing record since he joined the active roster.
• Randy Moss made his re-debut with the Vikings on Monday Night.  After the team managed nothing in the first half, Favre finally came to life in the 2nd half.  He connected with Moss on a 37 yard TD to finally put them on the scoreboard near the end of the 3rd quarter.
• Speaking of Moss, the story about him getting into a fight with Tom Brady that led to them trading insults about each other's hair is now being denied by all reliable sources.  Not sure where that came from, but it seems way to ridiculous to be true.  Why would anyone tell Brady to cut his hair because he looks like a girl?  Ridiculous!
• Some reporters are trying to blame the Vikings struggles on Favre being distracted by the allegations that he sent some racy text messages to a former Jets reporter.  Clearly Favre made up this story just to get himself in the news more.  With the team losing he just wasn't making enough headlines anymore.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  In a related story of desperation, did I mention the Vikings recently traded for Randy Moss?
• The Vikings famed "Williams Wall" is typically tough to run against, but the Jets did just fine.  LT had 94 yards on 20 carries, while Shonn Greene had 57 yards on only 10 carries, including an impressive 23 yard TD run.
• Santonio Holmes returned from his suspension to post a mediocre 3 catch, 41 yard performance.  Nothing special, but he adds another threat to this offense that is looking more dangerous each week.
• The Jets now lead the AFC East with a 4-1 record (thanks in part to the Patriots being off this week, so they remain at 3-1).  Coach Rex Ryan celebrated this news by yelling to his team "Now let's go eat a God damn snack!"
• So far this season we have seen a lot more parity in the league.  Supposed powerhouse teams, such as the Colts, Cowboys and Packers, are off to slow starts.  Through 5 weeks we already are without an undefeated team (we had two teams go late in the season last year without a loss - Colts, Saints).  There are also only 3 teams left that have yet to win a game.  Out of those three, San Fransisco and Carolina were expected to be much better and should improve enough to at least win a few games.  Buffalo on the other hand is still horrible.  They will probably win a game or two out of pure luck, but they look like the best bet to end the season with the #1 pick in next year's draft, which they inevitably will blow by drafting another bust.