NFL Thoughts: Week 5

Rams 23/Packers 20

I know the Rams' performances aren't really impressing anyone. But at least this season they are winning . Last year they lost these types of games. The frustrating thing for me is that other than last week's offensive explosion against the Lions, it's been all about how many field goals Jeff Wilkins can kick. But I'm not deluding myself. The Rams have to start playing better if they are going to beat the better teams that are coming up on their schedule. They got lucky with Packer cornerback Al Harris dropping a sure interception that would have gone for a TD, and a fumble by Favre when they were threatening to score and win the game. It was ugly and lucky. But I'll take it.

Bears 41/Bills 7

There will be no living with Greg from Sportsblah.com after this masterful performance from his posterboy Grossman and the dominant Chicago Bears. Not that I'd want to live with him....because you know..uh..that'd be weird.

Moving on...

Eagles 38/Cowboys 24
How giddy are most of us about Terrell Owens' crappy game against Philly? Ok stupid question. About as stupid as the non-stop media coverage of this game. The Eagle no-name receivers came through big against the Cowboy secondary and now McNabb is smiling like the Cheshire Cat. Frankly I was sick of this game before it was even played.


49ers 34/Raiders 20
It's nice to see Alex Smith and San Fran rebound from the whooping they took last week against the Chiefs. Can you call it a rebound if it's against Oakland though? Does that count? Technically the Raiders are in the NFL this year so I guess we'll give it to them.


Jaguars 41/Jets 0
It's just sad to me as a Patriot-hater that New England has basically had no competition in their division for....well.....forever. The Jets are still nowhere close to competing with the Pats for the automatic playoff spot. Jacksonville made NY look absolutely silly in about everyway possible. It was a bad day for Pennington (3 picks) but credit the Jags defense. After being lit up last week they came back strong.


Chiefs 23/Cardinals 20
Huard looked good, Leinart looked good. That's a positive for both teams. Edgerrin James still can't find any running room (just 78 yards) and really his running style (which involves a whole lot of dancing and waiting for blocks) requires either an outstanding offensive line or a high powered passing game that will open up the run. So far he's had neither. But maybe Leinart can start to change that. I'll admit I was surprised he had as good of game as he did in his first start.


Patriots 20/Dolphins 10
Joey Harrington starting at QB actually made some Dolphin fans happy. That tells you all you need to know about how their season is going.


Saints 24/ Bucs 21
Rookie Bucs QB Bruce Gradkowski deserves credit for a good game. So does Saints running back Deuce McAllister. Deuce is really going to get hosed this year when it comes to getting recognition for his play. He's probably going to have a great year and no one is going to notice because Reggie Bush is in the same backfield. Bush's punt return TD obviously deserves the attention it will get. But what about that amazing run by McAllister in the first half? Imagine if it had been Bush and not McAllister that had that 57 yard dodging and tackle shedding run. You know it would be replayed for two weeks. Deuce will be lucky if he even makes the highlights tonight.


Panthers 20/Browns 12
Scrappy Browns...but also crappy Browns. Carolina still doesn't look like they are the Super Bowl contender pegged by many in the preseason, but their defense led by Julius Peppers is playing well.


Giants 19/Redskins 3
Solid game by the Giants' Tiki Barber and Eili Manning. The NY defense also did a nice job of stopping the Skins' Santana Moss and Clinton Portis. This one hurts for Washington who had been starting to click on offense. You know what this means don't you? Only the Eagles have a winning record in the NFC East. Yep, that's the team most of us picked to finish last in the division.

Vikings 26/Lions 17
John Kitna's late mistakes screwed the Lions. Going into the 4th quarter they just had to avoid giving the Vikes any freebies. What happened instead was a gift-wrapped job by Kitna and the Lions offense. Hey at least the Pistons' NBA season is starting soon.

Chargers 23/Steelers 13
San Diego's Phillip Rivers is pretty impressive so far. I like his arm strength and poise. He had the entire Steeler defense along with Cowher's kitchen sink thrown at him and he made some great throws and avoided costly mistakes. I laughed at Madden and Al Michaels when they said late in the game that Marty Schottenheimer is not going to change the way he coaches just because of criticism. But that's exactly what happened. The Chargers were throwing the ball late in the game with a slim lead and I'm positive it just about killed Shottenheimer to do it. But he knew he was going to get slaughtered in the press and by the fans if they didn't throw it and then they ended up losing again. Rivers is convincing me he is the real deal and the Chargers ought to let him show it.

Colts 14/Titans 13
It's a win for the Colts. But an embarrassing one. Like the time I farted on my first date type embarrassing. Fortunately for the Colts their game worked out better than my date did.