Five weeks in and things are taking shape for contenders and falling apart for pretenders. Let’s begin.

Colts @ Broncos

This game was absolutely atrocious to watch. Final score 12-9, Colts. Both of these teams are a ticking time bomb just begging to go off. Turnovers, sacks, three and outs, and non-existent offensive play defined last Thursday’s matchup. Nothing more to say other than I speak for all NFL fans when I say I wasted three hours of my life with this game. 

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Giants @ Packers 

Are the Giants a legit football team? I ask that in all seriousness because they are shocking the NFL world this season. With a 4-1 record, they are cruising to begin the year. They knocked off the Green Bay Packers 27-22; capped off by a Saquon Barkley two yard touchdown run that pushed them to the finish line. Green Bay jumped out to an early lead behind strong defense. However, the resurgent Giants scored 17 unanswered points in the second half. I’m all for the Giants hype because the NFL is better when New York is good. 

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Steelers @ Bills 

The Bills crushed the Steelers 38-3 behind another dominant offensive output from Josh Allen and Co. I expected nothing less from this game as Pittsburgh just doesn’t have the firepower or experience to handle this juggernaut of a team just yet. The Bills are my favorites to come out of the AFC. The question I have for Bills Mafia is: How do you handle adversity? Any great team can blowout teams, but not every great team can handle a dogfight with an equally great organization.

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Chargers @ Browns

First and foremost, I have serious questions about Brandon Staley. The Chargers coach defended his decision not to punt on fourth down with 1:14 remaining after Los Angeles held on for a two point victory, 30-28 after Browns rookie kicker Cade York missed a 54 yard field goal. After the game during the post-game press conference Staley was adamant he’d do the same thing every time. “We just wanted to finish the game with the ball… We wanted to finish the game on our terms…”   

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Bears @ Vikings

The Bears organization still hasn’t been able to stand on solid ground with Justin field yet. The second your quarterback is still struggling to find his footing at the professional level. Well it’s not just his fault, everything starts with the signal caller. Coaching adjustments need to be made as well as offensive and defensive issues needing to be addressed. As much as I don’t like saying everything needs to be fixed; it’s true. For Minnesota they’ve actually played well this season. Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL and their defense is pretty good. Once again, I don’t believe Kirk Cousins is anything special but he gets the job done. Final score 22–29, Vikings.

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Lions @ Patriots

For the first time this season the Detroit Lions struggled on offense mightily. Granted the New England Patriots defense is wonderful and they just outplayed a young team. The Lions offense could not get anything going throughout the game. Specifically, Jared Goff struggled in the game with only 229 yards and one interception. For a young back up quarterback, Bailey Zappe played very efficiently for what he was asked to do. He amassed 188 yards with one interception and one touchdown on the day. The story of the game was the New England defense and how dominant they were.

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Seahawks @ Saints

The Saints and the Seahawks battled it out in a close game that saw the New Orleans Saints win by seven. Final score 39–32, Saints. This game was a game of runs. Seattle struck first and by the end of the first quarter they were up seven on the saints then in the second quarter the Saints out scored the Seahawks 9 to 14. In the second half, the Saints took over the third quarter scoring 14 unanswered points. And in the fourth quarter the Seahawks tried to mount a late comeback scoring 13 points to the New Orleans 8. Geno Smith hasn’t really impressed me this season. I don’t think he’s going to be an MVP candidate this year or anytime soon, but he is playing like he has something to prove and he doesn’t want to let his team down and it’s good to see. 

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Dolphins @ Jets

In a blowout win against the Miami Dolphins; the Jets snapped a 12 game losing streak versus AFC East opponents. That in itself should be enough to get the Jets faithful very excited for the future. Keep in mind that the Dolphins were limited to using their third string quarterback after Teddy Bridgewater went down with injury in the game. So I cut Miami slack in this game. Nonetheless, the New York Jets were able to control basically the entire game. Final score 17-40, Jets.

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Falcons @ Buccaneers

Fun fact, Tom Brady has never lost to the Atlanta Falcons. And that didn’t change Sunday as he threw for 351 yards to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 21–15. This game was overshadowed by a very controversial roughing the passer call in which defensive lineman Grady Jarrett was called for a roughing the passer penalty on Tom Brady which was able to help the Tampa Bay buccaneers squeak by the Atlanta Falcons. The call was heavily scrutinized on social media by fans, players, former officials, and coaches. There’s not much good to say about the Falcons offensive way. Marcus Mariota did not play well at all and was sacked five times with an abysmal quarterback rating of 59.1. That being said it was only a six point victory for the Buccaneers so you can hold your head high if you’re the Falcons and find the silver lining somewhere.

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Titans @ Commanders

The Titans escape with a victory over the Washington Commanders 21–17. After dropping the first two games of the season, the Tennessee Titans have won three straight games to get back over 500 and atop the AFC South. The AFC South is horrible, so being at the top of a terrible division doesn’t tell me much about Tennessee. Because at the end of the day this Tennessee team is mediocre at best which is not a good time at all. Washington is a dumpster fire. Carson Wentz is a borderline unplayable quarterback. The defense is atrocious. The coaching decisions are wildly inconsistent just to top it off. If I’m Washington I’m looking to hit the reset button as soon as possible because the quarterback draft class that’s coming in this year is elite.

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Texans @ Jaguars

If you thought the Colts and Broncos game was atrocious this one was probably a migraine waiting to happen. Damien Pierce is looking to establish himself as the Texans best player. He ran for 99 yards and a touchdown, a score set up by his determined fourth-quarter scamper through half of Jacksonville’s defense, and the Texans beat the Jaguars 13–6 because of his electric play. Houston picked up its first win of the season under coach Lovie Smith and fifth straight in Jacksonville despite finishing with a measly 248 yards. Trevor Lawrence struggled in this game throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions on the day with an abysmal quarterback rating of 32.1. I still like Jacksonville as a team but they have a long way to go to see success. 

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49ers @ Panthers

The Panthers are in serious trouble. They fired Coach Matt Rhule after San Francisco defeated them 37–15, to give the Panthers their fourth loss of the year. Baker Mayfield is not the guy that Carolina hoped he would be. And in my humble opinion, he’s losing his opportunity to prove himself as a starting quarterback in the NFL day by day. Jimmy Garoppolo is doing the exact opposite and trying to prove that he deserves a starting spot. Jimmy Garoppolo three for 253 yards and two touchdowns. The biggest storyline for San Francisco revolves around cornerback Emmanuel Moseley. The former Tennessee volunteer intercepted Mayfield and returned 41 yards for a score. But he also tore his ACL in the contest. This injury will  keep him out the rest of the year.

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Cowboys @ Rams

The Dallas Cowboys are on a four game win streak. The Cowboys impressive start to the season without Dak Prescott is very impressive, not even the defending Super Bowl champions could slow them down. The Los Angeles Rams struggled to score in the second half going scoreless for the final 30 minutes of the game. They clearly have issues that they need to figure out on the offensive end. I don’t see the Rams as repeat champions. I have faith in Sean McVay as a coach and I believe he will make the necessary adjustments to get this team to the playoffs and back into winning shape. Final score 22–10, Cowboys. 

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Eagles @ Cardinals

The Philadelphia Eagles are undefeated. It looks like the acquisition of AJ Brown really pushed Philadelphia in the right direction. Another group that I want to give utmost credit to is the coaching staff. They have figured out how to get Jalen Hurts to the next level as a quarterback. Well done. I’m going to be very impressed to see what the Eagles do as their schedule gets tougher and the season gets deeper. The Cardinals will be returning deAndre Hopkins next week and he is sorely needed. While I’ve never been the biggest fan of Kliff Kingsbury; he did surprise me in this game with his play-calling. Final score 20–17, Eagles.

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Bengals @ Ravens

If there’s a game on the line, I don’t think there’s anyone more I trust in the NFL than Justin Tucker. He is clearly the greatest kicker of all time and he just added to his résumé with the win over the Cincinnati Bengals 17–19. He is 17 for 17 in his career on attempts in the final minute of regulation Tucker’s game winner on Sunday crossed the goal post around 26.52 yards from the left side line. Why is that significant? Because the midpoint of the field is at 26.67 yards, meaning if the goal post were a half yard apart, Tucker would’ve split them. That is the most impressive thing I have probably stated in a very long time. 

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Raiders @ Chiefs

If I told you three months ago about this matchup, most people would have been absolutely hyped to see it. The truth is that the AFC West was supposed to absolutely dominate this year. But with the dumpster fire that is the Denver Broncos and the Las Vegas Raiders, I can’t say that anymore. The Raiders are 1–4 in the first five games. They just cannot figure out how to score the ball and they certainly cannot defend to save their life. Overall, it is a mess. The Chiefs are looking like they aren’t missing a beat this year even with the departure of superstar wide-out Tyreek Hill. Andy Reid and company have employed the next-man-up strategy and it’s working like a charm. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kansas City Chiefs make another deep run into the playoffs behind Patrick Mahomes’ electric play. This game was a lot closer than most people think. It was only a one point victory for Kansas City because there was a very controversial decision to throw the ball on a fourth and one situation with 47 seconds left which fell incomplete for the Raiders. The Chiefs would then run the clock out. Obviously, I don’t agree with passing it on fourth and one. Do I need to remind you of the Seahawks situation? It just never works out. Final score 29–30, Chiefs.