NFL Round-UP, Week Five

Big Games
Washington Redskins @ Denver Broncos
It looked like Washington’s luck was going to continue as quarterback Mark Brunell drove the Redskins 94 yards for a touchdown late in the game. However, Ian Gold had other plans as he broke up Brunell’ pass for a two point conversion.
The Broncos have now won four in a row and are in complete control of the AFC West, while the Redskins got some help from the Cowboys beating Philadelphia.


Pittsburg Steelers @ San Diego Chargers
Jerome Bettis made his NFL debut and Jeff Reed kicked the game winning field goal with less than 10 seconds left in the game. The problem for the Steelers who won 24-22 was that starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was carted off the field, after the game was over, with an apparent knee injury. Look for more details in the week on this, because a serious injury to Big Ben would put the Steelers in the same boat as the Jets.

Big Upsets
Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars
I called this one last week! Cincinnati started 4-0 for the first time since 1988, but the winning streak would end there. Byron Leftwich threw for two touchdowns and Fred Taylor ran for 132 as the Jags handed the Bengals their first loss of the season 23-20.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys
Dallas jumped out on the Eagles early and never looked back in a game they had to win in order to stay in the division race. Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw three first half touchdowns, two to Terry Glenn, and the Cowboys led a shocked Eagles team 27-3 at the half on their way to a 33-10 rout.

Worst Game
Indianapolis Colts @ San Francisco 49ers
Peyton Manning was not his typical self, throwing two interceptions to a 49ers defense that has been decimated by injuries. The 49ers had two guys in their secondary from the practice squad. Alex Smith made his debut throwing four interceptions. Colts win in boring fashion 38-3.

Division Rankings
Here are the divisions in order of wins and losses.
NFC East 12-6
NFC South 12-8
AFC North 10-7
AFC South 10-9
AFC West 9-9
AFC East 9-10
NFC West 7-13
NFC North 5-12

Looking Ahead to Week Five

Big Games
New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos
Are the Patriots riding on emotion or have they really pulled it together? After a big win against the Steelers they were pasted the following week by the Chargers. New England is now coming off a big win over Atlanta and going on the road to Denver where the Broncos have one 4 in a row.
Prediction: Broncos 24/ Patriots 21

Possible Upset
San Diego Chargers @ Oakland Raiders
San Diego is hurting after giving up the lead in the fourth quarter in all three of their losses. The Raiders don’t have a very good defense, but they have had two weeks to prepare and the Chargers are coming off a short week.
Prediction: Raiders 28/Chargers 20

Bye WeekCardinals, Eagles, Packers, 49ers

Miami Dolphins
Eighteen penalties and five turnovers in a 20-14 loss to the Bills, this is a game Miami could have and should have won. It’s a game you don’t get back and coming off a bye week Miami should have been much better. Performances like this will be the reason the Dolphins won’t make the play-offs.

Miami is in great position right now, but they have to be a lot smarter. After giving the game in Buffalo away, the Tampa Bay game becomes a must win this weekend. The Bucs are getting Cadillac Williams back which will make the task of shutting down the run much more difficult for the Miami defense, but Tampa Bay will have to deal with both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

Miami could have the best running back tandem in the NFL and hopefully will be able to pound on defenses and wear them out. This could make Miami a very dangerous team but they have got to cut down on mistakes and take care of the ball.