Week Five -- A Look Ahead

This is the worst weekend of the NFL schedule -- the weekend that the Packers don't play. And, as it turns out, it's also not much of a weekend in terms of match-ups. Nothing like last week, at least. The best game of this football weekend is the big college tilt: Florida at LSU.

Looking around the NFL, however, we observe the following...

There are six winless teams playing this weekend, and none of them is playing another, and so it's possible that we'll come out of Week 5 still with six winless teams.

Meanwhile, there are five undefeated teams going into this weekend, and none of them is playing another, either, and so we may end up with five teams still undefeated.

The unhappy match-ups we DO have, however, include two undefeated teams playing two winless teams. It's hard to imagine the status quo not prevailing there.

The 0-4 Titans host the 4-0 Colts. I can't picture Tennessee going 0-5, and yet it's also hard to see the Colts blowing this one. Still, there's always that capacity for strange things to happen within a Division.

Elsewhere, the 0-4 Rams host the 4-0 Vikings. Ugh. I'd love to see the Rams pull it all together an upset the Vikings, but that seems so far-fetched to hope for. The Vikings really are quite a good team, and the Rams really are poor. The only hope here is the letdown effect -- an emotional win, a short week, and a cupcake opponent. Maybe those factors can combine to make Minnesota falter. After all, regardless of the records, both teams still just get 11 guys on the field at a time.

The o-4 Browns travel to 1-3 Buffalo in a battle of the uglies. Maybe Cleveland is the one winless team with a chance this weekend.

The 0-3 Panthers host the 2-2 Redskins. If Washington loses to the Panthers, having so recently given a victory to the hapless Lions, you've got to think there would be no point in Zorn even getting on the plane back home.

The 0-4 Chiefs host the 2-2 Cowboys. Dallas was quite stymied last week by the surprising Broncos, but they'll beat KC, and then all their looney fans will think everything's alright again with the Cowboys. But it's not.

The 0-4 Bucs are at the 2-1 Eagles. Look for Tampa Bay to go to 0-5.

The undefeated Giants (4-0) should make short work of the visiting Raiders.

And, finally, in the best game of the week in the NFL, the 3-1 Patriots travel to Denver to play the undefeated Broncos. This one is interesting. Denver is easily the biggest surprise of the season so far, but this is their proof-is-in-the-pudding game. Losing to New England doesn't make Denver a bad team, of course, but beating New England suddenly validates the Broncos' surprising record.

Then, too, there is the whole coaching tree angle, as Josh McDaniels tries to best his mentor.

Meanwhile, the Patriots can't mess around, for they are tied with the Jets (to whom they've already lost) atop the AFC East, and New York is almost certain to get a "W" on Monday Night against the struggling Dolphins.

Bottom line? I see six winless teams going in and five winless teams coming out. I see five undefeated teams going in and four undefeated teams coming out. And within our Division, I see the Vikings notching another win, the Lions getting another loss, and the Bears and Packers standing pat during their bye.