2009 NFL Season – Week 6 Preview

DE Osi Umenyiora will lead the Giants Defense against the Saints high-powered offense in Week 6’s featured game

Week 6 of the 2009 NFL Season is upon us and hopefully this week will bring some much-needed better match-ups than Week 5. Last week, the NFL needed some more spicing up as there were six games where the winning team won by 19 or more points. 

Even though the laughers last week did not hurt the NFL’s TV ratings, everyone, including yours truly, is looking forward to action on the field that equals the inordinate amount of weekly hype surrounding the NFL. However I am not holding my breath just yet for more competitive games this week as six of the 10 games being played feature favorites of nine or more points.

The  good news is that as bad as some pitiful teams are in the NFL (St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, KC Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and others), there are also five undefeated teams (Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, and the New York Giants) entering Week 6. Vikings QB Brett Favre said about undefeated, “This is the first time in my career to be 5-0, I’m very proud of this team. It’s important to start fast. But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. It only gets tougher from here on out.”

The five unblemished teams are the most undefeated clubs through the first five weeks of a season in NFL history.  We will see how long each of these teams can continue chasing the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, but despite the red-hot Colts being on a bye, there will be at least one less undefeated after Sunday. The reason being, the undefeated NY Giants and New Orleans Saints will do battle in the Bayou to see who is the NFC’s top team. The Giants-Saints match-up is one of the most intriguing games thus far (See Featured Game).

Despite the entertaining Colts, Cowboys, Niners, and Dolphins being on a bye, the Giants-Saints and a few other games are the ones fans are counting on to carry this week’s action.

The Seahawks hosting the Cardinals and Broncos-Chargers are two good West Coast battles, but most fans are high on a key inter-conference battle. The Minnesota Vikings (5-0) host the angry Baltimore Ravens (3-2) in a game that will pit two former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid disciples in Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Vikings head coach Brad Childress. This Sunday’s game at the Metrodome will be all about the running game as both the Vikings and Ravens love to run the ball and stop the run, which are always big keys to winning in my book.

Since the start of the 2007 season, the Vikings, led by All-World RB Adrian Peterson, have been the league’s best in rushing offense (150.1 yards per game) and run defense (78.2).  Meanwhile, the Ravens’ ground game ranks fourth (130.8) over that span and their rushing defense is second (79.7).  There is also the interesting subplot of two surefire hall of famers on opposite sides of the ball in this match-up as Vikings QB Brett Favre (103-149, 1069 yards, 9 TDs, 2 INTs, and 104.1 rating) and Ravens ILB Ray Lewis go at each other.

There is also a great showdown of two of the NFL’s best passers as strong arm Bears QB Jay Cutler and his team travel to Atlanta face Matt Ryan’s Falcons.

And NFL fans cannot forget that there are six division rivalry games (Detroit at Green Bay, Carolina at Tampa Bay, Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Arizona at Seattle, Buffalo at NY Jets, and undefeated at San Diego on Monday Night Football) as the teams start taking on familiar foes that will hopefully lead to more competitive games.

There are also several reunion games as former players and coaches renew “acquaintances” and some may not be so friendly.

Seattle Seahawks RB Edgerrin James will go against the Arizona Cardinals, who benched him for most of last season and then put him on the 30-year old running back scrap heap this past offseason.

Jacksonville Jaguars WR Tory Holt goes against the St. Louis Rams—played for 10 seasons and won a Super Bowl title—but the Rams new regime thought his knees were shot. Holt totaled 12,670 receiving yards with the Rams and he will become just the sixth player in NFL history to face a team for which he had 10,000+ receiving yards. Holt is also 34 receiving yards from 13,000 in his career.

Lastly, New Orleans Saints TE Jeremy Shockey goes against the NY Giants, who didn’t even want him on the sidelines when they won Super Bowl XLII and soon after sent him packing to Bourbon Street.

The factor that everyone hopes will lead to more competitive games is “adjustments." The NFL is a copycat league where teams can catch-up quickly and adjustments are the only way to stay ahead of the pack and combat falling behind. With