NFL Preview: Week Six

Week Six will be an interesting one. There are only two divisional contests, but also several key interconference showdowns, headlined by New England at San Diego on Sunday night.

All four bye teams are from the AFC. Amazingly enough, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee are arguably the three best teams in the conference through five weeks, and Kansas City the worst.

All will return to action in Week Seven trying to build on their strong starts, or in the case of the Chiefs, avoid a complete meltdown.

GAME of the WEEK: Patriots at Chargers (Sunday night)

It took six weeks, but we finally have an all-AFC Game of the Week in my weekly preview. Matt Cassel seemed to have a coming out party in San Francisco, hooking up with Randy Moss on a long touchdown. That's probably a good thing, considering I was half expecting Moss to come out and complain about his lack of touches any day now (after which Belichick would have probably strangled him to death).

At 3-1 and without Tom Brady, the AFC East is no longer the Patriots to claim, but in their first national appearance minus Brady, I think they are hell-bent on proving they can still be a force in a wide open AFC race.

San Diego is a surprising 2-3, and can ill afford to fall any further behind the Broncos. The defense has had issues (how you give up nearly 400 yards to Miami is beyond me), and the offense's play has been sporadic at best.

This is a statement game for both teams, trying to prove they are still contenders. I could go either way on this game, but I will give the edge to Cassel and the Pats.  

Other top contests

Ravens at Colts

This sets up to be an interesting matchup of a couple of 2-2 teams. We have Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis offense going up against Ray Lewis and the Ravens' strong defense.

The Colts very well could be 0-4 entering this game, but I am sure they are hoping that last week's exhilarating win in Houston is a springboard back to the top of the AFC South. Bob Sanders continues to be on the sidelines, so Baltimore should be able to execute their run-heavy offense with success.

Keeping the ball out of Manning's hands and in Willis McGahee's will be key for Baltimore if they want to head home with a victory against their city's ex-team. Also, with the holes in the Colts' defense, Baltimore should be able to open up the game a little for Joe Flacco and build up his confidence even more, just days after being named the starter for the remainder of the season.    

Bears at Falcons

If you would have told me five weeks ago that the winner of this game would be sitting at 4-2 and in a prime position in their respective division race, I probably would have laughed at you.

But both Matt Ryan and Kyle Orton are doing a wonderful job managing their offenses, and Matt Forte and Michael Turner are running well on opposing defenses. Turner even leads the league in yards. Winning at Lambeau with an impressive game had to do wonders not only for Ryan but for the entire Falcons team. I'm sure we will see Atlanta come out with somewhat of a swagger on Sunday.

And I remind you many people didn't pick them to win three games all season. Chicago has momentum themselves after an upset of Philadelphia and blowout of Detroit, so this game really is a toss-up.    

Panthers at Buccaneers

Everybody is focusing on the strength of the NFC East, and rightfully so, but the NFC South is quietly off to a strong start. Everyone outside of the consensus pick to win the crown, New Orleans, currently sits above .500. The winner of this game at Raymond James Stadium will be able to stake a claim in first place, at least for the time being. 

Carolina's ball-control offense has been effective thus far in 2008, even with injuries to key offensive linemen, and this has allowed them to get off to a 4-1 start. Playing ball control against Tampa Bay will be no simple task, as we all know.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?