NFL: Surprises Up To Week 6

So here we are at week 6 in the NFL season and we have a ton of surprises to talk about both of the good and bad variety. This season has certainly been unpredictable and there is still more then half the season to go. I know every NFL fan cant wait to see how it unfolds, regardless of what team you are cheering for.

First we will start with the Good surprises. We can not over look the 5-0 Tennessee Titans. No one could see this coming during the preseason, and especially after Vince Young went down with yet another injury. In steps the old vet Kerry Collins and has performed brilliantly in his relief of Young. Kerry has thrown 3 scores with 3 picks and 740 yards. The offense is averaging 23 points a game which is 13th in the NFL, and averaging 286.4 yards a game which is 25 in the league. Not great numbers especially for a 5-0 team. It is definitely the defense that has helped the team get to the franchises first ever 5-0 start. The unit has only given up 11.2 points a game which is 1st in the NFL, and 267.8 yards total a game which is 5th in the league. The defense has also sacked opposing quarterbacks 15 times in five games so far this season while giving up only 4.3 yards a down. Strong Safety Chris Hope leads the defense with 32 tackles. The defense has also grabbed a total of 10 interceptions in five games so far. The Titans schedule is very favorable as after the bye they travel to Kansas City, who is not very good right now, then play the unpredictable Colts. If the Titans can catch the Colts on one of their bad days they will easily win and could get a strangle hold on this division early in the season. The Titans could finish 14-2 or 13-3 this season and will travel far in the playoffs.

The next team we have to talk about is the defending champions, the New York football Giants. The defending champions have really been under the radar this season which is very rare for the defending champions. The Giants are averaging 31.8 points a game, 431 total yards a game, including 181.2 rushing yards a game. All of these stats are ranked first in the NFL. Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning has lived up to his MVP trophy this year as he has picked up 6 scores with only 1 pick. Eli has picked up 1,032 yards already in only five games while averaging a quarterback rating of 99.7. He is not the panicky Eli of old as it looks like he has finally matured. Brandon Jacobs is really the work horse as he has picked up 380 yards with 3 scores and averages 5.8 big yards a carry. No one has been able to stop him up to this point in the season. On defense its a case of no Strahan, no Osi? No problem. The defense only averages 12.2 points a game which is ranked second in the league only behind the Titans. NY is very dominate in total yards against as teams have only averaged 236 yards which is third in the league, 82 of which is average rushing against. The Giants are a team in which every one should give respect to. They have pulled out ahead in the tough NFC East by 1 game over the Redskins and Dallas and 2 over Philly. They play the Browns, and 49ers in the next two weeks which should be easy wins to improve to 6-0. After that the road gets harder as they travel to the Steelers, host Dallas, and then travel to Philly. The schedule is very hard for the Giants to end the season but i really am not sure that any of the teams ahead of them will have a giant advantage over the Giants. NY could actually find themselves in the Patriots shadow at the last game against Carolina at 15-0.

The Buffalo Bills are another team in which no one saw coming at the beginning of the year. Everyone thought that the Patriots or Jets would take the East this year but instead the Bills have a one game lead over the Pats and Jets and a two game lead over the suddenly respectable Dolphins. Now this team beat a bad Seattle team in week one, a struggling Jaguars team in week two, a terrible Oakland team in week three by one point, and a dreadful Rams team in week four. Now what has me a little warry about this team is they lost to the Cardinals 41-17 last week. I know that the Cards are a very improved team but the Bills are very improved as well and should have been competitive. Now you have to take into account that Trent Edwards was injured early in the game against Arizona and JP Losman continued to be a NFL bust as he was not effective. If Edwards does not come back strong this team will lose its lead in the East. They play the Chargers next followed by three games in a row against divisional teams. They have to come out of this four game stretch at least 3-1 if they want to be in the lead of the division going into the home stretch.

Any team that goes 1-15 has only up to go the next year, but the Miami Dolphins have all of a sudden looked impressive in their two wins back to back. They beat down the Patriots 38-13 and then beat the Chargers 17-10 to improve back to .500. Chad Pennington has really re energized this Miami team leading them with 3 scores and a 93.5 rating. The Dolphins have gone back to their running wild ways as Ronnie Brown has rushed 58 times for 286 yards and 6 scores while Ricky Williams has rushed 49 times for 189 yards. They have really taken the pressure off of Chad and the team has really improved. But you cant really be surprised. Every team that Bill Parcells takes over improves in the very first season and its happened again as the Dolphins have already beaten 2007's win total. The Dolphins play the Texans next who are really struggling, and then go into a three game stretch against potential playoff teams. The Dolphins probably wont make the playoffs but will finish with six or seven wins which is a huge improvement over last year and fans should be happy with the improvement.

The Denver Broncos are 4-1 so far but it has not come easy. They blew a huge third quarter lead against the Chargers to win only by one point due to a bad official call, and blew another lead in week two against the Saints to win by only two. In week four the rebuilding Chiefs beat the Broncos down 33-19 and finally last week the Broncos held on for a three point win over the Buccaneers. This team is very unpredictable late in games as it implodes on itself. Jay Cutler has really come into his own so far throwing for ten scores with 1502 yards and a quarterback rating of 98.1. He is very sharp and makes fairly good choices this year showing leadership and improvement. Rookie Eddie Royal has really helped this team catching 30 balls with two scores. What really has not materialized so far is the rushing attack. Normally the strong part of the Denver offense, they are only averaging 118 yards a game which is 14th in the league. The offense as a whole averages 6.4 yards a play which is great. However, the defense has to sure up in the stretch. They allow 6.2 yards a play, and 388 yards a game which is 29th in the league. The road only gets harder for this team going down the stretch. They play the Jaguars, followed by the Pats before the bye week. They are capable of beating both these teams but if the defense does not get its act together they could go into the bye 4-3. Now since the Chargers are struggling the West is the Broncos to lose.

You lose your hall of fame coach and all of a sudden your as good or maybe better then last year. The Washington Redskins were picked by many, including myself, to finish with a below .500 record this year since the transition from Gibbs to Zorn this year is taking place. Well the 'Skins have proven everyone wrong as they are 4-1 with their only loss coming to the undefeated Giants 16-7. Washington has beaten Dallas and Philly in the last two weeks to establish themselves in the East as a potential threat. They play the terrible Rams next and should improve to 5-1 and then 7-1 before playing the Steelers. This team has every chance to get 8 or 9 wins this year and could find a wild card. The team is lead by Jason Campbell who has 6 scores with ZERO picks. I should say right here that this team has not turned the ball over yet this year, an amazing fact at this point. Jason's development from last year has been drastic as it looks like Zorn has done what Gibbs could not. Portis has again proved he is a threat at the runningback position raking up 514 yards and four scores already after only five games. He really has taken the stress off of Jason which has helped his development faster.

Now on to the not so good surprises of the year to this point. Starting in the AFC the Cleveland Browns came into the year with big heads after just missing the playoffs last year and has not lived up to the hype so far in 2008. The Browns are 1-3 and averaging only 11.5 points a game which earns them a 31st ranking in the NFL. They are only averaging 210.8 yards a game which is a 32nd ranking in the league. The Browns are only averaging 3.7 yards a play, and are well behind their opponents in total first downs. Derek Anderson came into the season the clear number one but has yet to play like it. He has three scores to six picks and has not been effective up to this point, starting a quarterback controversy. If the Browns do not improve and go 1-5 or worse then the smart money would be to start Brady Quinn and see if he has the magic. The defense has allowed 313 yards a game and has not been able to get offenses off the field on third downs. The Browns only win has been over the Bengals who are just as bad so far. The schedule only gets worse for the Browns as they play the Giants, Redskins, Jaguars, Denver, and Buffalo in a row before a game with Houston. They could easily go into that game with only one win, and if that happens then this season is a huge disappointment. The Browns need some magic and fast if they want to get into the playoffs. 

The next team has to be the team in which the Browns beat, the Cincinnati Bengals. After giving the city hope that he was the man to turn this organization around with a 11-5 2005 season the road has been bumpy for Marvin Lewis. He now has a 42-43 record overall with the club and it does not seem like the team is responding to him this year as they are 0-4. The team has only averaged 14.8 points a game (29th in NFL), and 239.2 yards a game dead last in the league. The Bengals have lost their 4 games by a total of 44 points and the schedule does not get easier. They play the Jets next followed by the Steelers, and the Texans. After that six of the eight remaining teams are potential playoff teams. So the Bengals have to turn it around now if they want to get back into the wild card hunt. It might be to late for the division as the Steelers are 4 games ahead of them. Carson Palmer has struggled so far this year as he has thrown three scores with four picks and a very below average 69 rating. He is dealing with injuries so that could have something to do with his performance. The defense has given up 23.6 points a game and 338.6 yards a game both at the bottom of the league. If this team does not pick it up and soon they will find themselves playing for a high draft pick. This team has all the talent to be winners, they just have to find the chemistry.

The Houston Texans are a team that i believed would win eight or nine games this year after their 8-8 record last year. They showed a lot of improvement and it seemed like they were headed in the right direction. Well fast forward to this year and their 0-4 record. This team just is finding ways to blow games. That is evident in last weeks 31-27 loss to Indy in which they blew a 24-10 lead with four minutes to play. Matt Schaub has just not emerged as the quarterback that the Texans believed he could be when they picked him up from Atlanta. He has thrown 13 TDS to 14 INT in his Texans career and has missed six games (so far) in his two seasons. If this team does not make the playoffs or have a winning record this year then the organization has to think about picking up a quarterback in the draft. Rookie Steve Slaton is having a good first campaign as he has picked up 285 yards and three scores so far. He is really the shining light in the offense. The defense is not much better allowing 32.5 points a game (30th) and 334.2 yards a game (18th). They have to get off the field on third downs. Now Texan fans dont panic just yet, you have an easier road back then the previous two teams. The Texans play the Dolphins next, and then struggling Detriot and the Bengals before traveling to the Vikings. The Texans should be at least 1-4 by that time (depending on how well they play the 'Phins). After the Vikings game the Texans finish the year with 4 teams that could be playoff bound. So at worse Houston should finish 7-9 or 8-8 again this year. As long as they wake up and get their team moving now. It has to start this week.

You can not find a more disfunctional team then the Oakland Raiders. This team is in need of a direction and that could be away from Al Davis. Oakland was competing with Lane Kiffen at the helm and you could see improvement in the team and in Russell but they were just not winning fast enough for Davis. Kiffen was 5-15 at the helm but this year and besides the week one thrashing by Denver (41-14) the Raiders lost their other two games by 11 points. The sole win was the 23-8 win over Kansas City. Well Kiffen leaves behind a team that was ranked 26th in scoring offense, and 19th in total yards offense. On defense they are ranked 21st in scoring and 17th in total yards against. This team will not succeed unless Al Davis gives the coach a chance to run the team like he wants. This team has all the pieces to win. Russell is developing into a good quarterback as hes thrown 4 scores to only one pick. McFadden has rushed for 272 yards and one score in his rookie year leading all rushers. This team will win the question is if Al will give it the team it needs to win.

In the NFC we will start with the Philly Eagles. This team played so well in week one with their thrashing of the Rams and then played a great three and a half quarters against Dallas before finding a way to lose with a McNabb fumble which lead to the go ahead score. This team is just finding ways to lose again and has failed to 2-3 in a very competitive NFC East and another loss could end their divisional title hopes. This team can not score once they get to inside the five yard line. They had a chance to score four times on the one against the Bears that would have won the game, instead they got held and lost 20-24. Against the Redskins they blew a 14-0 lead and again found themselves in a first and goal at the one and could not punch it in in a 17-23 loss. This team is one or two plays away from being 4-1 instead. They are averaging 25.4 points a game (10th), and 342.6 yards a game (9th) while on defense they are allowing 19.4 points a game (9th), and 274 yards a game (6th). Lets review, they have teams in the top 10 in the NFL but have only won two games. Thats rediculus. Westbrook was out against the Bears and the rushing attack was just not effective and last week against Washington, Westbrook was running on a bad ankle and bad ribs and only picked up 33 yards in 13 attempts. With him out of the lineup teams just seem to have McNabbs number. He needs a running back to take the pressure off of him. These next two weeks should be wins for the Eagles as they play the 49ers and the Falcons but you cant take anything for granted with this team. They need to win and win now or they will find themselves in a whole they cant get out of in the East.

What a difference three weeks makes. Three weeks ago fans were saying "Brett who?" in favor of Aaron Rodgers and now after three straight losses they are scared. Green Bay has just not played a full game in their losses to Dallas, Tampa, and Atlanta. They are scoring an average of 26.6 points a game (8th) and 337.4 yards a game (11th). The Packers are like Philly in the aspect of their stats tell a different story then their record. If you saw those stats you would think that the Pack was 4-1 or 5-0 instead of 2-3. Rodgers is nursing a hurt shoulder but has thrown nine scores to four picks with a rating of 95.5. Those are good numbers but he is getting hit way to much. The offensive line has to sure up its protection if they want to start winning. Running the ball, Grant has not been very effective picking up only 3.7 yards a carry and has yet to reach the endzone. The defense is ranked 23rd in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed so they have to sure things up if they want to make a run in the North. Now Green Bay is very lucky that no one has pulled away in their division. The Bears are only leading the Pack by one game so theres plenty of time to catch up.

Again, the Detroit Lions are failing to live up to potential. The firing of Matt Millen finally came and Marinelli might be next. This team showed promise last year finishing 8-8 but like Cleveland has not carried it over to this year starting out 0-4 and just getting blown out. They have lost their five games by a combined score of 75 points. John Kitna is banged up with a back issue and back up Orlovsky was hurt last week as well. The Lions need Kitna back to lead this team. Their is no rushing attack for this team as the Lions are averaging only 72.2 yards a game. The leading rusher is Kevin Smith who has 133 yards so far and is averaging 3.6 yards. The addition of Rudi Johnson is a plus as he has 122 yards so far this year and should help the struggling Lions offense. Calvin Johnson is leading receivers so far with 19 grabs and two scores for the team. The defense is ranked dead last or second to last in every category. Marinelli is finding out that maybe it wasnt Martz's offense that was the problem last year. If this team does not win at least 7 games then they could be looking for a new coach as this team just is not responding to their current one.

Current Division Leaders:

AFC:

Bills, Steelers, Titans, Broncos

NFC:

Giants, Bears, Arizona, Panthers

MY ORIGINAL PICKS: CAPS = WRONG SO FAR

PATS, Steelers, INDY, CHARGERS

PHILLY, Bears, SEATTLE, SAINTS