Who Is the NFL's Most Overrated Team So Far?

After five weeks in the NFL season, it's still hard to tell who the contenders and pretenders are. Atlanta has a better record than Philadelphia, San Diego, and Green Bay, to name a few, and Miami has more wins than their entire total last season.

Michael Turner currently leads the league in rushing, and Greg Jennings leads in receiving.

What? No T.O?

How about Chad Ocho Cinco? Larry Fitzgerald?

No, you read right. Greg Jennings.

The Buffalo Bills lead the AFC East, the Tennessee Titans are 5-0 and lead the AFC South, the Denver Broncos lead the AFC West over the favored San Diego Chargers, and the New York Giants lead the toughest division in football, the NFC East with a 4-0 mark.

Yeah, the NFL is a rainbow beach ball thrown from team to team right now. In other words, we don't know who will be on top from week to week.

With all of the surprises, many experts and fans who felt they had the season predicted are squirming in their seats. I don't think anybody expected the Washington Redskins to defeat the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles in their backyards.

Besides the obvious surprises that would make Nostradamus shame, there are some things that are going as expected.

We expected the St. Louis Rams to be terrible (maybe not SO terrible), the Kansas City Chiefs to be horrific, and the Pittsburgh Steelers to be on top of the division. Every game has seemed to be highly competitive, with field goals and late mistakes determining the outcome (hello Sage Rosenfels, note to self: you are NOT Dean Cain).

At the start of the season, there were the teams we thought would be bad and the teams we believed would be extraordinary. Going into Week Six, many of those predictions hang by their scrawny little lives.

Many teams with good records won games so close that they could have easily went the other way (Dallas over Philly, N.Y. Giants over Cincinnati, Buffalo over Oakland) to name a few.

Therefore, having a winning record is great but not guaranteeing anything. Because of the parity of the league now, being 4-1 or 3-2 doesn't mean anything but you are fortunate. In other words, watch out or you'll be 5-5 or 4-6 in a hurry.

Who are the league's most overrated teams? Who are the teams that we all either expected to be better than they are or aren't as good as advertised?

Which teams have the highest potential of disappointing fans at the end of the season?

I've compiled eight of the NFL's most overrated teams based on three criteria:

1. Amount of hype entering the 2008 season

2. Failed expectations based on record and performance

3. Potential future based on current talent, schedule, and team-morale issues

Out of those eight teams, I put together a playoff system to tell who the NFL's most overrated team is after five weeks. This system is seeded based on the highest level of overratedness, if you will, and each team will face off with another to determine the champion of the overrated team tournament.

To put this in perspective, the playoffs will be seeded like this:

1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5.

I will explain each team's case and crown the most overrated team at the end. You the reader will be part of the jury, as I encourage you to challenge or determine whom you believe the NFL's most overrated team is.

Now, without further ado, Round One begins in Dallas.

1 Dallas Cowboys vs. 8 Detroit Lions

Dallas: The Cowboys seem to think they are riding high, with a 4-1 record and tied for second in the NFC East with Washington.

They're not. In the NFL's toughest division, they're actually third, by virtue of their loss to Washington at home and barely beat a Philadelphia team that the Redskins controlled thoroughly in the second half of their game.

After just escaping the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, watching T.O cry Sunday, who's already complaining about not getting the ball and giving a bogus press conference in which he looks primed for a new Abilify commercial, several injuries to key players, and Pacman acting up, it's time to worry in Dallas.

Detroit: Man, I feel so bad for Detroit fans. "Hello, are you there God? It's me, Dana Jacobsen." After releasing pariah Matt Millen from his tainted term of GM, all may end up well in Ford city.

To quote Lee Corso again, "Not so fast my friend."

This team is just plain abysmal. Jon Kitna looks 50 years old, Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams are suffering from Kitna's (ahem) old age, the defense looks 10 steps too slow, and there seems to be no team togetherness.

For a team with aspirations of nine wins before the season, it can't be good to switch spots with the Miami Dolphins. It's hard to call them overrated because they are the Lions, but $10 to the first person who predicted a 0-4 start for Detroit.

Dallas wins, 31-24 in a close one.

2 Minnesota Vikings vs. 7 Philadelphia Eagles

Minnesota: "Are you there God? It's me, Tarvaris Jackson." So much for the quarterback of the future; benched after an 0-2 start and virtually no vertical-passing game. But to be benched for the ageless journeyman Gus Frerotte just makes it worse.

Maybe Tarvaris should secure a spot on ABC's Wipeout right now. Apparently athletes do well on that show.

Anywho, the sexiest Super Bowl pick since Janet Jackson's boob is faltering. "Gus the Rust" has actually helped that offense move the ball, as witnessed in the win over the New Orleans Saints, even though Adrian Peterson carried the ball 10,000 times for less than 50 yards. Problem is, the Saints have no pass defense.

To be 2-3 after five games is not what anyone expected and lands the Vikings in the overrated playoffs. With games against the Lions and Texans in the coming weeks, ol' Minnesota could be 7-3 entering a matchup with Jacksonville.

Philadelphia: Donovan McNabb is reportedly upset with his performance. Is anyone surprised? Truth is, it's not just Donovan's fault.

When the starting running back is getting more injuries than a man in the middle of a rowdy crowd, it may be a little hard to win. Playing teams with the likes of Clinton Portis and Marion Barber while you're not at full strength can kill you.

Philadelphia was everyone's pick to win the NFC East, but as it stands, they are two games out of first. In a division this tough, if Philly doesn't get healthy and play with more heart soon, the Eagles may find themselves the odd-men out.

Minnesota wins 24-21 in overtime

3 San Diego Chargers vs. 6 Denver Broncos

San Diego: I'm not sure if it's wear and tear or lack of motivation, but LaDainian Tomlinson is off to another slow start, and the Chargers are feeling it like O.J. Simpson after facing the jury.

One week the Chargers look good in a win over the N.Y Brett's, then they proceed to lose to the Miami Dolphins. We can't get a barometer on them as a team or any of their stars. Antonio Gates is still playing hurt, Philip Rivers is inconsistent, and the guy filling Shawne Merriman's spot is hurting.

The Chargers are in trouble. They're falling behind the Broncos, who should line up with all 53 men on their roster and shake Ed Hochuli's hand and can't afford any losses in the next three weeks. With the Patriots, Bills, and Saints lining up opposite in the next three weeks, they better fix themselves like Coldplay.

Denver: If anyone knows what to expect from the Broncos, please call Mike Shanahan at, uh, just e-mail me. One week, Denver looks highly explosive, another week, they score 16 points and the defense wins for them.

Jay Cutler is supposed to be re-energized after discovering he's a diabetic, and at times he looks it. At other times, he looks like Ron Jaworski. No offense, but you probably shouldn't aspire to be Jaws as a 2008 NFL QB. The defense looks unsure of itself, Champ Bailey looks old, and Denver gives up all kinds of points.

So much for the Champ Bailey-Dre Bly pairing. Mike Shanahan's making jokes about the Raiders in press conferences; I'd hate to see someone making jokes about the Broncos defense.

If they don't shore it up and become more consistent, they will remain overrated and disappointing. Being 4-1 doesn't matter as much when you win your last three games by a total of six points against the Bucs, Saints, and a Chargers game where the ref liked a Bronco cheerleader too much.

San Diego wins 17-10.

4 Buffalo Bills vs. 5 Green Bay Packers

Buffalo: Trent Edwards was leveled against the Arizona Cardinals last week, and the Bills' chances to win were leveled, too. Watching J.P Losman play is like listening to a $7 blender from Wal-Mart chop ice. You know that a somewhat tasty drink is coming out of it, but the noise and the burning smell makes you want to leave it in the cupboard.

To put it nicely, Buffalo looked crappy against the Cardinals.

To J.P's defense, he hadn't played all season. So what? That's what backup's do, and watching that game made me fear for Buffalo. After watching them start slow and turn it on in the second half of games, it makes me wonder what will happen once they get down in a game.

Before I christen the Bills as anything other than just, the Bills, I need to see more. Right now, they stand as the most overrated 4-1 team in the NFL. And that's word to Marv Levy.

Green Bay: Is the "I'm tired of living up to Brett Favre's legacy, I'm just a first-year starter, ow something hurts, so what Brett threw six TDs" livelihood getting to Aaron Rodgers? After all, he has kind of hit that inevitable wall and is being scrutinized in every way right now.

Either way, the Packers are suddenly 2-3 and looking up in the NFC North. This was a 13-3 team last year under Brett Favre, and I'm sure Aaron Rodgers can tell you that in his sleep.

Perhaps the world expected too much too soon from Brett's shadow, or he may have some magic in the tank. If he does, he'd better be like T.I and "Bring 'Em Out" because right now, the Pack may be stuck in the middle of road, and last I checked, that ain't the playoffs.

Green Bay wins 38-28

1 Dallas Cowboys vs. 2 Minnesota Vikings

Dallas: A few things for you here: T.O, Pacman, injured Terence Newman, and Roy Williams, soft Wade Phillips, softer Tony Romo. Whoa.

Minnesota: Gus Frerotte creating vertical passing game, "All Day" Peterson hasn't had his best day yet, good, healthy D-line, gutsy coach, favorable schedule.

Dallas moves on, 13-7

3 San Diego Chargers vs. 5 Green Bay Packers

San Diego: L.T. is not healthy, Philip Rivers' throwing picks, A. Gates not healthy, defense looking more porous than a stencil, and Norv Turner's still the coach.

Green Bay: A-Rod not healthy, more obscurity, Charles Woodson, Al Harris, and Atari Bigby not healthy, and Brett Favre performing well right now while Rodgers struggles.

San Diego takes it 20-13

CHAMPIONSHIP

1 Dallas Cowboys vs. 3 San Diego Chargers

This, after all, is a playoff to determine the most overrated team right now, and the Cowboys have to win this matchup. No matter how Romo and Phillips reiterate that all is fine in Dallas, anyone with eyes and a fraction of a brain can see otherwise.

Romo is making all types of silly mistakes, T.O is a consistent non-factor for too long in games, the offense is inconsistent, injuries are creating holes in the defense, T.O is appearing to lose it, Wade looks like a scared little tyke, Jerry Jones is applying his Cowboy logic in public, and Witten is banged up.

We all knew the Cowboys were talented entering the season, but we were worried about team morale. At this point, it appears that maybe the quilt is coming apart just a little in Texas. With three winnable games in the next three weeks, Dallas could be 7-1 by Week Nine.

That doesn't mean anything when the general public expects you to win the Super Bowl in Week One.

As for the Chargers, they play in a weaker division than the Cowboys and are known as slow starters.

Congratulations to the NFL's Most Overrated Team at Week Five: the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas will make it to the playoffs and may regroup, but they look to be the most overrated early. If T.O cries on-field again, all bets are off.