Week 5: Top 5 NFL Stories

There was not a lot of middle ground in the NFL last week. The Rich got Richer. The Poor got Poorer. If you won, you blew the team out. If you lost, well…you got blown out. If you sucked in the first place and played another team that sucked, you were both embarrassed.

Here are my Top 5 NFL Stories from Week 5. What were yours?

1. Pupil Defeats Master
In a much anticipated match-up, the Denver Broncos and rookie Head Coach Josh McDaniels hosted the New England Patriots and veteran Head Coach Bill Belichick. It was a game that I automatically assumed would finish the Broncos surprising undefeated record. I should have remembered that history has a way of repeating itself.

Several weeks ago, I sat speechless watching the University of Washington upset the University of Southern California in a game that was supposed to be a blowout. In that game, UW coach Steve Sarkisian defeated his former boss & mentor, Pete Carroll. It made sense. Sark had spent the past eight years working his way up the ranks at USC under Carroll and dissecting every aspect of the play book, both offensive & defensive.

Fast forward to the Denver game…McDaniels has spent the past eight years working his way up the ranks in New England under Belichick and dissecting every aspect of the play book, both offensive & defensive. Sound eerily familiar?

Well, this game turned out the same. Despite getting in a 10-0 hole (like UW), Denver kept in the game and pulled off a 20-17 victory in Overtime. Kyle Orton had his best game to date throwing for 330 yards & 2 TDs, both to Brandon Marshall.

2. All Remain Undefeated
There were three other teams trying to get to 5-0 and they all accomplished it…handily. The three undefeated teams won by a combined score of 113-26. Yes, you read that correctly. The New York Giants defeated the Oakland Raiders 44-7; the Minnesota Vikings & 40-year old Brett Favre defeated the St. Louis Rams 38-10; and the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 31-9. The Raiders, Rams, and Titans now have a combined 1-14 record. Ouch.

3. New North Leader
That sounds like the title my creepy RA gave himself my freshman year of college. My dorm was named New/North, but that is not the point. The AFC North is consistently one of the top divisions in the NFL because of the Pittsburgh Steelers & Baltimore Ravens. Well, the Cincinnati Bengals topped the Steelers in Week 3 and now the Ravens in Week 5 to stand alone at the top of the AFC North. In what seems to be Carson Palmer’s new craze, he once again led the Bengals to a last minute victory with a 20-yard TD pass to Andre Caldwell with 0:22 left in the game. CP finished the game with 271 yards & 1 TD. Chad Ochocinco was responsible for 94 of those yards, while workhorse running back Cedric Bensen had 120 yards & 1 TD on 27 carries against the vaunted Ravens defense.

4. WTF?
Two games that were expected to finish tight got out of hand really quickly. The Seattle Seahawks had dropped their last three games, but pounded the Jacksonville Jaguars 41-0 in Matt Hasselbeck’s return. Hasselbeck threw for 241 yards & 4 TDs. Nate Burleson & TJ Houshmanzedeaheahadaeh each snagged 2 TDs apiece. The other game was between the Atlanta Falcons & San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers followed up their blowout win in Week 4 with a blowout loss to the Falcons 45-10. Michael Turner & Roddy White combined for 307 total yards & 5 TDs. Not a bad day for their Fantasy Owners.

5. WTF 2.0?
Really? That counts as win? This is how I am reporting this game: The Cleveland Browns decided to travel to New York to practice plays and field goals with the Buffalo Bills. Somebody had to leave with a “win” so the Browns were allowed to kick a field goal with 0:23 left in practice to end the scrimmage 6-3. Really! It was that ugly. The Browns “won” even though their QB finished with 2 completions for 23 yards. I am not lying! Look it up yourself!

Get your Pick ‘Em Picks in and I will see you all in Week 6…

More rumblings from Casey can be found on BuyAthletes.com.