October 9 — Four National Football League teams stand out from the rest.
Those teams are the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings and the 4-1 Houston Texans and Washington Commanders. Everyone has a record of 3-2, 2-3 or 1-4.
Surprisingly, we haven’t seen any team go winless after Week 4. The Jacksonville Jaguars picked up their first win in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts as the last team to win a game.
There’s been more parity in the NFL so far and that’s good because, well, predictability can get a little old, even for a guy like me who thinks he can predict all these games correctly.
As we enter Week 6, I’m looking at three potential cheats in their next game – three teams with winning records that I think will have problems this week and in the future.
The Seattle Seahawks have lost two straight games when hosting the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field. I don’t trust Geno Smith to duplicate what he did last year and called the loss two weeks ago to the first good quarterback the Seahawks had faced all year, Jared Goff.
Going forward, this defense and QB play will be suspect.
The Chicago Bears have had their ups and downs this year. A Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans was a fortunate scheduling situation. Then they lost to the Texans and Colts the next two weeks.
Now, they have bounced back to win two straight against the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers. Once again, rather lucky opponents.
Caleb Williams is coming off his best match of the year, but I don’t expect that to continue in London or repeatedly the rest of the year as he begins to face better opponents.
Finally, the Washington Commanders look poised to win an NFC East title or at least a playoff spot. But I’m not so sure. The defense will have to be an anchor point throughout the sequence as the weight of the schedule increases in November and December.
We might even have a 6-2 team before the slide begins, but I predict the weaknesses will show up eventually. Jayden Daniels has performed well, but really only has one standout performance so far and I just can’t buy that a rookie can come in and lead a team past the Dallas Cowboys or Eagles. Philadelphia.
Let’s look at week 6:
THURSDAY
49ers (2-3) at Seahawks (3-2): The winning record drops to .500 here. I don’t care if they are at home, the Seahawks just lost to the Giants at home. They will lose here too. 49ERS 31-21.
SUNDAY
Jaguars (1-4) at Bears (3-2): Wake up early Sunday morning and play some football before church starts. The Jaguars defense will pressure Caleb Williams and send him and the Bears back to America like a bunch of sad guys. JAGUAR 27-13.
Texans (4-1) at New England Patriots (1-4): The Texans find a way to win. Similar to the Chiefs, except they got it wrong against the Vikings. They won’t do it here. TEXANS 26-6.
Commanders (4-1) at Baltimore Ravens (3-2): Baltimore is at home and the Commanders have not faced a team at the level of the Ravens. Expect lots of points. RAVENS 38-30.
Cleveland Browns (1-4) at Eagles (2-2): Hopefully the Eagles have reset after the bye week. A loss to the lowly Browns wouldn’t be good. EAGLES 30-14.
Arizona Cardinals (2-3) at Green Bay Packers (3-2): The Cardinals have only played one bad game this year and have had a tough schedule to start. I like their chances of winning on the road here. But Green Bay should take care of business. PACKERS 21-20.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) at New Orleans Saints (2-3): This scorching offense has been ice cold since facing the Eagles in Week 3. And now, with Derek Carr injured, rookie Spencer Rattler starts. BUCCANERS 33-27.
Colts (2-3) at Titans (1-3): The Titans are an opportunity for the Colts to get back to .500. They better not miss it. COLTS 27-23.
Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) at Denver Broncos (3-2): The Broncos have won three in a row and are back home for another division opponent. Denver’s offense was solid in the second half last week. Any more of that and the Chargers lose. BRONCOS 30-20.
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) at Raiders (2-3): If the trend continues, the Raiders should respond to a loss with a win here. And the Steelers haven’t looked very sharp on either side of the ball over the past three weeks. RAIDERS 22-19.
Detroit Lions (3-1) at Cowboys (3-2): Dallas’ defense continues to anchor the team as the offense discovers its problems. He’s allowing just 16 points per game during this two-game stretch and just 20 points per game over the last three games. COWBOYS 23-20.
Atlanta Falcons (3-2) at Panthers (1-4): This Falcons team can score well and also defend if necessary. The Panthers have no chance here. HAWKS 37-12.
Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) vs. New York Giants (2-3): This season isn’t over yet for the Bengals and I think they prove it here. BENGAL 28-24.
MONDAY
Bills (3-2) at New York Jets (2-3): Until Aaron Rodgers shows otherwise, I’m going to assume this offense just isn’t good with him under center. INVOICES 20-16.
RECORDINGS
Overall: 43-35; Last week: 7-7
