NFL Week 5 Winners & Losers

I love stats. Stats can tell you so much about a game. If a team turns the ball over five times, there's a good chance they're going to lose. Same with time of possession. If a team holds the ball longer than its opponent, chances are it will come out on top at the end of the game. And of course, it stands to reason that if you can win both the turnover battle and the time of possession battle, it should be a cakewalk. Tell that to the Falcons and the Bills. Atlanta forced three interceptions and two fumbles and still lost on a fourth quarter interception return for a touchdown. Your team is not in good shape when Joey Harrington's replacement goes 2 for 8 with a game-losing pick. The scene was even worse in Buffalo. The Bills intercepted "Wild" Tony Romo five times (FIVE TIMES!!) and forced a fumble. They led 24-13 going into the fourth quarter. They even caused two of the turnovers in the final quarter, but they couldn't close the deal when it counted. Dallas took the lead on a last second, 53-yard field goal as the clock ticked to 0s and today Romo is being praised as "resilient" and "gutsy." Does no one else see the guy who botched the field goal at the end of their wild card game last season? Maybe I'm just a hater.

The Less Good

Who Does St. Louis Miss More ... Mike Martz or Kurt Warner?
I should be used to the rise and fall of teams today with the salary cap, parity and unintelligent front offices, but I still get caught off guard occasionally. Did you know the St. Louis Rams are winless so far this season? As in 0-5? When did that happen? What's worse is they basically played Arizona to a draw and still came away with a loss. They managed to knock Matt Leinart out of the game (and a few more after that, with a broken collarbone), had a good day running the football, protected Fre-rotten better than they had Bulger, held the Cardinals running game in check for most of the game and still ended up three points short. I hate using the word parity, so I'll use these instead: Kurt Warner. Man, that's gotta hurt.

That Hold Out Doesn’t Look Like Such a Good Idea
If I were to give you two names and two sets of rushing totals for the week, could you match the back with his totals? Lets try: Larry Johnson and Michael Turner, 10 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown and 9 carries for 12 yards. If you guessed Johnson and 10-147, you'd be way wrong. If you guessed that before this season and started him on your fantasy team, you'd be in cardiac arrest. I know Johnson started slowly last year before ending up with over 1,500 yards for the season, but he also didn't miss all of training camp and began the season ready to play. How long is he going to take to get back to dominant ... or is he at all? At this point the Chiefs are a one-trick pony and that trick plays tight end. There's only so much Tony Gonzalez can do without a decent quarterback and a running game. On the plus side, it looks like Dwayne Bowe was the best receiver pick of the 2007 draft. How's Ginn working out for you Miami?

Speaking of Miami ...
I'm not going to make any Cleo Lemon jokes. I'm not going to make any Trent Green jokes. No, I'm putting this one on the coaches. Hey Cam, how does it feel to see your opponent do what you were too chicken to do yourself? You had the lead in your sights with a minute left. Yeah, 56 yards is a long field goal, but you're also indoors and at the other team's house. Do you really want to risk overtime on the road? Of course Cameron does the safe thing and punt it away and Matt Schaub does what he was pretty much incapable of doing all game. He drove down the field and set up Kris Brown for the game-winning 57-yard field goal as time expired. Way to instill confidence in your team Cam. No wonder their 0 for everything this year, with or without Trent Green.

The More Good

The Steel Curtain?
Is Pittsburgh this good or is Seattle overrated? I still can't decide. Here's what I do know: I should probably start giving Ben Roethlisberger more credit. He really did show his resilience (unlike Mr. Five Picks) by bouncing back from a horrible game in last week's loss to Arizona to complete 18 of 22 for 206 yards and a touchdown, without Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes. And on a day when Willie Parker led his team in rushing with 102 yards, it was Najeh Davenport who led the team emotionally with a big 45-yard carry near the end of the first half that led to the first score of the game. The defense hardly broke a sweat in the second half, which was good since they were playing without Troy Polalamauaumlalamaullalau and Casey Hampton. Too bad they play in the same conference as Indy and New England.

The Fullbacks and Coming, The Fullbacks are Coming!
Hey, did you know that the Lions were the league's best-rated passing offense heading into this week? And did you know that they were outscored by Washington's fullback? That's right, the INfamous (that’s like more than famous!) Mike Sellers ran for a 1-yard TD and caught an 8-yard pass for another one. Kitna only passed for one touchdown ... to Redskins DB Carlos Rogers. Not exactly the target he was looking for. It's not often that Mike Martz gets outcoached on offense, but Redskins Offensive Coordinator Al Saunders made Martz look like a peewee coach.

Defensive Backs!
The Baltimore-San Fran game was a "defensive gem" (read: boring!). New England and Indianapolis did what they do best, and Indy did it with Kenton Keith! Who else is there to talk about? How about all of those defensive backs who stole the show this Sunday? Aaron Ross provided the difference in the battle of NY. Vincent Fuller provided the game winning int. return for a touchdown for Tennessee with a minute left against Atlanta. All told there were 39(!) picks thrown this week. Can we get some love for the Dbs?

Bandwagon Hopping

Growing faster than Al Gore's Waistline
Dallas (despite Romo?), Pittsburgh, Giants, Green Bay, Jacksonville

Yes, I know one team in the jump on category lost to a team in the jump off category, but it's all about loving on Brett Fav-re, regardless of whether or not he can qualify for his AARP card.