This week saw the Giants lose a bad one at home to Seattle when the defense couldn’t stop Charlie Whitehurst late, and Victor Cruz gave himself up by trying to use one hand on a catch. The Eagles continue their stellar play, while the Lions and Bills keep on going. The 49ers are this week’s surging team after completely dominating the Buccaneers. This week’s opponent in parens.

TIER ONE (SUPER BOWL FAVORITES)

 

Green Bay Packers (5-0): After falling behind 14-0, completely dominated Atlanta, even with LT Chad Clifton leaving the game with injury. This team will have to play without Clifton, but they are good enough to overcome it. (vs. Rams)

New England Patriots (4-1): New England was somehow able to contain the Jets offense despite giving up big yards in recent weeks. Wes Welker with most receiving yards ever (740) through 5 games, almost 100 yards ahead of Mark Duper in 1984. (vs. Cowboys)

Baltimore Ravens (3-1): The defense carried Joe Flacco during the bye week. (vs. Texans)

 

TIER TWO (SUPER BOWL CONTENDERS)

 

New Orleans Saints (4-1): Jimmy Graham’s 496 receiving yards through 5 games is second most for tight end since merger (Ben Coates, 529 yards through 5 games in 1994). (at Buccaneers)

Detroit Lions (5-0): Lions don’t want to continue the first half trend of starting slow, but the offense came up with big plays in the second half. (vs. 49ers)

 

TIER THREE (PLAYOFF CONTENDERS)

 

Buffalo Bills (4-1): Is this Buffalo Leap into the stands new this year? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it somewhere else. (at NY Giants)

San Francisco 49ers (4-1): Three straight wins has the 49ers looking like the clear favorite in the NFC West. Doesn’t look like a losing record wins the division this year.

San Diego Chargers (4-1): The Chargers have 10 turnovers and are -5 in turnover differential, but have managed to keep winning. (bye week)

Houston Texans (3-2): Mario Williams is out, Andre Johnson is out, and the Texans, who looked so good to start, now need a big road win at Baltimore. (at Ravens)

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2): Despite all the talk about the age of the defense, and with James Harrison out, Pittsburgh came up with a great defensive game, and are currently #1 in the league in net yards per pass allowed. (vs. Jaguars)

Dallas Cowboys (2-2): Tony Romo avoided the big mistake this week. (at Patriots)

 

TIER FOUR (THE 1980′S WERE TOTALLY RAD TIER)

 

Oakland Raiders (3-2): Sebastian Janikowski is ridiculous right now. (vs. Browns)

Washington Redskins (3-1): The Redskins will play in the Campbell’s Soup Donovan McNabb Memorial Bowl this week. (vs. Eagles)

New York Giants (3-2): The team from Jersey plays a New York team this week (vs. Bills).

New York Jets (2-3): [abstain from commenting negatively about Jets] (vs. Dolphins)

Cincinnati Bengals (3-2): I was wrong about the Bengals. This team is solidly competitive, has a good defense, and the rookies are playing fairly well. (vs. Colts)

Tennessee Titans (3-2): The Titans allowed more touchdown passes to Ben Roethlisberger (5) than they had given up all year (4). (bye week)

Chicago Bears (2-3): Yes, the offensive line is atrocious. We knew that. I’m not going to ding them too much when the losses are to Green Bay, Detroit, and New Orleans. (vs. Vikings)

Philadelphia Eagles (1-4): I like the Eagles to win at Washington this week. That is all. (at Redskins)

 

TIER FIVE (THE NFC SOUTH IS THE TOUGHEST DIVISION TIER)

 

Minnesota Vikings (1-4): The good news is that the Vikings are now 1-3 when leading by double digits at halftime. (at Bears)

Carolina Panthers (1-4): The Panthers have now played in five straight close games, and again had a chance. That timeout with 1 second left when the Saints weren’t going to get a field goal attempt off after being tackled in play was killer, and the difference in the game. Still, this team is going to start beating people really soon. (at Falcons)

Cleveland Browns (2-2): Rumor: Peyton Hillis sat out the bye week because he wants a new contract. (at Raiders)

Denver Broncos (1-4): Tim Tebow! (bye week)

Atlanta Falcons (2-3): 25th in net yards per attempt on offense; 30th in net yards on defense. These are not good indicators of a team that is a playoff threat. (vs. Carolina)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2): The Bucs have won three close games against teams that are a combined 3-12. They just got destroyed at San Fran 48-3. Yeah, Bucs fans aren’t going to like me again this year when I rank them as the lowest team with a winning record. (vs. Saints)

Miami Dolphins (0-4): This team played a tough schedule early, and I think would have been a bounce back candidate. But now with Matt Moore at QB and signing Rosenfels, all bets are off. (at NY Jets)

TIER SIX (TEAMS THAT STILL WON’T BE WINNING THEIR FIRST SUPER BOWL TIER)

 

Seattle Seahawks (2-3): I literally know nothing about Doug Baldwin, and his pro-football-reference page doesn’t either–undrafted and apparently never went to school anywhere. (bye week)

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4): Blaine Gabbert is in trouble this week (at Steelers)

Arizona Cardinals (1-4): Don’t worry, Cardinals fans. You’ll probably make another championship game appearance in 2070. (bye week)

TIER SEVEN (FREE FALLIN’ FOR SOME STANFORD SIGNAL CALLIN’ TIER)

Kansas City Chiefs (2-3): Todd Haley is refusing to shave until the Chiefs lose a game. I am refusing to shave until we put up another post about Tim Tebow. (bye week)

St. Louis Rams (0-4): Crazy stuff happens all the time in the NFL, Rams fans. Remember the Colts over Packers in 1997? Probably not happening this week though. (at Packers)

Indianapolis Colts (0-5): Over the last four games, the Colts have been down 2, up 3, tied, and up 3 entering the fourth quarter, and lost all of them. (at Bengals)