NFL Week in Review: Week 5 (2013)
By Loot, NFL Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
With a lot of teams disappointing their fans and bettors, is there a bigger letdown than the 1-4 Atlanta Falcons? And now we’re hearing they’ve lost WR Julio Jones for the season. It just keeps getting worse. After 36 wins in the their last three seasons, it looks like the Falcons gravy train has come to a sudden halt. That’s how fickle the NFL can be.
After people started writing the 2013 obituary for the Cleveland Browns, they have come back with 3 straight wins and made a lot of people look foolish.
The Ryan brothers, (Rex and Rob), have caught their share of flack over the past few years, but it’s hard to say anything bad about them at the moment. Rob has done well in turning around a horrible Saints’ “D,” while Rex has guided the Jets to a 3-2 record, with many critics saying they would be lucky to win that many games all season.
A big tip of the cap to the Kansas City Chiefs. After a 2-14 season in 2012, they have begun 2013 at 5-0 and have already emerged as an interesting X-factor in the AFC. With two games still pending against Denver, they will have a chance to show what they’re truly made of. Still, it’s a turnaround of massive proportions under new head coach Andy Reid and QB Alex Smith.
Does a 300-yard passing performance even mean anything anymore? That number used to convey excellence. Now, we see everyone doing it.
There’s something in the air and in the tone of people talking that leads one to think that most of those who follow NFL football are sleeping on the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe it’s because people don’t like to be proven wrong, but that’s the exactly what the Colts are doing this season. At the beginning of the season, the two top favored NFC teams were the 49ers and Seahawks and the Colts have beaten them both. In the coming weeks, they will test their mettle against the best of the AFC.
The NFL’s leading receiver is Saints’ tight end Jimmy Graham. A dominating red-zone presence, Graham is one heck of a ball-catching tight end and a real difference-maker.
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The San Diego Chargers continue to confound. It seemed like maybe they had built some momentum after shutting down an explosive Cowboys’ team in the second half and coming back from behind to score a resounding win. Then on Sunday night, they didn’t show up mentally, as Oakland jetted out to a big lead. There aren’t many teams that play with a wider range of form than San Diego.
The Broncos won their shootout with the Cowboys, so the bottom line speaks loudest. Still, it was alarming to watch Dallas’ offense running around the field unabated, with the Denver defense melting down. No Super Bowl winning team from the past immediately comes to mind that is prone to playing at that level defensively.
After 3-0 starts, both the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears have dropped two straight games to enter week 6 at 3-2. Will the slide continue, or can either team reverse the bad momentum and start looking like the teams we saw early?
The most low-profile team over .500? Probably the Arizona Cardinals.
Not only have the Giants been bad, but by being outscored 182-82, they are second only to the Jacksonville Jaguars in point differential this season with 100 points. To put into perspective how bad that is, the third-worst team’s differential is only 46.
While some teams have established themselves as clear contenders or losers thus far this year, there is a logjam. It’s early, but it seems like there is so much right now that is undefined. More than most years. That presents a real challenge to bettors.
