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So, there are only four undefeated teams left, as both the Chiefs and the Bills lost. The Steelers and Titans are both 4-0 on the AFC side, while the Seahawks and Packers remain unbeaten on the NFC side.
As for winless teams? Well, there are three of them, and two of them play in the same stadium. Yes, that's right: the New York Jets and the New York Giants are both winless at 0-5. Combined, they are 0-10. That is some lousy football being played in the greater New York metropolitan area. The Atlanta Falcons are the other winless team.
Let's review some of the games played this past weekend:
Tennessee at Buffalo – This game has been delayed, and will be played on Tuesday. This was my original prediction for the game when I published my predictions yesterday: A battle of two unbeatens. My guess is that the Bills, with plenty of momentum and minimal distractions to this point, plus home field advantage, should come out on top. My pick: Buffalo
Pittsburgh 37, Philadelphia 28 - The Eagles fought well for this game, yet they fell short in the end. They are better than their record of 1-3-1 would suggest, but they need to start winning more games. Now, they are half a game behind Dallas. Steelers remain unbeaten at 4-0. My pick: Accurate
Carolina 23, Atlanta 16- The Panthers did what they had to do, and won on the road against the still winless Falcons, who are watching their season spiral downward faster than anyone could have imagined. My pick: Accurate
Houston 30, Jacksonville 14 - The Texans finally managed to get their first win of the season. And they needed to win, because against Jax, they had better find a way to win. They finally did. My pick: Accurate
LA Rams 30, Washington 10 - The Rams keep going strong, earning a solid East Coast win to improve to 4-1 on the year. For Washington, this was a fourth straight loss, as their season continues to spiral down. My pick: Accurate
Baltimore 27, Cincinnati 3 - Cincinnati was improving, but Baltimore is a tough place to play. A predictable blowout win for the Ravens. My pick: Accurate
Arizona 30, NY Jets 10 - The Cardinals went up early, and just never let go. The Jets are a hot mess right now, not only having failed to win a game to date, but not having come really close so far, either. Another loss sinks them to 0-5, now the only winless team left in the AFC, and two behind third place Miami in the AFC East. My pick: Inaccurate
Las Vegas 40, Kansas City 32 - The defending champions dropped their first game. This was a surprise, but I guess the Chiefs are bound to lose a few, here and there. Mypick: Inaccurate
Miami 43, San Francisco 17 - Wow! The Dolphins are really getting better. this was an impressive road win, with Miami jumping out early and getting a big lead, then fighting off the Niners attempts at a comeback. Really surprising win, and they look much improved. My pick: Inaccurate
Dallas 37, NY Giants 34 - In a back and forth affair, the Giants predictably lost by a hair. A one-point win by Dallas, who moves into first place in the NFC East at 2-3. The Giants remain winless now at 0-5. My pick: Accurate
Cleveland 32, Indianapolis 23 - This was going to be a close one, no matter what. But the Browns managed to pull off an impressive win, their fourth in a row, and are red hot! Maybe Believeland has a contender in football again? Let's see. My pick: Accurate
Denver at New England - Delayed
Sunday Night Football Preview: Seattle 27, Minnesota 26 - Minnesota really hung tough in this one, clearly came to play. But in the end, the Seahawks pulled off the victory, to stay unbeaten at 5-0. A very good game, but Seattle stays hot, while the Vikings sink to 1-4. Very few teams have recovered from a 1-4 start to still qualify for the postseason, including the 1992 San Diego Chargers, 1993 Houston Oilers, and the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs. My pick: Accurate
New Orleans 30, LA Chargers 27 (OT) – I was a bit surprised by how well the Chargers played, and probably even more surprised by how poorly the Saints played in this game specifically, and this season, more generally. Like many others, my own assumption was that the Saints were a serious title contender. At the very least, they could and should be a serious contender for the NFC title this season. That, at least, was what I had assumed. But after five games, they sure do not look or feel much like a serious contender. They just are not playing as well as it feels like they should be playing, and not winning the way that many (again, me included) had expected them to. In fact, they are struggling to win the games that they have won so far, and are losing in ways that you just do not expect them to. This is not to say that I am writing them off entirely for this season yet or anything. They are good enough to recover. But they, like the Niners, were among the teams that most people like myself assumed would be among not only the better teams in the NFC, and indeed the NFL, but would be among the very elites. And sorry, but they just do not look or feel like one of those elite teams just yet. They have beaten the Buccaneers in week one, and avoided what would have been a devastating loss last week, which would have handed them a third straight loss, and sank their record to 1-3 entering this Monday Night game against the Chargers. They may recover, but they just bear little resemblance to anything resembling a contender, at least to this point in the season. One good sign: they recovered enough to pull off this win, and to improve to 3-2, and a three-way tie atop the NFC South with Carolina and Tampa Bay. My prediction: Accurate
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