Here are my thoughts on the fifth week of the NFL. Please remember there are 32 teams in the NFL, there is no way I could mention every big play made by every player in every game. If you want to talk about your favorite team or player, just leave a comment about it and I while address it.

MVP of the Week:  Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo was at a crossroads in this NFL season.  The Cowboys were just 2-2 and he hadn't thrown a touchdown in two games.  Furthermore, his team was losing to the 0-4 Kansas City Chiefs, one of the worst teams in the NFL.  Romo stepped up in that game and finished 20 for 34 with 351 yards, two touchdowns, zero picks, and a QB rating of 113.7 in Dallas's 26-20 OT win.  Dallas's star receiver earns player of the week honors as well, but it wasn't the injured Roy Williams.  Instead WR Miles Austin recorded 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winning touchdown in OT.   Finally, give major credit to Cincinnati Bengals RB Cedric Benson, who became the first running back since 2007 to rush for 100 yards on the Baltimore Ravens, as he recorded 27 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown in the Bengals 17-14 upset of the Ravens.  It looks as if the former top five pick of the Chicago Bears has finally found a home in the NFL.

Loser of the Week:  The City of Buffalo and its fans that paid hard earned United States currency to watch the 6-3 thriller with the Cleveland Browns.  They should be given a refund; they expected to watch NFL football, but were instead defrauded by people impersonating NFL players and coaches.  I'll have more on that game and the participants later.  San Francisco 49ers CB Dre Bly deserves a mention for celebrating an interception when his team was down 35-10, only to have WR Roddy White strip the ball and recover it, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to score again.  Not sure what there was to celebrate at that time, I know there was no celebrating after the 45-10 defeat.   Finally, the Jacksonville Jaguars for going to Seattle and not only losing, but losing 41-0 to the Seahawks.  They allowed four touchdown passes to QB Matt Hasselbeck, who had played because of a broken rib since Week Two. 

Game of the Week:  My pick would go to the Monday Night Game, a game in which the Miami Dolphins won 31-27.  The score was 13-10 heading into the fourth quarter, but the teams combined to score 35 points in the fourth quarter.  The Jets took a 27-24 lead on the Dolphins with about 5:00 minutes left on a Thomas Jones run, but the Dolphins scored the last points on a Ronnie Brown touchdown run with just six second left in the game.

The Bay of Pigs: This is the easiest pick I have ever had to make. The Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills played to a 6-3 final, with the Browns "winning." Making matters worse, Derek Anderson, the "winning" QB went (Get ready for this) 2 for 17 for 23 yards, zero touchdowns, one pick and a QB rating of 15.07.   To put that in perspective, Miami Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown was one for two with 21 yards in the Monday Night Game.  A running back almost out passed a NFL quarterback on just two pass plays. 

I don't know what is more embarrassing, 1) That an alleged NFL team had a starting QB finish with two completions and 23 yards or 2) That an alleged NFL team lost to a quarterback that had two completions for 23 yards. In my mind these two guys, Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini and Bills Head Coach Dick Jaruon are easily two of the worst coaches in the NFL, which is quite a statement seeing Jim Zorn still has a job in Washington and Tom Cable still has a job in Oakland, something I will address later.

The Browns are 31st in yards gained and 30th in points per game. In three of their five contests they have been held under seven points. Mangini spent an entire off-season evaluating Brady Quinn and Anderson to see which quarterback gave his team the best chance to win. He decided on Quinn, only to go to Anderson three games later. Now what do you do? Do you bench the quarterback that led your team to its first victory or do you bench that same quarterback that completed two passes for 23 yards?   Mangini has decided to remain with Anderson for now.  What does Quinn have to do to lose his job once he gets it back, throw for 15 yards?

The Browns are short on talent and that was the case before Mangini got there, but Mangini has made so many mistakes and so alienated his team with the mandatory rookie bus trip this summer and the $1500.00 fine for an unpaid bottle of water at the hotel that there is little reason to believe that he will ever turn this around.  This quarterback situation and the 23 passing yards are just the latest example of his shortcomings as a NFL head coach.

As for the Bills, this is the worst of the worst. We talked about losing to Anderson and that effort, but at least Cleveland fans didn't have to watch it in person.  This happened in front of the Bills fans. If I were a Bills fan they could play the rest of the season in Toronto; to pay hard earned money to watch a team lose to that kind of team with that kind of performance is unacceptable.

The Bills don't have the most talent in the league, but QB Trent Edwards, RB Marshawn Lynch, RB Fred Jackson, WR Terrell Owens and WR Lee Evans have talent and they should be scoring more than three points against the Browns. This team should not be ranked 26th in points scored and 25th in yards gained. Owens has probably lost a step, but to be averaging 2.4 catches for 40.4 yards per game is also unacceptable, why did they bring him in if they aren't going to throw him the ball. It isn't like anyone else is doing better.  They used to joke that Michael Jordan couldn't average 20.00 points per game for Dean Smith's Carolina Tar Heal squad; well future Hall of Fame WR Jerry Rice couldn't have had 500 yards receiving in Dick Jauron's offense in the prime of his career. If you have any fantasy players playing in these offenses rid yourselves of them by any means necessary; they will bring you too much heartache the rest of the season.

The Mike Martz Award: Sorry I'm being so negative, I promise my impressions will be positive, but I have one more bad coach to blast. At least Mangini and Juaron haven't gone Mike Tyson on anyone this year, allegedly. If I'm a Raider fan (assuming there are any left) I would want to punch head coach Tom Cable for the play calling in the 44-7 loss to the New York Giants. His Raiders attempted 13 pass attempts that game, which is amazing seeing they were down 31-7 at the half. It tied two other franchises for the fewest attempts by a losing team and was a record for teams in the Live Ball Era, which began in 1978.

Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell is not a young quarterback anymore.  Russell has started 21 games in his NFL career. Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers have started 20 games. Rookie Mark Sanchez has started five games and his fellow rookie Matthew Stafford has started four games. Does anyone believe for a moment that in a 44-7 loss where those guys played the entire game they would have just 13 pass attempts?  Russell is not a seventh round pick that they are slowly trying to develop. He was the first pick in the draft and is being paid a $68.5 million dollar contract with $31.5 million dollars guaranteed.  He was expected to turn this team around, especially by his third year in the NFL. If the best he can do is 13 passes the Raiders need to admit that was the worst money they ever spent and rid themselves of Russell and start over, again.  They could go with veteran QB Jeff Garcia... oh wait; they can't because they cut him just before the season. Why would you want an experienced backup to come in and try to spark a rally when you can just pass 13 times and concede defeat?   If they wanted to go in a different direction their choice would be Bruce Gradkowski, who has also proven over the years that he is not a good starter.  As bad as Russell has been, he is there best option, which is a very situation for Raiders fans and the organization.

Furthermore, they didn't even run the ball well. Despite trailing 31-7 at the half and the Giants wanting the Raiders to run the ball to consume clock, the Raiders gained 60 yards on 25 rushes for an average of 2.4 yards per rush.  Only the Raiders can find a way to fail like this and it starts will owner Al Davis.  Davis is a legend in the game and one of the most important figures in the history of the NFL. His team is a circus right now and all signs point to it continuing that way if he stays in charge.  They have changed head coaches, players, and coordinators; Davis has been the one constant in this awful equation.  I don't know if Cable is a good coach or a bad coach because of the situation he is currently in, but based on his play calling Sunday, I'm going with a very bad head coach. If it is true that he punched his assistant Randy Hanson, Commissioner Godell should go after him the same way he went after PacMan Jones, Michael Vick and every other problem child that has been suspended by the NFL.   There is no excuse for that type of conduct.

That's a topic for another day. What everyone should be able to agree on is that was the worst piece of play calling by a team that was behind; I have never seen a coaching staff quit on a game like I saw the Raiders do on Sunday.  The Raiders are too proud of a franchise to have reached this level and it is my hope that the Raiders will become competitive again.  The NFL is a better league when the Radiers are at least relevant.

Injury Report:   Good news for the New England Patriots, LT Matt Light does not appear to have ligament damage in his ankle or knee, but it is still uncertain when he will return.   It is important for the Patriots to have him protecting QB Tom Brady's blindside.  Pittsburgh Steelers DE Aaron Smith has a shoulder injury that could keep him sidelined, which is critical, because he is veteran player that stops the run well and can put pressure on the quarterback.  Finally, the Buffalo Bills lost two linebacker s Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Buggs for the season, which further hurts a linebacker core that has been devastated by injuries.

Overall Impressions of Week Four:

1) I was wrong about the Denver Broncos - On to more positive commentary.  I did a very good job of picking the last place teams, nailing six of the eight teams that currently reside in last place (Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns). Like most people I didn't see the Tennessee Titans sitting at 0-5 right now, instead pegging the Jacksonville Jaguars for last place. My evaluation of the Broncos was the worst of all my picks; I had them pegged for a 3-13 to 5-11 team that could potentially finish behind Oakland. Instead, Denver currently stands at 5-0 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC. There is no way they will finish behind Oakland or Kansas City right now, but rather they will be looking to battle the San Diego Chargers for the AFC West.

The biggest change in Denver has been their defense. The Broncos are second in yards allowed, fifth in passing yards allowed, sixth in passing yards allowed and most importantly first in points allowed. The Broncos were 29th in yards allowed, 26th in passing yards allowed, 27th in rushing yards allowed and 30th in points allowed in 2008.

It's possible to turn around a defense that quickly, one that I remember vividly is the 2000 to 2001 improvement of the St. Louis Rams defense, which went from 23rd in total yards, 27th in passing yards, 13th in rushing yards, and 31st in points allowed to third in yards allowed, 11th in passing yards, third in rushing yards, and seventh in points allowed. I'm sure there are others, with the draft and free agency it is possible to produce a lot of turnover to an underachieving unit. If the right decisions are made, change can happen very quickly.

The difference between the Rams and the Broncos is that the Rams had a high powered offense to hang their hat on. 1999-2001 was the Greatest Show on Turf's peak days; they just had to fix the defense. The Denver Broncos also had a high powered offense, but rookie Head Coach Josh McDaniels was not able to keep that intact. Everyone knows what happened between QB Jay Cutler and McDaniels; that disagreement sent the disgruntled QB to Chicago.  Later WR Brandon Marshall was suspended for the preseason for conduct detrimental to the team.

I'm not surprised the Broncos were able to turnaround their defense in as much as I am surprised that they were able to do that with all the perceived negative things that happened on offense. The Broncos had an offense that was second in yards and 16th in points, but with QB Kyle Orton replacing Cutler and Marshall unhappy no one expected them to amount to much on offense. This was an 8-8 team that looked to be headed in the wrong direction, led by a coach that appeared he was going to be in the NFL for just one year.

Instead, their defense has been the most dominating defense in the NFL. They are giving up only 8.6 points per game, Indianapolis and the New York Giants are tied for second with 14.2. The Dallas Cowboys have averaged 28.2 points per game and have a 3-1 record in their four games against opponents not from Denver. They scored 10 points in their 17-10 loss in Denver. The Cincinnati Bengals have averaged 23.5 points per game and have a 4-0 record in their four games against opponents not from Denver. They scored 7 points in their 12-7 home loss to Denver. The New England Patriots have averaged 21.5 points per game and have a 3-1 record in their four games against opponents not from Denver. They were held to 17 points in an overtime game. These are three pretty good offenses that Denver was able to frustrate. It is impossible to say that Denver has a good defense, because of the opposition they have played. They have taken three offenses that have been effective against other teams and shut them down. Denver's defense has been fixed and it is for real.

The concern for Denver is can they keep winning with an offense that ranks 21st in points scored at 19.8 points per game. They probably can, because their offense is gaining a lot of yards, their 376.8 yards per game gained ranks sixth in the NFL, thanks to a rushing attack that is gaining a 139.0 yards per game, good for 5th in the NFL. If a team can run the ball, control the clock and play great defense they are going to win a lot of games in the NFL.

You could have argued Denver was just lucky when they only a 12-7 win in their opener against a Cincinnati squad that people also underestimated. It is impossible to be lucky five games in a row in the NFL. At 5-0 this is going to be a formidable team the rest of the way with a defense that nobody is going to want to face. Time will tell if that will translate into a deep playoff run, but there are definitely a lot of good things going on in Denver, something I never expected that I would say when the season began.

2) Is Peyton Manning playing the best football of his career - I keep hearing from people that Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning is playing the best football of his career. One of those people is Jeff Fisher, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, who said, ""He's just playing as well now as I think he's ever played in his career."

That's a pretty amazing statement, seeing Manning had one of the best seasons in NFL history in 2004, when he threw a then record 49 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. I am one that likes to check the statistics when people make these types of claims. Here is how his 2004 season finished compared to how his 2009 season is on pace to finish:

2004: 336 completions, 497 attempts, 9.2 yards per attempt, 67.6 completion percentage, 4,557 passing yards, 49 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, and a QB rating around 121.1.

2009: 426 completions, 580 attempts, 9.1 yards per attempt, 73.5 completion percentage, 5,264 passing yards, 38 touchdown passes, 13 interceptions, and a QB rating around 114.0.

Both Colts teams were very good. The 2004 Colts finished 12-4 and won the AFC South. They beat the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round before losing to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round. This team is 5-0, has a three game lead in the AFC South and appears poised to compete for not only an AFC Championship, but the Super Bowl.

What is different about his 2004 season and this season is that the Colts are unable to run the ball in 2009. The Colts are 29th in the NFL in rushing yards per game at just 78.8 yards per contest. In 2004 they were 15th in the NFL at 115.8 yards per game. That is the main reason that Manning's attempts are much higher, which is the reason he is on pace to throw over 5,000 yards.

However, that makes his job a lot harder, because defenses don't have to game plan against the running game like they did in 2004. He is still maintaining a yards per attempt average over 9.1, is completing a higher percentage of his passes and not turning the ball over at a substantially higher rate, which is very impressive.

The other impressive feat is that he doesn't have the talent in the receiving core that he had in 2004. Reggie Wayne is on pace for 1,468 receiving yards. The next best wide receiver on the roster is on pace for 729 yards, which is Austin Collie. Compare that to 2004 when Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Brandon Stokley all went over the 1,000 yard mark and all had more than ten touchdown catches. A big weapon for Manning has been TE Dallas Clark, who is on pace for 112 receptions, 1,411 yards and six touchdowns, which would be an all-time great season for a tight end.  Still, most explosive offenses need lots of good wide receivers to move the ball down the field in big chunks, it is not a small feat to utilize the tight end as much as Manning has and still maintain a yards per attempt number over 9.0. 

Back to the original question; is Manning playing the best football of his career. If he keeps at this current pace he would have the most completions in a single season, his highest completion percentage of his career and most passing yards for his career. He would also have the second highest attempts, passing yards, touchdowns, and QB rating. A 114.0 QB rating would be the third highest single season QB rating in the history of the NFL.

Sometimes sports fans like to get caught in the moment and proclaim that this is the best they have ever seen. I will still go with 2004; because that season is in the books, this season has 11 games to go. That said, this is by far the best football he has played since that season, which is scary, because he has made two All-Pro First Teams (2005, 2008) and one All-Pro second team (2006) since that 2004 season. He also won the NFL MVP award in 2008. Peyton Manning deserves the praise that this is the best he has ever played.  He continues to show why he is one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen.  If he continues at this pace it is very likely that he will be receiving a record fourth MVP trophy.

A Look Ahead:

Street Cred's 2009 Regular Season Record: 50-26

This year I will not be including my picks in my newsletter, instead I will release them on Thursday as a separate article. Check back on Thursday as I release my picks for the upcoming games, with analysis of the big factors that will determine the winners.

A Look Ahead:

Street Cred's 2009 Regular Season Record: 50-26

This year I will not be including my picks in my newsletter, instead I will release them on Thursday as a separate article. Check back on Thursday as I release my picks for the upcoming games, with analysis of the big factors that will determine the winners.

Check out www.fantasyfootballmaniaxs.com for other articles about the NFL and fantasy football. Find out why we receive thousands of hits from people each week looking for advice on how to win in their fantasy leagues.