subject: Nfl Tickets - Week 5 Observations [print this page] Here are some things that stood out to me in Week 5 of the 2009 NFL season.
Peyton Manning is playing the best football of his career. That's right, even better than the season in which he tossed a then-record 49 touchdowns in 2004. Manning is playing extremely well this season, despite the injury to wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez. Manning is making youngsters like Austin Collie and Pierce Garcon look like veterans and making up for an Indi running game that has not gotten much going on the ground. This offense may not be as flashy or sell as many NFL tickets as the 2004 model did, but this team looks to be better overall and Manning is to thank for much of it.
The Chiefs are showing signs of life. Matt Cassel showed why the team traded for him and gave him such a large contract by posting his best numbers of his Kansas City career against the Dallas Cowboys. This defense has shown some potential, but to succeed the Chiefs will need their running game to show up. A lot of their struggles fall on the shoulders of the offensive line.
The Giants are the NFC's best team. The Vikings and Saints have looked good, but the Giants' utter domination of the Raiders in Week 5 showed me that they're clearly the cream of the crop in the conference. It's not that the Raiders are a tough opponent, but the Giants had the game in hand at halftime to the point where they pulled quarterback Eli Manning for the day. This team is strong in every facet.
The Bengals are for real. They've taken down their two biggest division rivals, the Steelers and the Ravens, in consecutive weeks and are all alone in first place in the AFC North five weeks into the season. Nobody saw this coming. Cedric Benson leads the league in rushing yards through five weeks, another thing that surely nobody saw coming. The Bengals have a nice, balanced attack on offense and the defense has been playing very well. This team should stick around for the duration.
I should not have doubted the Falcons. I doubted the Falcons going into Week 5, but they sure shut me up with a throttling of the 49ers. Roddy White had a career day receiving and Matt Ryan and Michael Turner looked very good. This team has some issues to address as far as run defense goes, but their offense looks really good.
Chad Henne has real potential. The young Dolphins quarterback played incredibly well against a tough Jets defense. The Jets blitzed the signal caller early and often, but Henne made quick reads and got the ball out before the defenders got to him. He went 20 for 26 in just his second pro start, and they weren't all dump-offs either. Henne has a rocket for an arm and showed it on two plays in particular, one deep TD pass to Ted Ginn and another rifled throw on a hook route to Greg Camarillo on the game-winning drive. Henne appears to have the complete package and it looks like Bill Parcells once again struck gold in the draft.
