The Falcoholic
Another week of NFL chaos is in the books. The last two unbeaten teams go down (congratulations again to the 1972 Miami Dolphins), Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield delivered arguably the best game of the year so far, the Arizona Cardinals found the most hilarious way possible to lose, and Trevor Lawrence stumbled and tumbled his way into one of the biggest wins Jacksonville’s had in years.
Going into week six, the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans have the week off, and we have some heavy hitters on the docket, where we will get some real, pivotal answers. Can the Kansas City Chiefs still hang with the big boys? Are the Jaguars for real? Was the Patriots’ loss just a crazy divisional game, or are there actual dents in the Bills’ armor? And plenty more…let’s get into the power rankings, which were written before Thursday Night Football.
The only team that is top-three in both EPA/play generated on offense and EPA/play allowed on defense, the Lions are the most complete team right now. And they have the chance to prove it further in week six, against a vulnerable Chiefs team.
I’m going to attribute Sunday Night Football’s loss to Drake Maye and the Patriots punching above their weight class in a divisional game, where anything can happen. The Bills are still in the conversation for best team in the NFL, and most of the reason why is the play of reigning MVP Josh Allen.
There are some true things to worry about with the Philadelphia Eagles, but that’s what we said last season. We see how that turned out. This is still probably the most talented roster from top to bottom, and it’s going to take more than one loss against a fringe top-ten team in the league to move me off the Eagles being one of the top teams in the NFC.
Just. Keep. Winning. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the most frustrating team because they are both competent and explosive. The Buccaneers have the 2nd-most pass plays that have gained 20 or more yards, and have accounted for six of their 10 passing touchdowns on the year. Mix that with the fact that they have only two turnovers on the year, and the Bucs offense has, so far, successfully mitigated risk while maximizing the explosiveness of this offense.
There’s no more denying it. The Colts are 4-1, and since 2017, 31 of 35 teams (88.6%) that have started 4-1 have made their way into the playoffs. The last team that missed was the 2021 Los Angeles Chargers, who lost an overtime thriller to the Las Vegas Raiders, where if they tied, both teams could walked into the playoffs in the final game of the regular season. So, it feels only right that we take the Colts and...
