Strong Side Sports

For now, it appears, a few teams have cemented themselves to the top of the standings. After we get past 5 though, things start to get a little funky. There’s this convergence of teams that I’m starting to believe in with teams that either started well or had lofty expectations going into the season but are now trending down. It’s making for one hell of a mess trying to keep everything straight. Just when I thought things were settling down, I remembered that they never really do around here:

Top 10

1. Chiefs – See: every other power ranking this year. S/o JuJu for his performance on Monday night, great to see that guy ball out. KC gets a bye before squaring off in a Super Bowl rematch against the Niners next week.
2. Vikings – Not much to say here, really. Like the Chiefs, the Vikes have a Week 6 bye, and follow up with a NFC North showdown with Lions in Week 7.
3. Ravens – The Ravens got a tough win that could’ve easily went the other way, but luck favored Baltimore last week. Their Week 6 game against Washington features two stellar dual threat quarterbacks. Should be a great game.
4. Lions – Fresh off a bye, the Lions will travel to Dallas to face an injured but gritty Cowboys team that is trying to keep things moving in the right direction. A tough matchup for sure.
5. Texans – The news of Nico Collins being placed on IR is a huge detriment to this team(and both my fantasy teams). They have a few talented pass catchers still, but you have to wonder how effective they’ll be without Collins drawing the bulk of the attention. They do play the Pats this week, so that’s a plus.
6. Falcons – Don’t look now, but the Falcons are hot. Barring some unusual aligning of the planets, I assume they’ll keep playing well against the Panthers this week.
7. Eagles – This team benefited from the bye week tremendously, as they look to get both Brown and Smith back from injury this week. And they play the Browns. The Browns are not good.
8. Bills – Back to back losses for Buffalo at the hands of two of the AFC’s best is concerning. More concerning would be a loss to the dysfunctional Jets this week. Can’t lose that one.
9. Niners – I alluded to this yesterday, but I’m thinking that these guys may be fraudsters. I’d like to be proven wrong. Of course, I’m usually wrong, so I guess that would make me right, right? Good news is, we’ll find out sooner rather than later as they take on NFC West foe, Seattle, on Thursday.
10. Commanders – Welcome to the Top 10, Commies! They just keep cooking. A very tough matchup against the Ravens this week could mean a short lived initial berth in the Top 10, but for now, they certainly deserve to be here.

Surging

11. Packers – These guys might’ve found their groove. They play host to Arizona this week in what should be an entertaining game in the early block.

17. Cardinals – This team is just hard to call, but you gotta appreciate the win over SF. They can either beat the Packers by 2 or lose by 20, it’s really a matter of chance.

18. Giants – Don’t let the two wins fool ya, these guys actually have some offensive firepower. If the Bengals didn’t desperately need a win, I think I’d probably take the G-Men this week.

21. Bears – Caleb Williams and Co. look to be improving with time. How will they handle the travel situation to London this week? If this game was in the States, I’d probably lean Bears, but since London is basically a home game for the Jaguars, I think they’ll have to take an L and reset for Week 8 (Chicago has a Week 7 bye).

Falling

14. Jets – This team is heading in the exact wrong direction. Firing your coach after Week 5 is a tough look. A win against Buffalo is needed to keep this thing from imploding further.

16. Steelers – The offense continues to look lackluster. The defense can only do so much. And there’s been quite a few injuries, sure, but you’ve still gotta win games. They get the Raiders this week. I’m gonna say right now that it’s a must-win.

25. Saints – This team must’ve forgot how to win. And now Derek Carr looks like he’ll be missing some time. Not good signs. They have the Bucs this week, who are off long rest having played on Thursday, while the Saints played on Monday. That’s 9 days of rest for the Bucs compared to only 5 for New Orleans. You do the math.

Tomorrow…Week 6 Picks