The first quarter of the season has just passed as we gear up for the second act. The matchups to watch this weekend involve the defending champs, the NFL MVP, and the dynasty that’s not dead yet. What’s at stake in week five?
This is a fork in the road moment for the young Denver Broncos. They have a chance to go on the road and hand the defending champs their first loss of the season. A win here would help clean up the wounds they suffered in the week two and week three losses.
Sean Payton and Bo Nix have done a lot of good things together. Something they need to start doing, however, is to begin beating good to elite teams. Since the beginning of 2024, they have been 2-10 against teams with winning records.
One of the victories was against the Kansas City Chiefs’ backups in week 18, and the other was beating the hapless Cincinnati Bengals a few days back. Denver desperately needs a win against an elite team to prove to themselves that they can be contenders this year. There is also a big difference between starting 2-3 and starting 3-2.
The Philadelphia Eagles are 4-0, so they are in a good spot in terms of standings. They do, however, need to tweak some things offensively, such as getting AJ Brown the ball more. The offense, except for a few halves, has looked bland.
What better way to gain some confidence offensively than to play well against a stingy Broncos defense? This is by far the best game in the early window.
The New England Patriots take on the Buffalo Bills at Orchard Park on Sunday Night Football. This is a chance for Drake Maye and the Patriots to show what they are capable of. New England sits at 2-2 and has been up and down week to week, but Maye has been the one constant.
This season, Maye has thrown for seven touchdowns and just two interceptions. Other than week one, his passer rating has been north of 100 in every other week so far. A good game against the Bills in primetime would have people looking at him as one of the better quarterbacks from the 2024 NFL draft.
This is also a revenge game. Stefon Diggs comes back to Buffalo for the first time since leaving the Bills. He certainly will be motivated to have a big game against a team with which he spent four years.
Similar to the Broncos, this is also a fork in the road moment for the Patriots. A win here and all of a sudden, they could be viewed as a potential playoff team. Once again, 2-3 and 3-2 just feel very different.
As for the Bills, there’s not much at stake other than just adding on to their half-decade dominance of the AFC East.
The Kansas City Chiefs go on the road to face the Jacksonville Jaguars to conclude week five. This is an intriguing matchup because of the Chiefs’ offense and the Jaguars’ defense.
Kansas City, last week, put up 37 points on offense for the first time since early 2023. Mahomes had his first four-touchdown and zero-interception game since his MVP season in 2022. The offense finally looked like its old self, but was that a product of them figuring it out or the Baltimore Ravens’ defense being that bad?
The Jaguars sit at 3-1 all thanks to their stingy defense. The defense has forced a league high 13 turnovers. Like the Chiefs’ offense, there are questions about whether the unit is actually that good or if it is a product of their competition.
Jacksonville has faced the Carolina Panthers, Bengals, Houston Texans, and San Francisco 49ers. Those are offenses that have struggled mightily all year. Don’t get me wrong, the Jaguars’ defense is good, but is it as good as the numbers suggest?
This is what makes this matchup so intriguing. The unit that plays well this week will get more credibility. If the Jaguars’ defense plays well, they justify their early-season dominance, and if the Chiefs’ offense has another good game, they might be officially back.
This week consists of two young, unproven teams that have a chance to put themselves on the map. They both face undefeated teams that are looking to continue their early-season dominance.
That is followed up by two units that are looking to justify what they are building towards. The unstoppable force meets an immovable object kind of matchup. This matchup will decide how unstoppable that force is or how immovable the object is.
Looking forward to another great week of football!
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