Critical Week 5 games
At the beginning of the year, who would have thought that New England and San Diego would be two teams struggling for life in their respective divisions or the Arizona Cardinals would be a serious threat to the Dallas Cowboys? It's been an unpredictable season. Expect the unexpected.
Carolina at Tampa Bay
In a crucial NFC South matchup, the Panthers are looking to distance themselves in the division, while an up-and-down Tampa Bay team is looking for some stability in the division. Carolina boasts probably the most underrated defense in the league and have held some of the game's best running backs to their worst outputs of the season this year. That doesn't bode well for the Tampa Bay offense, who are expected to lean heavily on Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn amidst their quarterback problems. Brian Griese is hurt, so embattled quarterback Jeff Garcia gets the start, and with a good performance, could continue to do so in the future. Garcia certainly feels he has something to prove after losing his job due to injury and never getting it back until this week and he and head coach Jon Gruden have not seen eye-to-eye this season. It's hardly what you can call a quarterback controversey, given that neither has played very well.
New England at San Diego
If one thing has been evident this season, it's how much the Patriots have relied on their star being healthy to win games. New England has struggled mightily to score points this season without Tom Brady and while Matt Cassel and company were able to sustain some drives and score some points in last week's 30-21 win, this is still a team that will need to rely on its defense to win games. Still, the Patriots are 3-1 and still very much alive in the AFC East, largely because that defense has stepped up. Throw out the Miami game in which the Patriots fell victim to a gadget no one else has been able to stop either and the Patriots defense is allowing 246 yards of total offense and 13.6 points per game. San Diego needs this win to avoid going 2-4 and let the gap between them and first-place Denver get that much bigger. The Chargers have not had a problem scoring points as Philip Rivers has been an exceptional quarterback to this point. But injuries are catching up with the Chargers. Antonio Gate has been limited in his ability to run routes with his hip injury. Ladanian Tomlinson had to leave last week's game against Miami after re-injuring his toe. Now Chris Chambers has gone down. This is Rivers' chance to silence doubters that say he can't win a game when it's put on his shoulders.
Dallas at Arizona
It's shaping up to be a good, old fashioned shootout in the desert this weekend. Neither team has had a problem putting up points this season, but both have had their problems keeping their opposition out of the end zone. Kurt Warner has been terrific this season in an offense that fits his style to a T. Steve Breaston has emerged at more than just a kick returner in the absence of Anquan Boldin, who will also sit out this week's game as he recovers from surgery to repair a fractured sinus. Not to be forgotten, however, is the Arizona running game. while not explosive, they are the go-to guys in the end zone, having scored mroe touchdowns (8) than any other team in the NFL. A win this week would add some legitimacy to their season, as leading the NFC West in and of itself is not anything impressive. Dallas is hoping to keep pace with the New York Giants and the red-hot Washington Redskins. Last week's win over Cincinnati was not an inspiring one after losing to Washington two weeks ago and Dallas overall needs to come up with a better effort. The bounces won't always go their way they way they did from Miles Austin to Patrick Crayton.
