If there is one thing that we learned from Week 5, it's that no lead is safe in the NFL these days. Sunday was filled with enough drama and historic comebacks (or collapses) to make sure fans everywhere were glued to their televisions until the final whistle.
Five teams overcame double-digit deficits last week to win, including a record-breaking 25-point rally by the Cleveland Browns in Tennessee, the largest road deficit ever overcome by a team in the regular season. The Browns weren't the only road team to pull off a shocker -- the Buffalo Bills scored the final 17 points of the game to beat the Detroit Lions, 17-14, at Ford Field on a 58-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter with nine seconds left. The other teams to erase deficits of at least 10 points in Week 5 were the New York Giants (over the Atlanta Falcons), the Carolina Panthers (over the Chicago Bears) and the New Orleans Saints (over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
These improbable comebacks have become a weekly staple this season. Through the first five weeks, there have now been 16 games in which the winning team overcame a deficit of at least 10 points. That is tied for the second-most through Week 5 since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
The other key takeaway from last week's action is the continued parity in the league. With the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals each suffering their first loss of the season, we are left with no unbeaten teams. The only other seasons since the merger in which no team reached 4-0 came in 1970 and 2010. It's safe to say that the 1972 Miami Dolphins were happy to pop their champagne corks earlier than usual this year.
Although we have no unbeatens remaining this season, there are still two teams on the winless watch -- the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Raiders. This week might be the best chance for the Jags to get off the schnied, facing a 1-4 Tennessee Titans team that is in complete freefall. Three of our seven experts think the Jaguars will win on the road, just the second time this season that more than one person has picked Jacksonville to win (also Week 2 vs Washington). It looks like Oakland's miserable season will continue with no one picking the Silver and Black to upset the San Diego Chargers, who are looking like early Super Bowl contenders.
This week is shaping up to be filled with a lot of mismatches -- at least on paper. There are an unprecedented four unanimous picks -- Denver Broncos over New York Jets, Bengals over Panthers, Chargers over Raiders, and Seattle Seahawks over Dallas Cowboys.
So of course one of those teams will inevitably lose this week. It's up to you to decide which one is the right pick for your survivor pool. And don't even think about changing the channel even when your team is ahead by 25 points at home or trailing by two touchdowns on the road -- because you never know what's going to happen on any given Sunday.
Week 6 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | PFT Commenter | Matt Ufford |
IND vs HOU | IND | IND | IND | HOU | IND | HOU | IND |
JAX vs TEN | JAX | TEN | JAX | TEN | TEN | JAX | TEN |
BAL vs TB | BAL | TB | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | TB |
DEN vs NYJ | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN | DEN |
DET vs MIN | MIN | MIN | DET | DET | DET | DET | DET |
CAR vs CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN | CIN |
NE vs BUF | NE | BUF | NE | BUF | NE | NE | BUF |
PIT vs CLE | CLE | PIT | PIT | CLE | CLE | CLE | CLE |
GB vs MIA | GB | GB | GB | GB | GB | MIA | MIA |
SD vs OAK | SD | SD | SD | SD | SD | SD | SD |
CHI vs ATL | ATL | CHI | CHI | ATL | ATL | ATL | CHI |
DAL vs SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA |
WAS vs ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | WAS | ARZ |
NYG vs PHI | NYG | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI | NYG |
SF vs STL | SF | SF | SF | SF | SF | Tie | SF |
Our panel consists of: David Fucillo, SB Nation's fantasy guru; Danny Kelly, SB Nation NFL contributor; PFT Commenter, SB Nation's hot takes expert; Joel Thorman, manager of SB Nation NFL blogs; Matt Ufford, editorial producer, SB Nation studios; Ryan Van Bibber, SB Nation's NFL editor; and Stephen White, retired NFL defensive end and SB Nation NFL contributor.
Here's how well they've picked this season:
RVB | White | Thorman | Fucillo | Kelly | PFT Commenter | Ufford | |
Week 5 | 11-4 | 9-6 | 12-3 | 14-1 | 8-7 | 8-7 | 11-4 |
Overall | 44-32 | 41-35 | 45-31 | 47-29 | 39-37 | 42-34 | 46-30 |