Week 5 Recap:

vs. W/L (7-7)
vs. Spread: (5-9)
vs. Aggregate: (7-7)

For The Season:
Vs. W/L: (52-22)
Vs. Spread: (42-33)
Vs. Aggregate: (36-38)

Vs. “The Sportsline Experts”:

Richard: 45-28-0
Judge: 43-30-0
PFN: 42-33-0
Madden: 41-32-0
“SpiN”: 38-35-0
Prisco: 34-39-0
Harmon: 33-40-0

There are new leaders of the pack after Week 5, as two of the "experts" continued to have great seasons. It wasn't much of a week for forcasting around here, but that’s what makes things fun. There wasn’t a conscious contrarian strategy that led to such a bad record for the week, as going against the grain worked for a couple of the picks. Simply put, there were a lot of games that could’ve gone either way (and they did!). There are a few teams that are already on the clock for April’s draft, a few teams making a beeline for the playoffs and a majority of “Any Given Sunday” teams who are slugging their way along week to week. The Giants and Titans are the only remaining undefeated teams, with Tennessee going into the bye week on an improbably surprising roll. We learned this week that the Lions truly have no heart but also that a heart still beats in Cincinnati. The Cowboys continued their disturbing trend of playing down to the level of their competition. Two of the remaining undefeated teams, Buffalo and the Ravens, suffered their first losses. When Trent Edwards went down in the first quarter, the Bills were simply outgunned. The Patriots played surprisingly well at Candlestick and Washington may be this year’s biggest sleeper. The G-Men appear unstoppable at this point. We’ll see as they have several divisional contests coming down the pike.

As far as New England goes, it was the first time all year (since Brady’s injury) that the entire team put forth a consistent effort. The defense carried the day in their first two wins, but Matt Cassel stepped up like a real pro. He’ll be on the wish lists of a number of teams if he continues to improve. Sunday Night’s game at San Diego will be a huge test for Cassel and the Pats.