NFL week six weeds out false contenders

Week six in the NFL is in the record books and we can now start to figure out who's a contender and who's a pretender. After hot starts both the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears are starting to show their true colors as they head back into the land of mediocrity.

After last year's 13-3 record, Chicago hoped to build on another season, which looked promising when the Bears began 2-0. But with consecutive losses to the New Orleans Saints, the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers, the bad news Bears are now just bad news.

The injury bug has gotten in the way though as the left side of the offensive line continued to deteriorate. Starting left guard Rex Tucker will be out for the season now with a broken leg while wide receiver David Terrell adds himself to injured list with a broken bone in his right foot that will hold him out for two months. The bye in week six probably wasn't enough to help the Bears overcome their injuries, although they should be able to end their three game skid against the awful Detroit Lions this week.

Will the Bears be able to regain enough strength to catch the Packers though? With all the injuries on this team, the Bears just aren't in good enough physical shape to regain their strength.

Also on the list of fake contenders are the Panthers, who have a three game losing streak of their own going into week seven. It has now become apparent that the 3-0 start was merely luck for 2001's worst team. Carolina's recent downward spiral was topped off with a loss to the Dallas Cowboys in week six. The match-up was ugly, with Panther's running back Lamar Smith led the day in rushing with 81 yards as opposed to Emmit Smith's 59. But the Panthers still found a way to lose the game by allowing Dallas to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Carolina obviously came leaps and bounds from their 2001 season, but visions of playoff appearances are still too far fetched for this team.

Falling into the grey area between contender and pretender now lie the New England Patriots. Beating up on the league through September, the Patriots hushed all critics about Tom Brady and the former Superbowl champions. Well after consecutive losses to the Miami Dolphins and then the Packers at home, the critics are speaking again.

The upcoming bye week will do the Pats some good as they can reflect on the recent tailspin of their offense. Credited as the catalyst to the offense's performance earlier in the season, fingers are now pointing at Brady as the reason for the Pats offensive demise as well.

With seven interceptions and only five touchdown passes in his last three games, Brady has looked like a markedly different player on the field. In his first three games of the season Brady went 93-132, passing for 973 yards and achieving an efficiency rating of 107.9. Over the next three games his rating dropped almost 40 percent to 67.9 as he went 77-128, amassing 776 yards. Is this the real Tom Brady or can the Pats turn their mistakes around. They still have a long season ahead of them, but as of last Sunday they also have a ways to go.

The Packers win over the Pats was their fifth victory of the season, as Green Bay quietly put together another stunning record. After a slow start to the season that required an overtime win in the season opener followed by a loss to New Orleans, the Packers have gotten themselves back on the winning track. The main reason behind their success is Brett Favre, who despite injuries to receivers and offensive linemen, has been unstoppable of late with a quarterback rating of 102.5.

Also sitting at 5-1 are the Miami Dolphins who looked like a true contender as they marched their way atop the AFC East after beating the Denver Broncos at Mile High on Sunday. Everything seemed to be going the Dolphins, but now the true test comes as they enter into the next phase of their season without their starting quarterback or receiver. Jay Fiedler is out for at least four weeks with a broken thumb. Undergoing surgery on Monday, the Dolphins have a tall task on their hands in filling Fiedler's spot.

To make matters worse, wide receiver Oronde Gadsden may also miss the rest of the season with a sprained wrist that he suffered against the Broncos. Without these two key players, the Dolphins will be hard pressed to continue their success. With a 5-1 record though, Miami should be able to clinch a playoff spot and should have Fiedler back for when the games really matter.





The Good

Terrell Owen's 37 yard touchdown reception which helped the San Francisco 49ers earn a 28-21 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night.



The Bad

The fact that Owens had a pen in his sock and signed the football he caught immediately after catching the touchdown.



The Ugly

The Cincinnati Bengals are so awful that quarterback Corey Dillion claims he will retire at the end of the season if the team doesn't get its act together. Falling to 0-6 after an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, it's only a matter of time until head coach Dick LeBeau is asked to clear his office. That won't help the Bengals though, their inability to win isn't LeBeau's fault. It's the fact that the team has absolutely no talent.