Among those who bet on the NFL, many partake in an especially delightful type of wager known as the suicide league. Suicide leagues involve a type of bet in which every player in the league picks one team that he thinks absolutely, unequivocally, beyond a shadow of a doubt will win its game that week. Throughout the season, you can't pick the same team to win twice (preventing people from picking the New England Patriots in every game, which would be perfectly reasonable at this rate), and once you're wrong you're out.
After Week Four, scores of suicide leaguers might have actually taken their namesake literally and jumped off a bridge after a Sunday rife with upsets. It was a bad weekend to be a favorite.
When the New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, it seemed as if the G-men entered some sort of weird, magical portal to a place where all their problems just disappeared. All of a sudden, Tiki Barber has a vice grip on the football. He hasn't fumbled yet, and he leads the NFL in rushing yards and total yardage from scrimmage.
Kurt Warner looks like he's running the Greatest Show on Turf again. Does Peyton Manning have a brother? We honestly can't recall. Jeremy Shockey hauled in 74 yards and a TD and got back to acting just enough like a psycho to inspire the rest of his team, and the defense held the Pack to a touchdown and knocked Brett Favre out of the game.
The San Diego Chargers just tossed around the Tennessee Titans. Now before people get upset, yes, "Inside the NFL" recognizes that Steve McNair didn't play. But let's face it, McNair's been a bum so far this year. He's such a fighter that he is bound to pick it up eventually, but on Sunday the Titans were probably better off with backup Billy Volek, who had a very good game, passing for 278 yards, two touchdowns and no picks.
The fact is, the Chargers just outplayed Tennessee, picking apart the defense and shutting down Titans running back Chris Brown.
The New Orleans Saints continued Week Four's upset train by losing 34-10 to the Arizona Cardinals. The Saints made Emmitt Smith the Grey look like Emmitt the Great, which should tell you something about the shakiness of the Saints D. Help may finally be on the way, however, as cornerback Mike McKenzie finally whined his way out of Green Bay and onto the Saints on Monday in a trade for a second round draft pick and back-up quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan.
Going into the season, most fans saw the Baltimore Ravens taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Week Four and probably anticipated a good looking match up. Instead, the Chiefs have been playing miserably, and were serious underdogs going in to the game. Keeping the upset pattern alive, K.C. saved its season by edging out the Ravens, 27-24.
The Houston Texans also scored a minor upset by beating the Oakland Raiders 30-17, as did the Cleveland Browns by winning against the Washington Redskins, 17-13. All told, seven underdogs knocked off favorites, forgetting the spread.
What does all this nonsense actually tell us about the NFL, other than the fact that gambling is not only highly addictive but not terribly lucrative either?
It reminds us of one clear, immutable fact about good NFL teams. The really good ones, the ones that aren't just the flavor of the month, always beat bad teams. As a matter of fact, all a team usually has to do is beat the sub-par teams, and that's almost ten wins right there. The good teams do it every time.
And who are those good teams? Right now, the Atlanta Falcons are certainly making a name for themselves. After beating the Carolina Panthers 27-10, Atlanta is now 4-0, playing great defense, and in solid control of the NFC South.
The Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, and Indianapolis Colts all continue to look like Super Bowl caliber teams, and the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets aren't looking too shabby themselves.
The Jags lost a close one to Indy, but their defense remains tough and quarterback Byron Leftwich may finally be getting the offense on track. The Jets, now 3-0, continue to play well in the capable hands of coach Herm Edwards, and the defense is getting better each week.
As for all those upstart upset teams, one might want to hold off on judgment for now. Despite strong performances against good teams, it's tough to put any stock in the Cardinals or Chargers, and even the Chiefs still have a long, long way to go.
The Giants, on the other hand, might deserve another look. The only team they've lost to is the Eagles, and its tough to fault them for that considering the way Philly's been playing.
Could the Giants be for real? They take on the Dallas Cowboys next week in what will be an important game that they should be able to win. That would put them at 4-1 going into their bye week, and that ain't bad.
