No lead is safe. Five teams learned that fact last week by allowing their opponents to crawl back into the game, most notably, the Seattle Seahawks.  With 8:42 left in the fourth quarter, they led the St. Louis Rams 27-10.  They lost.

Do teams give up when they have a lead or what?  Carolina had a fourth quarter lead in Denver and they lost.  Arizona led 28-12 midway through the fourth.  They lost.  The Jets led 13-0 in the fourth and needed a last minute field goal to win while the Vikings allowed Houston to tack on 21 points in the fourth quarter, but they won in overtime.

Seattle has been lock to win the NFC West since the preseason, but St. Louis doesn’t look like they are ready to relinquish the division just yet.  And San Francisco QB Tim Rattay now holds the team record for completions in a game with 38.  That’s right Montana and Young never did it, but Rattay did.

So what does this all mean grasshopper? Well it means that my picks were once again sour. I went 6-8 in Week 5.  Yeah, I’m not afraid to admit it.  I’m still sitting at 62 percent on the season, so it’s not too bad, right? Let’s move on before I shed a tear.

The early game that most people will be watching is the Seahawks traveling to Foxboro to face the undefeated Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots. This is, by far, my pick for game of the week.  Looking at the Pats schedule, this is the only “real” test they have this year. The only other game I see that could cause problems for New England is Week 11 in Kansas City on Monday night. 

Seattle didn’t have the best road record last year, to say the least. Considering New England is 19 for their last 19, how can you ever pick against the Pats. The Seahawks collapse last week against the Rams can either demoralize them or fuel them.  My thought is that it will fuel them, but nevertheless, they don’t have the fire power to hang with New England. Pats QB Tom Brady completed only seven passes last week against Miami and they still won 24-10. The balance in the running game and a stellar defense is tough for any team to overcome, even a well coached team like Seattle.  Hawks RB Shaun Alexander will still do very well, but New England wins a close one, 27-23.

Other Week 6 winners will be:  Atlanta beating San Diego, Buffalo over Miami in a battle of teams with nine losses and zero wins, ‘Skins get off the schnide against the Bears, Cleveland whoops Cincinnati, Kansas City hands Jacksonville their third straight loss, the Jets stay unbeaten against the San Francisco, Philly defeats Carolina, Tennessee squeaks by Houston, Pittsburgh keeps rolling over Dallas, Denver topples Oakland, Minnesota airs it out against New Orleans, and St. Louis handles Tampa Bay on Monday night.

I’m one of those guys who are a believer in the great players. What I mean is that I don’t think the Packers are out of it yet.  Hold on, yes I do. This is the first Packers team to give up two 150 yard rushers at home in one season, and we’re in Week 5. Titans RB Chris Brown tallied 148 yards on Monday in Lambeau, and Tennessee went on to score 48 points. Not only are the Packers done, but also if this continues, the talks of QB Brett Favre retiring will start very soon, like right now. He’s done. Head Coach Mike Sherman is done. This team will rebuild around RB Ahman Green, maybe just after the Lions beat them this weekend, 31-20.

My pick for player of the week last week was Falcons TE Alge Crumpler.  Man, was I wrong. One catch for 24 yards.  What’s that about? The player of the week was actually Giants RB Tiki Barber.  Sure, Vikings QB tosses five touchdowns, but we expected Minnesota to be lethal, but the Giants. Now sitting at 4-1 in large part because of the nearly 200 yards of total offense Barber provides each week, the Giants are a team that could easily sneak underneath the radar and make some noise come playoff time.  If QB Kurt Warner and Barber continue to hold on to the ball, they should give everyone problems, including the division leading Philadelphia Eagles.

Week 6’s player of the week will be Eagles wideout Terrell Owens. Why? Because he can, that’s why.  Three teams are still unbeaten, but that will change in Week 7 when the Jets take on the Pats. That’s all for this week folks. Like the fat kid in dodgeball I’m out.