NFL Tales Of The Week – Week 5 Edition (Contenders/Pretenders)

By: Tyrone Montgomery Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network

We are already a month and some change now into the NFL Season and there is now enough evidence and tape to see who the real contenders and pretenders are. Here is my list of who we can trust and we shouldn’t put our trust in thus far this season. 

Pretenders

Dallas Cowboys – They may be in first place in one of the weakest conferences in football, but the Cowboys will be who we thought they were. I have to admit, they are playing extremely well not only on offense, but defensively, they look elite. But this team falls in love with the passing game and once they get away from running the football with Elliot, this team will probably fall off. 

Green Bay Packers – This team gives me weathering the storm vibes. They’re winning games but deep down inside, they know the elephant in the room is Aaron Rodgers is leaving this team at the end of the season and he can’t wait either despite them experiencing success early on this year. 

Cleveland Browns – Injuries have been a concern for the Browns thus far. Statistically speaking, they have perhaps the best RB in the league. However, they have a bottom-tier QB who can’t seem to get the ball in the hands of his best weapons. Baker Mayfield may not be the best option for this team.

Kansas City Chiefs – There’s still plenty of games left to try to turn things around in Kansas City. That being said, the Chiefs look tired! Their defense is terrible and they are losing a lot of games early on. There is way too much pressure for even the great Patrick Mahomes and you can’t win like that in the NFL

LA Chargers – One of the most annoying things especially in the NFL is peaking a bit too early. The Steelers saw this last season. The Chargers are on a 3 game winning streak and Justin Herbert looks like an MVP candidate. This team is so young and that may hurt them going down the stretch.

Contenders

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – They’re the defending champs and we can see it every week. They have the best QB to ever play the game and as long as #12 suits up each week, we can expect the Bucs to compete for another Super Bowl this season.. 

Baltimore Ravens – I believe that adversity brings out the best in men. Losing their original backfield rotation with them being a run-first team certainly hurt them. But they’ve experienced addition by subtraction and the entire offense is looking solid. The defense is solid as well and Lamar Jackson is growing still to this day. Keep an eye out for the Ravens. 

LA Rams – This is one of the flashiest teams in the NFL. They’re loaded on both sides of the ball and they feel like they’ve upgraded at the QB Position with Matthew Stafford. The running game has been key for this team. It opens up the passing game and makes this entire offense electrifying. 

Buffalo Bills – This may be the hottest team in the league right now. Week 1, I think many had their concerns after this team got handled by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ever since then, there was no looking back and the Bills have been rolling. Josh Allen is looking like he did last season, the running game is there, and the defense is playing stout. The scary thing is this team is only going to get better. 

Arizona Cardinals – They had maybe the best offseason of any team this past summer and it shows. They had 1 goal in mind and that was to finally get to the playoffs. Not only is that goal looking to get accomplished, but they look like they have an MVP Candidate in Kyler Murray and they look like they’re a Super Bowl team too. This team is balling now and the best is yet to come