It is never too early to look at some of the more interesting, upcoming match ups of this NFL season. Here are a couple to watch out for in the next 6 weeks of the 2011 NFL season.
Going into Week 6, here are ESPN’s top five power rankings:
- Green Bay Packers (5-0)*
- New Orleans Saints (4-1)
- New England Patriots (4-1)**
- Detroit Lions (5-0)
- Baltimore Ravens ***
*Randall Cobb is leading the Packers to a perfect season
**Patriots only loss is to the Stevie Johnson led Buffalo Bills
***Loss to Titans in Week 2, booyah.
Week 6 Houston @ Baltimore
Near the end of their Week 5 loss at Oakland, Texans quarterback Matt Schaub was hit low and suffered minor leg injuries. His playing time may be limited but Kubiak seems to expect Schaub to play. Baltimore is coming off of their bye week and looks to possibly have wide out Lee Evans back from his early season injury. The Ravens utilized wide receiver backup Torrey Smith in Week 3 when the rookie out of Maryland brought in three touchdowns for 152 receiving yards against St. Louis. Looks like we will have to cheer for Baltimore, which I realize is like cheering for the Volunteers (vomit).
Week 8 Colts @ Titans
Did you hear about Peyton Manning having some sort of surgery or three? The Colts traded in their Sony Rep for an ex-Titan (still not sure why) and then traded in Collins for some Painter, I mean his name is Painter. Curtis Painter has posted pretty good fantasy numbers the last couple weeks going 28, 23 respectively against Tampa Bay and Kansas City. I would be remiss not to also mention he posted negative numbers in week 3 against Pittsburgh. Also, the Colts have yet to win a game. Yeah, would you have believed back in July or August that beginning Week 6 the Colts were winless? It will be a big game for the Titans at home, even if the Colts have yet to win, mostly because of the Colts domination of the division. I honestly hope that the Colts win at least 3 games this year because how terrible would it be if the Colts transitioned from Manning to Luck?
Go TITANS!
Week 12 Green Bay @ Detroit (Thanksgiving Day)
Week 6 gives both Green Bay and Detroit yet another week to prove themselves in a very top heavy NFC North. The two will face each other on Thanksgiving Day in what should be the most interesting Lions Thanksgiving Day matchup in quite some time. The last time the two faced was a 2003 victory by the Lions (22-14). This year’s 2011 edition of the Lions v. Packers will come 60 years after the first edition of the rivalry on Thanksgiving Day. In the inaugural AFL 1951 edition, the Lions won 52-35. 1968 was the first year that the AFL Houston Oilers played in the Thanksgiving Classic.
Of course next year’s Titans face up against a gang of NFC North teams with the Titans playing at Green Bay and Minnesota in the 2012 season.