Lee and Hunter rule the NFL roost

After about five or six games of action in the National Football League, most of the newly acquired players have gotten used to their new surroundings, and the teams begin to sort out what has been working from what has not, and focus on fine-tuning the playbook.

This weekend the teams march into Week 6, and for roughly half of them, the season is going exactly or better than planned. For the rest of the league, excuses, finger pointing, and finding scapegoats are becoming routine.

Not so for the Patriots, Jets, and the Eagles, who have survived every challenge that has come before them to remain perfect at 4-0. The Pats broke the all-time NFL record for most consecutive wins at 19 last week, while the J-E-T-S-Jets, Jets, Jets squeaked past the Bills, and Philly enjoyed a bye.

These squads are seemingly on the right track, but so were the Saints a couple of weeks ago before they lost to Cardinals, followed by a Buccaneer beating last week. So too were the Atlanta Falcons before they lost a chunk of their steam to the Lions. Maybe that’s not such a surprise since the silver and blue are in a first place tie with the Vikings.

To find a team that is on the wrong track, simply follow the tracks of my tears to Buffalo, and witness the sadness that is the Bills. At 0-4, the red, white, and blue have been in every game—or should I say, they have been in every stadium when they were supposed to play. Their defense is doing its job, but if things keep up, Drew Bledsoe will be looking for a new one.

The Bills are not alone in Shamesville, U.S.A. They have the lowly Dolphins to keep them company on O-fer Avenue, but one of them will be evicted this weekend after their head-to-head match up at Ralph C. Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. this weekend—um, unless they tie.

There are slew of questions pertaining to the teams in between the extremes, such as: what Kansas City team will show up to play in Jacksonville? For that matter, which Atlanta team will face the Chargers? What has happened to the mystique of Lambeau Field? And did I see someone pick against New England down there?

Once again, William Hunter, John Blanco, Richard Brooks, Jennifer Lee, and Jimmy “Big Tuna” Sablan have returned to try their hands at making sense of the sport, and offer their guaranteed picks of the week.

Last week, Jennifer left the boys behind, going 9-5, and regained her place atop the field with at 39-19 overall. She is joined by Will at the top overall, as the former CFL stud went 8-6. These two have been doing the Do-Si-Do for the top spot in the last couple of weeks, but John Blanco and the Big Tuna aren’t far behind, at 35-23 and 34-24, respectively.

Not one to be caught up in the glory and winning feeling of success, “Big Daddy” Rich is quietly becoming Saipan’s version of the Buffalo Bills. Coming off a week of misery at 3-11, Rich has stunk up the joint worse than Bob Marley’s tour bus. Though his overall record of 22-36 is less than ideal, his guaranteed pick of the week has been solid.