Leyden's Log - Week Five

It’s a drop from last week’s stellar schedule, but dig deep into Week 5’s slate and you can find a few headliners to grab your attention.

Inside This Edition:

- Blowing a hole in the moon
- Bengals so close to undefeated
- It’s Jets/Dolphins week
- Straight A’s for Tommy L.




QUESTION OF THE WEEK

David Letterman has had better weeks and as a reminder, you came up with some good advice for the late-night yuckster.

Jim Niedelman from Greenville, NC, gets on the board again, “Write a list of the Top Ten Ways to Fight Back against Someone Who’s Trying to Blackmail You.” Good, Jim – but just scratching the surface. Where’s the list? A list would have garnered you more than a point.

Maggie Kukar from Minneapolis, MN chose THIS of all weeks to check in with her friend from Detroit. “For Dave, I’d say keep that space between your teeth closed, but I have other things on my mind this week – Twins win, Vikings win, Twins win, Twins win, Wild win.” Cold, MK. Very cold. Plus you forgot, “Cabrera drinks.” Two points.

Taking the top spot is Brian King from Chicago, IL, who has clearly watched too many episodes of the show Mad Men. “Smoke a cigar with Bill Clinton and toast to women in the workplace.” I think that’s the most inappropriate answer to ever be awarded three points – but it made you laugh, didn’t it?

This week’s question – NASA decided to blow a hole in the moon this morning - What’s next?

Send responses to tleyden@wxyz.com, leave a comment on Facebook or send a response via Twitter to @tomleyden


SONG OF THE WEEK

If you believed, they put a man on the LOG, man on the LOG….


FOUR TOPS The best four games of the week

The Cincinnati Bengals are one fluke play away from being undefeated this season, and they take a 3-1 record to Baltimore this week for their biggest test of the year. While the Ravens are favored, I’m not putting anything past Marvin Lewis’ team because Cincy’s been shockingly efficient so far – wins against Pittsburgh and Green Bay highlighting the season. While I don’t see Joe Flacco having a career game like he did the last time these two met, I do think the Ravens will step up and win at home after dropping last week’s doozie at New England.

Speaking of the Patriots, we jump a couple of time zones for the next spotlight game. Can you ask for a better one-on-one matchup than Randy Moss vs. Champ Bailey? Denver’s 4-0 record will be tested by a New England team that comes in with some questions in the running game – basically, who’s going to run it? Is Laurence Maroney ready to step up and take over for the injured Fred Taylor? Without a suitable back to lighten the load on Tom Brady, the Pats will face a tough challenge. Two main questions for Broncos fans: 1) Do you trust Kyle Orton yet? 2) Is that defense for real?

Head west, my friends, for your next headliner – and who would have predicted Atlanta and San Fran would be a combined 5-2 entering this one? The Falcons, who rank 25th in rushing defense, get a break because Frank Gore won’t be on the field. The Niners, allowing less than 74 yards rushing a game, will try to keep Michael Turner to that number, which happens to be a yard less than his per-game average thus far. Ultimately, this will be a test of Matt Ryan’s progression. Look at the stats and you’ll see San Fran is a team everybody tries to throw against – can Ryan find the holes?

We fly back to the southeast corner of the country for the Week 5 finale, a regular in the Four Tops – Jets vs. Dolphins. Something’s gotta give Monday night when the league’s best rushing offense faces Rex Ryan’s swarming D. If I’m New York, I’m approaching this game thinking this way: “If we can get through road games at New Orleans and Miami with a split, we’ve got Buffalo and Oakland next – we can be 6-1 by the end of October.” If I’m Miami, I’m building on last week’s clock-eating win over Buffalo and thinking this is a must-win. How many 1-4 teams make the postseason?


HOW’D I DO? Grading last week’s Four Tops

Jets/Saints – Lived up he hype – defensive touchdowns are always exciting. Rare matchup of two perennially underachieving teams on the upswing. A

Ravens/Patriots – Would love to see it again in the playoffs. A

Cowboys/Broncos – Came down to the final two minutes. Can’t ask for more. A

Packers/Vikings – The most-watched cable broadcast EVER. Enough said. A

STRAIGHT A’S!!!

Season Totals – 10 A’s, 1 B, 4 C’s, 1 F


OVERTIME Other games to watch

Steelers/Lions – No truth to the rumor Jerome Bettis will be making a guest appearance for the coin toss.

Cowboys/Chiefs – Dallas hasn’t been to Kansas City since Bill Clinton was president. Hasn’t won there since Richard Nixon was president.

Texans/Cardinals – This reeks of one of those games in the 30’s.

Colts/Titans – No way the Titans can go 0-5 is there? Looks like it.


TWEET OF THE WEEK

From my friend @patcaputo98: @TomLeyden is to Twitter what Justin Verlander is to the fastball. To find out yourself (if you did those Motown Sports), follow me.


PAUSE

Raiders/Giants, Jags/Seahawks, Vikes/Rams, to remember the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.

FAST FORWARD

Skins/Panthers, Bucs/Eagles, Browns/Bills, through the commercials.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Peg Holda, Joyce Pezzola, Ken McQuillan, Lauren Gallagher, Sharon Hall, Bob Bernier, Nate Mellor, Sharon Cavanaugh Dane, Steve Paris and Steve Young, who turns 48 Sunday.