Week 5: 11 Things I Know I Know

1. I know that now is the time to admit that I was wrong about Andrew Luck. This dude is seriously talented and has done the impossible, revitalized a downtrodden Indianapolis franchise. This week's victory over the Packers may have been the game of the year, and the Colts have Luck to thank. Sure, he made some mistakes and missed some open receivers but he brought his team back from a 21-3 first half deficit and a 27-22 fourth quarter deficit. After all the pre-draft hype, I thought Luck was overrated, but amazingly he has lived up to the billing so far and the future looks unbelievably bright in Indy. Chuck Pagano is smiling.

2. I know I cannot figure Cam Newton out. Last year's top pick is an enigma to me and probably anyone else following the NFL. He was terrible two weeks ago, very good last week, and then awful again today with the lowlight coming on 4th-and-1 from the 1-yard line and under five minutes left in the game when he short-armed a wide open receiver with what would have been a lead-changing touchdown. Very confusing.

3. I know the Vikings can win the NFC North. The Packers look like the unluckiest team in football, the Lions can't play defense or special teams, and the Bears really cannot play offense (although the defense scores enough touchdowns they might not need to). Their next five games are very winnable: at Washington, Arizona, Tampa Bay, at Seattle, Detroit. Then they play Chicago two out of three weeks after that. Can Christian Ponder keep up this Trent Dilfer-esque performance going? Sure. Speaking of the Pack, they need to travel to Houston to take on the undefeated Texans next week.

4. I know the Bengals are a fraud. They beat Cleveland, Washington, and Jacksonville and fooled a whole lot of people into believing they were actually a good football team. For some reason, these people, myself included, overlooked an opening week blowout in Baltimore. After losing at home to a poor to very poor Miami team, I am ready to write this team off as being any kind of threat this season.

5. I know the Rams, Cardinals, Ravens, and Chiefs set organized offensive football back about 20 years. The Jaguars and Titans were equally as pathetic but at least the Bears and Rams showed some semblance of a clue in those games. It's hard to fathom how terrible Blaine Gabbert really is.

6. I know I love when people with the same name play each other. This week we had: Kyle Williams (Buffalo) vs Kyle Williams (San Fran); Gronkowski (Denver) vs Gronkowski (New England); and James Franklin (Vanderbilt head coach) vs James Franklin (Missouri QB). Good times.

7. I know the Steelers got a much, much, much needed victory at home against the Eagles. Falling 2.5 games behind Baltimore would have been a huge hole, but they remain within striking distance. Rashard Mendenhall looked pretty good in his return and offers a little balance to a team that was too reliant on the pass.

8. I know that either sharps or Chad Millman are lying. There is no way that sharps always move the line in a direction that favors them; however, according to his tweets every Sunday, it appears that every single line the sharps got early (ie before the betting public) did just that as they got better numbers than what was available at gametime. I will be rooting against the sharps until this stupid pattern stops:

9. I know I liked: Ryan Kerrigan's TAINT (high grades for athleticism); the old guards (Reggie Wayne and Tony Gonzalez) can still play; Josh Gordon and Victor Cruz making the most of their combined seven catches, scoring five touchdowns; Donal Brown's two-point conversion celebration which included the discount double check and the Raji dance; Peyton Manning losing.

10. I know I didn't like: Chris Johnson's effort; thinking Tennessee would be good this year; the Vikings giving the ball to Toby Gerhart on 3rd-and-1 instead of Adrian Peterson; the 49ers using Colin Kaepernick as a running back; Kansas City fans booing an injured Matt Cassel (they had plenty of time to boo him when he sucked); the clutchness of Mason Crosby; Jon Beason being injured, again; RG III being injured.

11. I know the Texans will beat the Jets, 74 to -6. Yes, -6. I cannot watch Mark Sanchez for much longer.



"11 Things I Know I Know" is my feeble attempt to trump the untrumpable SI.com's Peter King and his "10 Things I Think I Think" is my favorite article each week.