NFL Week Five Big Winners: 1. Indianapolis Colts Owner, Jim Irsay. Did anyone have to survive a more tumultuous offseason in 2012 than Colts owner Jim Irsay?
Granted, most of the miscommunication and media speculation was brought on himself, due to his incessant use of twitter and his apparent goal to be as highly a profiled owner as the late, great Al Davis.
Despite this, I feel for any owner faced with a situation in which they must choose between the man solely responsible for 13 years of success and the logical choice for future progression.
Luckily enough for Jim Irsay (pardon the pun), the Colts’ Week 5 come-from-behind victory against the Green Bay Packers will be forever known as the game within which Andrew Luck arrived. And more importantly, the game that solidified Irsay’s decision to release Peyton Manning during the offseason.
2. San Francisco 49ers offence
Let me just preface this by saying I am not a 49ers fan.
Am I quickly becoming one? Possibly.
But the only reason the 49ers have the dubious honour of a two-week streak in this article is that they keep showing something we didn’t know was there before.
In regards to the San Francisco 49ers offence, they are getting a lovely bronze tan after finally stepping out of the shadow of their monstrous defence.
Alex Smith is putting up career numbers and Colin Kaepernick is proving to be the wildcat quarterback Tebow was supposed to be in New York. Frank Gore spends most of his down time at the fountain of youth and Kendall Hunter is a backup who shouldn’t be a backup. Michael Crabtree is showing the form that made him a first round pick and Vernon Davis continues to stake his claim as the leagues best tight end.
Simply put, I was scared of the 49ers after last week and now I’m just down right terrified.
3. The City of New Orleans
It hasn’t been the greatest six months for the township of New Orleans.
It definitely hasn’t been the worst, but there’s room for improvement.
And that started in Week 5 as the “Who Dat” nation picked up their first win of the season over the San Diego Chargers.
All in all, it was a tremendously positive day for the franchise.
Drew Brees broke Johnny Unitas’ record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass, and just happened to do so against the very franchise who discarded him due to health fears surrounding his shoulder (I think it’s fine by the way).
Coach Sean Payton, interim coach Joe Vitt and general manager Mickey Loomis were all granted permission to attend in a showing that only stands to weaken the NFL’s position on their highly questionable decision following ‘BountyGate’.
The Saints also avoided what would have been an insulting loss as ex-Saint Robert Meachem who was situated as the game winner for the Chargers with two touchdown receptions.
The city is winning again, Drew Brees extends his legacy, suspensions are seemingly less strict than first thought and allowing Meacham to walk didn’t come back to haunt them.
4. Chicago Bears Cornerback, Charles Tillman
Granted, in two weeks Tillman was gifted the job of playing against an interception-determined Tony Romo with a lethargic Dez Bryant and Blaine Gabbert. Suffice to say, not the most impenetrable fortresses of ball security and game management.
However, what makes Tillman one of this weeks big winners is that not only did he return an interception for a touchdown for the second consecutive week but by doing so is now the Bears’ all time leading defensive scorer with eight touchdowns.
Leading a franchise in defensive scores is an impressive feat no matter what.
However, if that franchise is one like the Bears that so consistently provides top tier defences and also is home to the consensus greatest ‘D’ of all time (85 Bears, you may have heard of them), then that makes this accomplishment even all the more impressive.
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