NFL Week Six

Here is ESPN's NFL top ten for Week Six:

1.  Kansas City:  5-0

2.  Minnesota:  5-0

3.  Houston:  4-1

4.  Detroit:  3-1

5.  Baltimore:  3-2

6.  Buffalo:  3-2

7.  Washington:  4-1

8.  Tampa Bay:  3-2

9.  Green Bay:  3-2

10.  Dallas:  3-2

For the first time that I can recall since we started doing these rankings, the Game of the Week will feature Washington.  Jayden Daniels will lead Washington just up the road for a match with Baltimore on Sunday at noon Central.  Because Washington and Baltimore are in difference conferences, this fixture does not appear on the schedule very often -- and in recent years, no one in either city has taken Washington's football efforts very seriously.  But this game will be an opportunity to see what happens when Daniels and the red-hot Washington team goes up against a first-rate coaching staff on the road.  The last time this happened, in Week Three, Washington beat Cincinnati 38-33 in a Monday Night thriller.  But I think the Ravens will be even tougher than the Bengals.

We have another top ten matchup this week, with the Number-10 Cowboys hosting the Number-5 Lions on Sunday at 3:25 P.M. Central.  As it happens, my first actual memory is the playoff game on Saturday, December 26, 1970, when the Cowboys beat the Lions 5-0 at the Cotton Bowl.  That game sent the Cowboys on the road to Super Bowl V, and sent the Lions into a tailspin from which they may now finally be recovering.

Of course, it's a huge weekend for MLB and College Football, so casual fans can be forgiven for bypassing the NFL this week -- especially with the Chiefs and Vikings on byes.  But the two top-ten matchups described above should be worth watching.  Certainly for Washington, this will be the biggest regular season game in many, many years.