Week five of the NFL season is upon us and the morning schedule features some significant games. We've got games with NFC West implications, games with NFL Draft implications and some general NFL implications. You could make an argument that every morning game has some value to it, even if some of the games will be tough to watch. Here are some of the games with a bit more value.
Eagles @ BIlls: People are questioning both of these teams. Are the Eagles in the midst of a monstrous flameout and are the Bills for real coming off last week's late loss? The winner of this game might not have 100% certainty moving forward, but they will have some positive momentum.
Chiefs @ Colts: The number one pick in the draft has some particularly serious value this year with some of the names available and also the rookie cap that is in place. The Chiefs won the first Toilet Bowl of the season over the Minnesota Vikings, setting up this second Toilet Bowl. I would actually predict a solid performance from Curtis Painter in a Colts win, but in a Toilet Bowl, who knows what will happen.
Cardinals @ Vikings/Seahawks @ Giants: The 49ers will know what kind of headway they can make this afternoon based on the outcome of these two games. I suppose scoreboard watching really doesn't matter a quarter of the way into the season, but when you can take a three game lead this early, it's significant. If the 49ers lose this afternoon Cards/Hawks losses don't matter quite as much, but it'd be nice to have the opportunity to pad that lead.
Saints @ Panthers: My pick for potential game of the day. Eagles/Bills and Raiders/Texans could be intriguing as well, but I think this one could be a shoot-out if Cam Newton can continue his recent run. Hopefully this one is frequently on the Red Zone channel.
Raiders @ Texans: Just to see what kind of emotion we get from the Raiders in the first game since the passing of Al Davis. I don't know if it'll lead to them playing better or if they'll come out flat, but this is an intriguing one to watch.
We'll be back later in the morning with a look at 49ers inactives and the 49ers/Bucs game thread.