Time to put up or shut up - Week 6 key games

Here are the key games that the Gurus see this coming weekend:

Seattle @ St. Louis

Seattle is a half game behind the Rams for the division lead. Seattle is coming off a much needed bye week. Unfortunately for them (and our fantasy football teams) Shaun Alexander does not look like he is going to play. Maurice Morrise and Mack Strong will have to carry the load again. Fortunately for the Hawks, the Rams rush defense cannot be confused with that of the Bears, yielding 120+ yards per game on the ground. If Noah Herron can rush for 105 yards, then this tandem should do just fine. The Hawks also appear ready to let Deion Branch get more involved in the offense and welcome the return of Super Bowl bust Jeramy Stevens. Both should aid in opening the offense against a bottom third D. This will be the Rams test to determine if they are contenders or pretenders. I am not too impressed with victories over GB, Detroit, and AZ...the Denver victory to start the season surprised me, but the Denver offense clearly hadn't gotten warmed up. This game is much more important to St. Louis than Seattle as they need this to keep their confidence as well as increase their lead. They need to knock off the defending champs.

Philly @ NO

NO has beaten one impressive victory and a whole lot of nothing...Philly meanwhile is one bad quarter of football from being undefeated. This game pits these division leaders against each other. This game is huge as NO is now beyond the cupcake portion of their schedule. The next few weeks are key and a victory at home against a tough opponent could help boost their confidence going into the stretch. Philly meanwhile hasn't beaten much better opponents aside from Dallas this past week...and I am not sure that Dallas didn't beat themselves more than Philly beating them. This game puts both of these teams in solid position for a playoff run as they will be 5 - 1 and going 5-5 the rest of the way probably will be good enough to get into the NFL second season.

G-strings @ Atlanta

The G-men and Atlanta both need this game. This could end up being a tie breaker down the line for a wild card berth. Atlanta needs to win to keep pace with the Aints and stay ahead of the Panthers. The G-men are in the most competitive division (note I did not say best) in football. Every loss in this division is devastating. They need to get their house in order and the best way to do so is winning. I ma not sure how long Vick can continue running the way he has without getting hurt. His game is much better when he uses his legs, but his long-term health definitely takes a hit, no pun intended.

Carolina @ Baltimore

I have been saying that Baltimore is the worst 4 - 0 team in the NFL and maybe ever. They have a great D and no offense. Baltimore got beat at its own game on Monday and it was a physical game. The plane had to make an emergency stop in Pittsburgh to take a guy off the plane. The team didn't get back to Baltimore until 6 a.m. This doesn't sound so good coming into a game against another very physical D. The difference is the Panthers actually have an offense that is getting better by the week...coincidentally Steve Smith keeps getting healthier. Baltimore comes into a stretch where 6 of its next 8 opponents have winning records...they are 3 - 0 against the likes of TB, Oak, and Cleve...and escaped with a win against SD and then got pounded by Denver...again a very important stretch for a team that is not nearly as good as its record.

Cinci @ TB

I know I said key matchups. Cinci is 3 -1 and coming off a bye...TB is 0-5...why in the world is this game being discussed? Well, I hate the Bungles...that is why and I want to show why they are overrated. The Bucs have showed some life of late playing Carolina and NO down to the wire. Gradkowski had a good first game. Cadillac finally got it in gear. The last we saw the Bengals, they were busy allowing teams to run all over them like a thief from a crime scene. Cinci also continues to lose players to prison and suspension (Thurman now gone for the year and Henry for 2 games). After this game, Cinci's next 5 games face 4 of the top 15 rushing teams and the Ravens, who actually play Defense. This stretch is going to be tough. If Cadillac can get his wheels moving and Gradkowski can avoid mistakes like he did during most of the Aints game, they could be in trouble...the schedule only gets tougher.

KC @ The Defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers

Finally, we come to my personal game of the week. Yes, the Guru brothers will be in attendance. They have a designated driver. We will be fired up. The Chiefs come in beat up with Green and Hall expected to miss the game and LJ with a sore neck. This will be the first decent rush defense the Chiefs will have faced (save maybe Denver). Huard has looked good, but it has been against AZ and SF. I don't expect him to maintain that level of play this weekend. KC needs this game to keep pace in the AFC West. Now onto the Defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers...Big Ben has looked more like Gentle Ben than his former Super Bowl winning self. The O-line got beat up badly at SD by Jamal Williams. The WR's can't catch a cold. Joey Porter needs to be shot in the arse again. Troy needs a new shoulder. DeShea Townsend needs to grow 8 inches. And Ryan Clark needs to realize he is a safety who needs to tackle and not a battering ram. Other than that, the Defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers are fine. Bill Cowher was mad enough to make the team show up after the SD game just a few hours after landing Monday morning. Before any of you clowns tell me the Defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers are done, note that 19 teams have come from 1-3 records to make the playoffs since 1982...and the Steelers have done it twice. I truly believe the ship will be righted and we will get on a run. Maybe I am just an optimistic homer (not homo), but we have shown enough signs. We dominated Cinci and lost by 8 with 5 turnovers. We dominated the first half against SD and then lost it the second half. We went punch for punch with Jax on the road before finally getting knocked out...none of these losses are horrible losses. Now we need to start winning some of these games and what better time than when the Guru Brothers are there cheering them on.