It’s your last chance to get caught up on the happenings at PFF before the next slate of games is upon us and our new ‘PFF Week’ posts provide quick access to the week that was. The ‘Out West' edition covers all things pertaining to the AFC and NFC West divisions for a one-stop Saturday shop built to keep you in the loop and on top of your football-watching game.
The AFC and NFC West combined to go a very strong 6-2 this past week with one of the losses coming from the divisional Chargers-Raiders game. The week also included the Broncos topping the Cowboys in what may have been the best game (and certainly the most high-scoring) of the year so far. With that win, the Fighting Peyton Mannings remain undefeated as do the surprising 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs with their close win over a strong Titans squad. The 49ers blew out the Texans in a game widely expected to be much closer though Matt Schaub would hear none of that.
Week 5 Wrap
One of the West's top performances of the week was Daryl Washington‘s triumphant return to the Cardinals after sitting out the first month of the year with a suspension. Robert Quinn posted another phenomenal grade, this time taking advantage of rookie Jaguars' OT Luke Joeckel. Dontari Poe continues to impress for the Chiefs as a dominant interior force as the Titans had no answer for him. It was also another great week to be a Denver receiving target named ‘-ius Thomas' as both Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas had very strong games in the shootout victory over Dallas. All that and more is covered in our weekly ReFocused articles.
Both the Rams' Joseph Barksdale and the Chargers' Vincent Brown stood out to our Gordon McGuinness as they each made Week 5's Secret Superstars. Each player had one of the best games of their young careers. Khaled Elsayed's 32 Observations piece gives some great information on each team's receiving targets through the first five weeks of the year. The Race for Rookie of the Year features a pair of West players. Check out where your favorite West team stacks up in our latest Power Rankings. West players appear in both our PFF Team of Week 5 and our ‘Had a Bad Day' Team.
Looking Ahead to Week 6
Week 6 includes two divisional games for the Wests with the Raiders visiting the Chiefs and the Cardinals traveling to San Francisco to take on the resurgent 49ers. The only West team with what you'd call an easy matchup would be Denver as Vegas currently has the Broncos as a four-touchdown favorite at home over the sad, lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. The Seahawks and Chargers take on teams with winning records and the Rams fly south to Houston to take a on struggling but talented Texans team. Take a look at each of our Three to Focus On articles and discover three of the key matchups that will ultimately decide each game.
See which PFF experts are picking West teams to win their matchups in Week 6 in PFF Pick'em.
Additionally…
Mike Renner takes a look at one of our Signature Stats for quarterbacks: Accuracy Percentage. The top two quarterbacks in Accuracy Percentage play in the AFC West, No. 1 won't surprise you but No. 2 might. In the latest Palazzolo's Pitch, Steve Palazzolo breaks down four rookie quarterbacks as they progress toward the second quarter of their seasons.
For the third time in five weeks, a West player took the top spot in Neil Hornsby's weekly look at the best special teams players, The Third Phase. Justin Bethel of the Cardinals was the week's best special teamer while Denver's David Bruton and Seattle's Jeremy Lane were the top performers in Weeks 1 and 3.
As always, our Premium Stats are the best way to stay informed of your favorite team's and all other team's players.
That will wrap up all things AFC and NFC West this week. These two divisons boast both elite teams and solid depth and they'll look to continue their strong play in Week 6.
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