This past weekend in football was not as entertaining as the past few weeks, as Georgia and Ohio State both routed their opponents in games that were highly anticipated and their weren’t quite as many upsets in the NFL this week. However, Oklahoma and Texas gave us a classic encore to their rivalry in the Big 12, as the Sooners won a shootout 34-30 with a touchdown in the final seconds. Miami also had a completely embarrassing loss, as they had a win over Georgia Tech locked up and could have taken a knee to end the game but instead ran the ball, fumbled, and allowed a game losing touchdown. In the NFL, the Steelers upset the Ravens, the Jaguars upset the Bills in London, and the 49ers crushed the Cowboys. We again have some great games on tap for this week, so here’s all you need to know for the upcoming week in football.

NFL power rankings:

Cellar dwellers:

#32. Carolina Panthers (0-5, 31)

#31. New York Giants (1-4, 28)

the not completely terrible but still bad tier:

#30. Arizona Cardinals (1-4, 29)

#29. Washington Commanders (2-3, 25)

#28. Chicago Bears (1-4, 32)

#27. Denver Broncos (1-4, 30)

#26. New England Patriots (1-4, 16)

The middle of the pack:

#25. Green Bay Packers (2-3, 20)

#24. Las Vegas Raiders (2-3, 27)

#23. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-3, 26)

#22. Houston Texans (2-3, 24)

Fringe playoff caliper teams:

#21. Atlanta Falcons (3-2, 22)

#20. Los Angeles Rams (3-2, 19)

#19. New Orleans Saints (3-2, 21)

#18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1, 18)

#17. Tennessee Titans (2-3, 15)

#16. Indianapolis Colts (3-2, 23)

#15. New York Jets (2-3, 17)

#14. Minnesota Vikings (1-4, 14)

Playoff contenders with low Super Bowl upside:

#13. Seattle Seahawks (3-1, 12)

#12. Los Angeles Chargers (3-1, 11)

#11. Cleveland Browns (2-2, 8)

Super Bowl contenders:

#10. Cincinnati Bengals (2-3, 13)

#9. Baltimore Ravens (3-2, 6)

#8. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2, 9)

#7. Detroit Lions (4-1, 10)

#6. Dallas Cowboys (3-2, 4)

#5. Miami Dolphins (4-1, 5)

#4. Buffalo Bills (3-2, 2)

Super Bowl favorites:

#3. Kansas City Chiefs (4-1, 3)

#2. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0, 7)

#1. San Francisco 49ers (5-0, 1)

College football top 10:

#10. USC (6-0, 7)

#9. Florida State (5-0, 9)

#8. Penn State (5-0, 8)

#7. Oregon (5-0, 6)

#6. Washington (5-0, 5)

#5. Texas (5-1, 3)

#4. Oklahoma (6-0, 10)

#3. Ohio State (5-0, 3)

#2. Georgia (6-0, 2)

#1. Michigan (6-0, 1)

College games of the week:

Oregon @ Washington:

This is without question the game of the week. Both teams are ranked inside the top 10 in the country and are duking it out for the Pac 12 title. Oregon and Washington are the two highest scoring offenses in America, so this is a matchup of machines. It will probably be a bonkers game with a ton of points, and all we can do is sit back and enjoy. Washington is at home, but Oregon fans travel well, and it’s not like Eugene and Seattle are that far apart. These teams are extremely evenly matched, so predicting this game is probably futile.

USC @ Notre Dame:

This is going to be a test for USC, whose defense has nearly cost them games the last two weeks in which the offense scored over 40 points. Caleb Williams and company face a much tougher opponent this week, as Notre Dame is known for their defense. The Irish have struggled of late, narrowly beating Duke sandwiched between losses to Ohio State and Louiville. However, if their defense can play up to their potential and limit USC’s offense to something like 30 points or less, Notre Dame’s offense should be able to move the ball quite well on a pretty bad Trogens defense. For USC, this will be a big test to see if they are true contenders in the Pac 12 or if their defense is keeping them from reaching that level.

Miami @ North Carolina:

Miami is off to a great start this year after an underwhelming 2022 season, but all of their progress was overshadowed when they mind numbingly lost a game to Georgia Tech that they firmly had in hand. Miami could have taken a knee in the final minute and nearly run out the clock, but instead they decided to run the ball to try and run out the clock entirely. That decision backfired massively, as the running back fumbled and Georgia Tech proceeded to quickly drive down the field for a game winning touchdown. The Hurricanes get a great chance to rebound this week, but it won’t be easy as they will have to go on the road to face Heisman Trophy candidate Drake May and North Carolina. The Tarheals are undefeated thus far and are rightfully favored in this game, but I am interested to see how Miami responds to last week’s humiliation.

NFL games of the week:

San Francisco 49ers @ Cleveland Browns:

Through the first five weeks of the season, the 49ers have been the unquestioned best team in football. They are coming off a complete desecration of the Cowboys, as Brock Purdy threw four touchdowns in a 42-10 win. The Browns are another good team, but the Niners are just so much better. Despite Cleveland’s star studded defense and home field advantage, the Niners will probably dominate them. Maybe DeShaun Watson and the Browns offense will finally click after last week’s bye, but even then the Niners have a dominant defense that is hard for anyone to succeed against. This is one of the best games of the week on paper, but there’s no guarantee it will be all that close.

Seattle Seahawks @ Cincinnati Bengals:

The Bengals offense finally started to get back on track last week when they put up 34 points on the Cardinals. Joe Burrow was moving around in the pocket and extending plays as well as he ever has, so hopefully he is fully recovered from the calf injury that hampered him in the pre-season, and in the first month of the regular season. Seattle’s defense is another great matchup, so I expect Cincinnati to put up big numbers again. The Seahawks are 3-1 and coming off their bye week. Their defense struggled through the first three games of the year, but they dominated the lifeless Giants in a 24-3 win in week four. We’ll see if they can keep it up in a much tougher matchup this week. While Seattle should be able to put up some points, the Bengals have the better defense and are at home. I expect them to win, but it should be an interesting shootout.

Dallas Cowboys @ Los Angeles Chargers:

For once we have a half decent Monday night game. The Cowboys have been an extremely boom or bust team of late, as in their last three games they have been blown out by the Cardinals, dominated the Patriots, and blown out again by the 49ers. They will hope to establish some consistency this week in a matchup that should be friendly for them. While the Chargers have an explosive offense, Dallas is almost as good and Los Angeles has the worse defense. This should be a shootout, but America’s Team needs a win and has the much better defense, so they will probably have lots of fan support on the road since the Chargers simply don’t have very many fans.

Three honorable mentions:

Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans:

These London games are always fun, and this is the last one of the season. Both of these teams are inconsistent, so there is no predicting how this one will play out. While the Ravens are clearly the more talented team, they have struggled to close out games against clearly inferior teams in the Colts and Steelers in recent weeks. The Titans are very matchup dependent, but they are scrappy and can at least be competitive in most games.

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars:

The Jags return home after two wins in London to face the Colts, who they beat on the road in week one. Indianapolis is also 3-2 and has been playing much better than expected this season. Even more, this is the Gardner Minshew revenge game after Anthony Richardson hurt his shoulder last week. Minshew was drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 draft by the Jags and spent two years as a fan favorite for his mustache (since shaved) and his ability to come through in the clutch. He now gets to come back to Duval and face his former team in an important game. It should be fun.

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears:

This one is not all that important because both teams are 1-4, but they both have terrible defenses and offenses that have been clicking of late which should lend itself to a fun shootout.