It’s time for Five for Friday where I give you 5 games to watch this weekend with a few thoughts and projections on each one.

The 80 years later punishment: Giants @ Panthers but actually in Munich, Germany on NFL Network at 7:30 AM mountain time.

80 some years ago, Germany tried to take over the world causing a war that pretty much everyone had to get involved in. This was Germany’s second such discretion in about 30 year period. Sure there were consequences then but you know us Americans like to hold grudges. Thus we are sending them the Giants and Panthers for their game this season. If you would like to suffer with the German people you can get up early and watch this dumpster fire. The Panthers finally beat the awful Saints last week for their second win in the season. The Giants have played several close games but always find a way to lose. Daniel Jones did finally throw a touchdown in his home stadium for the first time in like 3 years so that is good. The winner gets a 3rd victory and the loser is one step closer to the number 1 pick of the 2025 NFL draft. Meanwhile, we and especially all the people in Germany are the biggest losers for having to watch this crap show. And not like the biggest losers from the show the Biggest loser where the person who loses the most is actually the winner. Anyway, I think the Giants are slightly better and get the win.

Giants 20 Panthers 17

A House Divided: Broncos at Chiefs on CBS at 11 AM Mountain Time

It’s no secret that I am a huge Chiefs fan. What you may not know is that my wife is a huge Broncos fan. We knew this when we got married but the Chiefs were terrible then so my fandom was a little quieter. The Broncos weren’t great either and we were two kids in love so it didn’t matter. Well we were in our late 20’s but I felt like a kid compared to how I feel now considering I often pull muscles while sleeping. Anyway, as our marriage went on and our teams sucked less we realized that we were truly a house divided. Our family fantasy football league is named after this and our son became a Packers fan because there was no winning picking either the Chiefs or the Broncos. Some look at this as an issue but I look at this as real love. Sure twice a year we sit quietly on opposite ends of the couch and watch the game in silence. But the other 16 weeks of the NFL season we actually cheer for each other’s teams. Not because we like each other’s team but because we like each other and we know the rest of Sunday that person will be more fun if they win. I even cheered for the Broncos in the 2015 Super Bowl even though I didn’t want to. And Danielle even did the chop in 2019 when we finally won one. Sure I despise John Elway more than any athlete on any team ever. And sure she gets sick of my obsession with repeats and 3 peats. But hey love is love. She even drafts Patrick Mahomes on her fantasy teams so that she has a reason to cheer for the Chiefs. Even that hasn’t worked out that well for her this year as he has been pretty bad in fantasy despite not losing in real life. Anyway, there is a football game on Sunday. Kevin Harlan is announcing so even though neither of us will be allowed to get that excited, Harlan has it covered. All Chiefs games are close and I don’t foresee this one being any different. I actually think the Broncos are pretty good and have a good chance in this one. Our D is really good so no high power offense and bad defense is going to beat us. You need a stingy D of your own to win a slug fest of stops to get the job done. Pat has struggled some against the Denver D over the years. The only defense he does worse again is the Bengals. I was real close to picking the Broncos in this one. But the Chiefs have been so clutch when it matters most so I can’t quite pull the trigger. I’ll take the Chiefs in a close stressful game that will put a strain on my marriage for the rest of the day.

Chiefs 24 Broncos 20

Battle of the injured: 49ers @ Bucs on Fox at 11 AM mountain time

What’s left of these teams will battle it out with Tom Brady commentating. The 49ers are getting slightly healthier with McCaffrey and Jennings coming back they have almost the whole band together besides Aiyuk. But you and I both know that at least one key player will be injured by the time this game is over. The Bucs are playing without their two best offensive players in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. That doesn’t phase Baker when it comes to fantasy stats but it does hurt him when it comes to wins. He is 0-3 without his top two playmakers despite valiant efforts. And now he faces a desperate 49ers team that also really needs a win. I love Baker and will be cheering for him but I don’t like his odds in this one. The 49ers have more play makers and the Bucs D is not good. Baker will do what he can to keep it close but in the end, he just doesn’t have the fire power to get it done despite his receivers getting real excited when they occasionally make a catch.

49ers 31 Bucs 27

All in on losing: Eagles @ Cowboys on CBS at 2:25 Mountain time

Woof, the afternoon games are rough. Jerry Jones said the Cowboys were going all in during the offseason. Then he made no moves and waited forever to pay his current players. He is not good at his job. The Cowboys suck so bad that even Dak Prescott could be seen mouthing that they suck with an extra colorful word. The Cowboys are bad every week but especially bad at home. Now Dak is on IR and Cooper Rush is getting the start. This is all good news for the Eagles and my daughter who became an Eagles fan conveniently when they won the Super Bowl. This is also good news for her fantasy team since she has Hurts, Barkley, Smith, their defense and their kicker. She is all in on the Eagles and against this Cowboys D at their house this should be a good thing. I cannot see any way that this is a close game except if Nick Sirianni makes some of his usual dumb decisions. So it will probably be a close game. Usually when the Cowboys are at home, they give up a bunch of scores and then Dak racks up a bunch of passing stats coming from behind. But I don’t think Cooper Rush will do the same. Also, what the heck are they doing with Trey Lance? I mean wouldn’t this be the ideal time to see if he was any good? Also, why in the world did they trade a 4th round pick for Johnny Mingo a guy who couldn’t get playing time on the freaking panthers? Seriously, Jerry Jones is really bad at his job. I am going to have fun watching the Cowboys suck it up in this one. Not even Sirianni can screw this up. Eagles win big.

Eagles 38 Cowboys 17

Does the Lion get tamed or roar once again?: Lions @ Texans on NBC at 6:20 PM mountain time

The Lions look like the clear best team in the NFC and because they win more significantly, people want to say they are better than the Chiefs but last time I checked the Lions have a loss and the Chiefs don’t. Jared Goff has been playing very well which he tends to do when he doesn’t have to throw too much. The Texans D isn’t that great so it should be another good game for the Lions offense. The Lions added a pass rusher at the trade deadline and the defense seems to be getting better. You know what isn’t good? The Texans offensive line. They are beat up and weren’t that good to begin with. CJ Stroud is suffering the same problem as most quarterbacks, running out of people to throw to. But he isn’t handling it as well as others. I was hoping Nico Collins would be back this week but that seems to be up in the air and Diggs is out for the year. It will be up to Tank Dell and company to get open which is possible as the Lions secondary while getting better still gives up some open passing lanes. I think this one is a little bit back and forth early with the Lions pulling away late. Goff is playing better, has better weapons and probably the better defense. And definitely the better offensive line. Lions in a close one.

Lions 27 Texans 24