He's not that tough

Life is all about matchups. Look at the list. Relationships. Friends. Jobs. Food. Heck, every guy from time to time has seen another guy on the street and thought, "I could take that guy."

It's all matchups. Especially in the NFL, and it's been enhanced by fantasy. Do you play your stud running back playing the Ravens D, or a borderline, time-share back against San Diego?

Matchups.

So this week's list of five is focusing on the matchup of teams. Part of me wanted to go individual player matchups, but I'll save that for another week. However, this week's slate of games presents great matchups in terms of teams and should be interesting to watch. Here's what I'm looking at...

1. Cleveland @ Buffalo - Yea, I know. Why this matchup? Well, even though it's two sorry teams, it should make for some competitive football. Cleveland showed some life last week against the Bengals, losing in overtime, and made a smart move getting rid of Butterfingers Braylon. Buffalo is stumbling to the bottom of the AFC East again (Just imagine if they don't blow the New England game). The winner to this game gets a chance to salvage the season. The loser might as well go get a good spot at the combine.

2. Houston @ Arizona - This is an interesting matchup because these teams remind me of each other in many ways. Potent, offensive juggernauts with question marks on defense, who are trying to live up to preseason expectations. Arizona seems to be on the way down after reaching the Super Bowl last season, but they're trying to make a run in the NFC. Houston is on the way up - I think. Or at least they're trying to be, still 2-2 in the AFC South. Both teams need to win to get launch potential playoff runs, but only one can win (unless they tie, then nobody does.)

3. Atlanta @ San Francisco - This is almost like big brother versus little brother because San Francisco is this year's Atlanta. Bring in a new coach, new attitude, and they're winning football games. Not to mention, the 49ers finally signed Michael Crabtree, which could help (who are we kidding Isaac Bruce needs a walker to stretch the field) or hurt (channeling T.O. back in San Fran.) But this is a more important game for Atlanta since the Saints have a stranglehold on the division. San Francisco will win the division with or without this win, but Atlanta definitely doesn't want to drop to 2-2.

4. New England @ Denver - These are two very good teams period. Denver silenced some with beating Dallas last week, but they'll have the doubters singing praises from the rooftops if they can take out the Patriots. These teams are also a lot alike for a number of reasons. Both teams are doing just enough to get the win because no one remembers the score, only the win-loss column. But more than the game, I'm excited for the post game handshake between Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels. Belichick has never been a warm person (he could start a blizzard in Hell.) The relationship with McDaniels doesn't seem as bad as the feud with Eric Mangini, but we won't know until the end of the game.

5. New York Jets @ Miami - If nothing else, this rivalry is just plain fun to watch. Rex Ryan said he regrets his war of words with Dolphin players this summer - even though he was right in everything he said. But Miami needs this - bad. If they can build of the momentum of the Buffalo win last week and pull out the W, they could right the ship and make a run at the playoffs, maybe even the division. The Jets just need to forget what happened last week, and go do what had been working all season. Regardless, a great game for Monday night football.

Game of the Week - Cincinnati @ Baltimore
Honestly the game of the week should probably be one of the five listed above, specifically the Falcons and 49ers, but I'm a big believer in the importance of division games. If you win your division then you don't need other teams to lose to get into the playoffs. You simply need to be better than the other three teams in your division. Right now, Baltimore looks to be that team, but who would have thought the Bengals would be 3-1 ( or 4-0 if not for the immaculate deflection.) And with the Steelers playing an assumed win against the Lions, both teams need this game to stay ahead of the curve. The matchup I'm watching is Carson Palmer against the Ravens D. Baltimore still has a tough defense, but they can be thrown on. With Cedric Benson playing hurt, they'll have to throw. This is Cincy's chance, but I don't see it happening. Baltimore 35, Cincinnati 31