Still doubting the Cincinnati Bengals? Didn't think so.
Still don't think Carson Palmer is an elite quarterback? No to that as well.
Still doubting the Denver Broncos? Not anymore.
The 4-1 Bengals have been true Cardiac Cats so far this season, winning with drama. (AP)
Still questioning Josh McDaniels? Not now.
The Broncos are in first place at 5-0 in the AFC West and the Bengals are in first place in the AFC North at 4-1. Can you believe it?
We spend an entire summer trying to figure out the surprise teams in the NFL, in large part because we know they are there. The Bengals were one of my choices.
The Broncos were not.
Five weeks into the season, they are the two biggest surprises so far. The Bengals' only loss came to Denver, and the Broncos are one of only five undefeated teams.
After pulling off another stunning last-minute comeback Sunday, capped off by a Palmer touchdown pass with 22 seconds left for a 17-14 victory in Baltimore, the Bengals are atop the AFC North.
Denver had its prove-it-to-me victory Sunday with a 20-17 overtime thriller over the New England Patriots. You can't doubt them anymore like I have. I'm done.
Both teams earn A grades for their victories this week in our CBSSports.com Grades, but they deserve the same for the way they've opened the season.
Whatever the Bengals' victory meant, it paled in comparison to the story of the day, which was defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer coaching with the heaviest heart of all. Zimmer's wife, Vikki, was found dead at the age of 50 last week, and Zimmer made the decision along with his family to coach Sunday.
It's called therapy. Grieving is a tough thing to gauge, and people grieve in their own ways. Some might say it's too much to coach so soon, but that's not for us to decide. Zimmer said coaching was what his wife would have wanted, and we all have to respect that.
The Bengals defense honored her memory with a heck of a game. It's a small token of appreciation, much like the cookies she used to make for them, but it says how those players feel about their coach -- and him losing his wife of 27 years. They gave him the game ball in the locker room after, and a choked-up Zimmer thanked them with a few words.
The Cincinnati defense was dominating all day, holding the Ravens without a score until late in the fourth quarter. Their only score to that point came on an Ed Reed interception return for a score, one of the few bad passes Palmer threw on the day.
Baltimore's only offensive score came when bad tackling on a short pass turned into a 48-yard touchdown from Joe Flacco to Ray Rice, and the Bengals trailed 14-10 with less than seven minutes left.
That set the stage for the late-game heroics by Palmer -- again. He got help this time by three defensive penalties, one a really stupid hit to the head by Ray Lewis on Chad Ochocinco. But that doesn't dim the fact the Bengals went 80 yards in 11 plays in 1:53 for the winning score.
On that play, Palmer faced a 1st-and-10 from Baltimore's 20 with 27 seconds left. He took the snap, looked left, came back right and found Andre Caldwell open in the right middle for the game-winning score.
In the past three weeks, Palmer has had game-winning touchdown passes in the final minute to beat both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens. Both times, the passes went to Caldwell.
The Broncos won because of their league-best defense and because Kyle Orton outplayed Tom Brady, once again validating McDaniels' decision to bring him in and jettison Jay Cutler. Orton threw for 330 yards and two scores.
Denver and Cincinnati excelled on Sunday in clutch situations to earn their lofty grades. But the only A+ grade of the day goes to Zimmer.
Football isn't life or death. But on this day, it sure did help a man with the latter. Even if it was for 60 minutes, or even for the entire day, something as simple as winning a football game might have helped Zimmer with his unbearable and unimaginable grief.
Vikings: They got another defensive touchdown (on a Jared Allen fumble return), had three takeaways in the red zone and did pretty much what they wanted on offense. They overmatched the Rams, but the defense did give up some yards.
B
3.25
C-
Rams: You can't turn it over four times and expect to win against a good Minnesota team. They did move the ball, which is better than the offense played in its first four games. The defense didn't play well again.
Eagles: Donovan McNabb lit up the Tampa Bay defense and the Eagles secondary had three big interceptions. This is a team that is getting better as the season moves along. McNabb is dangerous with all his weapons.
A
3.40
D
Buccaneers: Is Josh Johnson the answer? It sure doesn't look like it. And that defense can't cover anybody. It's going to be a long, long first season for coach Raheem Morris.
Giants: It didn't take much to beat this Raiders team, but Tom Coughlin's teams always beat the teams they should. Eli Manning toughed it out to throw two touchdown passes and then sat down when the game got out of hand. Ahmad Bradshaw had a huge day.
A
3.60
F
Raiders: How bad can it get? They don't even compete anymore. The offense is terrible and the defense is just behind. Tom Cable fights better than he coaches. JaMarcus Russell is really bad.
Cowboys: It took a while to get going, but the Cowboys might have saved their season in the fourth quarter and overtime. Tony Romo and Miles Austin made two huge pass plays to score touchdowns, the last a 60-yard catch-and-run in overtime. Austin had 10 catches for 250 yards. Wow.
C
2.68
C
Chiefs: The pass defense went to sleep late in the game and Romo and Austin carved it up. Matt Cassel played better. His pass to Dwayne Bowe to tie it was a heck of a throw. The offensive line still has issues.
Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger is getting better and better. He completed 63 percent of his passes and threw three touchdown passes. The defense had seven sacks and the good news is the outside rushers, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley, had 4½ of them.
A
2.94
C-
Lions: Playing without Matthew Stafford, they were feisty. Daunte Culpepper played a decent game, despite all the pressure. The defense has trouble defending the pass, and that showed up again. They are competing, which is a good sign.
Panthers: It sure wasn't pretty, but they'll take it. They had two scores set up by special teams. The defense did play well, limiting the Redskins to under 200 yards. Julius Peppers had two sacks. They turned the ball over twice to set up Washington scores.
C-
1.35
C-
Redskins: The offense isn't good, and that will bring even more heat on Jim Zorn. If not for the defense, they wouldn't have even been in this game. DeAngelo Hall had a pick to set up one score. Can't imagine what the D.C. area is like.
Browns: They won a game when their quarterback was 2 for 17 for 23 yards. That's amazing. Jamal Lewis ran for 117 and a recovered fumble set up the game-winning points. It was ugly, but you know they will take it.
C
1.28
D-
Bills: You have to feel for their defense. At least they showed up. That passing game isn't very good. Roscoe Parrish's fumble in the closing minutes was inexcusable. Dick Jauron is in trouble -- big trouble.
Bengals: Cedric Benson had 120 yards and a touchdown, the first player to go over 100 on the Ravens in 40 games. Carson Palmer did throw a pick that was returned for a touchdown by Ed Reed, but he played well. The defense, like we said, was outstanding.
B-
3.00
B-
Ravens: Joe Flacco and the offense could never get it going. They seemed out of sorts for most of the game. Flacco threw for 186 yards, but couldn't get anything to his receivers. The defense played well, but really let down on that last drive.
Falcons: Matt Ryan lit up the San Francisco defense for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Roddy White had eight catches for 210 yards and two scores. Michael Turner added three touchdown runs and the defense shut down the San Francisco running game and didn't let the passing game get going.
C
2.92
F
49ers: That wasn't very good. Is that who they are? Or was that an aberration? We'll soon find out. They didn't get anything going. What happened to the pass defense? The running game was nonexistent.
Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck makes a huge difference for this team. He threw four touchdown passes in his first game back from a broken rib. The defense got a touchdown on a fumble recovery and totally dominated the Jacksonville offense.
D
2.40
F
Jaguars: That was what you call an ambush. That was awful. They couldn't do anything on offense and the defense was shredded. Rashean Mathis had a really rough go, getting beat for three touchdowns. The offensive line was whipped.
Broncos: Kyle Orton had a big day with 330 yards and two touchdowns. He also led them on the game-winning drive with some precision passing in overtime. The defense again came up with a good, solid day. They limited Tom Brady to 215 yards passing.
A
3.66
B
Patriots: Once again, they didn't look that good on offense. And the defense had some issues covering the pass. Much of that had to do with a lack of pressure. They need to improve in that area.
Cardinals: That goal-line stand at the end saved the game. But what happened in the second half? Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's pick for a score helped turn a horrible second half into a victory. Kurt Warner was on fire in the first half, but struggled after.
F
2.10
C
Texans: Matt Schaub played a great second half, but it went for naught when the goal-line stand turned back the Texans. Andre Johnson outplayed Larry Fitzgerald. The defense woke up in the second half, thanks to pressure up front.
Colts: Peyton Manning had another big game with three touchdown passes and the Colts defense shut down the Tennessee running game, and limited the big plays in the passing game. They head to their bye week 5-0.
A
3.26
D
Titans: That defense struggled like it has all season long. It can't stop the pass, and Manning carved them up. The offense doesn't make any big plays, which means they kick a lot of field goals. That doesn't win games.
Dolphins: The running game clicked in the Wildcat, but this one was about Chad Henne. He grew up here. The throw he made to Ted Ginn was huge in the fourth quarter, but two passes on the game-winning drive were really big. The defense needs to improve the pass defense.
B+
2.06
B-
Jets: What happened to the defense? It was pushed around in the run game and let Henne drive to the winning points. Hard to believe it was that bad in the fourth quarter. Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards is a combination Jets fans will love.
Even though DeAngelo Williams fumbled the ball late in the game against the Saints and effectively ended it, don't put the Panthers loss on his shoulders. This one comes back to the offensive coordinators play-calling and trust or lack-there-of in Jake Delhomme. If Delhomme had shown earlier in the season that has was accurate in throwing the ball down-field then the play-calling would not be so c
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The Saints fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter at home and looked flatter than a discarded, stepped-on beignet you might find on Bourbon Street. I was a bit surprised when the the Panthers went up 14-0 on the Saints, but they have shown the ability to score quickly, so this wasn't likely to be a problem unless the Panthers' D could stop them for 4 quarter
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Wow, there is a whole lot of anti-Prisco sentiment on this site, some justifiable, but a lot of it just plain off-based. The poor guy talks about how he's claimed all along that the Bengals are for real, and then you see a ton of people saying otherwise. Have any of you posters actually read his columns? There are a select number of jouranlists out there who have said that th
I personally don't see anything wrong with running up the score, especially when a team is at home. Give the fans something to cheer about, scoring touchdown after touchdown. In reality they were getting an offense, that was terrible the week before, reps to gel. That kind of work can be invaluable. I don't feel a team should have to change the way their offense plays i
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The grades for the Tampa Bay - Green Bay game show once again the Pete must be using the "Prisco Curve" to grade the teams rather than grading according to a standard based on the NFL as a whole. He seems to grade teams based on how HE thinks they SHOULD have played rather than how the game actually went. How can one team get an "A" (Tampa Bay) and the other get an "F"
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Nothing happened new. It is plain garbage and has been for a while now Pete! They just have an idiot coach that hassent accepted the fact that his famed "cover 2" defense was solved like 2 years ago in the NFL. They HAD a defensive cord that understood this and tried to make tweaks to it (Ron Rivera) but O'l Lovie run him out after the SB year so he could put his buddy at defensive
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Please buy Nfl Sunday Ticket, or watch the highlights anywhere, at Espn, Nfl Network. But please watch the games, obviously you don't know what you are talking about, you just read some stats and puts them down however you think it happened. I know you are a hater of some teams, or maybe you don' hate them, and you just don't accept what they are. Pl
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Okay Brett Favre, be upset with the Packer organization; but you have some unfinsished business with the Packer fans. You need to apologize to them for what you put them through for 4 years. You said that you went to the church prayed before the game in Minnesota? Well, you'd better stay there all weekend in Green Bay, because there is no place else to hide from the people tha
I would like to know why all you people that bash prisco everyday read his articles. If they are that bad then why do you not only waste your time reading them, but why do then have to post about it? Go to espn or foxsports and don't post on here and waste my day by having to read your posts. That being said no sports writer is perfect. Yes prisco does not like farve and I think h
Huh... I will never understand how Prisco grades some of these teams. What's the purpose of having Power Rankings and GPA if they don't match... or even close at times? He has the Cards at 9th in his power rankings and at a 2.24 GPA... Meanwhile he has the 49ers at 22nd in his rankings with a 2.39 GPA... His entire article is talking up the Houston Texans who rank a solid 2.50 GPA accor
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First off, I am not a Giants fan, but it is funny to see so many people jump off their band wagon. They continue to do what they do best...run the football.
The Giants will be fine. The defense has had some woes, and the passing game isn't what people would have hoped for. The Giants will still win the division because the can run the ball so well. As winte
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Seriously, did you want them to go for it on 4th and 11 from the Dallas 32? Were you watching the game? The Eagles O-line was not going to hold up on an obvious passing down like that. At least with the field goal, the Eagles got to kick the ball, and if the D mans up and stops somebody then they get the ball back with 2 minutes left with a chance to run the 2 min offense.
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Some of the things Prisco writes to try justify his grades is absolutely fiction. I mean what part of his colon does he pull this stuff from. Here is an example from the Vikings/Steelers grades.
The two big turnovers were the difference. Brett Favre had those. The offense had trouble for much of the game. They couldn't get Adrian Peterson going. Th
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The Pats were up 38 - 0 with 1:16 to go in the 1st half. They still had Brady in the game when they took the field. They lined up with 5 WR's in the shotgun formation. They remained in the shotgun with 5 WRs for the entire drive. They went no-huddle and even used a timeout. As we know, they scored another TD to go up 45-0 with 17 seconds left in the half.
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