If Week 4 brought relief to winless Philadelphia and Cincinnati, Week 5 promises to bring a declaration of power among the NFL's six undefeated teams.
At least for a handful of those unbeatens, it's time to find out who's for real and who's pretending.
The statement games start Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, where the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs play the 4-0 Denver Broncos for the AFC West lead.
Another show-and-tell game sends Mike Holmgren back to his Green Bay roots, where the Packers will test Holmgren's 3-0 Seahawks.
Then, on Monday night, the 4-0 Indianapolis Colts visit the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's a homecoming game of sorts for Colts coach Tony Dungy, the former Bucs boss.
The league's two other unbeatens have what appear to be favorable matchups in Week 5. The 4-0 Minnesota Vikings travel to 1-3 Atlanta, and the 3-0 Carolina Panthers take on 1-3 New Orleans.
After four weeks last season, the NFL had just two unbeaten teams, and for one of them, the San Diego Chargers, it still wasn't good enough to make the playoffs.
That goes to prove that an unbeaten September doesn't guarantee anything except October optimism. The Chiefs' Will Shields, a Pro Bowl guard, understands. He wasn't ready to crown Kansas City after Sunday's hard-fought 17-10 win over the Ravens.
"I don't think we are [legitimate Super Bowl contenders] yet," he said. "We've won four games against quality opponents, but it's just the fact there are a lot of things we're not doing well, things I know personally I have to do better."
Of the six unbeatens, only Indianapolis and Carolina have beaten teams with a winning record at this point. The Colts crushed Tennessee, 33-7, and the Panthers toppled Tampa Bay, 12-9 in overtime, both Week 2 games.
A review of the league's unbeatens:
Denver: The combined record of the Broncos' opponents is 4-12. They've won by 20, 24, 21 and four points, blowing out Oakland in a big Monday night game and slipping past Detroit on Sunday when they played without injured running back Clinton Portis.
The Broncos swept the Chiefs last year.
Indianapolis: The Colts barely outlasted Cleveland in their opener and had a scoreless first half against Jacksonville before winning by 10. But they had a big win over Tennessee and dominated New Orleans on Sunday night, 55-21. Their opponents are 5-11 so far.
Kansas City: The Chiefs hammered Pittsburgh (41-20) and Houston (42-14), beat San Diego by 13 and barely outlasted the Ravens. In a telling statistic, they lead the league in takeaways with 14, and they lead the AFC in turnover ratio at plus-eight. Their opponents are 6-10.
Carolina: The Panthers had the No. 2 defense in the league last season, but this season they've given up 331 yards to winless Jacksonville and 397 to Tampa Bay. They settled down for a 23-3 rout of Atlanta on Sunday. Carolina's opponents are 3-8.
Minnesota: The Vikings have rolled through the tepid NFC North, beating Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit. When they went outside their division on Sunday, they drilled the San Francisco 49ers, 35-7. Their revival is driven by 11 interceptions on defense and a rededicated Randy Moss at receiver. The Vikings' opponents are 4-11.
Seattle: The Seahawks, who are coming off a bye week, have won two runaways (vs. New Orleans and Arizona) and a thriller (24-23 over St. Louis). They lead the NFC with 13 takeaways and the NFL with a plus-12 turnover ratio. Their opponents are 4-8.
Best and worst
Highlights and lowlights from Week 4:
Best performance in lead role: Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte. Filling in for injured Daunte Culpepper, Frerotte riddled the 49ers for 267 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Best performance in losing role: Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson. He not only rushed for 187 yards in an overtime loss to the Raiders, but Tomlinson also threw a touchdown pass and had seven receptions. Total yards: 232.
Guttiest call: Texans coach Dom Capers. With the ball on Jacksonville's 1 and two seconds left, Capers eschewed a tying field-goal try and sent quarterback David Carr over center for the touchdown and the win.
Worst pout: 49ers receiver Terrell Owens. After Minnesota's Randy Moss had three more catches, 117 more yards and three touchdowns, Owens lamented a 49ers offense that can't get him the ball deep and even suggested a change in quarterback wouldn't be a bad idea.
Best finish to bad weekend: Bengals cornerback Jeff Burris. He fell asleep at the wheel of his car early Saturday morning and crashed, then played Sunday with a strained neck and made a game-clinching interception against Cleveland's Tim Couch.
Biggest no-show: Saints. In a desultory 55-21 loss at home against the Colts, they looked dangerously close to becoming an incarnation of the Aints.
Best comeback: Raiders. With the game and perhaps the season hanging in the balance, quarterback Rich Gannon brought the Raiders back from a two-touchdown deficit in the final five minutes to reach overtime, where they beat the Chargers.
