After the Falcons’ loss to the Saints on Thursday night, there are still five undefeated teams. Based on this week’s matchups, there is a good chance that all or most of them will remain undefeated. The Panthers (4-0) face the toughest challenge, playing the Seahawks in Seattle.

Patriots (4-0) at Colts (3-2) – 8:30 p.m.

Line: Patriots by 8

In a news conference this week, Tom Brady had on his predictable knit cap and was giving predictable answers to predictable questions involving his motivations, or lack thereof, when facing the team that was at the center of last season’s deflated-ball saga. Finally, one reporter interrupted the monotony, asking Brady: “Isn’t there any heart in there? Any human that wants a little extra?”

“I’m a human, there’s no doubt,” Brady replied. “I’m definitely a human.”

But consider the facts. Brady is 38, an age when most quarterbacks have already retired. His skills have not seemed to diminish at any point in his Hall of Fame-caliber career and he is off to an undefeated start with 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions. In Week 5, he was sacked five times, all in the first half, and then coolly led his team to a blowout victory, looking no worse for the wear after taking all the punishment the Dallas defense could muster.

It all begins to make sense when you read that researchers from Georgia Tech announced this week that they had identified a way to teach robots to fall with grace and without serious damage.

“From previous work, we knew a robot had the computational know-how to achieve a softer landing, but it didn’t have the hardware to move quickly enough like a cat,” Prof. Karen Liu said when announcing the study Tuesday. “Our new planning algorithm takes into account the hardware constraints and the capabilities of the robot, and suggests a sequence of contacts so the robot gradually can slow itself down.”

It makes a lot more sense to think of Brady as a robot slowly being perfected by its creators than a sixth-round pick who could barely hold on to a starting job in college and went on to win four Super Bowls and throw more than 400 touchdown passes.

It is unclear if Andrew Luck or Matt Hasselbeck will start at quarterback for the Colts, but it hardly seems to matter. Brady is motivated, or at least programmed, for extra effort, and the Colts are in trouble.

Pick: Patriots

Panthers (4-0) at Seahawks (2-3) – 4:05 p.m.

Line: Seahawks by 8

The Seahawks were well on their way to a third consecutive win last week when Andy Dalton of the Bengals pulled off an incredible fourth-quarter comeback, erasing a 17-point deficit before beating Seattle in overtime. It was enough to make the “Kam Chancellor is back so all is well” narrative ring a bit hollow. Things will not get any easier against the Panthers, a team that runs the ball well, limits opposing runners and boasts a league-leading plus-8 turnover differential.

Running back Marshawn Lynch will return this week, but the Seahawks were in good hands with the rookie Thomas Rawls. Both will be needed against a Panthers defense that allows just 92 yards a game on the ground, sixth in the N.F.L.

The Seahawks are nearly unbeatable at home, winning 28 of their last 30 in Seattle, and are talented enough to fend off the rapidly improving Panthers. But an 8-point spread seems insulting to Carolina.

Pick: Seahawks

Cardinals (4-1) at Steelers (3-2) – 1 p.m.

Line: Cardinals by 3

The Steelers have so little faith in Michael Vick as a quarterback that last week, as time was expiring, they executed a direct snap to running back Le’Veon Bell, who took the ball into the end zone for the winning touchdown against the Chargers. Vick, who has failed to move the ball with anywhere near the consistency of the injured Ben Roethlisberger, was split out as a wide receiver on the play. Even Vick’s staunchest defenders would have a hard time arguing that he is a worthy starter when he was not even under center with the game on the line.

Roethlisberger practiced during the week and has said he wants to play, but the team is expected to remain cautious. He has sat out just two games after straining a medial collateral ligament that was originally expected to keep him out for at least four weeks.

The Cardinals beat up on Detroit last week and their aging offensive stars Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and Chris Johnson got a peer on the defensive side of the ball when the team signed linebacker Dwight Freeney, 35, to help fill the void left when Alex Okafor strained a calf muscle.

Beating Roethlisberger would be a sure sign that the Cardinals are real contenders, but beating Vick would carry considerably less cachet. Still, the Cardinals would surely take the win and worry about the cachet later.

Pick: Cardinals

Bengals (5-0) at Bills (3-2) – 1 p.m.

Line: Bengals by 3.5

The Bills are the hardest team to figure out in the N.F.L. They have looked dominant at times, and inept at others. The Bengals, meanwhile, have been an offensive juggernaut so powerful that no deficit seems out of reach.

Andy Dalton has had his share of ups and downs, but last week against Seattle he looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the N.F.L., marching his team to victory against long odds. He passed for 331 yards against the vaunted Legion of Boom secondary, and if not for a holding penalty that negated a 72-yard touchdown strike to A.J. Green, he would have broken 400.

The Bengals are probably not quite as good as they have played, and the Bills are not quite as bad as they looked in losses to the Patriots and the Giants. The winner will find itself on the short list of A.F.C. contenders.

Pick: Bills

Chargers (2-3) at Packers (5-0) – 4:25 p.m.

Line: Packers by 11.5

The first and last time the Chargers beat the Packers, the starting quarterbacks were Dan Fouts and Lynn Dickey. It was October 1984 and the game was a shootout at Lambeau Field. Dickey’s two interceptions and a 15-reception game by Kellen Winslow went a long way toward giving San Diego the win.

The Chargers’ offense will be the first real test of the season for the Packers’ defense. Green Bay is ranked seventh in the N.F.L. in fewest yards allowed, but it has yet to face a team with San Diego’s ability to move the ball. That said, there is little reason for the Packers to be concerned. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is prone to turnovers and Green Bay’s defense is opportunistic enough to take advantage.

Getting a second win in Green Bay may take another 30 years for San Diego.

Pick: Packers