There has been a line drawn in the sand between pretenders and contenders around the NFL. It took five weeks for us to acquire an understanding, but some squads are now firmly out of the playoff race as we move on from the early part of the season.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints — all of whom entered the season with playoff aspirations — are now 1-4 on the season.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys both find themselves under .500 through five games.
On the other side of the ledger, the undefeated teams that did suit up on Sunday found a way to win. Three of them didn’t put up great performances, but they remain in that elite group heading into Week 6.
Here are your top-10 takeaways for Sunday’s Week 5 NFL action.
Undefeated teams find a way to win
Whether it was the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons or Cincinnati Bengals, three of the four remaining undefeated teams that played on Sunday found a way to win despite less-than-stellar overall performances.
Aaron Rodgers threw his first interception at home in nearly 600 pass attempts. He also lost a fumble in a 24-10 win over the St. Louis Rams. It’s the second consecutive game that Green Bay’s offense has struggled (scored 17 against San Francisco in Week 4). It’s also the second consecutive game that its defense has stepped up big time, allowing a total of 13 points during that span.
At 5-0 on the season, we know the Packers offense will be fine. Forcing four Nick Foles interceptions in another good performance from Dom Capers unit, it’s the defense that is on the verge of making this the most well-rounded team in the NFL.
Atlanta struggled big time on offense, scoring a total of three first half points against the Washington Redskins on Sunday. In fact, the Falcons didn’t score a touchdown until less than eight minutes remained in regulation.
However, the team’s defensive picked it up big time in this one. After scoring two defensive touchdowns last week against the Houston Texans, it won in walk-off fashion after Robert Alford picked off a Kirk Cousins pass and returned it 59 yards for a game-ending score.
In Cincinnati, it looked like the Seattle Seahawks were primed to hand the Bengals their first loss of the season. Scoring twice in less than two minutes early in the third quarter, the two-time defending NFC champions took a three-score lead into the final stanza. Instead of buckling under the pressure, Cincinnati picked up its game big time — earning a hard fought 27-24 win.
While Andy Dalton did his thing (331 yards) on offense, the Bengals defense stiffened up when it needed to the most. Seattle tallied a total of 39 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson was sacked four times and hit a total of 10 times in the game. With both sides of the ball taking over, Cincinnati found a way for the third 5-0 start in franchise history.
Philadelphia Eagles make a statement in must-win game
With the way the NFC East is shaping up this season, Philadelphia finds itself squarely in the division race following a 39-17 win over the suddenly hapless New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
In reality, it was just a stellar overall performance from an Eagles squad that was reeling after losing three of its first four. Sam Bradford may have thrown two picks, one of which was in the end zone, but he responded big time as the game progressed. The much-maligned signal caller ended up completing 32-of-45 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns.
Six different Eagles receivers tallied 30-plus yards, including a team high 78 yards from second-year player Josh Huff. Meanwhile, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews put up 156 combined yards and two scores on the ground.
Defensively, the Eagles did yield nearly 400 yards. However, the likes of Jordan Hicks and Fletcher Cox helped this unit hold the Saints to 17 points, including a garbage time touchdown as time expired in the fourth quarter.
With both the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys losing on Sunday, Philadelphia finds itself tied for second place, one game behind the New York Giants. Not everything is resolved here, but it’s most definitely a start. For the first time all season, the Eagles played like Chip Kelly envisioned they would. That’s a positive sign.
Some glaring issues remain for the Seattle Seahawks in late-game loss to the Cincinnati Bengals
For the first time since 2004, Seattle blew a three-score fourth quarter lead on Sunday against the Bengals. Equally as disturbing for Pete Carroll’s squad, Russell Wilson was hit on 10 of his 30 drop backs against a much-improved Bengals defensive line.
Perception is everything here. Even with Seattle up by 17 heading into the fourth quarter, there was no real feeling that the game was over. Dumb penalties, missed tackles, issues with blitz packages and even some coaching blunders —they all add up to a 2-3 team that doesn’t look anywhere near as unbeatable as we have seen in the past.
Back to the offense for a second. After being sacked four times on Sunday, Wilson has now gone down 22 times on the year. He’s also been pressured nearly 50 percent of the time he’s dropped back to pass. It’s highly unlikely that any quarterback would have a ton of success in this situation, even someone with the escapability Wilson has displayed in his three-plus seasons with Seattle.
Now under .500 heading into Week 6 for the first time since Pete Carroll’s second season back in 2011, Seattle needs to turn it around in short order. Adding to the issues here, the Arizona Cardinals stand alone atop the division with a two-game lead over both Seattle and St. Louis.
Season on the brink: New Orleans Saints
Now 1-4 on the season following a 22-point loss to Philadelphia, the Saints find themselves a whopping four games behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South just five weeks into the season. To make matters worse, the Carolina Panthers are sitting at home on a bye sipping on Starbucks while enjoying a 4-0 record this season.
There are just too many issues to count in New Orleans right now. Sure Drew Brees is racking up the passing yards (326 yards per game), but the Saints are averaging just a hair over 20 points per game in his starts. Defensively, the Saints are now yielding an average well over 400 yards per game after giving up 500-plus to what had been a struggling Eagles offense.
The only question that remains here is where the Saints are going to pick at the top 10 of the 2016 NFL draft and whether they are going to consider using that selection on a quarterback. Stats aside, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Brees looks like a shell of his former self. That’s the harsh reality of the situation.
St. Louis Rams find a star in an otherwise ugly effort
Nick Foles may have acted the part of a star for the Green Bay Packers, throwing four interceptions for his Rams on Sunday. As bad as the new Rams quarterback was, rookie running back Todd Gurley put up yet another outstanding performance. A week after tallying 146 yards on 19 attempts against the Arizona Cardinals, the talented young ball carrier was back at it.
Accounting for nearly 50 percent of the Rams offensive yardage, Gurley gained 159 yards on a whopping 30 rush attempts. More than anything else, this is an indication that St. Louis has confidence in its top-10 pick to carry the team on his back after suffering a torn ACL last year at Georgia.
Gurley has put up 305 yards on 49 attempts over the course of the past two games — numbers that put him firmly in the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation. That’s utterly insane considering he attempted a total of six rushes prior to Week 4.
Young quarterbacks shine as Tampa Bay Buccaneers break 11-game home losing streak
Coming off a four-interception performance against the Carolina Panthers last week, Jameis Winston played a near mistake-free game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He completed 13-of-19 passes for 209 yards with a touchdown and zero picks in Tampa Bay’s 38-31 win.
Meanwhile, Blake Bortles put up the best performance of his young career. He threw for over 300 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.
Flying under the radar for an otherwise lackluster Jaguars squad, Bortles is now on pace to throw for nearly 4,200 yards with 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Stats might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the tape also shows a quarterback that has improved vastly from a season ago.
These are two quarterbacks that entered the NFL with a ton of questions. They did so while being asked to save their downtrodden franchises. With so many issues remaining for both teams, it’s nice to see the young signal callers play at a high level. Moving forward, it’s going to be all about consistency for Bortles and Winston.
Drama on the rise in Detroit with Matthew Stafford?
Midway through the third quarter of Detroit’s humiliating 42-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday, head coach Jim Caldwell decided to bench the team’s “franchise quarterback.” This came right after Stafford threw his third interception of the game.
Immediately after the game, Caldwell made sure to quiet any rumors of a quarterback controversy in Detroit:
“Really, it’s like a pitcher not having a very good day,” Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “The pitcher comes out and the pitcher obviously, he’s still the starter. He’s still our starter, so there’ll be no issues there. So there is no quarterback controversy or anything of that nature. But I know one thing, we got to get better. This was poor. Just not the kind of outing that we like to see around here.”
After throwing two picks in the first half, Caldwell told Stafford that the next one would get him benched:
“He told me at halftime if I threw another interception, I’d be pulled out of the game,” Stafford told the press following the disheartening loss. “Obviously, threw one. Wish I wouldn’t have. Go from there.”
That last interception — the final nail in the coffin for Stafford’s day — was a horrendous pass down the right sideline on third and long. At that point, it was obvious the struggling quarterback had crossed the line on the day. He was no longer prepared to help his team come back.
With Dan Orlovsky as the only somewhat realistic option on the roster, Stafford will assuredly keep his starting job for the remainder of the season.
But at 0-5 on the year and with no realistic expectations of improvement on either side of the ball, the question now becomes whether Stafford is still the long-term solution under center. This question will become more intense should the Lions earn a high pick in the upcoming draft.
Oakland Raiders remain competitive, but still can’t get over that hump
Following a close loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Oakland has now dropped its past two games by a combined eight points. Jack Del Rio definitely has his team playing competitive football in his first season as its head coach. At 2-3 on the year, that’s not necessarily translating to wins on the football field.
Last week saw the Raiders go conservative and Latavius Murray fumble the football late in the loss to the Chicago Bears. Oakland, by virtue of a Derek Carr pick-six deep in the Broncos territory late on Sunday, found yet another way to blow a game it should have won.
If you have been reading my takes on the Raiders since the draft, the emphasis has been clear. Del Rio and general manager Reggie McKenzie aren’t going to turn this thing around in one season. Instead, it’s all going to be a process. The positive news here is that Oakland is much more competitive than we have seen over the past several seasons. Baby steps, indeed.
Arizona Cardinals are the best team in football
The Green Bay Packers seem a bit sexier on tape. The New England Patriots are the defending champions. And in reality, an argument could be made for both teams to sit atop the NFL hierarchy heading into Week 6.
Despite losing to the St. Louis Rams in Week 4, the Cardinals have staked their claim as the best team in the NFL. Following a 42-17 win over the hapless Lions on Sunday, Arizona has put up 40-plus points in three of its past four games. Amazingly enough, it only took 15 first downs and 14 pass attempts from Carson Palmer for the Cardinals to put this one away. Heck, Lions fans were booing the home team as it headed to the locker room down 28-7 at the half.
Great teams take it to their opponents. They don’t back off when things are looking one-sided. Instead, they step on the gas and show the league who is boss. In two of their past three games, the Cardinals have done just this. And now at 4-1 on the season, they have a two-game lead in the NFC West to show for it.
The Baltimore Ravens defense is a hot mess
How in the world do you give up 457 passing yards to Josh McCown? Somewhere in the United States, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are putting on helmets and ready to suit up. A shell of its former self, Baltimore’s defense has been absolutely atrocious this season.
In losing 33-30 to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the Ravens defense yielded 505 yards of total offense and 25 first downs. Four different Browns pass catchers tallied at least six receptions with a previously unknown tight end in Gary Barnidge going for 139 yards on eight attempts. When you are being destroyed by the likes of McCown and Barnidge, something just isn’t right.
Baltimore’s horrendous play on defense has the team at 1-4 on the season and four games behind the division-leading Cincinnati Bengals. This is such a reversal of fortune for a unit that has been among the best in the NFL for nearly the past two decades. It also has Ravens fans thinking more about the 2016 draft than the remainder of this season.