12 Thoughts from Sunday's Week 5 Games
Just one week after the Bills became the flavor of the week by dismantling the Dolphins, they got beat by the Jaguars 25-20. You gotta love the NFL. More consequential, however, was the injury to linebacker Matt Milano. Few defenders in the league are more impactful to their team, and now he’s likely out for the season. This was on the heels of a season-ending injury to Tre’Davious White last week (as well as plenty of other injuries that Buffalo’s defense is dealing with). They’ll need Von Miller to be Super Man for the remainder of the season.
The 49ers took it to the Cowboys with a stunning 42-10 drubbing on Sunday Night Football. I don’t know what was more impressive, the defense or Brock Purdy’s performance. It didn’t matter if the Cowboys blitzed or not, Mr. Irrelevant picked them apart, finishing 17-24 for 252 yards and 4 touchdowns. The 49ers completely neutralized Micah Parsons as well.
The Eagles moved to 5-0 on the strength of an offense that just wouldn’t get off the field. Philadelphia converted 13 of 18 third downs (72.2%) and possessed the ball for almost 38 minutes. The Eagles have yet to hit their peak and are still 5-0. Week 13 against San Francisco can’t come soon enough.
Patrick Mahomes was ready for the Vikings’ aggressive pressure schemes, completing 17 of 23 passes for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns against the blitz. When will defensive coordinators learn…
The Patriots followed up their worst loss of Bill Belichick’s career with the worst home loss of his career. New England has been outscored 72-3 over the last two weeks, and we’re on the verge of the unthinkable happening - the end of the Belichick era. Regardless of all the turmoil that is bound to come over the next few months, here’s a pro tip: The Patriots stinking in 2023 does not mean that Belichick wasn’t a great coach from 2001-19. If you ever find yourself in a conversation with someone who’s saying that, walk away and never talk football with them again.
What a bounce-back performance by Desmond Ridder. It was starting to look like Atlanta was going to need to make a change at quarterback. Then Ridder went out and completed 28 of 37 passes for 329 yards, a touchdown, and a last-minute game-winning drive. On throws over 20 yards from the line of scrimmage, he completed 4 of 4 passes for 103 yards. So his numbers didn’t just come from dink and dunk throws with yards after the catch. It was an encouraging performance to say the least.
The Steelers are playing hands-down some of the ugliest football in the NFL. And yet they’re at the top of the AFC North with a 3-2 record and a 2-0 division record after beating the Ravens 17-10.
That’s more like it for the Bengals. We finally saw the return of their offense, and it centered around a concerted effort to get Ja’Marr Chase the ball. Joe Burrow threw 46 passes and targeted Chase on 19 of them (41.3%). He caught 15 of those passes for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Bengals seem to have weathered the early-season storm.
The Jets are 2-3 after a big win against the Broncos. Man they needed that. As Nick said recently, the Jets need to be good enough this year not to get the coaching staff fired. A 2024 Super Bowl is still the goal.
The Lions continue to roll on both sides of the ball. On offense, Jared Goff completed over 70% of his passes and threw 3 touchdowns. The run game racked up 159 yards on 30 carries and also scored 3 touchdowns. The defense forced 3 turnovers and never let the Panthers get close. They are a quality football team top to bottom.
Anthony Richardson has been knocked out of 3 of his 4 starts, and yet the Colts are somehow 3-2. Gardner Minshew has done a great job filling in, and his services will be needed for the next several weeks, if not months. It will be interesting to see how the Colts work Jonathan Taylor in with Zack Moss running the ball so well (445 yards, 3 TD, 5.0 yards per carry this season).
The Dolphins didn’t play their best on Sunday against the Giants and actually lost the turnover battle 3-0. Still, they racked up 524 yards and won by 15.