So much happens during one singular week in the NFL. How could one possibly cover everything thing that goes on from the NFC East to the AFC West, from Thursday to Monday, from injury wire to biggest fantasy implications?
Verge tries to wrap up each game and blanket the important storylines in only four sentences, or four quarters. Week five is over, let’s get to it.
NFL Sunday
New York Jets 6 – Philadelphia Eagles 31
There’s good news and bad news for the New York Jets following their blowout loss to the Eagles on Sunday. The good news is Sam Darnold is slated to return next week, however, the bad news is it might be far too late after starting 0-4.
Philadelphia’s offence didn’t look spectacular, but 10 sacks and the defence scoring 14 points must feel great. Now road games stare the Eagles in the face with a chance to take control of their own destiny, including a week 7 matchup against the now 3-2 Cowboys.
Arizona Cardinals 26 – Cincinnati Bengals 23
Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury obtained their first win in their young NFL careers against another winless foe. Murray looked solid, including a late-game drive that set up Zane Gonzales for a game-winning field goal.
The Bengals will have to wait yet another week to give their own rookie head coach his first win in the NFL. On the bright side, Zac Taylor is that much closer to the number one overall pick, a possible organizational changing consolation prize.
Buffalo Bills 14 – Tennessee Titans 7
The Bills moved to 4-1 after yet another gutsy performance from the leagues best defence. It was even more impressive considering how good Tennessee’s offence looked in Atlanta last week.
Marcus Mariota continues to be the most impossible QB to critique in the league. Another inconsistent performance has to give the Titans more questions than they have answers about the position moving forward, long term that is.
Chicago Bears 21 – Oakland Raiders 24
The first London game of the year brought quite a bit of firework, to say the least, as well as questions needed to be answered. The first, are the Raiders, who are now 3-2, for real?
Sitting quite close behind Kansas city for the division lead, eventually, the league will have to take Oakland seriously. Tip of the cap to Gruden, who for now after defeating Chicago, has won the Khalil Mack trade (emphasis on “for now”).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24 – New Orleans Saints 31
Teddy Bridgewater was asked a very difficult yet simple task following the week 2 loss to LA, keep the team above water. He has delivered and then some in place of the injured Drew Brees.
The Saints are 4-1. Those championship aspirations are alive and well in New Orleans.
Minnesota Vikings 28 – New York Giants 10
Congratulations Kirk Cousins, you are temporarily off the hot seat after lighting up an anaemic Giants defence. Only time will tell how long this holds off Adam Theilen calling out cousins and Stefon Diggs trade requests.
As for the Giants, they had a chance to be tied with the Cowboys and Eagles for first place. Instead, they sit at 2-3 and prepare to send their rookie QB into Foxborough without most of their best offensive weapons, including Saquan Barkley, good luck.
Baltimore Ravens 26 – Pittsburgh Steelers 23
First and foremost, it’s safe to say we are all very pleased to have seen Mason Rudolph walk off the field under his own power. His neck/head injury against the Ravens was by far the scariest of the season so far, what an awful sight.
There was still plenty of football to be played, however, and Baltimore came out on top over the Steelers. Lamer Jackson struggled all day but did enough to put his team on top of the AFC North.
New England Patriots 33 – Washington Redskins 7
Jay Gruden has been fired as head coach of the Washington Redskins. What is next for an organization who seemingly can’t escape its own incompetence?
For starters, apparently benching Dwayne Haskins until further notice. Case Keenum will replace Colt McCoy, who replaced Haskins this week, and Bill Callahan will be the interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Jacksonville Jaguars 27 – Carolina Panthers 34
It’s easy to think that a quarterback will win the MVP every year, similar to the feeling that Lebron James could be given NBA League MVP every year. Christian McCafferty is doing just about everything he can to defy that feeling.
He was masterful yet again in another huge win for the Carolina Panthers. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of yet another fantastic performance by rookie Gardner Minshew and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Atlanta Falcons 32 – Houston Texans 53
Deshaun Watson might be the most talented QB in the entire league when he has proper protection. This was proven in a huge way in the Texans game against the Falcons.
Watson is fortunate enough to not only have Deandre Hopkins to throw to, but also Will Fuller. Fuller and Watson both had career highs in receiving and passing yards respectively, and the Falcons are now 1-4.
Denver Broncos 20 – Los Angeles Chargers 13
The Broncos got their first win of the season, taking advantage of an injured Chargers and struggling Phillip Rivers. Rivers, who played close to an MVP level last season, has not been at that same level this year.
The injuries continue to pile up for Los Angeles. Melvin Gordon returned in time for the game against Denver but it was nowhere near enough and they still need a lot of help to get their season back on track.
Green Bay Packers 34 – Dallas Cowboys 24
After falling behind 17-0 to the Packers early, it never felt like the Cowboys were ready to compete. A home loss this bad is shining a light on a Dallas offence that might have been made out to be a bit better than they actually are.
Aside from the recent struggles of Dak Prescott and company, give credit where credit is due and that credit belongs mostly to Aaron Jones. Green Bay’s biggest issue this season has been red-zone offence, but Jones’ 4 rushing touchdowns gave way to a stellar and balanced offensive performance all around.
Indianapolis Colts 19 – Kansas City Chiefs 13
The Colts handed Kansas City their first loss of the season. Yes, Pat Mahomes was not 100% but Indianapolis dominated time of possession and defensively all night and the Chiefs secondary continue to get stops when it matters.
The Colts are now 3-2, keeping pace with the Texans and leapfrogging the Jags and Titans. Who woulda thought the Chiefs greatest threat in the AFC West would be the Oakland Raiders.
Monday Night Football
Cleveland Browns 3 – San Francisco 49ers 31
Let’s keep it simple. The Browns are inconsistent, and the Niners defence is top 5 in the league.
Kyle Shannahan continues to prove just how good of a coach he really is. Freddie Kitchens is proving himself right out of his position as Cleveland’s head coach. Baker Mayfield has been bad, but he is not the primary issue for the Browns.
