NFL Week 5 Recap: Four Undefeated Teams, Three Winless Teams Remain
The NFL had its weirdest week after Tuesday Night Football wrapped up with Tennessee beating Buffalo.
Another game (Denver at New England) was postponed, and with it the league also rearranged seven others games.
Atlanta became the second team to fire its head coach (Dan Quinn) and general manager (Thomas Dimitroff). Last week, Houston fired Bill O’Brien, who held both jobs.
Let’s jump in to the recap.
Unbeaten Teams
Six teams entered Week 5 unblemished, but only four came out still undefeated. The shock of the weekend was the Las Vegas Raiders dropping 40 on the Chiefs at Arrowhead.
Buffalo and Tennessee were both unbeaten before Tuesday’s matchup, so we knew at least one more team would lose even before the week started.
Seattle, Pittsburgh and Tennessee earned their wins to avoid an L, but the Green Bay Packers were on a bye.
The Seahawks had to really fight at the end of their game to beat Minnesota. Pittsburgh was dueling with Philadelphia through the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Titans beat down Buffalo after 16 days since their last game.
I owe Tennessee an apology. I said they were an outsider last week, but they might be a real contender.
Despite the loss to Jon Gruden, I still have the most faith in Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. However, Kansas City’s defense you guys pull your weight a little more than you did on Sunday.
Winless Teams
Dan Quinn’s 0-5 start got him fired. Adam Gase somehow still has an NFL head coaching job. Joe Judge doesn’t have his best player.
The Atlanta Falcons made the difficult, yet necessary, decision to fire Quinn just four years removed from Super Bowl 51. Since Kyle Shanahan left, Atlanta’s offense really doesn’t look the same.
On top of that, the Falcons defense — Quinn’s “specialty” — has given up far too many points to bad teams in comebacks.
Atlanta could pick up a win in their next two games — at Minnesota and home against Detroit — but that might be their only legitimate chances. They’ve still got New Orleans and Tampa Bay twice along with the Panthers, Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos.
Adam Gase should already be fired. I’m not a fan of calling for people’s jobs, but looking at Gase’s body of work as the head man warrants my ire.
Gase was the offensive coordinator in Denver when Peyton Manning set a bunch of records, and then lost to Seattle in Super Bowl 48. Since then, Gase has been labeled an offensive genius/mastermind/etc. but he’s NOT.
He was hired in Miami to “fix Ryan Tannehill,” but Tannehill struggled (and was injured) throughout three seasons with Gase.
Then, Tannehill escaped and helped Tennessee reach the AFC Championship Game.
Now, it might not all be Gase’s fault, but Sam Darnold looks awful too. Joe Flacco started on Sunday against Arizona, and the Jets got smoked.
Oh, and they cut Le’Veon Bell. That could be an indictment of Bell, but right now I see it as another Jets issue with Gase.
In all honesty, New York has the best chance to go 0-16. The AFC East is better than it has been in year’s past. I mean, Miami just clobbered San Francisco.
The Jets still have two games against both New England and Miami. Also, they’ll play the Chiefs, Chargers, Rams, Seahawks, Raiders, Browns and Bills.
Fire Gase, and free Sam Darnold.
The New York Giants came the closest to stopping their winless start to 2020 this week. Joe Judge is in a very unenviable position with no Saquon Barkley and a bad defense.
However, the G-Men still went toe-to-toe with Dallas before (and after) Dak Prescott got hurt. However, Andy Dalton did just enough to keep the Giants away from their first W.
The Giants are the likeliest team without a win to find one along the way considering the NFC East is a joke this year. The teams are a combined 4-15-1, and two of those wins are against other NFC East teams. New York also plays Cincinnati, and their offensive line might get Joe Burrow killed.
Everybody Else
Arizona (3-2) – Arizona handled the Jets, which isn’t saying much, but at least they finally won again.
Baltimore (4-1) – The Ravens handled Cincinnati despite Lamar Jackson only throwing for 180 yards.
Buffalo (4-1) – Josh Allen was being talked about like an MVP candidate, and then the Bills got squashed. So, those should quiet down a bit.
Carolina (3-2) – Teddy Bridgewater is starting to look real nice in Matt Rhule’s system. He had his second 300-yard passing game in the Panthers win against Atlanta.
Chicago (4-1) – Thanks to Tom Brady’s senior moment the Bears won on Thursday Night Football. They’re still not a contender, but if Foles can avoid turnovers and the defense plays well, they can become one.
Cincinnati (1-3-1) – The Bengals got schooled in the ways of the AFC North as the Ravens beat them down 27-3. Burrow was sacked seven times. That O-line is awful.
Cleveland (4-1) – The Browns saw all the hype Indianapolis was getting and put a stop to some of it. Cleveland’s defense had a pick-6 and forced a safety. Sadly, the Dawg Pound must contend with Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the AFC North.
Dallas (2-3) – Dak Prescott went down, and Andy Dalton is now the starter. Prayers up for Dak.
Denver (1-3) – Their game with New England got postponed to next week due to Pats’ positive COVID-19 tests, which might benefit the Broncos. Starting quarterback Drew Lock fully participated in practice on Wednesday for the first time in awhile.
Detroit (1-3) – The Lions were on a bye.
Houston (1-4) – One game without Bill O’Brien, one win in their pockets. Granted it was against Jacksonville, but hey they’ll take it.
Indianapolis (3-2) – Philip Rivers looked old, but Indy has no plans to move on from the longtime vet. To keep the job, Rivers needs to cut down the bad turnovers.
Jacksonville (1-4) – The front office cut their best running back and traded their best defensive player before the season. The quarterback position is not the problem with this team.
Kansas City (4-1) – I said what I need to above. Chiefs Defense, step up!
Las Vegas (3-2) – DOWN GOES MAHOMES. The Raiders took out the defending champs and Derek Carr looked good doing it. Since he got hurt in 2016, Carr hasn’t looked as good as he did on Sunday.
Los Angeles Chargers (1-4) – Justin Herbert became the first rookie with four touchdown passes in Monday Night Football history, and the Chargers still found a way to lose. Herbert was one doinked field goal away from his first NFL win.
Los Angeles Rams (4-1) – They crushed Washington, as they should. The Rams could return to the playoffs this year.
Miami (2-3) – They punked San Francisco. The Dolphins are a confusing team, but they can be a fun team to watch. Fitzmagic is just pure entertainment.
Minnesota (1-4) – Another close game with a good team, but the Vikings gotta figure out how to stop giving up leads late. First Tennessee, now Seattle.
New Orleans (3-2) – The Saints came back against the Chargers and made the most of a chance to win after a missed extra point and field goal. They might win the NFC South or they might finish third. Who knows?
New England (2-2) – No game with Denver after more COVID-19 positive tests for the Pats. Cam Newton appears on target to play Sunday against the Broncos with the game moved to Week 6.
Philadelphia (1-3-1) – The Eagles held tough against Pittsburgh, but still fell short. Carson Wentz needs his wide receivers, namely DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, to get healthy if Philly doesn’t want to fall too far behind Dallas.
San Francisco (2-3) – They’ve only beaten the Jets and Giants… They may not be as good as I thought they could be with Jimmy Garoppolo. Or Jimmy G is more injured than Kyle Shanahan thought.
Tampa Bay (3-2) – Tom Brady forgot what down it was. He’s not bad, but he’s not getting any younger.
Washington (1-4) – After 693 days, 17 surgeries and almost dying Alex Smith returned to the gridiron when Kyle Allen got hurt. This team is a disaster, and I just hope Smith doesn’t get hurt again.
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