There is a ton of debate every season as to what the optimal time is for the bye week for an NFL team. Last season, the Houston Texans had their bye week deep into the season, in early December, and that didn’t sit very well. The Texans were a banged up team heading into the holidays.
This season, the Texans have their bye week this weekend, in early October, Week 6 of the regular season. On the one hand, they’re still kind of installing a new offense, so an extra week to prepare for a tough stretch of schedule is a good thing. On the other hand, they’re coming off C.J. Stroud’s best game in over a year. A bye week might curb momentum!
My point is this — with no Texans football this weekend, embrace the bye week, as a fan, for what it is. It is a chance to scout future Texans opponents, and enjoy some hard hitting football without the stress of caring who wins and loses! (That is, unless you’re a gambler, and that’s a whole other ball of wax.)
With that in mind, in a weekly article where I would give you “Four Things to Watch For” in the Texans game that week, I give you “Four Games To Watch” on this bye weekend Sunday! Here we go:
Arizona at Indianapolis, Noon CT, FOX (Colts -7)
The Colts have been one of the wildest stories of the 2025 NFL season, with a 4-1 record and with Daniel Jones rehabbing his career as an NFL quarterback in a big, big way. Jones is in the MVP conversation and RB Jonathan Taylor is one of the favorites for Offensive Player of the Year. The Cardinals are coming off a catastrophic 22-21 loss to the abysmal Tennessee Titans, in which numerous self-inflicted wounds led to blowing a 21-6 lead. A Cardinals upset here would be massive in getting the Colts a half game closer to the Texans’ windshield.
Seattle at Jacksonville, Noon CT, FOX (Jaguars -1)
Similarly, here we are also rooting for an NFC West team (and future Texans’ opponent in Seattle) to bring a 4-1 AFC South team closer to the Texans in the standings. This game is a much closer matchup, with the Seahawks likely the slightly better team, but with home field giving the Jags a one-point edge on the spread. The most interesting thing with this game will be seeing how the Jags respond to one of their biggest regular season wins in the last eight years, an upset of the Chiefs last Monday night. Will there be a let down? Here, Texan fans will be rooting for their next opponent, as the Texans travel to Seattle out of the bye week.
San Francisco at Tampa Bay, 3:25 p.m. CT, CBS (Buccaneers -3)
On paper and around the country, this is just a nice matchup of 4-1 teams, but in Houston, here is a game between Texans opponents, past and future. We all remember the 20-19 loss to the Bucs in Week 2, but the Texans also play the Niners coming up in Week 8. The Bucs’ QB Baker Mayfield, like Daniel Jones, is a somewhat unlikely MVP candidate through five games. Both of these teams have excelled in close games this season. There is no real rooting interest here, but if the Bucs care to inflict any injuries on the Niners’ key players, I wouldn’t stop them from doing it.
Detroit at Kansas City, 7:20 p.m. CT, NBC (Chiefs -2.5)
Indeed, America, we get the Chiefs again in prime time. I suppose as long as Taylor Swift is married into the Chiefs’ family, they’ll be on national television at least a half dozen times a year, so just sit back and enjoy it! The Texans play the Chiefs in Week 14 (in prime time, go figure!), and right now both are a disappointing 2-3. We are all in on the Lions here, as the Chiefs falling to 2-4 would be positively delightful!
Throughout their two and half decades in the National Football League, there are certain teams the Texans have had more trouble with than others. While Peyton Manning was in Indianapolis, it took the Texans several seasons to beat the Colts. The Patriots dominated the Texans in the 2010s. The Texans have never defeated the Vikings nor the Eagles.
Then, there are the Baltimore Ravens, a team that, going into Sunday, sported an 11-2 regular season record against the Texans, including a perfect 8-0 home record. Toss in a couple playoff wins over the Texans in Baltimore, and the Ravens might be the biggest bane of the Texans’ NFL existence.
DeMeco Ryans’ Texans teams of the last two seasons have been a small subset of the Texans’ bigger futility, going 0-3 against the Ravens, while getting outscored 90-21 in those three games. That’s why the Texans should apologize to nobody by taking a skeleton crew of Ravens to the woodshed on Sunday afternoon, exorcising all those years of Ravens demons.
The final score was Texans 44, Ravens 10. The Ravens had no Lamar Jackson (hamstring), no Kyle Hamilton (groin), no Roquan Smith (hamstring), and honestly I could be here all day typing names. They were ravaged by injuries. Again, who cares? You know what good teams do? They take the wounded animal out back and put it out of its misery.
That’s what the Texans did, from the get go, on Sunday. Now the Texans are 2-3 and, while their head isn’t back above water year, They can at least breathe using a snorkel. Let’s get to Sunday’s winners and losers, shall we?
WINNERS
4. Bye week vibes
Unlike last season, when the Texans had their bye week in early December, they get an early one this season, as they’ll get the upcoming weekend off. They could not be going into the bye week on more of a high than they’re on right now. Even a close win over a depleted Ravens team would have been nitpicked to death, and kept the doubt from the three games pre-Week 4 alive. Now, the Texans can continue to fix their offensive issues with actual success to point to. I never knew 2-3 could feel so good!
3. Jalen Pitre
Since getting beat by Puka Nacua on 3rd and 8 to close out the loss to the Rams in Week 1, Pitre has been outstanding. After two interceptions on Sunday, Pitre leads the team with three total, and DeMeco Ryans and DC Matt Burke seems to have found a happy medium in putting Pitre in situations where he isn’t pushed outside his comfort zone. As of right now, Pitre is living up to his three year, $39 million contract extension.
2. Xavier Hutchinson
In training camp, Hutchinson was one of the real bright spots. Always one of the hardest workers on the team, Hutchinson’s first couple seasons were short in production. Like the rest of the offense, Hutchinson had to struggle to get things going early this season. On Sunday, he scored the first two touchdowns of his career, including a beautiful back shoulder fade from C.J. Stroud for his second touchdown. It was the type of throw that a quarterback throws when he’s confident in his guy to go get the ball.
1. C.J. Stroud
Speaking of Stroud, he’s now put together back to back games where (a) he’s been statistically efficient, and (b) looked very comfortable in the pocket and in his decision making. The genesis of the return of 2023 Stroud seems to have been the conversion on 2nd and 33 late in the third quarter of last week’s win over Tennessee. Since then, check out the numbers:
Since (and including) his 37 yard throw to Nico Collins on 2nd and 33 last week, CJ Stroud is 32 for 38 for 377 yards with 6 touchdowns and no picks. The Texans have scored 64 points in that timeframe. pic.twitter.com/DFM8BgTJvj
So Texans rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel scored this first touchdown of his career in the second half of Sunday’s game. It came on a really well designed play by OC Nick Caley. However, even better designed was Noel’s touchdown celebration, a mimicking of Ravens Hall of Famer Ray Lewis’ famous dance. Bold move by Noel! For some reason, Ravens CB Jaire Alexander, who’s been a Ravens for all of a few months, took great offense and tried to steal the ball from Noel. (It’s customary for players to keep the ball with which they scored their first touchdown.)
Alexander. Loser.
3. James Franklin and Steve Sarkisian
Yes, a little college football in this Texans article, because we must recognize who utterly absurd it is for two 2024 playoff programs, ranked as the top two teams in the sport entering the season, to be out of the Top 25 before Columbus Day. Way to go, Sark and Franklin!
FRAUDS.
2. Mark Andrews
Andrews, of course, had all offseason to think about his soul crushing drop of a potential game tying two point conversion in the playoffs last season. He’s bounced back from it just fine, until Sunday, when his bobble of an easy Cooper Rush pass turned into Jalen Pitre’s second interception. With all those Ravens injuries, they needed top tier performances from their healthy stars, and Andrews didn’t come up big at all.
1. Derrick Henry, without Lamar Jackson
Back in 2023, in his final season as a Tennessee Titans, Derrick Henry was held in check by the Texans’ defense to the tune of two of his worst games as a pro, including a wretched 16 carry, 9 yard performance in Week 15 that year. In 2024, sharing a backfield with Lamar Jackson, Henry was back to steamrolling the Texans with 147 yards on 27 carries. With Lamar Jackson out on Sunday, the hope was that Henry would look a lot more like his 2023 version, and it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. Henry finished with just 33 yards rushing on 15 carries, including several fourth quarter carries with the Ravens trailing by 34. What a strange day.
As rebuilds in the National Football League go, the first two seasons and four games of the DeMeco Ryans Era in Houston have gone better than most. Two 10-win season, two AFC South titles, and two wild card round playoff wins comprise a better start to a rebuild than most. DeMeco Ryans has done a nice job.
However, there has been one Achilles heel for the Ryans Era Texans, one team that has established dominance over the Houston Texans. That team is the Baltimore Ravens, who, in three games since the beginning of 2023, have gone 3-0 and outscored the Texans 90-21 in three games. That’s brutal.
When the Texans started this season 0-3, it was almost considered a fait accompli that the Texans would be, at best, 1-4 going into their Week 6 bye, with the Titans and the Ravens on tap. Now, with a 26-0 win over the Titans last week, and the Ravens now dealing with a crazy spate of injuries, the Texans are, all of a sudden, 1.5 point favorites in Baltimore on Sunday.
In other words, anything less than a 2-3 record going into the bye would be a disappointment. Let’s look at four things to watch for in this essential game for the Texans’ full season hopes:
4. Baltimore walking wounded
The first injury report of the week was released on Wednesday afternoon, and on the Ravens side of things, it looked like an injury report for Week 17, not Week 5. The Ravens had eight players listed as “DNP” (Did Not Practice), including quarterback Lamar Jackson. That is the story of this game — will Jackson play (unlikely), and if he does not, then how many points do the Ravens score on a Texans defense that’s given up just 51 points in four games?
3. Watch the trick plays
If the Ravens are without Jackson, and if they are without the half dozen or so wounded players on defense (for a defense that wasn’t all that great at full strength), then they are going to behave to find creative ways to generate points. Head coach John HARBAUGH is a former special teams coordinator, so a fake punt or something tricky on special teams is certainly in play. Beyond that, on offense, if Cooper Rush is replacing Jackson, then the Ravens (who, at 1-3, are desperate) are primed to run a trick play or two on offense. Eye discipline will be a big key for the Texans on defense.
2. More Woody
Fans and media had been clamoring for more participation from the rookie class, through three games. Last Sunday, we got our wish as there appeared to be a changing of the guard at running back, with rookie Woody Marks taking the lion’s share of the touches. On the day, Marks had 21 touches for 119 yards, and two touchdowns. Nick Chubb had 13 carries, so he will remain involved, but the split moving forward must favor Marks, the more explosive of the two backs.
1. Smother Derrick Henry
Henry looked like his usual self in the Ravens’ season opening loss to the Bills, with 18 carries for 169 yards and two touchdowns. However, Henry did lose a crucial fourth quarter fumble that opened the door for the Bills’ comeback. Since then, he’s been getting a level of activity that would indicate, perhaps, some trust issues from the Ravens’ coaches. He’s carried just 31 times in three games, and managed to lose two more fumbles. If Jackson is out, the Ravens will have no choice but to lean on Henry, and hopefully the Texans can make him look the way he did the last time he faced the Texans without Lamar Jackson as his quarterback — a combined 28 carries for 51 yards back in 2023.
Through the first four weeks of the 2024 NFL season, uncovering the Houston Texans and their 3-1 record, it feels like we’ve been conducting a beauty contest as much as we’ve been conducting a football season. In the Texans three wins, they’ve won by a combined total of 12 points and have been largely sloppy and underwhelming. Their one loss was a 34-7 blowout at the hands of the Vikings.
In other words, despite being 3-1, there hasn’t been a game played, as of yet, in which the Texans have felt nor looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. There is still confidence in the marketplace — the Texans are sixth on the Super Bowl odds board in Vegas — but they need to start playing like we assumed they were capable of.
That said, the Buffalo Bills come to town this weekend. Like the Texans, they are viewed as an upper echelon Super Bowl contender. This is my promise to the Texans — the beauty contest will be put on hold for this week. Find any way you can to beat the Bills, and there will be joy on the postgame radio show (which i host) and on my Monday radio show on SportsRadio 610.
Here are a few things to watch for on the road to sheer joy on Sunday:
4. Protecting Stroud It felt like most of what worked in the passing game for the Texans this past Sunday against Jacksonville came off script, with C.J. Stroud getting flushed from the pocket. That’s no way to be living. In an ideal world, Stroud would have ample time to find receivers while slinging it from the pocket. The Bills pose a notable threat pressuring the quarterback. Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa are capable defensive ends, and former Houston Cougar Ed Oliver is a load on the interior, where the Texans have been particularly weak protecting Stroud. The offensive line needs to stand up on Sunday.
3. Josh Allen on the run While Stroud does his best damage from the pocket, his Buffalo counterpart, Josh Allen, inflicts his wounds on the run. When Allen escapes the pocket or gets on the move by design, good things typically happen for the Bills. Allen has some other worldly improv skills and a cannon of a right arm to go with it. The Texans will need to be disciplined up front and close down escape routes for Allen on passing downs.
2. Stefon Diggs The soap opera storyline in this game is certainly one of the best involving the Texans, and maybe one of the best around the league, period. Diggs wanted out of Buffalo after last season, despite being a perennial Pro Bowler on a perennial playoff team. Diggs has been a model teammate and leader since arriving in Houston, and both sides, the Bills and Diggs, have gone out of their way to remain cordial throughout the weeks leading up to this game. I’m anxious to see how drastically this vibe changes after several of the “firsts” in this game — first Diggs catch, first big hit on Diggs, first Allen turnover, etc.
1. Penalty parade must end The last three weeks of Houston Texans football have been among the most absurd in my 18 seasons of covering the team, largely because of the whopping 35 penalties committed, along with the fact that the Texans actually won two of those games. After each of those three games, we were assured that the penalties have been addressed, and the team will do better. Three games is my breaking point. I can’t, in good conscience, pick the Texans to beat a team as good as the Bills without proof that this penalty-riddled unit is NOT who they are long term. Here’s hoping for a clean game from the Texans, because double digit penalties will undoubtedly result in a loss. I just don’t trust them right now….
SPREAD: Bills -1 PREDICTION: Bills 34, Texans 27 SEASON RECORD: 3-1 SU, 0-4 ATS
It hasn’t even been two years since the NFC East was the laughingstock of the NFL. During the final game of the 2020 regular season, a fading 4-10-1 Philadelphia team benched quarterback Jalen Hurts in the middle of a game in which he had a 25.4 passer rating against 6-9 Washington, which was guaranteed a playoff spot with a victory. His replacement, Nate Sudfeld, played poorly enough for neutrals to complain the Eagles were throwing a game on national television. An indignant 6-10 Giants team took to Twitter to complain; Sudfeld threw for 32 yards on 12 attempts and the Eagles bowed out, handing Washington the division title.
This was the bottom of the barrel. A sub-.500 Washington team made it to the playoffs. The Eagles were about to fire coach Doug Pederson and then trade quarterback Carson Wentz, just three seasons after they won a Super Bowl. The Giants were being run by the less-than-enthusing duo of coach Joe Judge and general manager Dave Gettleman and had sunk millions of dollars into mediocrity. The Cowboys, fielding the league’s fifth-worst scoring defense, were irrelevant after losing quarterback Dak Prescott to a brutal ankle injury in Week 5.
Now, everything has changed. The NFC East is the only division with three four-win teams. Even with Washington’s 1-4 mark dragging down the group, its 14-6 combined record is best in the league. Likewise, the division’s 11-3 mark outside the NFC East is No. 1, including three road victories Sunday.
The Commanders came within 2 yards of a Week 5 NFC East sweep, only for Wentz to attempt to throw interceptions on first and second down before finally succeeding on third-and-goal against the Titans. At 1-4, they can’t be included in the story of the East’s resurgence. With the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants now a combined 13-2, the hopeless teams of the 2020 NFC East can all be considered favorites to play postseason football.
How did these three teams get here? Are they liable to keep this up? And what does that tell us about the teams currently floundering in other divisions? Let’s look at what happened to each of them Sunday, starting with the upset of the day in London:
Confidence matters. For all the numbers I can provide, for all the data points I can offer, for all the items on film that pop up, the biggest difference between the 2021 Giants under Judge and the 2022 Giants under Brian Daboll is confidence. That team was so afraid of making mistakes it stumbled into and through failures, with the decision to have Jake Fromm quarterback sneak on third-and-long as the most famous example. Of course, it still made plenty of mistakes anyway.
This coaching staff empowers and believes in its players, and even if it can’t count on those decisions going right, that confidence bleeds through into their play. Remember Week 1, when Daboll sent Saquon Barkley out for a 2-point conversion to try to win the game against the top-seeded Titans on the road. The playcall was a mess — Barkley faced a free defender in the backfield — but the star running back made magic happen to get into the end zone, and the Giants faded a last-second miss from Tennessee kicker Randy Bullock to get their first win of the season.
On Sunday against the Packers, it was Don Martindale’s turn to place confidence in his defense. He joined the Giants after four seasons as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, a tenure that ended with a patchwork secondary getting carved up behind his many blitz packages. The Giants also were without their top two pass-rushers in Azeez Ojulari and Leonard Williams, and then lost top cornerback Adoree’ Jackson in the second quarter.
At halftime, Martindale’s charges had allowed 20 points on five drives. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was carving them up, starting 18-of-24 for 147 yards and two touchdowns, with almost all of his throws coming on quick game and run-pass options. The Packers were methodically marching their way down the field, and New York seemed to have little say in the matter.
In the second half, Martindale generally took away the shorter stuff and dared Rodgers to beat him deep. That’s a risk most defenses simply aren’t willing to take against a reigning back-to-back MVP. It worked. Rodgers’ average pass distance went from 4.2 air yards in the first half to 12.4 air yards in the second half. After the break, he went 7-of-15 for 75 yards with a minus-14% completion percentage over expectation (CPOE). Martindale’s injury-hit defense held Green Bay’s offense scoreless, with its only points coming from an intentional safety with 11 seconds left.
The most notable example here came on the game’s final play. Martindale pushed eight men up on the line of scrimmage, declaring he would play the most important snap of the game in Cover 0 (no safety help in the middle of the field), then sent the house. The Packers called an RPO and Rodgers indicated before the snap he would throw an out to Allen Lazard, something two Giants signaled immediately afterward. Running free off the edge, safety Xavier McKinney wasn’t able to get home to hit Rodgers, but he was able to jump and tip the ball away, ending Green Bay’s last meaningful possession of the contest.
Football isn’t as simple as having the guts to send a Cover 0 blitz. The 2019 Dolphins and 2020 Jets can tell you about what can go wrong when you rush eight in key situations. There will be moments in which the Giants get aggressive and look foolish, because that happens to every team. Compared to the timidity and self-fulfilling prophecies of the 2021 team, though, they look invigorated. They believe.
One of the other reasons they look better than they did in 2020 or 2021 is the presence of a healthy, explosive Barkley, who has become the focal point of the offense for the first time since 2018. He’s averaging 1.7 rushing yards over expectation (RYOE) on his carries, the third-best mark in the league for backs with at least 50 attempts. It’s actually a better figure than his 2018 season, when he averaged 1.1 RYOE per carry, which was also third among backs with at least 10 carries per game.
Barkley’s ability as a home run hitter is back. He had a 40-yard run and a 41-yard catch Sunday, giving him as many 40-plus yard plays in one game as he had through the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons combined. For an offense that isn’t always efficient and often relies on something spectacular to get them out of trouble, his ability to make something out of nothing is essential.
I will admit I don’t see dramatic differences between the old Daniel Jones and the new one, but Sunday was the quarterback’s best performance of the season. He was an efficient 21-of-27 for 217 yards, though nearly 57% of his passing yardage came after the catch. Twelve of his 27 pass attempts (44.4%) produced first downs, the third-highest rate of any quarterback in Week 5. Before the Packers game, just 25.7% of his pass attempts had produced first downs, which ranked 30th out of the league’s 32 qualifying passers.
For everything I said about how the Giants are getting aggressive, they’re mostly asking Jones to be conservative and protect the football. His average pass is traveling just 5.7 yards in the air, the lowest mark in the league. He is still taking sacks at the league’s fourth-highest rate, but he’s done a good job of holding onto the ball. Through five games, he has two interceptions and — shockingly — just one fumble. He had never gone four games without fumbling before doing so over these last four.
The early returns on the new brain trust of Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are promising, although five weeks also doesn’t tell us much of anything. Josh McDaniels started 5-0 with the Broncos in 2009. The Cardinals were 5-0 at this time last season. I’m optimistic about Daboll squeezing the most out of the offensive pieces he has left — and Schoen has approached this year with a rational view toward building for the future — but it’s still too early to draw long-term conclusions about their chances of succeeding.
We see desperate teams seemingly move in cycles as they go from successful organization to organization in the hopes of hiring the right coach and general manager. For so many years, it was going after the Patriots. After Sean McVay’s success with the Rams, the Bengals, Vikings and others raided Los Angeles’ cabinet. Others have gone for Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco, including the Packers and Jets.
Daboll and Schoen were the first to be nabbed from Buffalo’s staff under Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane, and that could turn out to be a stroke of genius for the Giants. I’m not sure we know very much about which coaches (or GMs) to hire, but I also wonder whether it makes sense to be the first team hiring assistants from a hot organization as opposed to getting the second-, third- or fourth-best people in the building.
With the Giants, I’m now reminded of the 2017 Bills and how they accidentally made it to the playoffs. With McDermott taking over as coach, Buffalo began the process of gutting the prior regime’s roster. The only piece left within a few years would be edge rusher Shaq Lawson. In midseason, despite a 4-2 start, the Bills traded expensive defensive tackle Marcell Dareus to the Jaguars, sacrificing a short-term piece for draft capital and a cleaner cap in the years to come.
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The Giants keep the Packers out of the end zone late in the fourth quarter to come away victorious in London.
The Bills won despite themselves. At 5-4, they benched quarterback Tyrod Taylor for Nathan Peterman, but after Peterman’s disastrous start against the Chargers, McDermott had no choice but to insert Taylor back into the lineup. He won four of his final six games to push the Bills into the postseason. After the year, they let Taylor leave, churned more of the roster and traded up for Josh Allen in the 2018 draft.
With the Giants now favored to make it to the postseason, I wonder how they would handle their own accidental playoff berth in what was supposed to be a year of rebuilding and eating their salary-cap vegetables. Barkley and Jones are both free agents after the season with no obvious replacements on the roster. The team could trade Williams when he returns to health, although it would deprive Martindale of a useful defensive lineman.
The Giants are further away from competing consistently at the highest level than their record would suggest, although they’ve now beaten the top seeds in both conferences from a year ago. Like those 2017 Bills, even if they don’t make a deep run into the postseason (or come up short altogether), they’re establishing positive elements within their culture that should stick throughout their rebuild.
Even Rush admits the Cowboys are winning games with their defense, and Sunday was no exception. On a day in which he threw for just 102 yards and four first downs on 19 dropbacks, the defense produced yet another stifling display. Edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence took a Matthew Stafford strip sack to the house for a first-quarter touchdown, one of three takeaways on the day. Dallas sacked the quarterback five times and knocked him down on 11 occasions, with hybrid defender Micah Parsons leading the way.
The biggest difference between the 2020 Cowboys and the 2022 edition is on the defensive side of the ball. Mike McCarthy’s first choice as a defensive coordinator hire was Mike Nolan, and the former 49ers coach simply wasn’t able to coax a competent defense out of his players. Those Cowboys were sloppy, to put it mildly. I’m not sure I can think of an NFL defense that gave up more big plays because of gap integrity issues than Dallas in 2020.
Those Cowboys gave up a league-high five plays of 60 yards or more. These Cowboys had not given up one such play all season before Sunday, when Cooper Kupp took a pass and went 75 yards to the house. Coordinator Dan Quinn has built an excellent defense since taking over for Nolan, and just as the Bills were lucky Daboll returned for one final season with the team in 2021, the Cowboys have to be thrilled that Quinn is back after attracting head-coaching attention in January.
Most of those Cowboys aren’t around anymore. Nine of the 15 defenders who played at least 50% of the defensive snaps in 2020 aren’t on the roster. Dallas undoubtedly regrets losing cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who has morphed into a superstar with Cincinnati, but they’re better in most places. Trevon Diggs, one of the few players who started on both teams, has grown from an inconsistent rookie into one of the league’s most exciting corners.
The Cowboys added Parsons in Round 1 a year ago, and his incredible success might be a reminder that adding transcendent players, even if they’re not at essential positions, can transform a defense. Parsons was drafted as an off-ball linebacker with the possibility of contributing to packages as an edge rusher, but I don’t think anybody expected him to be the sort of difference-maker we’ve seen so far. He has 19 sacks over the past two seasons, including six this season, which is tied for most in the league.
The Cowboys traded down within the division with the Eagles and netted an extra third-rounder in the process, which is a reminder that teams can make that most forbidden of moves and still win comfortably. The Eagles are undoubtedly happy with wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10, and Chauncey Golston hasn’t done much as Dallas’ additional third-round pick, but Parsons might be one of the league’s best two or three defensive players. On Sunday, we saw him swarm Los Angeles for two sacks and create opportunities for others when the Rams slid their protection toward Parsons.
In 2020, the Cowboys were the league’s seventh-worst defense by expected points added (EPA) per play. Through five games in 2022, they’re the league’s fifth-best defense by EPA per snap. That difference dramatically reduces the burden on Rush, who hasn’t needed to win games as the focal point of the offense.
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Malik Hooker hauls in the interception and Sam Williams recovers the strip sack by Micah Parsons to secure the victory for the Cowboys.
Coincidentally, Sunday was Rush’s worst game of the season. Across his first three starts, he hadn’t turned the ball over and had taken just two sacks, eliminating most negative plays from Dallas’ attack. The offense wasn’t exactly exciting, but when it has a great defense and doesn’t make any mistakes on offense, it’s going to be in good position to win games.
Owing to the presence of star defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Sunday was messier. Rush was sacked three times and fumbled twice, although the Cowboys were lucky to fall on both. Dallas was 23rd in EPA per play on offense, meaning the only team with a less effective offense to win in Week 5 was the Colts, who were just about as bad on offense as the opposing Broncos were Thursday night.
This was a relatively quiet game for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, but he has become the focal point of the Dallas offense since Prescott went down injured. Since the start of Week 2, Lamb has been targeted on 39.4% of his routes. The only player who has been targeted more often over that stretch has been Falcons wide receiver Drake London, who is playing on a Falcons team utterly devoid of playmakers.
As was the case with Parsons, the Lamb selection reminds us that taking the best player available is important, because what seems like a glut of talent might not look that way in a couple of years. The Cowboys drafted Lamb with No. 17 pick of the 2020 draft after he unexpectedly fell out of the top half of the first round. At the time, he seemed like a luxury pick for a team with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup at wideout, Blake Jarwin at tight end and Ezekiel Elliott at running back.
Two years later, Lamb is the only one of those five improving. Cooper is with the Browns, while Gallup is playing about 30 snaps per game as he recovers from a torn left ACL. Jarwin might never play again after suffering a hip injury, while replacement Dalton Schultz is struggling with a knee issue. Elliott has averaged minus -0.4 RYOE per carry and generated four first downs below expectation this season, but backup Tony Pollard is at 2.3 RYOE per carry while generating three first downs above expectation.
To be fair, even given the relatively mild load Rush has been forced to carry, he has exceeded expectations. His 64.9 QBR ranks eighth in the league, ahead of Hurts, Tom Brady and Joe Burrow. Rush actually has been let down a by a higher-than-expected drop rate (5.1%), and his average throw has traveled 8.1 yards in the air, which ranks 10th since Week 2. He has locked onto Lamb, but that’s not a bad thing, and it’s something Prescott might want to try to emulate when he returns to the lineup, either Sunday or in Week 7.
I’m not going to waste anyone’s time with the arguments that the Cowboys could, should or will stick with Rush as their starter. Prescott’s ceiling is much higher. Rush hasn’t been in a situation in which he has had to throw them back into the game during this stretch, and just by sheer randomness, there’s no way he could go the rest of the season without losing a fumble or throwing an interception. Plenty of middling quarterbacks can have stretches like this. Take 2013, when Josh McCown posted a 13-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio across five starts for the Bears in the middle of a career in which he otherwise posted a 85-to-81 ratio.
It’s clear the Cowboys are in a much better position to sustain a backup quarterback now than they were in 2020. They’re still a top-heavy team, but two years ago, they were both top-heavy and weighted strongly toward the offensive side of the ball. Now, after nailing the Diggs and Parsons draft picks, they’re more evenly balanced. We’ll see what happens in their trip to Philadelphia next weekend, but Cowboys fans facing down an 0-1 start and weeks with Rush at quarterback have to be thrilled about where they are now.
It’s almost impossible to conceive of how far down the Eagles were at the end of the 2020 season. Their roster felt bloated and ill-conceived. The collapse of the relationship between Pederson and Wentz seemingly had dragged the organization to the bottom of the division. Hurts had given them a spark in a win over the Saints, but he finished the year with a 33.8 QBR. It felt like they needed to start over in a rebuild which could include the coach, quarterback and general manager all moving on.
Instead, the Eagles fired Pederson and traded Wentz, but they kept general manager Howie Roseman. The longtime Philly executive was much maligned at the time, but he has restored his reputation with fans by getting most of his moves right over the past couple of seasons. What he has done should be no surprise; he has stuck to the core components of what both he and the organization have done over the past 25 years, and it’s built another winner. In a few short steps, those are:
Hire an offensive-minded coach. Andy Reid. Chip Kelly. Doug Pederson. Many teams typically choose their coach by going for something like the antithesis of the coach they previously had on board. When the Vikings fired defensive stalwart Mike Zimmer, they replaced him with a young, open-minded offensive coach in Kevin O’Connell. The Bears, meanwhile, swapped out Matt Nagy for a defensive coach in Matt Eberflus.
The Eagles have a track record of hiring younger head coaches with offensive backgrounds. Reid was 41 when the Eagles hired him away from the Packers in 1999. Kelly was slightly older at 50, but he was an offensive innovator at Oregon. Pederson was 48 when he arrived in Philadelphia, while his replacement, Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, turned 40 in his first season with the organization.
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After Kyler Murray spikes the ball on third down, Matt Ammendola pushes the tying field goal wide right, and the Cardinals fall to the Eagles.
Pederson wasn’t regarded as a slam dunk hire. Two years later, he won a Super Bowl. Sirianni’s interview with the Eagles was just his second as a head-coaching candidate, and he wasn’t even the playcaller for the Colts under Frank Reich. After a curious debut news conference and a 2-5 start to his career, there were concerns they didn’t have the right guy.
Sirianni has gone 12-3 since. It’s worth noting how many players have improved during his time with the team, both in terms of young Eagles who were drafted by the organization and veterans who have been imported from other teams. Most notable among them is Hurts, who has become a much more consistent and reliable passer over the past year. Sirianni modified his offense to play to Hurts’ strengths as a runner during the second half of 2021, and the offense has shifted again at times in 2022 as it has dealt with injuries.
Build through the line of scrimmage. Injuries destroyed Philadelphia’s offensive line in 2020 and have slowed them down at times, but the Eagles continue to invest more on their offensive and defensive line than any other team. In 2021, they used a second-round pick on guard Landon Dickerson and a third-rounder on defensive tackle Milton Williams. This year, Roseman traded up ahead of the Ravens to grab mammoth Georgia tackle Jordan Davis, then relied on the scouting skills of legendary center Jason Kelce to grab his long-term replacement in second-rounder Cam Jurgens. The latter player saw his first snaps on offense Sunday, when Kelce missed a series with an injury.
Roseman also has addressed the positions in free agency. Javon Hargrave came in before that 2020 campaign, but he struggled in his debut season and has been much better since. In addition to bringing back Fletcher Cox and Derek Barnett, Roseman made a big bet on edge rusher Haason Reddick, who signed a three-year, $45 million deal in March. The former Cardinals and Panthers defender had a sack in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals, taking him to 4.5 over his past three games.
Plenty of teams would see holes elsewhere on their roster and get away from their principles in the draft. Indeed, Roseman made this mistake at times during the fall of the Wentz era, going after disappointing wide receivers in the first two rounds. Teams often underestimate the opportunities that might open up after the draft, and when the Eagles still had money saved, they were able to fill a major need by signing James Bradberry to play cornerback across from Darius Slay. Bradberry has been excellent on a one-year, $7.3 million deal.
Don’t be afraid to make (and win) trades. Given how Wentz’s stock has fallen further since leaving Philadelphia, it’s difficult to say the deal to trade him to Indy has been nothing short of a success. The picks the Eagles acquired in that deal helped them move up for wideout DeVonta Smith in last year’s draft and trade for receiver A.J. Brown. They also still have a first-round pick in 2023 and a second-rounder in 2024 coming from the Saints, who might send Philadelphia a top-10 pick given their slow start to the season.
Roseman is one of the league’s most aggressive traders, and while nobody wins every trade, the Eagles have a sound track record. Moving down from No. 6 to No. 12 in the first round of the 2021 draft didn’t look great when they seemed to miss out on Jaylen Waddle or one of the top quarterbacks, but they ended up landing an impact receiver in Smith and turned their future first-rounder from the Dolphins into Davis.
When Urban Meyer decided he didn’t need a backup quarterback for the Jaguars last year, Roseman pounced and landed a valuable player for peanuts. With two years and $3.3 million left on his deal, Gardner Minshew‘s status as an above-average backup meant he was worth about $8 million in surplus value. The Eagles landed Minshew for a sixth-round pick, and he won them a game in a spot start over the Jets by throwing for 242 yards with two touchdowns. The Eagles likely will net a better compensatory pick for Minshew after 2022 than the one they sent to the Jaguars in the first place. They’ll also get two years with an above-average backup for a fraction of what it would cost in free agency.
Roseman acquired safety/slot cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson from the Saints for two late-round picks in August, and he took a big swing on Brown in April, sending a first-rounder to the Titans for the right to pay Brown a market-value deal. All of those trades look like good decisions at the moment, although Gardner-Johnson was juked on an incredible cut by Marquise Brown on the Arizona wideout’s touchdown
It’s difficult to not contrast the Eagles with the team they were playing Sunday. The Cardinals don’t invest much in their offensive or defensive lines. They don’t run their cap as efficiently, spend money on running backs, and they have used two recent first-round picks on off-ball linebackers, a position the Eagles generally treat as one of the least important in football. It seems easy to point to Philadelphia as an example of how to build a team the right way, while the struggling Cardinals are a blueprint for what not to do.
And yet, a year ago, the two teams would have been in different roles. The Cardinals were 5-0 and riding high in what looked to be the league’s best division. The Eagles were 2-3 and about to lose two straight. They seemed years away from getting back into playoff contention. By the end of the season, both teams were in the postseason. Now the Eagles are the only undefeated team in football, while the Cardinals look set to struggle for a playoff berth in a middling NFC West.
The story here, instead, might be to take a longer view of team-building and decision-making. Roseman has gone from being regarded as a genius in 2017 to a disaster in 2020 and back again two years later. Chances are he has been the same guy with the same level of ability the entire time, only producing different results.
Things change quickly in the NFL, and someone like Hurts can go from looking like a temporary option to a franchise player quicker than you think. The three teams atop the NFC East likely can’t keep up this level of winning for the rest of the season, but what they’ve done is a reminder of how suddenly the league can flip.
The late afternoon window saw the Philadelphia Eagles remain undefeated, as they got past the Arizona Cardinals to move to 5-0. That sets up a Sunday night showdown next week with the Dallas Cowboys, who used a relentless pass rush to beat the Los Angeles Rams and move to 4-1.
Our NFL Nation reporters react with the biggest takeaways and lingering questions coming out of this week’s matchups and look ahead to what’s next. Let’s get to it.
What to know: When all else fails, have quarterback Jalen Hurts take it into his own hands. He rushed for a pair of touchdowns Sunday, passing Cam Newton for most rushing TDs for a quarterback in his first 25 starts with 19. On the go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, Hurts converted a pair of third-down QB sneaks to extend the drive, helping Philly sneak past Arizona to remain undefeated.
Will the offensive line injuries become a major factor? The Eagles entered this game without left tackle Jordan Mailata (shoulder), and lost left guard Landon Dickerson (leg) and center Jason Kelce (ankle) for parts of the game before they eventually returned. Right guard Isaac Seumalo, meanwhile, was limited this week with an ankle injury. The offensive line is a primary strength of this team and the Eagles need it healthy, especially for next week’s game against the Cowboys and their vaunted pass rush. — Tim McManus
Next game: vs. Cowboys (Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET)
Cardinals
What to know: The Cardinals took a significant step to figuring out their first-quarter offensive woes. Even though they didn’t score in the first quarter for the sixth straight game — which includes all five this season — Arizona showed glimpses of its up-tempo offense, which helped change the pace of the game and kept Philadelphia on its heels a bit. It was enough for the Cardinals to stay in a game many didn’t think they had any business being in — and showed that any production in the first quarter could’ve been the difference on Sunday.
Can the Cardinals put together a complete game next week in Seattle? All signs are pointing to “it’s likely.” This year’s Seahawks aren’t the Seahawks of old, so a first-quarter score is most likely to happen in Seattle. The Cardinals are a few plays here and there away from that complete showing. It may have taken them a month to figure themselves out, but they’re on the verge of showing who they are for an entire game. — Josh Weinfuss
Next game: at Seahawks (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)
Cowboys
What to know: How good are the Cowboys? In the last month, they have beaten the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals and beat the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. They also beat the New York Giants, who just knocked off the Green Bay Packers. This wasn’t supposed to happen, especially without Dak Prescott. The Cowboys’ defense continued to lead the way, allowing just one touchdown in the fifth straight game and stifling Matthew Stafford all day. They did just enough on offense, highlighted by Tony Pollard‘s 57-yard touchdown run in the second quarter after the Rams took the lead.
How big is next week’s game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles? The Eagles are the NFL’s lone undefeated team and are considered by many the class of the NFC East. The Cowboys have won eight straight division games, including two wins vs. the Eagles a year ago by a combined 45 points — though Philadelphia rested its regulars in the second meeting. The Cowboys have won four straight games without Prescott (thumb) and are likely to be without him again. With a win against the Eagles, maybe folks will take them seriously. — Todd Archer
Next game: at Eagles (Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET)
Rams
What to know: It’s easier said than done with several injuries, but fixing the pressure Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is facing will be a key to turning this season around. It felt like Stafford faced constant pressure in Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys and it started from the Rams’ first drive, when Stafford was sacked and fumbled, which the Cowboys returned for a touchdown to set the tone for the rest of the game. Stafford was sacked five times (now up to 21 times this season) and the Cowboys had 11 quarterback hits.
How long can the Rams’ defense keep this up? Although the Rams lost to the Cowboys, nine of Dallas’ 22 points came off turnovers. Los Angeles held Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush to 10 completions and 102 yards. Of course, this team has been beaten by Jimmy Garoppolo and Rush in its last two games, but the defense has been a bright spot on this 2-3 team. The Rams get quarterback Baker Mayfield and a struggling Carolina Panthers team next week. — Sarah Barshop
Next game: vs. Panthers (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)
49ers
What to know: The 49ers took care of business against an inferior opponent, but they might have suffered a much bigger loss Sunday. Early in the third quarter, defensive end Nick Bosa was ruled out with a groin injury. The Niners have already lost multiple key players to injury this season, but there might not be a more important player on the roster than Bosa. The league’s leader in sacks and pressures entering the game, Bosa is the driving force behind one of the NFL’s best defenses. That defense’s depth has already been tested, but if Bosa has to miss extended time, the challenge will become far greater as the Niners head to West Virginia for practice before next week’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
What’s wrong with the 49ers kicking game? The Niners special teams have been mostly good through the first month-plus of the season with one notable exception: The kicking game. Kicker Robbie Gould had a field goal blocked for the second time this season Sunday (tied for the most in a season in his career), left the game with a left knee injury and the 49ers yielded kickoff returns of 48 and 45 yards to Carolina. Given San Francisco’s myriad of injury issues, those yards and points will matter plenty as the competition increases. — Nick Wagoner
Next game: at Falcons (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Panthers
What to know: Third down continued to haunt the Panthers, only this time it was on both sides of the ball. The offense entered Sunday last in the NFL with a 25.5% conversion rate and finished 3 for 15 (20%). The last team to convert less than 25% for a season was the 2005 49ers, who went 4-12. That discrepancy was magnified by the 49ers’ third down success, as the Niners converted seven of their first 11 third downs. Outside of Baker Mayfield‘s pick-six, that was the difference in game.
What will it take for coach Matt Rhule to bench Mayfield? The Panthers traded for Mayfield believing he could help turn around the organization. He hasn’t, and Sunday’s pick-six was yet another example of how he hurts the offense. Replacing Mayfield as the starter with former XFL star PJ Walker — who played the last couple of minutes of the game in relief — would send the message that the 2018 No. 1 pick is done. It likely would destroy Mayfield’s confidence, too. Now if Mayfield and the league’s 32nd-ranked offense continue to struggle, the team could make a change when Sam Darnold (ankle) returns from injured reserve. But according to team sources, that’s probably two to four weeks away. By then, if the losing continues, coach Matt Rhule may be done. — David Newton
Next game: at Rams (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)
Bills
What to know: The Bills had control of the game from the third play to the end, thanks in large part to quarterback Josh Allen and the big-play passing attack. Allen threw for 348 yards in the first half, the most passing yards in a single half in Bills history, per the Elias Sports Bureau, to help establish a 28-point lead, and finished with a franchise high for a regulation game with 424 passing yards. Despite being without multiple starters on both sides of the ball due to injury, the Bills held the Steelers scoreless after the first drive and came away with a commanding win.
Can the Bills keep up the big-play passing? The Bills came into Week 5 with 13 passing plays of 20-plus yards this season, but against the Steelers, big plays made all the difference. Buffalo had eight passing plays of 20-plus yards Sunday, and Allen finished the game with a career-high 13.7 yards per attempt. In the previous two games, the Bills strung together long drives, only to fall short in the red zone. Targeting wide receiver Gabe Davis deep more often — Davis finished with a career-high 171 receiving yards on three receptions — and learning from what worked against the Steelers will go a long way. — Alaina Getzenberg
Next game: at Chiefs (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET)
Steelers
What to know: A 38-3 blowout by the Bills exposed the deep cracks that riddle the Steelers’ foundation. Pickett did what was asked of him in his first career start, but an already short-handed and inconsistent defense couldn’t contain quarterback Josh Allen and his weapons. Pickett completed 34 of 52 passes for 327 yards with one interception, but the offense came away with only three points. Meanwhile, Allen picked apart the Steelers’ secondary with a career game. The NFL’s highest-paid defense came into the game missing two defensive starters in addition to T.J. Watt, and three more were ruled out during the game after sustaining injuries. Sunday was supposed to be about Pickett’s first start, but failures in every phase of the game made his play irrelevant. The 35-point margin of defeat is the worst for the Steelers since a 51-0 loss to Cleveland on Sept. 10, 1989.
Where do the Steelers go from here? It’s only Week 5, but at 1-4, the Steelers seem destined to give Mike Tomlin his first losing season. With games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles on the slate before the bye, the Steelers face the very real possibility of starting the season 1-7 — something that hasn’t happened in Pittsburgh since 1969. The Steelers don’t believe in rebuilding years, but that’s exactly how this one is playing out.
So what does it mean? Could the Steelers choose to rest players like Watt, who’s recovering from a torn pectoral and arthroscopic knee surgery, for the rest of the season, while allowing Pickett to learn on the job for a basement team? Could they buck organizational precedent and make coordinator changes in-season? Could they start a fire sale of their limited assets to acquire more picks for the upcoming drafts in an effort to completely rebuild the team? Or will they ignore the noise, as Tomlin urged his team to do after a Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns, and keep doing what they’re doing? — Brooke Pryor
Next game: vs. Buccaneers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Texans
What to know: The Texans’ defense carried them to the win. The Jaguars were sixth in points scored per game (26.3), but the Texans became the first team to hold them under 21 points. It started by limiting Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and intercepting him twice for a passer rating of 65. Texans rookie cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. got his first career interception, and cornerback Desmond King II finished the game off with an interception. Lawrence was consistently under duress as the Texans’ pass rush was able to pressure him 14 times.
Is Dameon Pierce the leader for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award? Pierce carried the Texans’ offense against the Jaguars as he rushed for 99 yards and the game-winning touchdown. He rushed for 31 yards on 10 carries in the fourth quarter. Pierce came into the game at No. 10 in rushing yards, and he is now averaging 4.8 yards per carry and has three rushing touchdowns. — DJ Bien-Aime
Next game: at Raiders (Sunday, Oct. 23, 4:05 p.m. ET)
Jaguars
What to know: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence played his second bad game in a row, and now the Jaguars have a problem: Which Lawrence are they going to get each week? It’s troubling that most of Lawrence’s mistakes the past two games (as well as Week 1) were unforced — including an inexcusable interception in the end zone early in the second half Sunday before another one to end the game. Not knowing what you’re going to get from your quarterback each week makes it hard to be confident and make adjustments when things start to go wrong.
What happened to the turnovers? The Jaguars forced eight in the first three weeks — one shy of their 2021 total — but have just one in the past two games. Some of those are the bounce of the ball one way instead of another, but it seemed like getting turnovers was the defense’s identity. This might be just a lull, but the Jaguars need to get things going on the takeaway front again because the offense could benefit from a few short fields. — Mike DiRocco
Next game: at Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Titans
What to know: The injuries along the offensive line are testing the Titans’ depth. Already down Taylor Lewan for the year, starting right guard Nate Davis was inactive because of a knee injury. The Commanders’ front dominated the line of scrimmage and constantly pressured Ryan Tannehill. Left tackle Dennis Daley had his first bad game, as he struggled with Montez Sweat. Aaron Brewer gave up a sack along with Dillon Radunz, who was filling in for Davis at right guard. Washington sacked Tannehill five times. The pressure the Commanders were getting limited what the Titans could do with their playcalling.
How worried should the Titans be about the secondary? Another week, and another quarterback passes for 300-plus yards, as Carson Wentz‘s 359 passing yards almost beat them Sunday. Dyami Brown‘s 75-yard touchdown reception with Caleb Farley in coverage was the sixth play of 40 yards or more the Titans have allowed this season. Five of those have come via the pass. Brown also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass against Roger McCreary. Although the Titans won, the big plays continue to be a major issue. Tennessee’s secondary has three high draft picks (Farley, McCreary and Kristian Fulton). There’s no reason for that group to struggle this much. — Turron Davenport
Next game: vs. Colts (Sunday, Oct. 23, 1 p.m. ET)
Commanders
What to know: Washington no longer can ask for patience. At 1-4 in Year 3 of Ron Rivera’s regime, the Commanders have not taken the step they — or their fans — had hoped. Carson Wentz threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, but a possible game-winning drive ended in an interception. They lack consistency. They struggle to create better situations for the run game or play-action. And the defense still surrenders big plays and doesn’t force turnovers. The offensive line is banged up but makes too many mistakes — penalties and on assignments — to play consistently.
Is the season already lost? Technically, there’s still time for Washington to turn its season around. But the Commanders already have dug a steep hole in the NFC East. While other teams have survived injuries, Washington has not shown that it can. So, if they can get healthy, the Commanders could very well play better in a few weeks. But by then, they could be too far back to seriously challenge for a playoff spot. They need to provide reasons to believe it’ll get better, and they haven’t. Ron Rivera’s teams typically play better in the second half of the year, but this was a season in which the Commanders needed to play better in the first half. — John Keim
Next game: at Bears (Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET)
Chargers
What to know: Coach Brandon Staley rolled the dice, and it almost backfired on him. Up 30-28 with 1:14 left, Staley went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 46-yard line. An incompletion handed Cleveland the chance for a game-winning field goal try, but the Browns missed. This is who Staley is and who the Chargers are. And ESPN’s win-probability model favored the decision (84.1% to 78.9%).
Can the Chargers keep running the ball? The Chargers came into the weekend ranked 25th in rushing. But against the Browns, L.A. finally got its ground game going, exploding for 238 yards. That production took pressure off QB Justin Herbert and allowed the Chargers to keep their defense off the field. If the Chargers can keep running the ball with Austin Ekeler & Co. going forward, they will be that much tougher to defend. — Jake Trotter
Next game: vs. Broncos (Monday, Oct. 17, 8:15 p.m. ET)
Browns
What to know: Browns QB Jacoby Brissett spoiled what otherwise was a terrific performance with a costly late interception. On the heels of a key first-down scramble, Brissett had the opportunity to potentially take the ball in for a touchdown. Instead, he fired a pick trying to find Amari Cooper. Cleveland got another shot to win, but missed a 54-yard field goal. All three of Brissett’s interceptions this season have come in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.
What has happened to kicker Cade York? York drilled a 58-yard, game-winning field goal in Cleveland’s opener and first career appearance. The fourth-round pick has struggled ever since. He missed two costly field goals again Sunday, including the game-winning try at the end. The Browns have little margin for error without Deshaun Watson and with the way their defense is playing. York’s accuracy issues represent another concerning development. — Jake Trotter
Next game: vs. Patriots (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
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Cade York misses a potential go-ahead 54-yard field goal kick just to the right for the Browns.
Saints
What to know: It was Taysom Time for the Saints again, as Taysom Hill essentially became their entire offense Sunday, rushing for 112 yards and joining Archie Manning (1977 vs. Bears) as the only players in Saints franchise history with three rushing touchdowns and a touchdown pass in the same game. The Saints finally seemed to figure out their offensive roles with a mix of Hill and Andy Dalton.
How do the Saints sustain positive offensive momentum going forward? The Saints have been one step forward, two steps back all season. Now they’ve got to figure out a way to keep the offensive momentum going, whether that’s keeping Dalton at QB, continuing to utilize Hill in all areas or figuring out how to get Michael Thomas back in the lineup as a healthy receiver. That means there will continue to be questions as to whether an injured Jameis Winston should return to the lineup or if they should stick with Dalton. — Katherine Terrell
Next game: vs. Bengals (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Seahawks
What to know: The Seahawks’ defense remains a disaster, and this time, a strong day from Geno Smith and their offense wasn’t enough to overcome it. A week after allowing 45 points in a win over Detroit, they were just as bad against the Saints, with no answers for Taysom Hill or Alvin Kamara. They allowed both to top 100 rushing yards, with Hill rushing for three touchdowns despite the fact that there was little mystery as to what the Saints were going to do when he lined up at quarterback. It’s the second straight week in which Seattle’s defense has gotten gashed by a team missing key pieces on offense, as the Saints were without their starting quarterback (Jameis Winston) and No. 1 receiver (Michael Thomas). The Seahawks have pulled off defensive turnarounds in each of the past two seasons after similarly poor starts, but there’s no end in sight to this one.
Is Kenneth Walker III ready to handle the load at running back? Walker will have to step up if Rashaad Penny‘s injury is as serious as it looks. Penny went down in the second half after hurting an ankle, hanging his head on the sideline before being carted to the locker room. Walker, Seattle’s rookie second-round pick, was off to a quiet start to this NFL career before he broke off a 69-yard touchdown run Sunday. He missed the opener after a hernia procedure and didn’t seem to have a full handle on the playbook, based on the multiple times he went the wrong way on a running play. If Penny has to miss time, Walker will need to speed up his learning curve. — Brady Henderson
Next game: vs. Cardinals (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)
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Taysom Hill gets his third rushing touchdown of the game and gives the Saints a lead in the fourth quarter.
Buccaneers
What to know: This was a sloppy victory. The Bucs allowed the Falcons to score twice in the fourth quarter and nearly gave the game away. And once again, they gave up big plays on the ground (61 of the Falcons’ 151 rushing yards came from quarterback Marcus Mariota). But Tampa Bay did a better job controlling the line of scrimmage: The defense had five sacks, and running back Leonard Fournette notched 139 yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns behind the offensive line’s blocking. His 10 catches for 83 receiving yards were both career highs. The Bucs need to put four quarters together consistently, though, and they haven’t really done that all season.
What should the Bucs do with receiver Julio Jones? Jones was inactive for the third time in five games Sunday with a knee injury after he left two plays into the second half last week after aggravating it. He was able to practice on a limited basis this week, but it was determined that he was unable to go during warm-ups Sunday. It’s unclear whether he’ll play against the Steelers next week, and it appears they will need to monitor his reps if they want to keep him for the season. It isn’t ideal to have a player making $6 million sitting on the bench, but the Buccaneers didn’t sign Jones for the regular season — they signed him for December and January, in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last year when they had no healthy receivers. If they can shelve him over the next few weeks and let him get healthy, while continuing to get Scotty Miller and Jaelon Darden more involved, they’ll be better off when they truly need him for their playoff push. — Jenna Laine
Next game: at Steelers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Falcons
What to know: The Falcons entered Sunday without tight end Kyle Pitts or running back Cordarrelle Patterson, so maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Atlanta offense struggled Sunday. Still, it became clear just how big an issue it might be to their offense without those two playmakers. Tampa Bay’s defense is legitimate, but without either Pitts or Patterson, moving the ball and putting up points could be difficult. Atlanta did find decent work with Avery Williams at running back and Olamide Zaccheaus as a complement to Drake London at receiver, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
How do the Falcons figure out the running game going forward? In its first game without Patterson, Atlanta gave Tyler Allgeier 13 carries, Caleb Huntley eight carries and Williams three carries. That type of workload might be what this looks like over the next few weeks, too. However, none of the backs made much of a statement, and if Atlanta is able to bring back veteran Damien Williams off injured reserve — he’s eligible to return next week — it should consider it. The Falcons are probably looking at a true running-back-by-committee situation for at least the rest of October. — Michael Rothstein
Next game: vs. 49ers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Vikings
What to know: If nothing else this season, the Vikings have seen quarterback Kirk Cousins emerge as a late-game surgeon. He has made key plays and throws in the fourth quarter in each of the Vikings’ past three games, all victories. Sunday, Cousins converted two third-downs on the ground during their final possession, including a 1-yard sneak for the winning touchdown. That came after he had completed his first 17 passes of the game, a team record. Cousins’ play can still be spotty at times, but he is perhaps the key reason the Vikings are 4-1 and alone atop the NFC North.
How did this game become such a slog? The Vikings scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, were leading 21-3 midway through the second quarter and still needed a late drive to win the game. The easiest answer here is that they remain a work in progress as the conversion to new offensive and defensive schemes is underway. They’re finding ways to win despite dips of concentration and intensity, and from this vantage point, it bodes well for their future success once they grow more efficient in running their schemes. — Kevin Seifert
Next game: at Dolphins (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Bears
What to know: After allowing Kirk Cousins to complete his first 17 attempts while running only 18 offensive plays of their own in the first half, Chicago got aggressive in the second half and scored 19 unanswered points to take a 22-21 fourth-quarter lead. Justin Fields orchestrated his best drive of the season to start the third quarter. The drive ended with rookie Velus Jones scoring his first career touchdown. Bears coach Matt Eberflus didn’t take his foot off the gas in the second half. It didn’t always work — Chicago failed on its 2-point attempt after Jones’ 9-yard TD — but this team found an edge with its resilience and ability to adjust. Fields and the offense had a chance to win the game when they got the ball back with 2:26 remaining down 29-22, but Bears receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette (a former Viking) had a costly turnover that ended up sealing the loss.
Is Justin Fields turning the corner? The Bears quarterback said he felt like the passing game was starting to click against the Giants in Week 4. After a rough start in Minnesota, Fields went 12-of-13 for 135 yards and a touchdown in the second half and added five rushes for 36 yards. And his 52-yard touchdown run would have been the biggest highlight all day if it wasn’t nullified by an illegal block in the back penalty on Smith-Marsette. Fields finished with 208 yards passing and a 118.8 passer rating. This game could be a sign the quarterback is turning the corner after a rough first month of the season. — Courtney Cronin
Next game: vs. Commanders (Thursday, Oct. 13, 8:15 p.m. ET)
Jets
What to know: For months, coach Robert Saleh has been stressing to his players the importance of closing the gap in the AFC East. One game doesn’t make up for years of ineptitude, but the Jets took a step in the right direction, snapping a 12-game division losing streak. The Jets (3-2) showed they can play with a lead from beginning to end, something they hadn’t done since Week 15 of the 2020 season — a league-high 23 straight games without a wire-to-wire win. It’s an important step for a young team. The Jets proved they can come from behind, as they did in two earlier wins, but it takes a different mentality to play from ahead. And, yes, it helped that the Dolphins had to play rookie third-string QB Skylar Thompson for virtually the entire game after losing Teddy Bridgewater.
How far can the Breece Hall–Michael Carter backfield tandem take the Jets? It’s too early to talk about playoffs, but the Jets have a terrific one-two punch in Hall and Carter. It allows them to run a balanced offense, something they failed to do in the first month. Hall, who might be their best draft pick in a long time, became the first Jets rookie in history with 100 receiving yards and a rushing TD in the same game. He finished with 197 yards from scrimmage (97 rushing), a tremendous display of his many talents. The Jets used Hall and Carter (two TDs) at the same time more than in any previous game — a nice wrinkle. — Rich Cimini
Next game: at Packers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Dolphins
What to know: The Dolphins were the first team to experience the NFL’s amended concussion protocol. Dolphins fans might argue their team was actually the first “victim” of the new rules, which added “ataxia” to the protocol as a “no-go” symptom. Teddy Bridgewater, in his first start filling in for the concussed Tua Tagovailoa, was placed into concussion protocol after playing just a single offensive snap. He passed his evaluation and was not diagnosed with a concussion, but a booth spotter believed he saw Bridgewater stumble, which triggered the new ataxia clause and forced him out for the remainder of the game. Rookie Skylar Thompson started strong but showed his youth during the fourth quarter, holding on to the ball for too long and eventually unraveling on a strip sack that helped the Jets put the game out of reach. The NFL pledged to use an “abundance of caution” in its amended protocol — sometimes that means players who are not concussed will be placed in the protocol. Dolphins fans won’t like it, and understandably so, but it’s better than allowing potentially concussed players to reenter a game.
Who will start at quarterback next week? Both Bridgewater and Tagovailoa are in concussion protocol entering Week 6, but the former should be cleared in time for Sunday’s game against the Vikings, considering he was not diagnosed with a concussion. But if Tagovailoa clears protocol, is 17 days long enough for the Dolphins to be comfortable playing him, or will they take an even more cautious approach to his return? Either way, Thompson needs to process plays more quickly before he proves to be a capable starter; entering a game with Thompson and Reid Sinnett at quarterback is not ideal. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
Next game: vs. Vikings (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
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Quinnen Williams picks up the fumble and gets a huge stiff-arm on Tyreek Hill. Breece Hall would capitalize with a short touchdown run.
Patriots
What to know: Defense delivers. With 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe making his first career start at quarterback after injuries to Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer, the Patriots supported him with a stifling defensive performance against a Lions offense that entered the day as the NFL’s top-rated unit in terms of points scored. Six (!) stops on fourth down, another interception by rookie cornerback Jack Jones and a strip sack by Matthew Judon that was returned 59 yards for a TD by Kyle Dugger provided Zappe plenty of breathing room. It resulted in the Patriots’ first home shutout since 2016, when then-rookie Jacoby Brissett made his first NFL start. While Zappe wasn’t asked to do too much, he was poised and played smart football (17-of-21 passing for 188 yards with a touchdown and an interception) in an overall job well done.
When will Mac Jones be ready to return? The Patriots have shown they can win with Zappe, but Jones’ eventual return still provides them the most long-term upside. Jones was a limited participant in practices last week and was still limping a bit. Zappe’s capable performance buys the Patriots more time for Jones to return as close to full health as possible, but at 2-3, their margin for error is still thin to keep pace in the AFC. — Mike Reiss
Next game: at Browns (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Lions
What to know: Detroit entered Gillette Stadium as the league’s top-ranked offense but struggled mightily. Quarterback Jared Goff couldn’t get anything going against New England’s defense. The lackluster effort started in the opening half, when the Lions failed to score after having scored a touchdown in 12 straight halves — which was the NFL’s longest streak. The Lions also failed to convert six fourth downs Sunday, many of which came in Patriots territory. Running back D’Andre Swift (shoulder/ankle) didn’t suit up for the second straight game but is expected to return after the bye week, which they hope can give them a boost.
How much is head coach Dan Campbell at fault for Detroit’s 1-4 start? There’s no denying that Campbell’s charisma and authenticity has been a hit with players and fans. However, this isn’t the first time that he’s made questionable decisions in key moments, which included going for it on fourth-and-9 instead of attempting a second quarter, 49-yard field goal, which resulted in a scoop-and-score after Goff fumbled while being sacked by Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon. Campbell and his staff have repeatedly accepted the blame for these questionable coaching decisions, but they definitely have affected the Lions’ poor start to the season. He holds just as much accountability as the players, and they have to fix some things after the bye week if they want to at least be respectable in the final 12 regular-season games. — Eric Woodyard
Next game: at Cowboys (Sunday, Oct. 23, 1 p.m. ET)
Giants
What to know:Daniel Jones and the Giants really showed something. They rallied from down 14 in the first half against the Packers to post a huge upset victory, perhaps their best win since beating the Cowboys late in 2016. Jones did it while clearly not 100 percent (ankle) and despite a questionable supporting cast. If anything, it put his toughness on full display. Jones went 13-of-14 passing for 136 yards in the second half. He also rushed seven times for 37 yards, before kneeling with the ball late. Jones carried a Giants offense that had Marcus Johnson, Richie James, David Sills V and Darius Slayton at wide receiver. A monster effort.
How did star RB Saquon Barkley come out of the game? The Giants’ offense revolves around Barkley. He accounted for 43% of their total offense coming into the game and said this week he’s “good with whatever [workload] they throw at me.” But after New York went to Barkley early and often, he left Sunday’s contest in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. He went to the locker room before returning to score the game-winning TD out of the Wildcat midway through the fourth. Everyone will be watching how Barkley feels this week given his importance to this offense. — Jordan Raanan
Next game: vs. Ravens (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
Packers
What to know: At some point, the Packers are going to have to find a deep threat — whether he’s on their team right now or not. Either that or they should forget about trying and just run the ball more, because Aaron Rodgers was just chucking and hoping on Sunday. He tried to go deep to Allen Lazard several times and couldn’t connect. He tried Romeo Doubs and missed him. He tried Randall Cobb, who had a nice game (seven catches for 99 yards), but Cobb has never been a consistent deep threat. Rodgers was 0-of-5 on attempts of 20 or more yards in the air, including 0-of-4 in the second half, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
What’s happened to the Packers’ defense? Green Bay almost lost to Bailey Zappe last week. Daniel Jones got the Packers this week. The Giants played without their top-three receivers, and it didn’t matter. All the talk in the offseason was how the Packers have one of their best defenses in recent years. Yet they still managed to leave players open, miss tackles and commit costly penalties. It started in Week 1 when they let Justin Jefferson destroy that, and it hasn’t gotten much better — if at all. The Giants scored on five straight drives after opening the game with consecutive three-and-outs. — Rob Demovsky
Next game: vs. Jets (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
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Adam Schefter breaks down Russell Wilson’s injury and when he is expected to return.
Thursday
Colts
What to know: The Colts’ defense is legit. Russell Wilson and the Broncos’ offense have some deep issues, no doubt. And Denver’s failures certainly contributed to the success of the Indianapolis defense. But the Colts dominated the line of scrimmage, and that is an area where having an advantage can go a long way. Indianapolis has not allowed any points in the fourth quarter or overtime in its five games.
Can the Colts stabilize their offensive line even a little? They’re desperately trying. The Colts reconfigured their lineup for Thursday night’s matchup, making moves at three of the five positions. It didn’t work, though, so they might not be done tinkering. During their 10-day layoff before Week 6, they will continue examining their options. But nothing matters unless highly paid linemen such as Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith play, at minimum, at a respectable level. That might be enough to allow embattled quarterback Matt Ryan and an emerging group of pass-catchers to keep the Colts in games. Maybe. — Stephen Holder
Next game: vs. Jaguars (Sunday, Oct. 16, 1 p.m. ET)
Broncos
What to know: All those good intentions from the offseason simply don’t matter now, as the Broncos’ offense has the look of a group that overreaches when it doesn’t have to and overthinks when it shouldn’t. The result is the Broncos simply don’t score touchdowns at a rate that’s anywhere close to a playoff hopeful. Thursday night, they handed the Colts an ugly overtime win with two Wilson interceptions in the fourth quarter — both in Colts territory. And on the game’s last play, when a conversion of a fourth-and-inches would have given them four chances at a game-winning touchdown, they elected to put Wilson in the shotgun, and he threw an incompletion to end the game.
Is Russell Wilson pressing? Not all the time, but there are moments, especially when Wilson is trying to push the ball downfield when he doesn’t have to, when it looks like he is trying to live up to the trade and his contract on every play. He played his most composed, most efficient game in the season opener — the loss in Seattle — and it also happens to be his only 300-yard passing game of the young season. The Broncos haven’t protected him well enough, and running back Javonte Williams‘ season-ending knee injury will take some adjustment, but things aren’t going to improve until Wilson — and coach Nathaniel Hackett — settle down a little. Furthermore, it was reported Saturday that Wilson is dealing with a partially torn lat near his throwing shoulder. — Jeff Legwold
Next game: at Chargers (Monday, Oct. 17, 8:15 p.m. ET)
