The Pug Takes A Look At What To Takeaway From All The Action In Week 5 Of The NFL Season
Arizona Cardinals 33 @ San Francisco 49ers 21
David Johnson is ready to carry the Cardinals back into relevance- With the Cardinals vastly under performing this season and Carson Palmer on the shelf with a concussion, David Johnson stole the show on Thursday night. Johnson showed the world that the Cardinals were not going to be irrelevant this season.
It is officially time for a change in San Francisco- After an impressive opening day win, the 49ers have dropped four straight games and sit at the bottom of the NFC West. Obviously Blaine Gabbert isn’t the guy to run the Chip Kelly style of offense, and change is needed. Whether you love him or hate him, it’s time for the 49ers to see what they have in Colin Kaepernick, and he will get his chance to shine against the Buffalo Bills.
Washington Redskins 16 @ Baltimore Ravens 10
Despite the winning record, the Redskins need to clean up the mistakes to compete in the NFC- Although the defense did have an characteristically strong performance against the struggling Ravens offense, the mistakes have got to stop for the Redskins. Kirk Cousins has thrown interceptions in four out of five games. They have committed ten turnovers this season and need to clean up their act to be successful going forward.
Ravens need to find a way to fix the offense- Whether it be Kenneth Dixon coming into the mix, or firing offensive coordinator Marc Trestman the offense is in need of a savior. Luckily for the Ravens, they have managed to go 3-2 while only scoring eight touchdowns, tied for second worst in the league.
New England Patriots 33 @ Cleveland Browns 13
He’s baaaaaack- Say what you want, Tom Brady was sharp on Sunday. Yes, it was against the Browns, and he did miss a touchdown pass to Julian Edelman, but he threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns, and he was pulled with just over six minutes left in the game. The League can officially be on notice the #12 is back and ready to light the league on fire.
The Browns may be holding an open tryout for quarterback soon- Robert Griffin III? Out. Josh McCown? Out. Cody Kessler? Knocked out in the first quarter. Charlie Whitehurst? Saw limping off the field later in the game. Rookie Kevin Hogan was recently signed and wide receiver Terrelle Pryor who entered the NFL as a quarterback are the only healthy options at this point, leaving the Browns in almost a comedy movie type scenario that could see them holding tryouts in the parking lot at Paul Brown stadium. When it rains, it pours.
Philadelphia Eagles 23 @ Detroit Lions 24
The Eagles were brought back to Earth this week- Not that the Eagles had a horrible game, but the defense wasn’t as sharp as it had been in previous games. Carson Wentz finally threw an interception, albeit not on a bad pass, but it did seal the game. The Eagles will be fine going forward, and maybe this will be used as motivation that they cant get their heads too swollen as they are overall a young team. For the Eagles fans reading this, it also didn’t help that the refs were less than kind in this contest with their calls against the Eagles throughout the course of this game.
The Lions may be the hardest team in the league to figure out- The way the Lions have started the season out make them very hard to judge. They have now sandwiched two wins around three losses, and this week beat the formally undefeated Eagles. One week the offense looks good the next it doesn’t, and the same can be said about the defense. One thing is for sure, if the Lions find a way to put it all together and become consistent, they may flirt with relevance come December.
Chicago Bears 23 @ Indianapolis Colts 29
Injuries are actually helping the Bears offense become better- Jay Cutler goes down, and Brian Hoyer steps in and throws for over 300 yards in each of the three games he has started for the Bears with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Jeremy Langford goes down, and Jordan Howard steps up and has back to back games where he breaks 100 yards on the ground. Both players should be the starters going forward making the Chicago Bears offense that was once though to be nothing short of a joke a very formidable unit.
Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton are on the same wavelength once again- It was only a matter of time before these two played nice together again, as both players have way too much talent to be held down for very long. In the last three games, Hilton has had 25 catches for 387 yards and has scored in each of those games. If the Colts defense can find consistency, and more importantly the offensive line can protect Luck, the re-emergence of this great duo can cause game-planning nightmares for opposing defenses.
Tennessee Titans 30 @ Miami Dolphins 17
DeMarco Murray can be successful without the Dallas Cowboys offensive line- After an off year last season in Philadelphia, many critics claimed that DeMarco Murray was only successful because of the stellar line in Dallas. Through five games this season, Murray has averaged five yards per carry, scored five touchdowns, and averages just below five receptions per game. Murray is a huge reason why the Titans have played better football this year.
Ryan Tannehill has worn out his welcome with the fans in Miami- After once looking like the promising quarterback of the future, Dolphins fans are no longer on the Tannehill bandwagon. In fact, Adam Gase appears to be the only one showing Tannehill any support saying that he is the quarterback this season period. Looks like the Vikings may be using an early pick to draft a new signal caller next year…..
Houston Texans 13 @ Minnesota Vikings 31
The Houston Texans are pretenders- The Texans proved this weekend that they cannot hang with the big boys. They were exposed by the Patriots two weeks ago, but this week really showed that the Texans are not ready to compete with the best in the league. The defense has played well, but the offense a different story. Prized free agent signing Lamar Miller has seen his yardage drop, and has yet to score a touchdown this season, while Brock Osweiler has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. In fact, if the Titans continue to play well, and the Jaguars can build off their win and play to their potential, the Texans could be on the outside looking in sooner rather than later.
In case you didn’t get the memo the Vikings are the best team in the NFL- Of course this sounds redundant, but it’s a true statement. The Vikings have a next man up mentality, and a defense that no NFL squad has been able to form any sort of success against. The Vikings are looking to not only have a playoff run, but the road to the Super Bowl may very well be through their shiny new stadium.
New York Jets 13 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 31
After looking like contenders last season, the New York Jets are done- They appeared better on paper this season then they were last season, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The defense has not played anywhere near the level of defense we have become accustomed to seeing from the Jets, and the offense has struggled to put up points while producing many turnovers. It was announced now that their most reliable receiver Eric Decker will miss the season which doesn’t help matters at all.
Big Ben is quietly in the midst of a career year- Bold statement to make considering it is only five weeks into the season and the career that Roethlisberger has had so far, but it’s true. So far this season, Ben has completed 65.6% of his passes for 1,496 with 15 touchdowns against four interceptions, and that includes a zero touchdown performance against the Eagles in week three. Roethlisberger is on pace for 4,787 yards, 48 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Atlanta Falcons 23 @ Denver Broncos 16
The Atlanta Falcons silenced a lot of people this weekend- Nobody gave the Falcons much of a chance against the defending Super Bowl champs this past weekend. The Broncos defense was going to be too much for the Falcons high powered offense. Blah blah blah. The Falcons played a well rounded game, Vic Beasley emerged as the pass rushing specialist the Falcons have been hoping for him to become, and the Falcons showed a lot of people that they are serious about being included in the playoff discussion. Now all they have to do is avoid the late season collapses that have been plaguing them for years. Remember they started 5-0 last year.
Paxton Lynch isn’t ready to be a starter yet- Although his first career NFL start wasn’t a complete train wreck, there was much to be desired out of the young signal caller facing the 30th ranked defense in the NFL. He had an issue all afternoon long with overthrows and happy feet, something that can be worked on over time. He finished 23-35 for 223 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but left plays out on the field. He also put the ball on the ground twice, although neither of them resulted in turnovers Lynch was also sacked six times by a team that only had four sacks on the season coming into the game. The future may be bright, but the future is not now for Lynch.
Cincinnati Bengals 14 @ Dallas Cowboys 28
This isn’t last year’s Bengals squad- A year after starting the season 8-0, the Bengals offense fell completely flat against the Cowboys and their 16th ranked defense. Even the first touchdown they scored was with ten minutes to go in the game when it was already 28-0. With two talented running backs, a good quarterback, and one of the premiere wide receivers in the game, Marvin Lewis better find a way to put points on the board more often or he will find himself holding a pink slip in the off-season.
Why oh why does this team insist that Tony Romo should take the reigns when he is eligible to return?- The Cowboys have rolled off four straight victories and find themselves in first place in the NFC East, yet they are talking about breaking up the obvious chemistry the team has right now? Dak Prescott is in the middle of a historic run of 155 pass attempts without throwing an interception, most ever by a rookie. In fact Prescott only just committed his first career turnover period when he took a hit and fumbled the ball. Why do you wanna change whats working Dallas? Why?
Buffalo Bills 30 @ Los Angeles Rams 19
LeSean McCoy is enjoying a resurgent year- Shady McCoy is finally healthy and it is showing on the field. McCoy is averaging 5.3 yards per carry through the first five games of the season, which is better than his career high. He has already matched last year’s touchdown total of three, and is a big reason why the Bills have gone on a three game run.
When will the Rams decide enough is enough and let Jared Goff start- Obviously any of the Rams success has not been because of the play of Case Keenum. Yes, he has improved as he has gotten more comfortable with the offense, but Goff could have been gaining much needed experience during that time. The Rams rank 30th in the league in passing yards, 31st in the league in scoring, and 32nd in total yards. Not very possible to be worse on offense than that. The defense is good enough to win you games, don’t you wanna see what the kid has? Understandable to let the kid sit if the offense was even mediocre, but Keenum is turning the ball over more than he is scoring, and that’s a problem.
San Diego Chargers 31 @ Oakland Raiders 34
The San Diego Chargers are cursed- How many times are the Chargers going to blow games? They could be undefeated! The latest chapter in the horror tale that is the 2016 season happened Sunday when Chargers punter Drew Kaser couldn’t handle a perfect snap on the 36 yard field goal attempt to tie the game with a touch over two minutes left in the game. A perfect snap like that never gets misplayed. That play further proved the theory that the Chargers are simply cursed this year.
Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree are the best receiving duo in the NFL right now- Last year, it was Erick Decker and Brandon Marshall or Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns depending on who you ask, but this year the best receiving duo has been clear, Cooper and Crabtree. The two have combined for 55 catches for 811 yards and six touchdowns and are on pace for 176 receptions for 2,595 yards and 19 touchdowns.
New York Giants 16 @ Green Bay Packers 23
Even if OBJ made up with the kicking net, the Giants are pretenders- The Giants looked to be the real deal after spending big money on their defense in the off-season and starting out 2-0. Since then they have dropped three straight against playoff quality teams proving to the masses that they are unable to hang with the big boys. The play of Eli Manning and the outside distractions aren’t doing them any favors, and with a much more competitive NFC East this season, they better straighten out their act fast or they will be on the bottom all season long.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 @ Carolina Panthers 14
This was an ugly game, but a win is a win- Jameis Winston was overthrowing receivers, the pass defense was letting Greg Olsen have his way with them, and Roberto Aguayo continued to struggle. The end result? The Buccaneers left Carolina with a victory. There were positives. No turnovers the safety play was much better and the Bucs forced three turnovers, but overall it was an ugly loss. None of that matters as the Bucs enter the bye week at the perfect time to get healthy and come out swinging to stay alive in the South.
Did the Panthers not take notes from the Seahawks Super Bowl loss on what not to do on first and goal?- With a chance to take the lead late in the third quarter, the Panthers on 1st and goal from the one yard line decided to throw the ball rather than just try and punch it in. Did they not watch Super Bowl XLIX when the Panthers won the game in a similar situation? Brent Grimes made a great play on Derek Anderson’s pass and the Bucs drove down to kick the game winning field goal. Now the Panthers are 1-4 and have a huge mountain to climb.
