Things I Noticed: Week 5

This list of undefeated teams continues to dwindle, but three still remain.  90% of teams that start the season 5-0 go on to make playoffs.  That's good news for the Broncos, Chiefs and Saints.

Four teams were off on a bye this week, but not all of them were quiet.  Tampa Bay parted ways with Josh Freeman, figuring they were better off paying him $5.9 million (in addition to the $2.5 million he earned in the first four weeks) not to be around the team.

The Minnesota Vikings swooped in and picked up Freeman for a cool $3 million.  Apparently their goal is to assemble a stable of the league's worst QBs.  Mark Sanchez and Blaine Gabbert must be next in their sights. Between the paychecks he'll collect from both teams this season, Freeman is being paid $11.4 million (the same amount Tom Brady makes!) to be one of the league's worst QBs.

Bye Weeks: Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Washington.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• The Thursday night games tend to be ugly to begin with, considering teams don't have ample time to prepare for it and the schedule rarely provides a marquee matchup for the game.  Things go from bad to worse when both teams lose their starting QB in the game.  Bills rookie EJ Manuel sprained his knee and will likely be considered questionable for next week.  The Browns suffered a bigger loss, with Brian Hoyer tearing an ACL that ends his season.
• Ok, this is getting out of hand.  Three straight wins for Cleveland?!  The Browns now sit tied atop the AFC North.  Weren't they supposed to be tanking?  
• The Bengals handed New England their first loss of the season in a battle of offensive ineptitude. The game was as ugly as the weather, which turned to torrential downpour late in the 4th quarter when the Patriots attempted their final rally.  Fourth quarter comeback attempts are hard enough, but during the middle of a monsoon, it's just unfair.  
• Conveniently, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine over Cincinnati almost immediately after the Patriots last drive was stopped.  Mother Nature had it in for us!
• Brady's streak of games with at least 1 TD pass came to an end at 52, so he'll be deprived of the
  
  chance to tie the record Drew Brees set last season when the Saints come to visit.  Brady's streak started in 2010 against Bengals, so perhaps it's fitting that it ended in Cincinnati.  
• This was the first time in 4 years the Patriots failed to score a TD.  The last time it happened was week 2 of the 2009 season, which was only Brady's second game back after missing nearly the entire previous year.
• Brady's streak may be over, but the Patriots still have at least one impressive streak going.  They now have 32 straight games forcing at least 1 turnover, which is the longest active streak in the league.
• The tough Bengals defense held Brady to a miserable 18 for 38 passing performance with only 197 yards.  It's the 19th straight game the Bengals have not allowed a 300 yard passer.
• Drew Brees (288 yards, 2 TDs) helped keep the Saints undefeated in a trip to Chicago.  Brees was ultra efficient, using a lot of quick short passes to pick apart the Bears defense.  Both of his TD passes were caught by Pierre Thomas behind the line of scrimmage.  Thomas caught all 9 of the passes he was targeted on.
• Hey, isn't that the role Darren Sproles is supposed to fill?  He caught all of his targets too, but he only got three of them.
• Alshon Jefferey had a career day, setting a Bears franchise record with 218 receiving yards and adding a TD.  With Brandon Marshall receiving so much attention from opposing defenses, Jefferey is able to get open for big plays.
• The Packers extended their winning streak at home against the Lions to 23 games.  James Jones helped break the game open with an 83-yard catch for the game's first TD late in the third quarter. Jones had to attempt the traditional Lambeau leap twice after the score because a Lions fan pushed him back from the wall on his first attempt.  Seriously?
• Jones nearly had a second score in the fourth quarter, but the 27-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers was overturned on replay when officials determined Jones was out of bounds when he caught it.  I've seen the replay a couple times and still can't find where he stepped out prior to crossing the goal line.  Looked like a good catch to me.
• Not surprising that the Lions offense struggled on a day where Calvin Johnson was sidelined with a knee injury.
• The Titans were the last team to turn the ball over this season, but when they finally did, the fumble resulted in a score for the Chiefs.  Damian Williams muffed a punt after the Chiefs opening drive stalled and Kansas City recovered the loose ball in the end zone.
• Chris Johnson often disappoints, but you keep giving him the ball anyway knowing that every once in a while he'll break a big play - like the desperation shovel pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick that he took 49 yards for a score.  He's got blazing speed, he just needs to get the ball in spots where he can use it.
• Kansas City became the first team to win it's first 5 games in a year after winning 2 or less games.
• Jamaal Charles had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, finishing with 108, to go along with 37 receiving yards.
• Andrew Luck (229 yards, 2 TDs) did it again, leading a fourth quarter comeback to hand Seattle their
  
  first loss of the season.  For Luck, it's the 9th game winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime in his career, tying him with Jake Plummer for the most game winning drives for a QB in his first two seasons.  It's also one more such drive than some other former Colts QB had in his first two seasons.
• Russell Wilson ran all over the place, tying Marshawn Lynch with a team high 102 rushing yards. Wilson was one of three QBs (along with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Michael Vick) to lead their team in rushing.
• Sam Bradford tossed three TDs, including two to Austin Pettis, to lead the Rams over the Jaguars.  Bradford has had his struggles this season, but nothing turns around a player's season more than getting to face Jacksonville!  He can build on this!
• Justin Blackman  (5 catches, 136 yards, 1 TD) made his season debut, after missing the first four games with a suspension.  He makes the Jaguars offense slightly less inept, so Jacksonville is thrilled to have him back on the field.  
• While the return of their top young receiver helps, the injury to rookie left tackle Luke Joeckel is a big loss.  The second overall pick from this year's draft broke his ankle and is out for the season.
• Jacksonville is now averaging double digit points this season!  They're all the way up to 10.2 per game!  Blaine Gabbert's Total QBR inches up to 1.8, which is only 22 points behind the next worse QB in the league (which happens to be Chad Henne... who also plays for Jacksonville).
• Gabbert also left the game early with a hamstring injury, but once he's healthy I have a feeling he's really going to turn things around.  This video has me convinced of how great he can be! Blaine is a Real American!
• Miami returned a Joe Flacco INT to tie the game mid-way through the fourth quarter, but the Ravens rebounded to win with a late field goal.  
• On the Dolphins last possession, Ryan Tanehill drove his team into Baltimore territory, but a sack knocked them back five yards and out of reasonable field goal range.  They ended up having to settle for a 57-yard attempt, which missed wide left.  
• Ray Rice finally had a decent game (well, if you consider 2.7 yards per carry decent), surpassing 100 total yards and scoring twice.  He missed a game in Week 3, but in the previous 3 games he did play, Rice failed to top 36 yards rushing or receiving.
• A hamstring injury knocked Michael Vick out of the game, but Nick Foles filled in admirably, throwing a pair of fourth quarter scores to lead the Eagles over the Giants.
• Another turnover plagued affair dropped the Giants to 0-5 on the season.  On bright side, they really can't play much worse than they've shown so far this season, so things are bound to turn around eventually, right?  They may not be good, but they aren't this bad.  Plus, it's not often you can lose your first five games, yet still have a reasonable shot at the division.  They are only two games back, with Dallas and Philadelphia tied for first in the NFC East at 2-3.  
• Cam Newton turned the ball over with three INTs and was sacked seven times, as his Panthers fell to the Cardinals.  Patrick Peterson had one of those picks and now has three of them in his last two games.  The returning Daryl Washington also harassed Newton, picking off another of those INTs and recording a couple sacks.
• Steve Smith was not a happy camper after the game, complaining that the officiating of umpire Dan
  
  Ferrell was "garbage."  Smith was upset that pass interference wasn't called on a play where the defender clearly had a hold of his jersey.  Ferrell explained he didn't believe grabbing the jersey impacted Smith's route, so no flag was thrown.  Smith was later called for offensive pass interference on a play just prior to Newton getting sacked for a safety.  Smith had some strong opinions on those calls, but not to worry - he wants us all to know that he makes plenty of money, so he has no problem with the commissioner fining him for his comments.   
• Tony Romo set a new Cowboys franchise record with 506 passing yards and tied the franchise record with 5 TDs, yet the only thing people in Dallas will want to talk about Monday morning is his fourth quarter INT that helped set up the Broncos game winning drive.  Only Tony Romo could have the best statistical game in franchise history, but still manage to blow the game.  That pretty much sums up his career in a nutshell.  
• With the kind of day Romo had, one mistake shouldn't have been enough to cost them the game. Except they were up against the unstoppable juggernaut that is the 2013 Denver Broncos, led by a machine known as Peyton Manning.  He matched Romo's five TDs, scoring one of them on the ground on a crafty bootleg that caught even the cameraman by surprise.   
• Romo and Peyton Manning combined for a mind blowing 920 passing yards in the game, with the teams lighting up the scoreboard for a combined 99 points.  Talk about a shoot out!
• Denver has scored 230 points this season, setting a new NFL record for most points through the first five games of a season.  It's only about a third of the way through the season, but Manning and the Broncos are on pace to shatter all the records set by the 2007 Patriots. The common link between the two teams?  Wes Welker.
• Peyton Manning finally threw his first interception of the season.  He had 20 TDs before throwing his first INT.
• Matt Schaub's nightmare season didn't take long to continue, as his first pass of the game was picked off and returned the other way for a Niners score only 90 seconds into the game.  It's the fourth straight game that Schaub has thrown a pick-six!  A handful of starting QBs, including Flacco, Vick, Roethlisberger and Dalton, only have five TD passes this season.  Schaub has almost as many TD passes that he's thrown to the other team!  After throwing his third INT of the game, Schaub was mercifully benched in the fourth quarter as the Texans were getting blown out.
• Thanks to the Niners defensive effort, Colin Kaepernick wasn't asked to do a whole lot with the offense, but his one big passing play turned into a 64-yard TD pass to Vernon Davis.  The 49ers pounded the Texans defense with the running game all night, forcing their safeties to creep in closer to the line of scrimmage, which allowed the athletic tight end to torch them for the easy score.
• Since the Oakland A's played a playoff game Saturday night, the crew needed 24 hours to transform the shared stadium from a baseball diamond to a football field, which pushed back the start of the Raiders game to 11:30 PM EST.  That's reasonable for a west coast game, but for those of us on the east coast, it meant not being able to stay up for the whole game.  So thanks a lot, schedule makers.
• The late start was worth the wait for the home town Raiders, as they held off a 4th quarter rally to beat the Chargers.  
• Darren McFadden missed the game with a hamstring injury.  That gave Rashad Jennings the start in the Oakland backfield... until he left with a hamstring injury.  It's a good thing that QB Terrell Pryor can run because eventually they may need to rely on him to be their passing and running game.
• Philip Rivers topped 400 yards for the second straight game and third time this season.  He also threw 3 INTs in a losing effort though, so let's not get too carried away.
• Geno Smith (199 yards, 3 TDs) led a successful two minute drill to get the Jets in range for the game
  
  winning 43-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Falcons.  Despite leading the league in turnovers entering the game (11), Smith took care of the ball and the Jets managed to not turn it over for the first time all season.
• What's up with the Falcons?  The NFC's top seed last year has started 1-4 this season and have already lost twice at home after being undefeated in the Georgia Dome last year in the regular season. Did last year's home loss in the NFC Championship game ruin their mojo?  Steven Jackson has missed the past few games with injury, but it's not like Atlanta had much of a running game last year either.  Roddy White has been hobbled all year, but the Falcons have a lot of other options in the passing game.  Julio Jones has been unstoppable and is second in the league in receiving yards.  Is it the defense?  They've allowed 26.8 points per game so far, compared to 18.7 last year (5th in the league), but that may be more the result of small sample size considering they are allowing a comparable amount of yards to last season.  Perhaps the AFC East just happens to be their kryptonite, since they've lost all three games against that division.  Who knew a late season trip to Buffalo could actually be reason for the Falcons to worry?  Whatever it is that is ailing the Falcons, they need to fix it quick.  Their Week 6 bye week couldn't be coming at a better time.
• Atlanta isn't the only playoff team stumbling this season.  Along with the Falcons, we have Washington, Minnesota, and Houston with losing records despite making the postseason last year.  Ah, the parody of the NFL.  Every year it seems there are a couple teams that see their record tumble drastically from the previous season. 
• Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland are all tied in the AFC North at 3-2.  They also all have identical point differentials (+7).
• The Denver Broncos scored 51 points this week.  Jacksonville has only scored 51 points all season!