NFL Week 5 Recap: You Like That?!?!

Week 5 was absolutely eventful, wasn't it?! The game was full of wild moments, close calls, and in the case of a few games, a lot of offense. And it all started with an NFC South battle between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. Now, with the exception of Opening Day and the Thanksgiving games, Thursday Night Football gets a bad rap. The games have been criticized as being boring and featuring teams no one cares about. Even when some playoff scenarios involve some December TNF games, the slot gets highly scrutinized.

Yet every now and then, the TNF slot delivers a gem that even the most anal-retentive of football fans can appreciate. This NFC South battle was one of them. This was a back and forth battle that saw a lot of points scored, clutch plays, clutch moments, and of course, overtime. It was 30-all heading to OT, and the Falcons won the toss. It would be all they needed. The game ended with a long bomb touchdown pass to KhaDarel Hodge, and that pass capped off a huge day for Kirk Cousins, who threw for 506 yards and four TDs in that OT thriller. The Falcons won, 36-30, and moved into first place in the NFC South.

Three days later, across the pond...

You know, if there's one thing I said on a loop in the week leading to this game between the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings in London, it's this: "Aaron Rodgers wrote the book on beating the Vikings." And it's true, he did write the book. However, it seems like Rodgers lost his reading glasses, because he sure as hell forgot to read it. 244 yards, two touchdowns, but three interceptions. One of them returned all the way, and the third one iced the game and kept the Vikings undefeated. Rodgers, what the hell are you doing?

Despite this, there may be some hope for the Jets. Here's why:

The Bills and their idiot, racist fans owe Stefon Diggs an apology. Those morons dared to blame Diggs for last year's choke job, when the truth was that Josh Allen did what he did best against KC: curl up into a ball. And I guess he liked doing that so much that he decided to do it again in Houston on Sunday. Seriously, even the Yankees play better in Houston in October than Josh Allen did. Allen went 9/30, threw for 131 yards and one touchdown, while running for 54 yards. Meanwhile, Diggs led the Texans in receiving. Bills lost 23-20 thanks to a last second field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn. Elsewhere, the Miami Dolphins won a close one over the New England Patriots, turning the AFC East into a crapshoot--something I didn't think I'd ever say.

Week 5 featured quite a few games where defense was thrown out like expired milk. The main one was the AFC North contest between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals; a game that had it all. Lamar Jackson being an absolute beast, along with Joe Burrow. Ja'Marr Chase made fantasy owners very, very happy (so did the aforementioned QBs). The Ravens were down 38-28, but Lamar (again) managed to make lemonade out of lemons again--going from nearly fumbling and nearly getting sacked to throwing a TD pass to Isaiah Likely. After Justin Tucker tied it up with a long FG, overtime came, but Baltimore's first possession ended with a turnover. Cincy could win it with a FG, but conservative plays led to a bad snap on the kick attempt, and a missed field goal. Baltimore had the chance to win, and Derrick Henry's long run to the depths of the red zone allowed Tucker to win it with a chip shot.

The Jacksonville Jaguars picked up their first win of the season, another one of Week 5's shootouts. A 37-34 near last second win on Trevor Lawrence's birthday. Jags are now 1-4, but it's still an uphill battle. We have seen strange things this season. Look at the Washington Commanders. They've won four straight games and look absolutely legit. Washington dismantled the Cleveland Browns, whose coach is still bent on starting a washed DeShaun Watson. And the Bears won big over the Carolina Panthers, so the pressure is on for the Packers to win, as the Bears and Vikings won, and the Detroit Lions were off.

Speaking of the Green Bay Packers, we were in La La Land against the Los Angeles Rams, and it went pretty decently for Jordan Love. Surprisingly, the true star of the game ended up being tight end Tucker Kraft, who scored twice in the Packers' 24-19 victory over the Rams, have now dropped to 1-4. On the bright side for the Rams, the Seattle Seahawks lost at home to the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals won on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. That's right, folks. The Cardinals are the only NFC West team who won this week. WOW! Also in the late window, the Denver Broncos defeated the Las Vegas Raiders soundly, and speaking of the Raiders, they were without receiver Davante Adams, who wants out of Sin City.

Sunday Night Football got off to a crazy start. For one, the game was delayed by inclement weather for over an hour, and when things finally got started between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was gritty. Not much offense, Dak Prescott was stymied by Pitt's strong defense, but despite it all, Dallas still had a chance. Even after a fumble that was recovered by Prescott in their last drive, Dallas still had a chance. And on 4th and goal, the Cowboys delivered. Prescott connected with Jalen Tolbert in the end zone, and that ended up being the difference. Cowboys won 20-17, and stayed in pace with the rest of the NFC East.

The Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints took center stage on Monday Night Football, and while it started out close, it ended just as we all expected. The Saints had absolutely no answer for the Chiefs, and it showed. Chiefs won 26-13 in a game that saw Travis Kelce get his share of catches. This was KC's first game after the injury to Rashee Rice, and from the looks of it, they are still a well-old machine. This was also KC's first win by more than one possession this season, but it was against a very shaky Saints team. I am not convinced. KC needs to do this against teams equal to them.

Week 6 begins with what should be an interesting NFC West battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football, and we'll have another London game on Sunday, this time between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears. On Sunday Night Football, the New York Giants will host the Cincinnati Bengals, and Monday Night Football will also be in MetLife Stadium, as the New York Jets will host the Buffalo Bills in an important AFC East matchup.

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