TOP TWO TEAMS
Top teams, best performances, predictions and trends: The NFL after Week 5
NFL Insider Mark Craig looks back at Week 5 and looks ahead to Week 6.
October 12, 2021 at 5:33PM
1. Cardinals (5-0)
The league's only unbeaten team proved it can win a sluggish 17-10 game against a division rival (49ers) after scoring 31 or more points in each of its first four games.
2. Bills (4-1)
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was 4-0 against No. 1-ranked scoring defenses until the Bills' 38-20 beatdown on Sunday night.
BOTTOM TWO TEAMS
31. Dolphins (1-4)
Since beating the Patriots in Week 1, Miami has gone 0-4 while being outscored by 76 points. Next up: Jaguars in London. Poor London.
32. Jaguars (0-5)
Congrats, Jags. You're now only the second team in NFL history to lose 20 consecutive games. Only six more and you tie the 1976-77 Buccaneers.
WHERE ARE THE VIKINGS?
No. 22. Down one spot. They were 37 seconds from spending the week at No. 32.
TRENDING UP
Since going 0-3 while being outscored 92-48 in Week 1, the Bills, Packers and Cowboys have gone 12-0 while outscoring their opponents 414-211 in Weeks 2-5.
TRENDING DOWN
Three weeks ago, the Raiders were 3-0 for the first time since 2002, their last Super Bowl season. They opened with a dramatic overtime touchdown to beat Baltimore in prime time. They went to Pittsburgh and won. They returned home and won on Daniel Carlson's field goal as overtime expired. They were averaging 30 points a game. All was good. Until … they scored 14 in a road loss to the Chargers, nine in an upset home loss to former Raider Khalil Mack and the Bears and, finally, coach Jon Gruden was forced to resign after the New York Times uncovered racist, homophobic and misogynistic e-mails he had sent dating to 2010. Longtime special teams assistant Rich Bisaccia inherits the meltdown starting with Sunday's game at Denver, which also has lost two straight after a 3-0 start.
HISTORY LESSON
The ultimate reminder that sacks weren't an official stat until 1982 came Sunday when it was announced that Aaron Donald had set the Rams' career sack record of 88 ½. Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, the man who actually coined the term "sack," had 159 ½ of his 173 ½ unofficial sacks while playing 12 of his 14 years (1961-74) with the Rams.
THE ALL-DIGGS TEAM
Bills receiver Stefon Diggs ranks 128th in average yards after the catch (2.96). Younger brother Trevon, a Cowboys cornerback, is averaging 16.6 yards per return on a league-leading six interceptions.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Khalil Mack. The former Raiders linebacker couldn't have scripted a much better revenge game. He had four pressures, a sack, eight tackles and a two-point stop as Chicago went to Vegas and dominated the league's No. 5 scoring offense in the 20-9 upset. Ironically, it came in what ended up being Gruden's final game as Raiders coach. In 2018, the Raiders chose to pay Gruden ($100 million over 10 years), who then chose not to pay but to trade Mack, who then got paid by the Bears ($131 million over six years).
STAT OF THE WEEK
According to Next Gen stats, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier didn't call one blitz against the Chiefs. The result? Eleven hurries, two sacks, four takeaways and a season-low 20 points for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK 6
WEEK 6 PLAYER TO WATCH
Justin Fields. Chicago's exciting rookie QB is 2-1 as a starter heading into his first Packers game at Soldier Field. He played most of Sunday's Raiders game on a hyperextended knee and now faces Aaron Rodgers, who is 20-5 with 55 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 107.2 passer rating against the Bears in the regular season.
STAT TO WATCH
The last time the Cardinals started 6-0, they were in St. Louis being coached by Don Coryell in 1974. They finished 10-4 before losing to the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs.
WEEK 6 GAME OF THE WEEK
Cardinals (5-0) at Browns (3-2): They're averaging a combined 831 yards and 59.8 points per game.
WEEK 6 LOCK
Rams (-10 ½) at Giants: With or without Daniel Jones, the Giants are done. Season Lock record: 3-1 straight up, 2-2 vs. the spread. Last week: Vikings over Lions.
WEEK 6 EARLY UPSET SPECIAL
Vikings (+1½) at Panthers: Another tough blow for the Fire Zimmer Posse. Season Early Upset Special record: 4-1. Last week: Bears over Raiders.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
