Tuesday, March 19, 2024

A Review Of Week 5 In The NFL

Hard to believe we are waving goodbye to week 5 already. We are over a quarter of the way through the season. We know the teams that will be competitive and those that will not be.

Here is my review of week 5 of the NFL.

Horror Injury In Dallas In Week 5

There’s sadly only one place to start and that is the horror injury to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys won 37-34 against their division rivals the New York Giants, thanks to the late field goal from Greg Zuerlein.

However, the injury to Dak Prescott overshadowed the win for the Cowboys.

Midway through the third quarter with the Dallas Cowboys 24-23 up, Prescott scrambled with the ball and went down after trying to get away from Giants safety Logan Ryan.

Cowboys players surrounded Prescott as did his former head coach Jason Garrett, who now works as the Giants’ offensive coordinator.

Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle and will be out for 4-6 months. He had recorded 9 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 1,856 passing yards this season.

Andy Dalton will now serve as Prescott’s quarterback replacement, which is not a bad situation for the Cowboys.

During his time with the Cincinnati Bengals, Dalton recorded over 31,000 passing yards. He also threw for 204 touchdowns and 118 interceptions.

Dalton was always seen as safe hands but not someone who can take a franchise to the next level when with the Bengals. However, Dalton never had the weapons in Cincinnati that he has in Dallas.

Dalton only had AJ Green as a legitimate receiver to throw to. He now has Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and rookie CeeDee Lamb as receiving options.

I am not suggesting he has a season similar to Nick Foles in 2017, where he replaced the injured Carson Wentz and guided the Eagles to Super Bowl victory.

However, with the NFC East as poor as it is, the Cowboys could end the season with a 7-9 or 8-8 record and win the division. This could see the Cowboys come in as a fourth seed. Once the playoffs start in the NFL, anything is possible.

Week 5 sees the Impressive Chicago Bears Defense

On Thursday Night Football, the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Bucaneers 20-19 in a field goal heavy win at Soldier Field. After a disappointing 2019, the Chiago defense looks back to it’s best.

This was clear to see in the week 5 win over Tampa. Defensive end Khalil Mack particularly seemed to get to Tom Brady, with two sacks. This was also apparent when Tom Brady failed to make the yardage on fourth down at the of the game and thought that there was one more down.

Linebacker James Vaughters also got a sack to give Chicago a total of three for the evening.

Offensively, the Chicago Bears were not at their best but their defense won them this game. They say defense wins championships and with the Bears 4-1 you would think everything is great in Chicago.

I am not sure i have ever seen a team at 4-1 who has replaced their quarterback mid game for something other than injury. This goes to show that their defense is keeping them in games, with only two of their five opponents this season scoring more than 20 points against them.

Player Of The Week- Chase Claypool

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Canadian wide receiver Chase Claypool 49th overall in the 2020 draft.

Prior to this game, Claypool had not scored a single touchdown. He had not recorded more than 88 receiving yards in a game but against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 38-29 week 5 win, Claypool announced himself to the league with four touchdowns.

Chase Claypool recorded 110 yards, which is more than the previous two games combined.

It remains to be seen if this was just a one off or if this a sign of things to come but Chase Claypool will always have this gamen to look back on. He is certainly the player of the week.

Elsewhere In The League In Week 5

The Las Vegas Raiders handed the first loss of the season to their division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs in the 40-32 win in week 5.

This was the first loss of the career of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ that was by more than 7 points. They managed to deal with the Kansas City offense whilst also getting points of their own.

Finally, the nicest story of week 5 was seeing Washington Football team’s quarterback Alex Smith returning from his horror injury in 2018.

In week 11 against the Houston Texans, Alex Smith broke his right leg, suffering a compound fracture. Furthermore, Smith was left fearing for his life after he developed sepsis. Doctors said he may never play the sport again.

This makes the comeback even more special. Nobody thought he would be back on the field. After Kyle Allen went off with an injury, Smith came in to the delight of everyone.

Washington lost the game 30-10 to the Los Angeles Rams. However, this did not really matter. The story of Alex Smith’s recovery is the real winner in this game.

For all the latest NFL news, be sure to like our Facebook page by clicking here or check out the dedicated page on the site which you can find right here.

Jaguars want explosive Ridley back in 2024

The Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson has said he wants WR Calvin Ridley to return in 2024. "He was a great addition to our offense," Pederson...

Colts committed to bring back impressive WR1

The Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard has categorically stated WR1 Michael Pittman will be a Colt next season. Speaking at the NFL Combine, when asked if...

Jets dumping massive flop 2nd-pick Wilson

The New York Jets have given Zach Wilson permission to seek a trade, in the same week that rumours about the Rams potentially looking at...

Patriots clearest sign of new QB in 2024

Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf has given the clearest indication yet that they will be taking a QB in the 2024 NFL draft. "I think...