Highs And Lows: The Biggest Winners (& Losers) Of NFL Week 5
Highs And Lows: The Biggest Winners (& Losers) Of NFL Season Week 5 & The Importance Of Following Directions
By the time I entered college, I was already five years into my career. I was working at The Washington Post in the evenings and was having trouble advancing because I didn’t have a degree. It was an easy way for them to deny me a job, and not wanting to be ignored, I decided I would go to school. It was really just a formality, and I took it as such. I barely showed up to classes, hardly listened during lectures and in short only did what was needed to get my grade, presumably an A, so I could bounce. As a new student, I was forced to take entry-level English from a graduate student who I’m positive I was older than. At this point, my written work had already appeared in the Post, so I was especially flippant about someone of my stature and success to have to learn with children who were fresh out of high school. For my first assignment, I turned in a multi-layered piece about the intricacies and the delicateness of poverty and how being destitute can create bonds that are impossible to break, and paralleled that with the NBA trying to force then star guard Allen Iverson to abandon his friends for his new life.
When it came time to turn it in, I didn’t even go to class, I just slipped my assignment in the teachers mail slot and bounced before someone saw a journalist of my weight leaving an English 101 report in a grad student’s mail. I attended class that next week when the papers were returned and turned to the last page, making the face that Emmy winners make when they’ve gotten to the stage and want the audience to quiet down so they can make their acceptance speech, and I looked down to see a big ass “F.”
This is Week 4 of the NFL football round-up in which we separate the wheat from the chaff (whatever that means) and figure out which teams are winners, losers, and everything in between.
Winners
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I think it’s just fine to call quarterback Baker Mayfield and rookie wide receiver Emeka Eguka the next great duo in the NFL. In a shootout against the Seattle Seahawks, Mayfield went 29-33 for 379 yards and two TDs. Eguka had seven receptions for 163 yards and a TD, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team with the softest sherbert colored uniforms in the league, are now 4-1. And don’t listen to anyone about the Seahawks, they played great, but one team had to lose that game.
Tennessee Titans
It’s impossible not to feel bad for Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado who had a clear 72-yard touchdown and he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line resulting in a touchback. The touchdown most likely would’ve secured the game for the Cardinals, but instead the Tennessee Titans came back and stole this game 22-21, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter. I just hope Demercado doesn’t get cut from the team, as that fumble was really that bad. But the good news is the Titans won the game, and that’s their first win of the season!
Jacksonville Jaguars
I know that NFL games aren’t scripted, but every time I see some heroic plays, especially those that involve slipping, I always think that this is going to look great in the documentary of their life. With seconds to go and the Jags down four to the Kansas City Chiefs, Lawrence slipped twice and was still able to find the endzone.
It also reminds me of this:
In The Middle
Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is back so you know what that means, the Commanders are back on the winning side of things. The offense looks completely different with Daniels behind center. But he wasn’t the story here, that belongs to Jacory Croskey-Merritt who, in only 14 carries, ran for 111 yards and two TDs. Deebo Samuel also added eight receptions for 96 yards and one TDs as the Commanders beat the Los Angeles Chargers 27-10.
Minnesota Vikings
Because the NFL keeps trying to make London a thing, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Cleveland Browns 21-17, at an ungodly hour Sunday morning. While Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson continues to do Justin Jefferson-type things, seven catches for 123 yards, this game was all about Browns quarterback Dillion Gabriel. Gabriel has been the Browns guy since the draft, and unfortunately, that means that Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback of the people, is still on the bench (for now). Gabriel played fairly well, going 19 for 33, 190 yards, and two TDs.
Losers
New York Giants
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is an NFL quarterback. He’s also the Giants quarterback of the future but for all the good work he did in the Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers 21-18, he undid it in Week 5’s loss to the New Orleans Saints 26-14. Dart went 26-40 for 202 yards, two TDs and two costly interceptions. It wasn’t all Dart’s fault though, the Giants committed five consecutive turnovers, tons of penalties, and several missed opportunities. Teams can’t win like this. The Giants’ record doesn’t reflect their potential, but potential doesn’t win games.
Baltimore Ravens
Yes, I know that the Baltimore Ravens were hit with the injury bug, which meant that Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Patrick Ricard, Chidobe Awuzie, Kyle Hamilton and Ronnie Stanley were all sidelined. Yes, I know that it’s hard to overcome the loss of such talented players and yes, I know that it feels unfair to judge a team’s performance based on second string players. But, fam, if we’re being honest, the Ravens looked like trash before the injuries, but the Ravens lost 44-10 to the Houston Texans. C.J. Stroud looked like an MVP candidate throwing for 244 yards on 23-27 passing attempts and four TDs. Cooper Rush, Baltimore’s stand-in for Jackson, looked like he shouldn’t even be throwing the keys to his co-worker at the used car lot where he should be working, much less a football. Rush went 14-20, for 179 yards and three interceptions. Other than getting healthy, I don’t know how the Ravens turned it around, but damn, they looked bad.
…And the “I know I killed this paper, but somehow I failed” award goes to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills
It’s impossible to stay unbeaten in the NFL, but the Buffalo Bills weren’t supposed to lose to the Drake Maye New England Patriots at home. But countless turnovers, issues, and inability to close were fatal. It’s like they walked into the stadium and barely paid attention because they’ve been dominant for years, so they didn’t have to pay attention, and they lost.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles blew a 14-point lead and suffered their first loss to the Denver Broncos. Their offense sputtered in the second half; they underused Saquon Barkley and basically played like they were the best team in the league and therefore didn’t need to listen to the teacher’s instructions and turned in the paper they wanted to write, not the paper that was assigned.
