The elite teams are starting to be established through Week 5 of the NFL season, starting with the San Francisco 49ers thumping the Dallas Cowboys on the national stage. The Miami Dolphins continue to have a record-setting offense, while the Philadelphia Eagles quietly remain unbeaten and the Detroit Lions are a silent 4-1.
The league is starting to feel out which teams are also going to be competing for a playoff spot. The Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, and Pittsburgh Steelers fall into that category. The AFC North is as unpredictable as ever, as the Baltimore Ravens failed to size command of the division in their collapse against Pittsburgh.
Through the Week 5 slate of games, here’s what we learned from each team. Some trending patterns ensued for several teams:
Jalen Thompson injury hurt (pun intended): Not having Budda Baker already creates a massive hole in the Cardinals’ secondary. When Thompson injured his hamstring in the second quarter and was ruled out, the Cardinals had K’Von Wallace, Andre Chachere, and Joey Blount step up to the plate at safety. Wallace did intercept Joe Burrow in the third quarter, but no Thompson or Baker was evident when Ja’Marr Chase was lighting up the Arizona secondary. The three players combined to allow Burrow to go 5 of 6 for 107 yards with a touchdown and interception (118.8 rating). For the Cardinals sake, hopefully Thompson isn’t out long.
Play-action sparked Desmond Ridder: Teams have to be on their toes playing the Falcons because of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, not paying much respect to Ridder and his throwing ability. Arthur Smith threw in a curveball to help Ridder out, using play-action to get him to move the ball downfield. Ridder was 10 of 11 on play-action passes for 163 yards with a 118.8 passer rating, part of a performance which saw him throw for 329 yards and a touchdown (111.2 rating). Ridder was just 6 of…
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