Week 5 Game Notes

Bills over Eagles

• Just like we all predicted before the season, the Eagles are 1-4 and the Bills are 4-1.
• A quick rundown on why the Eagles are so bad: a horrid offensive line, no competent linebackers or safeties, bad tackling, an overall lack of effort, and finally, simply, too many mistakes.
• Mike Vick threw four interceptions in this game, and his 5-game interception total this year is higher than for all of last season.
• On a more positive note, Vick surpassed Randall Cunningham on the all-time list for rushing yards by a quarterback.  Vick’s 88 yards on the ground put him at 4946 for his career.  Cunningham’s previous record was 4928.

Saints over Panthers

• Cam Newton put together another nice game with 2 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing, but against the Saints could not get the win.
• Newton has 12 total touchdowns on the season, 6 throwing and 4 rushing.  Last year Panther quarterbacks put up a total of 9 touchdowns.
• Jimmy Graham is the best young tight end going right now.  Strong, fast, and athletic, the former basketball player’s 496 receiving yards rank fourth among all NFL players, not just tight ends.
• If you play tight end for the Hurricanes, you’ll probably end up in the NFL.  Graham maintains the standard set by Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow Jr., and Greg Olsen.

Chiefs over Colts

• For the second-straight week, Curtis Painter and the Colts started strong but couldn’t finish.  Indianapolis jumped out to a 24-7 lead thanks to Painter’s 152.2 first half passer rating.  Nowhere near as effective in the second half, the Chiefs made a comeback behind Matt Cassel’s 4 total passing touchdowns to win 28-24.
• Dwayne Bowe’s third quarter touchdown grab is my early frontrunner for catch of the year.

Raiders over Texans

• We all wanted to know how the Raiders would respond on the field after the death of Al Davis.  Well, there’s our answer, a solid victory over one of the AFC’s top teams.
• Former Al Davis first-round pick Sebastian Janikoski made three field goals from 50 yards or more and another from 42.
• Despite Matt Schaub’s deceptive 416 passing yard total, the vaunted Texan offense was out of sorts down their main weapon, Andre Johnson.  Arian Foster couldn’t get it going on the ground, and Schaub completed less than half of his 51 passes and threw a game-ending interception when he easily could have ran in for a touchdown and won the game for the Texans.
• Mario Williams is done for the year after tearing a pectoral muscle.

Vikings over Cardinals

• Minnesota gets their first win of the season.  Some have put the blame for an 0-4 start on not running Adrian Peterson enough, which was entirely off-base seeing as how he led the NFC in rushing.
• It was uncomfortable to hear the Minnesota fans boo Donovan McNabb every time he threw an incompletion despite the Vikings winning the game by 24 points.
• Wow, are the Cardinals terrible.  The defense can’t tackle or cover, and Kevin Kolb gets happy feet any time there’s the faintest hint of pressure, bailing out and throwing up prayers off his back foot.
• Kolb hasn’t overcome the learning curve, so I don’t want to pass judgment quite yet, but so far he has not been worth what Arizona paid for him.

Bengals over Jaguars

• I’ll give up some props to Cincinnati for already equaling their 2010 win total.  They have the #1-ranked defense through five weeks and a dynamic rookie quarterback-rookie receiver combo between Andy Dalton and AJ Green.
• Side note: I’ve never understood why we rank defenses based on yardage allowed.  You don’t win or lose based on how many yards you gain.  It’s about points on the board.
• By the way, Cincinnati ranks sixth in scoring defense.

Seahawks over Giants

• New York easily could have, and certainly should have, won this game, but with the Giants down just four points and at the Seahawks’ 9-yard line with just 1:25 left, Eli Manning’s pick six to Brandon Browner sealed the game for Seattle.

Steelers over Titans

• A disappointment through four games, Pittsburgh really stepped up their run defense and held Chris Johnson to a mere 51 yards on the ground.
• Ben Roethlisberger threw 5 touchdown passes.

49ers over Buccaneers

• San Francisco tied their franchise record with a 45-point margin of victory.  The last time they outscored an opponent by 45: Super Bowl XXIV against the Broncos.

Chargers over Broncos

• It’s Tebow time!

Patriots over Jets

• New England scored at least 30 points for the thirteenth-straight regular season game.  The Patriots’ streak is one off the record set by the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams in 1999-2000.
• The Jets are on a 3-game losing skid.

Packers over Falcons

• Despite the slow start and strong finish from the Packers, I put much of the outcome of this game on Atlanta getting away from their running game.
• The Falcons started with back-to-back touchdown drives of ten plays or more where they leaned heavily on Michael Turner, and frankly, looked unstoppable.  Yet aside from the Ryan Grant fumble that set up the second Falcons drive and a few times leaving touchdowns off the board and settling for field goals, the Packer offense could not be stopped.  It was this perceived pressure that forced Atlanta out of their comfort zone where they unfathomably quit calling run plays despite leading the game.

Lions over Bears

• Along with the Packers, the Lions remain unbeaten.  With their NFL-leading +70 point differential, this Green Bay fan is willing to call Detroit the best team through five weeks.

--from @jeuneski