Week 5 in the NFL had some surprises like no other. The most appealing one had to be the performance of the Dallas Cowboy offense is being able to keep pace with the Denver Broncos. Then there was the unbeaten teams that took their first loss of the season. As Always I will cover the most relevant topics in this installment of Monday Morning Quarterback.
I will start off with the Denver Broncos who took their unbeaten record into Dallas to face off with the Cowboys. The boys’ looked sharp to start off the game and even got up 21-7 at one point. Tony Romo was escaping the pocket throwing on the money passes to Jason Witten who was all over the place. He had 7 catches for 121 and a TD. Romo threw for a ridiculous 506 yards and had 5 TD. Whoever started him in their Fantasy Football League had to be happy. Tony Romo actually out played Peyton Manning….right until the last Cowboy drive in the 4th quarter when he throws the inevitable “late game Tony Romo interception”. When I saw this pick I nearly did a back flip and I can’t even do back flips! Romo had played a flawless game up until this moment so obviously the entire game can’t be blame on him because he lead the offense to 48 points. A good portion of the blame has to go on the defense with surrendered 51 points– yes the Broncos are a great offense but the D should have gotten a few more stops. To their credit though Manning was intercepted for the 1st time on the season by them.
Let’s keep in mind that there are no moral victories in football– so Denver was able to get out of there with a last minute field goal to win the game 51-48. They remain undefeated at 5-0. 
The New England Patriots went into Cincinnati with a four game win streak, also Tom Brady had a 52 game streak of throwing at least 1 TD pass and ALL of that came to an emphatic end by the end of the game. In what had to be the biggest upset of the afternoon The Bengals shutdown the Patriot offense and held them to only 2 field goals for the game. Brady was rattled and sacked 4 times and he fumbled once and threw a pick.
Marvin Lewis must have really coached his defense up for this game because they played lights out and didn’t just lay down and die for the Patriots like so many teams do. The Natti defense forced key fumbles and held Brady to less than 200 yards passing. The Benglas have provided the blueprint to stopping New England– constant pressure on Tom Brady and get some hits on him. New England prepares for the unbeaten Saints who come marching into Foxborough next Sunday.
Speaking of New Orleans… they went to Soldier Field and had to face the Bears who were coming off getting a butt kicking vs the Lions last week so they needed a win to right the ship. But wins don’t come easy against the Saints when the defense is playing the way they are. Cutler was sacked 3 times and the Bears offense was stopped consistently on 3rd down. Cutler finished with 358 yards passing and 2 TD but most of that came in “garbage time” after the game was already decided late in the 4th quarter.
It was Quarterback Drew Bree’s first time ever getting a win in Chicago in four attempts (3 with Saints and 1 with Chargers) He had a good game but failed to extend his 300 yards passing game streak. He completed 29/35 for 288 and 2 TD’s. Jimmy Graham continued his assault on the league catching 10 balls for 135 yards. There had not been much of an answer for him this season. He has proven that he can runaway from defenders or simply out jump them for the ball even when the coverage is there.
Another team looking to remain in the unbeaten category was the upstart Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid has already taken this team past last years win total and they came into Tennessee looking to keep it going. Tennessee had to start backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick due to last week’s hip injury to starter Jake Locker. I had the Titans picked out as a likely landing spot of Josh Freeman because of the Locker injury and the fact that they were contenders at 3-1 when he went down.
The Chiefs served up a steady game of Jaamal Charles running the ball for 22 carries for 108 yards and a TD. Alex Smith added 245 yards passing in what was a very tight game. The Titans had their first turnover of the SEASON in this game on a botched punt return– how’s that for a team that doesn’t beat themselves. Fitzpatrick was lackluster though completing 21/41 of his passes for 247 with 1 TD and he was picked off twice. Chris Johnson caught the lone TD on a shovel pass where he took it the distance. Johnson use to be a star back in the league and now he’s just that guy who some people were dumb enough to draft in an early round in fantasy football. The Chiefs were able to pull it out late and get away with the 26-17 win.
Another marquee match up that saw an unbeaten team come in was the Seahawks vs the Colts. The Hawks has a big comeback win over the AFC South Texans and they came into Indy trying to get the win but the Colts are a sleeper team who has shown the league they are for real. The Colts went score for score with Seattle and picked Russell Wilson off late in the fourth to seal the victory. The “Legion Of Boom” was torched for several deep plays including a 73 yard bomb to T.Y Hilton. Hilton had 5 grabs for 140 and 2 TD’s.
Russell Wilson did everything he could to get the win for his coach Pete Carroll and the team he threw for 210 yards with 2 TD and rushed for 102 yards but the costly interception of the final drive going of the win put the game on ice. For Seattle’s secondary which is suppose to be one of the best in the league they should have done more to contain the Colts and they should have done better in run support to stop Richardson.
Richard Sherman who usually has ALOT to say after the Seahawks win– had nothing to say after the team took the lost and the defense looked soft. Seattle is still my front runner along with New Orleans to be in the Superbowl representing the NFC.
The Baltimore Ravens slipped past the Dolphins by a field goal 26-23. Miami was just 3-0 two weeks ago and now they have a two game losing streak. Fortunately for them the Bengals beat New England so they didn’t lose anymore ground in the AFC EAST. Miami had a chance to make a statement but naturally they allowed that moment to slip away. Flacco threw 5 interceptions last week and I predicted that this Ravens team wouldn’t win more than 6 games this season so Miami should have been able to take care of business. The Dolphins come away with another disappointing loss and are stuck shaking their heads.
The Lions were without Calvin Johnson going up to Lambeau Field and it made a huge difference from last week. The team was held to only 9 points and the offense didn’t look so strong like they did last week against the Bears. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers took it to them to the tune of 22 to 9. The Lions had a chance to make a statement that they were ready to compete with the best of the NFC but the absence of Johnson left them pretty lame on offense and Reggie Bush didn’t do much in this one.
The New York Giants lost their 5 game in a row losing to the Eagles 36-21, and after Eli’s 3 interception performance those 2 Superbowl wins seem like they were a lifetime ago. At the rate the Giants are going they will have a top 5 pick in next April’s NFL Draft.
Then there was the night game between The San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans that was suppose to be quite a game. In the end it was anything but… the Texans have truly proven that they can’t handle “big games”. Schaub has earned an infamous NFL record for being the only QB in history to throw a “pick 6” in 4 consecutive games and now national media pundits and outlet alike are wondering if it is time for the Texans to start looking for another Quarterback?
Good Question– but unless there is a QB available who is CLEARLY BETTER THAN SCHAUB… then the need to stay put and keep him as the starter for now. Don’t be like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and make a rushed decision based off a few games whether the team collectively loss the game.
The 49ers dominated the Texans in EVERY aspect of football and there wasn’t any real bright spots for Houston all game. The final was 34-3 and left many people wondering what happened to the Texan team who everyone thought was ready to be a Superbowl contender????
The Monday Night game is a bit of a laugher sort of…. The Jets play in Atlanta against the Falcons. Yeah…same thing I said. I doubt I will watch any of this game because I have no desire to see Geno Smith fumbling while attempting to put the ball behind his back. My prediction is Jets 13 Falcons 34.
As always Monday Morning Quarterback will be here on MindBenderent.com every Monday during the NFL season.
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