Arizona Cardinals 33 at San Francisco 49ers 21
Offensively: As I expected the Cardinals rode the shoulders of David Johnson in this game with Johnson rushing for 157 yards & 2 TDs while Larry Fitzgerald had 6 receptions for 81 yards & 2 scores.
Defensively: The Cardinals defense showed up in this game sacking Blaine Gabbert 7 times & they intercepted Gabbert 2 times as well.
Biggest Takeaway: The Cardinals offense without Carson Palmer played fairly well in this game to improve to 2-3 & with this win the Cardinals might be able to build some momentum.
New England Patriots 33 at Cleveland Browns 13
Offensively: Tom Brady definitely left his mark in his first game back with 406 yards & 3 touchdowns with all 3 of those touchdowns going to Martellus Bennett.
Defensively: The Patriots were able to force a turnover on Charlie Whitehurst with Patrick Chung intercepting him.
Biggest Takeaway: The Patriots & Tom Brady are really good. That’s it.
Philadelphia Eagles 23 at Detroit Lions 24
Offensively: Matthew Stafford played fairly well in this game throwing for 180 yards & 3 touchdowns.
Defensively: The Lions forced 2 big turnovers in this game with one being a forced fumble on Ryan Matthews & the other was a late interception on Carson Wentz (Wentz’s 1st interception thrown this season).
Biggest Takeaway: The Eagles defense didn’t look as dominant as the other 3 games they played this season & Carson Wentz had one of his 1st rookie mistakes in this game with a late interception that cost them the game.
Chicago Bears 23 at Indianapolis Colts 29
Offensively: Brian Hoyer continued his great play throwing for 397 yards & 2 touchdowns with Jordan Howard also having another impressive game rushing for 118 yards on 16 carries.
Defensively: There wasn’t much defense in this game being played with both teams having 400+ total yards each.
Biggest Takeaway: The Colts won this game but I still don’t see them as a good team & Andrew Luck has been sacked 20 times in the first 5 games this year.
Tennessee Titans 30 at Miami Dolphins 17
Offensively: Marcus Mariota I think had his best game this year throwing for 163 yards & 3 touchdowns while also rushing for 60 yards & also added a touchdown in that department as well.
Defensively: The Titans defense was able to intercept Ryan Tannehill twice in this game & shut down the Dolphins running game to 51 yards on 17 carries.
Biggest Takeaway: The Dolphins are arguably the worst team behind the Browns this year with the struggles they have at pretty much every position.
Washington Redskins 16 at Baltimore Ravens 10
Offensively: The QB play in this game was average with Kirk Cousins tossing 260 yards, 1 touchdown, & 1 interception while Joe Flacco threw for 210 yards & a touchdown.
Defensively: The Ravens did a good job stopping the Redskins running game to 60 yards on 20 carries while the Redskins defense did a good job creating pressure on Flacco sacking him 3 times.
Biggest Takeaway: The Redskins won & improve to 3-2 but they still aren’t a team to watch out for in my opinion.
Houston Texans 13 at Minnesota Vikings 31
Offensively: Sam Bradford had another impressive game in his 4th game as the starting QB throwing for 271 yards & 2 touchdowns. Adam Thielen did a good job stepping in for Stefon Diggs getting 7 receptions for 127 yards & a touchdown.
Defensively: The Vikings defense balled out again sacking Brock Osweiler 4 times & they also intercepted him once in this game as well. With 4 sacks this game the Vikings have 19 on the year which is tied for best in the NFL with Broncos also having 19.
Biggest Takeaway: The Vikings are running through everybody they play right now & are separating themselves as the clear number 1 team in the NFC.
New York Jets 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers 31
Offensively: Ben Roethlisberger had another good outing throwing for 380 yards & 4 touchdowns. Sammie Coates stepped up in this game catching 6 passes for 139 yards & 2 touchdowns.
Defensively: The Steelers did a good job pressuring Ryan Fitzpatrick sacking him 3 times & hitting him 10 times.
Biggest Takeaway: The Steelers looked good in this game but I still see them as the 2nd best team in the AFC behind the Patriots.
Buffalo Bills 30 at Los Angeles Rams 19
Offensively: LeSean McCoy ran all over the Rams defense rushing for 150 yards in 18 carries.
Defensively: The Bills had a great game defensively sacking Case Keenum 4 times & intercepting him twice as well.
Biggest Takeaway: The Rams came back down to Earth after being 3-1 by looking terrible again in this game.
Atlanta Falcons 23 at Denver Broncos 16
Offensively: The guy I was most impressed with was Tevin Coleman who before the game said he had the sickle cell trait but he ended up with 6 carries for 31 yards & added 4 catches for 132 yards & a touchdown.
Defensively: The Falcons defense was the better defense in this game like everyone expected sacking the rookie Paxton Lynch 6 times & intercepting him once.
Biggest Takeaway: This was an impressive win for the Falcons who went into Denver & won although they played a rookie QB who obviously isn’t ready to start in the NFL. Call me a hater if you will but I’m not completely sold on the Falcons because I’ve seen them do this at the start of a season before.
Cincinnati Bengals 14 at Dallas Cowboys 28
Offensively: Dak Prescott & Ezekiel Elliott impressed yet again with Prescott throwing 227 yards & a touchdown while Zeke ran it 15 times for 134 yards & 2 touchdowns.
Defensively: The Cowboys pass rush in this game was surprisingly good sacking Andy Dalton 4 times.
Biggest Takeaway: The Cowboys are 4-1 now & they might be a team to watch out for come playoff time if they continue to play like this.
San Diego Chargers 31 at Oakland Raiders 34
Offensively: Derek Carr continued his impressive start to the season with a 317 yard, 2 touchdown performance in this game. Amari Cooper finally had his breakout game this year getting 6 catches for 138 yards & a touchdown.
Defensively: The Raiders weren’t really able to slow down much in this game but they were able to force 4 turnovers in this game that led to them winning this game.
Biggest Takeaway: The Chargers seem to find new ways to lose with a fumbled snap on the late game field goal that would’ve sent the game to overtime but the Raiders are 4-1 for the first time since their 2002 Super Bowl season.
New York Giants 16 at Green Bay Packers 23
Offensively: Green Bay did a great job getting the running game going rushing for 147 yards on 32 carries. They also did a good job getting Randall Cobb involved getting him 9 receptions for 108 yards.
Defensively: Both defenses played pretty well in this game with Giants being able to intercept Aaron Rodgers twice at Lambeau but were unable to capitalize on them with the bad play from their offense.
Biggest Takeaway: The Giants offense looked awful in this game mostly because of the poor play from Eli Manning & if he doesn’t figure it out the Giants might be sitting at the bottom of the NFC East for the rest of the season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 at Carolina Panthers 14
Offensively: The Bucs were obviously focused on getting the running game going with Jacquizz Rodgers running it 30 times for 101 yards.
Defensively: The Buccaneers were able to force 4 turnovers that helped lead them to a victory in this game.
Biggest Takeaway: The Panthers are now 1-4 and their season very well may be over especially if Cam Newton & Jonathan Stewart have to continue to miss time.
