Best & Worst Of NFL Week Five

Week Five is in the books in the NFL. A few surprises came up from the fifth week of the season. While we still have two teams left that are unbeaten on this young season, there are no more winless teams in the league. Teams are starting to hit their stride and we now begin to see which teams will separate from the pack and become playoff contending clubs. Buffalo managed to shock another team that was a playoff club from last year, while the Jets had a record setting day against a defense that was supposed to be good. You had the Giants finally break through, only to lose in as heartbreaking a way as possible. Oakland and Atlanta both came away, after blowout losses, trying to figure things out and get back on track, before it's too late. All that and more went down in week five, and here's some of the best and worst performances from the week that was around the league.

Best:
New York Jets Run Game
Going up against one of the more feared defenses in all of football, you'd think that the Jets would have been frightened going into this contest. That wasn't the case. As a matter of fact, New York took the ball and rammed it right down the throats of the Broncos. In a resounding 3416 win on Sunday, New York racked up 323 total rush yards on the afternoon. Bilal Powell had 20 carries for 99 yards. But he was easily overshadowed by Isaiah Crowell. Crowell finished with 15 carries for a Jets franchise single game record of 219 rushing yards and a touchdown. It's not the kind of thing New York will be able to keep pace with all year, but it allowed to open up the pass game more and Sam Darnold was able to air the ball out and really let fly. If New York can show a little more consistency in their game the next couple of weeks, there's hpoe still for a playoff shot.

Worst:
San Francisco 49ers Game Managenemt
It wasn't so much game management as it was self inflicted wounds, which is what doomed the Niners a lot last year. Arizona beat San Francisco 28-18, which really makes one have to wonder. San Francisco held the ball for over 40 minutes and racked up 33 first downs. That’s pretty impressive. Now comes the bad part of the story, they also turned the ball over five times. First, it was C.J. Beathard throwing two interceptions and losing two fumbles, while Raheem Mostert lost the third fumble. San Francisco was also hit with nine accepted penalties, bringing their seasonal total up to 39 penalties accepted against them. They can't seem to get out of their own way. They make all those first downs and somehow manage to shoot themselves in the foot with those stupid penalties.

Best:
Graham Gano, Kicker Carolina Panthers
Graham Gano had a day, and a moment for that matter, that few NFL players can only really dream about. Hitting the game winning field goal is something that Kickers think about from the day they start kicking the ball. Tying an NFL record is a goal for any player. Gano did both with one swift kick on Sunday in a 33-31 win over the Giants. He drilled a record tying 63 yarder to win the game for the Panthers, something only few players every even attempt to hit. He had himself a day as Carolina pulled out a nail biting victory.

Worst:
Mason Crosby, Kicker Green Bay Packers
I thought after the disaster days a few weeks ago for Kickers that this was a thing of the past, but I guess not. Not only did Green Bay come up short, falling 31-23 to Detroit, but it was an all over problem. The Packers had three turnovers, zero points, and trailed by 24 points at the half. Things were made worse by kicker Mason Crosby. Crosby failed to connect on field goals of 41, 42, 38, and 56 yards. He also missed an extra point later in the game. In total, Crosby had 13 points left on the board. Had he been able to hit anything close to that over the day, it would’ve given the Packers a victory. This is one day that Crosby wants to have back.

Best:
Tom Brady, Quarterback New England Patriots
Is there anything else that Brady needs to do to prove his greatness? In the 38-24 win over the Colts, Brady had himself a solid game. He went 34 of 44 for 341 yards, threw two picks but more importantly threw three touchdowns. His third touchdown pass, was a big one, as it moved him up to 500 for his career. That makes him just the third quarterback in NFL history to hit that hallowed mark. The only two other guys to hit the mark are Brett Farve (508) and Peyton Manning (539). There isn't much else that is on the career mark for Brady to be able to do to lock his place in Canton when all is said and done.

Worst:
Blake Bortles, Quarterback Jacksonville Jaguars
Bortlesmania may have had a bad week this week in Jacksonville. Kansas City beat the Jags 40-13 and Bortles had a few moments. Sure Bortles threw for 430 yards and a touchdown. That's the good. Now the bad. He threw the ball 61 times and oh yeah also had four picks. He was picked off twice in the end zone, once on the one yard line and the last one returned for a pick six. This week's loss to one of the best teams in football doesn't ALL fall on Bortles. Jacksonville’s defense did yield some big plays, but Bortles’ carelessness with the ball in scoring situations doomed the Jaguars.

Best:
DeAndre Hopkins, Wide Receiver Houston Texans
Hopkins had himself a good day in the Texans 19-16 win over the Cowboys. He finised the day with nine catches for a week five best 151 yards. Hopkins came through with the play of the night. His 49-yard catch and run, which involved multiple spin moves and many jaws dropped, put the Texans in field goal range. A few plays later, Ka’imi Fairbairn knocked through a 36-yard field goal to win the game for Houston. Hopkins’ play set it up, and it capped off a monster game for the Texans. Your best players come up with the biggest plays at the biggest moments and Hopkins did just that against the Boys on Sunday and it got Houston a big win.

Worst:
Marcus Mariota, Quarterback Tennessee Titans
This hurts a little to write, because I'm digging Mariota, I want him to do well. He didn't look good on Sunday as the Titans fell to the Bills 13-12. Mariota was just plain bad on Sunday, going 14 of 26 passes for 129 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Mariota also coughed up a fumble that thankfully was recovered by the Titans. For the season, Mariota has thrown for just 676 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He's looked uncomfortable at times this year and its leaving one to wonder if he's really worthy of being a franchiser QB and worth the 2nd overall pick the Titans used for him a few years ago.

Best:
Cleveland Browns
Took a little while in a very low scoring game, but the Cleveland Browns have their 2nd win of the season. It came in the form of a 12-9 win over the Ravens and Baker Mayfield looked alright in this contest. Mayfield went 25 of 43 for 342 yards, one touchdown and one pcik. What was more important was how Mayfield made moves. Meaning Mayfield had outstanding pocket awareness and mobility helped extend plays. None was bigger than his 39-yard completion deep in overtime to receiver Derrick Willies that put the Browns near field goal range. Cleveland had a solid balance but it was the play of Mayfield that got them the win. Sure, the Browns are going to have to live some mistakes as the season goes along, but that's expected of a rookie quarterback. If this week was an indication of things to come, Cleveland is going to be heading in the right direction,

Worst:
Oakland Raiders
Another week down and it seems like the Raiders are back to where they started. They got their first win of the season last week, but they fell down to earth this week. Oakland fell to the Chargers 26-10 and they looked as bad as the score would indicate. Derek Carr threw another awful red-zone interception. Marshawn Lynch never got going on the ground. The defense was about as effective as air on passing downs. Oakland is in for a long year. John Gruden came back to deal with this team? He was better off staying in the broadcast booth where he was.