2017 NFL Week 5 Recap

NFL Week 5 proved to all football fans that, yes, the New York Giants are that bad. The Giants lost their fifth straight game. This time, they lost a 2-point lead to the up until NFL Week 5 four straight losers that were the L.A. Chargers.

The Giants horrific performance wasn’t the only memorable one from NFL Week 5. I write about that game as well as everything else that happened in my 2017 NFL week 5 recap. Check it out!

2017 NFL Week 5 Recap

New England Patriots -5 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers +5

The Patriots’ defense allowed Bucs’ QB Jameis Winston to throw for 334 yards. Winston added a TD pass. Returning RB Doug Martin rushed for 74 yards and a TD. Sure, the Patriots won the game, but does anyone truly believe that New England has solved their defensive woes? I don’t.

Result: Patriots 19, Buccaneers 14 

New York Jets +1.5 at Cleveland Browns -1.5

The Jets’ managed to outplay the Cleveland Browns in what turned out to be a much more interesting game than many believed it was going to be. NYJ’s defense roughed up Browns’ starting QB DeShone Kizer. Kizer completed 8 of 17 for 87 yards. He threw an interception before Hue Jackson replaced Kizer with former Stanford QB Kevin Hogan.

Hogan performed exceptionally well. He completed 16 out of 19 for 194 yards. He threw 2 TD passes. With Hogan under center, the Browns should soon win a football game. The Jets beat Cleveland, but Cleveland is the team that made big strides in this game.

Result: Jets 17, Browns 14  

Jacksonville Jaguars +8.5 at Pittsburgh Steelers -8.5

All the Steelers needed to do was rush RB Le’Veon Bell to put a beat down on the Jacksonville Jaguars, right? Not so fast. The Jaguars’ D, which had been one of the worst in the NFL against the rush, buckled down to hold Bell to a 3.1 per carry average. I believe Jacksonville’s rush defense is a big part of why QB Big Ben Roethlisberger tossed 5 interceptions. Even for veteran offenses, it’s difficult to switch up strategy in the middle of a game.

Nothing accounts for Pittsburgh’s horrible defense on Jacksonville RB Leonard Fournette. Fournette rushed for over 180 yards.

Result: Jaguars 30, Steelers 9

Buffalo Bills +3 at Cincinnati Bengals -3

I feel bad for the Bills. The defense played well. It always does. But Buffalo’s offense took a huge hit. TE Charles Clay went down with an injury. Cincinnati WR A.J. Green burned Buffalo’s secondary all day. He might have given a blueprint to the rest of the NFL. Offensive coordinators are now aware of what they must do to break down the Bills’ D.

Result: Bengals 20, Bills 16 

Tennessee Titans -1 at Miami Dolphins +1

The Titans had an excuse for losing this game. QB Marcus Mariota didn’t play. Miami has no excuse for how badly the offense has been. Well, the Fins have one excuse. Starting quarterback Jay Cutler. He’s horrendous. He might be the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. Versus Tennessee’s horrible pass defense, Cutler completed 12 of 26 for 92 yards. His yards per completion came out to 3.5. He tossed an interception. Really, Jay? Really?

Result: Dolphins 16, Titans 10

San Francisco 49’ers +1.5 at Indianapolis Colts -1.5

Both the 49’ers and Colts are bad football teams. I must admit that they played an entertaining game in NFL Week 5, though. 49’ers’ QB Brian Hoyer threw for 353 yards and 2 TDs. The Colts’ offense didn’t play all that badly, either. Indianapolis WR T.Y. Hilton caught 7 passes for 177 yards. RB Marlon Mack rushed 9 times for 91 yards. He scored a TD. Indy beat SF in overtime.

Result: Colts 26, 49’ers 23

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 at Philadelphia Eagles -6.5

I thought Arizona’s offense might rough up the Eagles’ secondary in this game. The Cardinals’ have some talent on offense. The Eagles’ secondary has had a rough go of it versus plenty of teams already this season. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Cardinals’ QB Carson Palmer played like a rookie while Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz threw 4 TD passes and for 304 yards. It was a big performance by the Eagles.

Result: Eagles 34, Cardinals 7

L.A. Chargers +3.5 at New York Giants -3.5

The Giants are snakebit. That’s the only way to describe it. Before going down with a broken ankle that ended his season, WR Odell Beckham Jr. had caught 5 passes for 97 yards. One of the passes he had caught went for a TD. Once Odell went down, all the air left in the Giants’ already deflated balloon. It was only a matter of time before Mr. Positivity Philip Rivers rallied the Bolts to their first win of the season.

Result: Chargers 27, Giants 22

Carolina Panthers +3 at Detroit Lions -3

I must give the Panthers credit. I thought they’d bounce big time in Detroit. They didn’t. Cam threw for 355 yards and 3 TD passes. TE Ed Dickson caught 5 passes for 175 yards. Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford tried to provide his usual 4th quarter heroics. This time, Staff and Detroit fell short.

Result: Panthers 27, Lions 24 

Seattle Seahawks +2.5 at L.A. Rams -2.5

Seattle’s defense finally played a decent game of football. The Seahawks’ D appeared underwhelming in the first 4 weeks. Versus the Rams, the highest scoring team in the NFL, Seattle’s D was downright awesome. It held QB Jared Goff to 22 of 47 day. Goff didn’t throw a TD while he tossed 2 interceptions. Rams’ RB Todd Gurley rushed for 43 yards on 14 carries.

Result: Seahawks 16, Rams 10 

Baltimore Ravens +2.5 at Oakland Raiders -2.5

Baltimore’s defense didn’t impress that much. The Ravens’ got to play against back-up Oakland QB E.J. Manuel. The story in this game was RB Javorius Allen. He got 21 carries that he turned into 73 yards. He also rushed for a TD. He’s the reason Baltimore beat Oakland by 13 points.

Result: Ravens 30, Raiders 17 

Green Bay Packers +2 at Dallas Cowboys -2

Rookie RB Aaron Jones was great against the Cowboys. He rushed for 125 yards from 19 carries. he scored a TD. He also caught 1 pass for 9 yards. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers rallied the Packers to a win. He threw a TD pass to Davante Adams with around 11 second left in the fourth quarter. No matter what Dallas does, it can’t beat Aaron Rodgers. That’s why Rodgers remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. His stats aren’t always the best. His ability to get his team a W is.

Result: Packers 35, Cowboys 31

Kansas City Chiefs -1.5 at Houston Texans +1.5

KC quarterback Alex Smith was fantastic in this game. Smith threw 3 TD passes to go along with 324 yards passing. Smith did this while TE Travis Kelce, his favorite target, left the game early. WR Tyreek Hill caught 4 passes for 68 yards. Hill also ran back a punt 82 yards for a TD.

Smith and the rest of KC’s offense dominated a Texans’ defense that lost DE J.J. Watt for the season. That’s the biggest news that came out of this game. Houston’s offense finally got it going. It couldn’t keep up with Smith and the Chiefs. QB DeShaun Watson threw 3 TD passes to WR DeAndre Hopkins. That QB to TD combo looks strong.

Result: Kansas City 42, Texans 34 

Minnesota Vikings -3 at Chicago Bears +3

Vikings QB Sam Bradford tried to give it a go on Monday night. He didn’t last. Once the Vikings put QB Case Keenum into the game, the offense got it going. The Vikings found a replacement for RB Dalvin Cook in Jerrick McKinnon. McKinnon rushed for 95 yards on 16 attempts. He scored a rushing TD. McKinnon also caught 6 passes for 51 yards. Chicago starting QB Mitch Trubisky played okay for his first ever NFL game. We must remember that the Bears battled one of the better defenses in the league on Monday night.

Result: Minnesota 20, Chicago 17

What do you think?

Written by D.S. Williamson