NFL Week 5 preview

Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NFL NETWORK)

Andrew Luck finally got things going through the air against Houston, but it still wasn't enough to get the Colts a victory. At 1-3, it's already a desperate situation in Indy, with plenty of fans questioning Frank Reich's decision to go for it on fourth down in overtime against Houston —one that ended up costing the Colts the game. That said, his players seemed to love the aggressiveness and belief their head coach showed. They'll need all of that against a Patriots team that marked its territory against Miami last week, drilling the previously unbeaten Dolphins and re-establishing their status as the AFC East's best, even though they're still in second place. The Colts will likely be without T.Y. Hilton, but New England may be missing Rob Gronkowski. The Pats get Julian Edelman back after his four-game suspension, and even if he's rusty, he should give Indy's defense some real problems.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)

The Steelers are, to put it mildly, in some trouble. Then again, so are the Falcons. This is as close to a must-win game for each team as any Week 5 game could be. The Falcons get Devonta Freeman back — a good thing because their pass rush is really the only strong area of their defense, and they'll likely have to outscore Pittsburgh. That might not be much of a problem because suddenly the Steelers look like an extremely one-dimensional team. The news that Le'Veon Bell is apparently returning in time for Week 8's game with the Browns doesn't do much to help his team in the here and now. Matt Ryan should have a field day with Keith Butler's beleaguered secondary, and unless Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown sharpen up and the Steelers string together 60 minutes of big-time offense, they will find themselves at 1-3-1 and on life support. If the Steelers do get going offensively, this one reeks of, "whoever has the ball last, wins."

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

Go look at the AFC South standings. Tennessee is 3-1, and the Titans own a win over the Jaguars. Are you surprised? I know I am. That the Titans have managed to do this despite a mostly ineffective offense is even more impressive, given the league-wide trend toward more scoring so far this year. Mike Vrabel's team has cashed in on special teams to win a game, has leaned on the defense for another and got a big play from Corey Davis to beat the defending Super Bowl champs. Are they true contenders? Handling their business on the road against a bad Buffalo team that came back to earth last week would go a long way toward answering that question in the affirmative. How well Tennessee is able to surmount Marcus Mariota's injury-related arm issues might tell the tale in this one. Or it might not, because while the rest of the teams in the league seem to be focused on updating their schemes and strategies, the Bills were prattling on this week about team culture. That wouldn't make me happy if I was a Buffalo fan.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

This one is intriguing for a few reasons. First off, you've got Vontaze Burfict making his return to a Bengals team that has thrived without him — thrived in terms of wins and losses, at least. Cincy's defense has allowed 113 points through four games, good for only 23rd in the league. Burfict should make the team better on that side of the ball, so long as he can play within the league's new rules, which is far from a given. The other interesting element of this game is each team's respective mindset. Miami is doubtless looking for a rebound after getting blown out by New England, and Cincinnati is the poster child for teams that can't handle success. The stage would seem to be set for a major Bengals letdown, but their talent is so great that if they can keep themselves composed, they could make a statement with an emphatic win. The Dolphins need to get back to what got them a 3-0 start: opportunistic defense and balanced, if unspectacular, offense. Anything less, and they'll be 3-2 — with doubt creeping in.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

This game could potentially tell us a great deal about both teams. The Browns were jobbed by a very bad call in Oakland, and a game they had won turned into a tremendously bitter loss. Baker Mayfield displayed many of the traits that got him picked first overall but also struggled with ball security. We'll see how an angry Cleveland team, that very clearly expects to win, handles the next game after a tough loss. We'll also see how Baltimore fares after soundly beating Pittsburgh in what proved to be an anticlimactic showdown with its traditional rival. Memo to Joe Flacco: The Browns' defense is a different animal than what he grew bored with at Heinz Field last week. There is legitimate star power with Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and dare I say, even Joe Schobert. If Mayfield takes better care of the ball and his receivers don't victimize him with drops like they did last week, Cleveland could absolutely pull a fast one on the Ravens here.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)

The Packers righted themselves with a shutout of the Bills, and while Aaron Rodgers has been largely good, he hasn't been his dominant self, especially like you'd imagine in such boom times for quarterbacks. That's doubtless due in part to his leg issues but also may have been a consequence of a running game that was slow to get going. Green Bay did break out on the ground against the Bills, which should help them this week. Detroit was a hard-luck loser in Dallas, with its furious rally negated by a game-winning Cowboys field goal as time expired. The Lions' rush defense is the league's worst in terms of yards allowed, but will Green Bay have the patience to try and exploit that or just air it out with Rodgers? Detroit is much better against the pass, but that owes partially to the fact that teams have enough success running that they don't need to throw. In theory, a shootout between Rodgers and Matthew Stafford should favor the Pack, even on the road, but Detroit, despite its record, seems to be playing harder for Matt Patricia. This feels like a close game.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

No Leonard Fournette means potential big problems for the Jags, especially on the road. While Jacksonville is 3-1, it's not faced an offense like Kansas City's. The Chiefs were held down for three quarters against Denver, only for Patrick Mahomes to explode in the fourth and lead a late rally to keep his team unbeaten. Jalen Ramsey against Tyreek Hill will be a fun matchup, but it won't be a true mano-a-mano battle because Andy Reid will doubtless deploy Hill in unconventional ways. As good as Jacksonville's defense is, it's hard to imagine it slowing down Mahomes all that much, especially in his home building. This game might come down to how well the Jaguars can play keep-away on offense and how well they're able to pay off their drives with touchdowns. A 5-0 start would match Alex Smith's effort for Kansas City last year, but with a decidedly different feel this time around. 

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

The Broncos had the Chiefs right where they wanted them, and then a controversial no-call on what looked like a delay-of-game penalty turned the tide. Patrick Mahomes being pretty brilliant helped, as well. Needless to say, Sam Darnold is not Patrick Mahomes, nor is he anything particularly close to Mahomes, at least right now. Case Keenum has been very underwhelming so far for Denver and missed an easy throw to a wide-open Demaryius Thomas that would have won the game for the Broncos on Monday night. The Broncos will have to be on guard to avoid a letdown against Darnold and the Jets. New York has been in a spiral since its surprising beatdown of Detroit in the season opener, with each performance getting progressively worse. The offense has a long way to go both in the pass game and on the ground, and though the defense has been admirable, particularly against the pass, it hasn't been nearly enough to carry the day. This one feels like a low-scoring affair, but Denver is the better team.

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)

All eyes will be on safety Eric Reid as he takes the field for Carolina. Reid, signed by Carolina last week, was the most visible player to kneel for the national anthem last season. While many will pay attention to what happens before the game, once things get going, the Panthers will need Reid to step in as seamlessly as possible, as they were in desperate need of secondary help. Carolina's winning recipe has been more about its defense than its offense, and that trend might continue against a Giants team that is anemic offensively despite the addition of Saquon Barkley. New York ranks near the bottom of the league in rush yardage and simply hasn't gotten going with any consistency, even though the names on the roster suggest that it should. It would probably be helpful for the Giants if they could find a way to get Odell Beckham Jr. the ball in the end zone. The star receiver still is without a touchdown as the season enters its second quarter, and his yards per catch average is under 11. For context, his career average is 13.8.

Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET (CBS)

Oakland was gifted a win by a bad call, but to the Raiders' credit, the re-spotting of Carlos Hyde's third-down run merely afforded them the chance to get the ball back. They still had to go out and win the game on offense, and Derek Carr and Co. did just that. The Raiders' defense is bad, and their only real way to slow opponents, not that it kept the Browns in check, is to force turnovers. That should be a tougher task against Philip Rivers and the Chargers, who come into the game having survived a surprisingly tough test against a wounded 49ers team. Los Angeles' 2-2 record is very possibly explained by the fact that it's played the league's two best teams in the form of Kansas City and the Rams, and two of its worst in the form of Buffalo and the Jimmy Garoppolo-less Niners. Oakland is much closer to the latter two squads, so Chargers fans should rightly expect that their team puts another tally in the win column. 

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)

It has been a struggle thus far for the defending champs, but perhaps a rematch of the NFC Championship Game will be the spark the Eagles need to get going. Philly's problems have mostly been the fault of the offense, which has yet to score more than 23 points in a game this season. Part of that could be Carson Wentz still working back into form, or part of it could merely be the league making some adjustments to them. In any event, their offense could play well against Minnesota and still manage only 23 points. The Vikings were strafed by the Rams last week, with Jared Goff playing a nearly perfect game. I'm not sure there's anything that the Vikes can take from that other than acknowledging that Goff is fantastic right now, and moving on. One good sign for Minnesota was that Kirk Cousins' strong start continued, as he tossed three touchdowns of his own and even made a few plays with his feet. This game is very winnable for the Vikings, and they need it, lest they fall too far behind the surprising Bears.

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)

Josh Rosen's stats in his first career start last week were merely OK — those of a solid game manager. That belies how well he played, though. Rosen was victimized by awful drops, including two on deep balls that could have changed the course of the game. He made some absolutely sensational throws and fit the ball into very tight windows. More of the same this week against San Francisco will likely earn the Cardinals their first win of the season and end very early the "will we see an 0-16 team" drama. C.J. Beathard was a game competitor last week and almost led San Fran to an upset over the Chargers, but it's asking a lot of him to try and carry the team to any significant degree. Expect a heavy dose of Matt Breida from the Niners as well as some exotic defensive looks to try and confuse Rosen. I'd give the rookie the advantage here, even on the road. San Francisco's defense has been abysmal, though to be fair, the quarterbacks it has faced have ranged from good to great. 

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)

Is it too early to beg for a Rams-Chiefs Super Bowl? L.A. looks like it's playing a different game on offense than everyone else in the NFC, Jared Goff and his receivers appear unstoppable, and perhaps the most frightening thing for opponents is that the Rams haven't really had to lean on Todd Gurley yet. You might recall that Gurley is the best player on the offense. If this level of play keeps up and Aaron Donald and the defense start doing their thing the way everyone expects them to, the NFC West race could be over by midseason. In fact, a win here would put L.A. three games clear of the rest of the division. Earl Thomas would have helped the Seahawks immensely in this one, but now he's out for the season, and Seattle doesn't have its best player. Can Russell Wilson and the offense score enough to keep up with Goff and the Rams? The answer is almost certainly no, so what do they do? Rely on their crowd to carry the day? Good luck with that.

Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)

The Cowboys got a gut-check win over the Lions last week, taking late adversity and flipping the script to turn a narrow loss into a last-second win. Ezekiel Elliott was spectacular on the ground and in the receiving game, as his 34-yard catch was the key play on the decisive drive. He's a little hobbled with knee and ankle issues but appears likely to play in this one, which is good news, because even though their defense has been stout so far, the Cowboys will likely be tested by Deshaun Watson, who found his rhythm last week and not a moment too soon. The Texans' defense cashed in for a touchdown against Indy, and its ability to make Dallas one-dimensional on offense could well be the key to this game. Houston's defense has been strong against the run, and if it shuts down Elliott, the Texans could be on their way to a second straight win and take a season that was on life support and make it look a whole lot healthier.

Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Who sits atop the NFC East? Why, it's Washington, of course. Alex Smith has guided the Redskins to a 2-1 record thus far, though the real story has been a stingy defense that bottled up Aaron Rodgers its last time out and wasn't really bad even in defeat against Indianapolis. New Orleans and Drew Brees will be their biggest test, with Brees poised to become the league's all-time pass yardage leader in this game. Brees is 201 yards away from the record, and given that this game is in the friendly confines of the Superdome, it would be a shock if he doesn't get it. Washington's goal needs to be to somehow keep the Saints from scoring touchdowns — easier said than done. Alex Smith isn't the type of guy who can win a shootout with Brees — few can — so he'll have to try and maximize time of possession and cash in with six points whenever Washington can sustain some offense. Still, all that said, this feels like one of those games that will be a coronation for an individual more than anything else.