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NFL Week 5 winners, losers: Aaron Glenn's awful start
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn on the sidelines during the second half Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

NFL Week 5 winners, losers: C.J. Stroud gets right; Aaron Glenn's awful start

With most of the NFL Week 5 schedule in the books, it is time to take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers around the league from Sunday. The Houston Texans offense had a "get right" game, and some defenses are off to lousy starts.

NFL Week 5 winners

C.J. Stroud, quarterback, Houston Texans. The Texans offense needed a game like this. They took advantage of an injured Baltimore Ravens defense and scored 44 points, with Stroud throwing for 244 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for another 30 yards. This is the quarterback the Texans expected. 

Carson Wentz, quarterback, Minnesota VikingsWas Wentz great on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns? No. But he delivered a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds to give the Vikings a badly-needed win. 

Nik Bonitto, linebacker, Denver BroncosThere were a lot of stars in the Broncos' stunning 21-17 comeback win against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but Bonito needs to get a lot of attention. He had four tackles, 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. He is one of the NFL's best defensive players. 

Rico Dowdle, running back, Carolina PanthersThe Panthers erased a 17-0 deficit against the Miami Dolphins to earn a thrilling 27-24 win, and Dowdle had a career day, rushing for 206 yards and a touchdown in the win. 

David Montgomery, running back, Detroit LionsThere was nothing overly dominant about Montgomery's numbers, but he rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing a touchdown pass in returning to his hometown as part of the Lions' 37-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals

Emeka Egbuka, wide receiver, Tampa Bay BuccaneersEgbuka is putting together a rookie of the year type of performance, and added to it on Sunday with seven catches (on seven targets) for 163 yards and a touchdown in Tampa Bay's thrilling win over the Seattle Seahawks

NFL Week 5 losers

Aaron Glenn, head coach, New York Jets. Glenn was supposed to bring respectability back to the Jets. Instead, they might be worse than ever. Glenn is the first Jets head coach to begin his tenure with the team with a 0-5 record, while the Jets are the first defense to not force a single takeaway in the first five games of a season since 1933. Brutal. 

Miami Dolphins. It is time to clean house here. The Dolphins fell to 1-4 after blowing a 17-0 lead to one of the NFL's worst teams. Mike McDaniel's tenure had previously been defined by mediocrity. Now they are not even reaching that low bar. 

Baltimore Ravens defense. Yes, they have a lot of injuries. But they shouldn't be this bad. The Ravens defense is off to a historically bad start and is the biggest reason they are 1-4 and quickly falling out of playoff contention in the AFC. 

Emari Demercado, running back, Arizona Cardinals. No other words are needed here other than: What are you doing? This is just one of the embarrassing mistakes that cost the Cardinals their game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon. 

Jake Browning, quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals. If you just looked at the box score, you would see 251 yards passing and three touchdowns and say, "Hey, maybe he wasn't bad." No. He was bad. He was extremely bad. His three interceptions were game-changers and forced the Bengals' best offensive player to suddenly transfer into a defensive player (wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase had to make three tackles).

Los Angeles Chargers offense. After starting the season 3-0 and looking like it was finally their time to be a serious contender in the AFC, the Chargers have now lost back-to-back games with a struggling offense. The Chargers have been outscored 48-28 the past two weeks, including Sunday's 27-10 defeat against the Washington Commanders, while quarterback Justin Herbert has passed for just 269 yards in those two games. 

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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