Maybe the quarterbacks got tired of hearing about the return of the running game.
With the Saints–Chiefs matchup still on tap Monday night, eight signal-callers have thrown for more than 300 yards in Week 5, led by a career-high 509-yard performance by Kirk Cousins in the Falcons‘ overtime win over the Buccaneers last Thursday.
On the other side of the ball, this has been the first week in NFL history with two 100-yard defensive touchdowns. Take a bow, Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins and Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (more on Surtain later).
On a weekend with 10 one-score games so far, the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak against the San Francisco 49ers with a 24-23 win. Denver snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Las Vegas Raiders with a 34-18 win.
The Bears recorded their eighth straight home win, the NFL’s longest active home win streak.
Here’s a closer look at who’s hot and who’s not for Week 5.
WHO’S HOT
Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Bengals
Yes, Cincinnati lost a heartbreaker to the Ravens in overtime and my pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl isn’t looking so great at 1-4 on the year. However, Chase erupted for his best game of the season, with a Week 5 high 193 receiving yards and two scores.
Over the past three weeks, Chase has 19 catches for 396 receiving yards and five touchdowns. According to Next Gen Stats, he reached two of the four-fastest top speeds of his career on his 70-yard touchdown (21.42 mph) and on his 41-yard touchdown (21.33 mph).
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow also put up good numbers, finishing with 392 passing yards and five touchdown passes. However, his interception late in the game with Cincinnati trying to ice it opened the door for a Baltimore victory.
Kirk Cousins, QB, Falcons
The Michigan State product had his best game of the season, throwing four touchdown passes to lead Atlanta to a big win over the Buccaneers and pull into a tie for the top spot in the NFC South with Tampa Bay. The Falcons have won three of their past four games, and Cousins has quieted any talk of first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. replacing him under center.
With his 509-yard passing performance, Cousins is now No. 5 in the NFL in passing yards (1,373).
Kirk Cousins on leading Falcons over Bucs 36-30 in OT
Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders
I thought Daniels would have a soft landing in the NFL with an experienced head coach in Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The Commanders have three former NFL head coaches and two former defensive coordinators on the team’s coaching staff, giving them a wealth of institutional knowledge on the sideline.
No one, however, could have expected the LSU product to play like this.
According to FOX Sports Research, Daniels joined Kyler Murray and Robert Griffin III as the only players in NFL history with 1,000 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in their first five career games. And Daniels is the first player in NFL history with at least 1,000 passing and 250 rushing yards in his first five career games.
And yes, he has joined the MVP race.
Just how good are the upstart Commanders?
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars
Jacksonville ended a four-game losing streak with the team’s first win of the season, a 37-34 victory over the Colts. Lawrence was at the center of the success, finishing 28-of-34 for a career-high 371 yards and two touchdowns, with a lone interception for a 119.5 passer rating.
According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence completed 10 of his 13 attempts outside the numbers for 158 yards, including both of his touchdowns. To top it off, he put together his best performance of this season on his 25th birthday.
Pat Surtain II, CB, Broncos
One of the best cornerbacks in the league, Surtain finished with two interceptions in a win over the Raiders, including one returned 100 yards for a score. Surtain is the first player with two career pick-sixes of at least 70 yards since Marcus Peters (3).
Surtain also is the leader of one of the NFL’s best defenses, which is the main reason the Broncos are 3-2. Denver is holding teams to 14.6 points per game, tied for second in the league. And the Broncos are tied for fifth in the NFL with eight takeaways.
WHO’S NOT
Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers
San Francisco blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and Purdy’s play at the end of the game led to the result. While the Iowa State product has been mostly clutch in critical situations for the 49ers, he struggled in his team’s disappointing home loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Purdy finished 7-of-12 for 79 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the second half as San Francisco’s explosive offense was held scoreless. The 49ers finished 1-of-6 for the game in the red zone.
Part of Purdy’s struggles had to do with kicker Jake Moody going down with a leg injury that could keep him out for a few weeks, forcing coach Kyle Shanahan to be more aggressive. Still, Purdy seemed to scramble around more and chase the big play instead of taking what the defense gave him. And the 49ers now sit at 2-3 in the NFC West.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Jets
With one of the best defenses in the league, New York doesn’t need the MVP version of Rodgers. The Jets would take the 2015 version of Peyton Manning, when he helped lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl title. That season, Manning was great at getting Denver in the right call at the line of scrimmage pre-snap, managing the game and making sure not to put his top-five defense into bad situations.
Rogers has four interceptions and an 81.6 passer rating though five games. Three of those interceptions came in the loss to the Vikings on Sunday in London. At 2-3, the Jets are only a game back of the Buffalo Bills (3-2) in the AFC East, so there’s still time for Rogers to turn things around. A potential rumored trade for Raiders star receiver Davante Adams would help.
Jets lose in London: Is Aaron Rodgers washed?
Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns
Through five games, Watson has looked like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s averaging just 4.9 yards per pass attempt and has a 74.4 quarterback rating for the Browns, who are off to a disappointing 1-4 start after reaching the playoffs last season. Watson hasn’t thrown for more than 200 yards in any game this season and the offense has not scored 20 points in a game.
The Browns are obviously in a bind because they traded for Watson in 2022 and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million deal. They can’t trade him now because of the burdensome contract. As my colleague Ralph Vacchiano points out, the Browns are stuck with Watson.
[Vacchiano: The $230M problem: Browns weighed down by a struggling Deshaun Watson]
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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