The season is now five weeks old and the NFC might have itself another legit contender. The 49ers demolished the Browns on "Monday Night Football" to move to 4-0. The Niners and Patriots are the only undefeated teams remaining in the NFL. General NFL truth: Sharing company with the team Bill Belichick coaches is almost always a good thing. Almost.
The Niners' perfect start was enough to push them up several more spots in the Power Rankings, but I'm not ready to put them in the top three just yet. If you need to vent about this hideous miscarriage of justice, hit me up on Twitter .
Let's get to it.
NOTE: The previous rankings referenced in the lineup below are from the
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罢丑别听' passing game has struggled of late, so Josh McDaniels called on his ground attack to spark the offense. That did the trick. After a first half in which聽聽threw the ball 31 times and New England managed just 12 points against the lowly聽, the Pats shifted gears and ran over Washington in a聽.听Sony Michel聽led the way, finishing with 91 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. The ground game freed up Brady, who passed for 348 yards and two touchdowns a week after one of his worst passing performances in聽聽over the聽. The defense was its dependably dominant self, though the challenge wasn't exactly steep against聽聽and a lost聽聽team that聽聽a day after the game. The Pats are 5-0, with more layups to come聽.
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罢丑别听聽are now 3-0 in games started by聽. The difference in聽聽is that Bridgewater was a major factor against the Bucs. The backup quarterback threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns, significantly outplaying fellow former first-round pick聽听颈苍听a 31-24 victory at the Superdome. In fairness to Winston, Bridgewater has a vastly superior supporting cast on both sides of the ball.听聽finished with 11 catches for 182 yards and two scores, and cornerback聽聽shut out Bucs聽听飞颈诲别辞耻迟听聽on three targets. 罢丑别听' front seven was especially fearsome, hitting Winston eight times and finishing with six sacks. Bridgewater enjoyed the opposite experience: He was rarely touched as the O-line shut down NFL sack leader Shaq Barrett. The final score doesn't reflect the superiority of the聽听丑别谤别.
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The best offense in football looked anything but on Sunday night, managing just 13 points in聽聽to the聽聽at Arrowhead. 罢丑别听聽took a turn for the mortal when聽听补驳驳谤补惫补迟别诲听聽after being stepped on by a teammate in the third quarter. The reigning MVP had a noticeable limp for the rest of the game and lacked the mobility that helps make him the game's most dangerous talent. With the reigning MVP compromised, the rest of the聽聽were unable to pick up the slack. The run game managed just 2.6 yards per carry, and the defense was unable to come up with a big stop, as the聽聽ran the ball repeatedly in the final quarter. So ... is this game an aberration for the聽, or is it a hint of more struggles to come? We imagine a lot of that depends on how quickly Mahomes heals up.
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聽is a bad man. The No. 2 overall pick announced himself as an NFL star on "Monday Night Football" against the聽, stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of two sacks, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Yes, he聽聽in more ways than one. Bosa was the face of聽a nearly perfect performance by the 49ers, who are 4-0 for the first time since 1990 and have an NFC-best +70 scoring differential. The blowout of the聽聽sets up聽a Week 6 matchup聽against the defending NFC champion聽. It's the Niners' biggest game since Jim Harbaugh roamed the sidelines.
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Have a day,听. The running back scored four touchdowns and piled up 182 yards of total offense to lead the聽听迟辞听聽over the聽.听聽is now 4-0 in his career at Jerrah World, an atmosphere that seems to bring out the best in the quarterback. Entering the game, it seemed as if the聽聽would struggle to move the ball without聽, the team's only proven receiver threat (unless you count The Artist Formerly Known as Jimmy Graham), who is dealing with聽聽Moving the ball efficiently minus Adams counts as a major step forward for Matt LaFleur's offense -- even if there seemed to be some feisty moments between LaFleur and Rodgers as Green Bay tried to run out the clock in the final minutes. There's nothing more fun in 2019 than studying the聽' sideline like the Zapruder film.
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罢丑别听聽cruised to聽聽because of their defense. This was a fever dream for defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who watched his unit pile up 10 sacks, 16 QB hits and two touchdowns.听聽put the聽聽up 14-0 and extinguished any sense of drama in the proceedings.听聽tore the ball out of the hands of overmatched聽听迟丑颈谤诲-蝉迟谤颈苍驳别谤听Luke Falk听补苍诲听聽for the exclamation point. 罢丑别听聽were far less impressive on offense, managing just 265 yards against Gregg Williams' stubborn聽聽unit, but in the end, it didn't really matter. This was the聽聽in cruise control against an opponent that could give the聽聽a run for the No. 1 pick. We'll learn a lot more about the聽聽over the next three weeks during聽聽through Minnesota, Dallas and Buffalo.
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Thank you,听. 罢丑别听听办颈肠办别谤听聽in the final seconds on Thursday night, allowing the聽聽to escape with聽聽at a raucous Clink.听That聽was a great football game.听聽stood out as the best player on the field, throwing four touchdown passes with just six incompletions in a near-perfect effort. By the end of the game,听聽fans were chanting "M-V-P!" at their quarterback -- and it's not a crazy thought. Through five games, Wilson has career-high marks in completion percentage, passing yards, yards per attempt and passing touchdowns for the 4-1聽. On Thursday, he was unstoppable. According to NFL Next Gen Stats data, Wilson threw for 130 yards on the run, the highlight being聽聽to the back corner of the end zone hauled in by聽. The play had a catch probability of 6.3 percent. Six. Point. Three.
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Week 4's聽聽at the Superdome was forgivable. Getting聽聽by the聽聽in your own building on Sunday? That requires some introspection.听聽believes the聽聽got overconfident after their 3-0 start. "I can say, sure, we might've sniffed ourselves a little bit too much." Ohhhhh-kay. Prescott had a truly weird game against Green Bay. He made some brilliant throws, with聽聽on first-and-25 in the third quarter coming to mind. But he also threw three interceptions, including聽聽when it appeared like Dallas might dig itself out of a huge hole. 罢丑别听聽missed left tackle聽聽(knee) and lost another key member of their line when right tackle聽La'el Collins聽exited with a sprained MCL. This is an ideal time for the winless聽听迟辞听show up on the schedule.
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Sometimes, the kicker just has to make a kick.听,听, and so the entire vibe around the聽聽will be different in the walk-up to聽Sunday's huge game against the Niners. That's football. Final outcome notwithstanding, the wild back-and-forth affair with the聽聽featured positives for the聽, who are still in good shape at 3-2.听聽heated up after a slow start,听聽continues to look better now than he did before his ACL injury, and Sean McVay made an obvious effort to get聽聽involved from the start. Gurley had two touchdown runs, gained 57 total yards and lost a fumble in the red zone over 18 touches, his second-highest number of touches this season (after logging 19聽聽against the Saints). Giving Gurley more work certainly gave the聽聽some more balance on Thursday, but this was hardly a vintage display from the former All-Pro. Is that guy coming back?
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The voracious聽聽defense was at it again on Sunday in Nashville, pounding聽聽for four quarters in聽聽over the聽. Buffalo sacked the Tennessee starting quarterback five times, despite the return of聽**聽left tackle聽聽from suspension.听聽Tennessee converted just four third downs in 14 attempts and managed just 252 total yards. This type of dominance is starting to become a weekly thing for the聽聽under head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.听Josh Allen聽escaped from concussion protocol and made enough plays while avoiding a killer turnover. Buffalo is built to win games 14-7. It's unlikely to be the last time.
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What a disappointing performance聽聽by the聽, who fell behind by 17 points at halftime, rallied all the way back to take the lead, then allowed the聽聽to march 97 yards for the game-winning score in the fourth quarter. That type of march -- led by the middling聽, no less -- is not supposed to happen against the聽' defense, which is supposed to be the best the NFC has to offer. You can perhaps write the lapse off to an uncomfortable environment, but the聽' running game isn't working on either side of the Atlantic. Chicago must do a lot better than 3.4 yards per carry (29th in the NFL) to ground-and-pound their way to victory while Mitch Trubisky recovers from his shoulder injury.
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Sunday was another reminder that the聽聽can look like a bona fide AFC superpower when they hammer the throttle down.听聽had one of his Jordan-like days against the Bucs, finishing 28-of-33 for 426 yards and five touchdowns in聽聽over the聽. It was a totally different scene after the聽聽shut down the Houston offense聽聽Watson is a superstar on a team that has a few.听聽is a top-five wide receiver, while defensive lineman聽聽is one of the greatest to ever play. No. 2 receiver聽聽isn't in that club yet, but he played like a damn Hall of Famer against Atlanta. The incredible 14/217/3 line was Fuller playing at the top of his abilities -- as we saw before last year's knee injury, when he had 15.7 yards per catch, he's a special talent in his own right. 罢丑别听聽are scary.
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Give Matt Patricia credit: He had his share of doubters after a mostly choppy first season on the sidelines in Detroit, but the聽聽look like a much more cohesive group in Year 2. The sample is obviously small, but September brought optimism that the team is buying into a system that's working. That hasn't typically been the case for Belichick disciples who go it alone. One of Patricia's best offseason moves was to bring in Darrell Bevell as offensive coordinator. 罢丑别听聽are averaging 120.5 yards per game on the ground (up from 103.8 a season ago), and quarterback聽聽is off to arguably the best start of his career. Through four weeks, Stafford has posted career-best rates in yards per attempt (12.8), adjusted yards per attempt (8.0) and yards per completion (12.8). His go-to receiver has been聽, currently on pace for a Megatron-like 144 targets this season.
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"We came into their home when nobody expected us to beat their ass." Those were the blunt聽听辞蹿听, the former聽聽star who returned to Arrowhead as a visitor and ended the night celebrating聽a huge road win. Consider it yet another reminder of the resilience and toughness of these聽, who may no longer have Andrew Luck but can still fight it out with anybody in the AFC. Indy was undoubtedly aided by the ankle injury that slowed reigning MVP聽, but Frank Reich's team beat the聽聽in the trenches. This was most apparent on a 14-play, 35-yard聽聽drive that produced just three points but chewed up more than half of the fourth quarter. The undermanned defense did the rest, led by Houston, whose聽聽with 5:02 left served as the biggest play of the game.
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聽is playing out of his mind right now. 罢丑别听' season would already by over if not for their dynamic superstar running back, who has carried the offense week after week while聽聽works his way back from a serious foot injury. On Sunday聽聽McCaffrey was in "Madden"-on-easy mode. He ended the day with 237 total yards and three touchdowns -- his incredible production is even more amazing when you consider he sat out the end of the game with cramps. It seems silly to have MVP discussions in early October, but McCaffrey has a chance to be the first running back to win football's greatest individual award since聽聽in 2012.
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聽can offer up聽聽all day, but the only real way to repair his on-field relationship with聽聽is to turn that contrition into action. On Sunday, the聽' maligned quarterback targeted his No. 1 receiver eight times聽聽and Thielen responded with seven catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in聽a 28-10 win. It was part of an important bounce-back effort for the Minnesota offense, which piled up nearly 500 yards a week after聽a Week 4 meltdown against the Bears. Cousins found great success in play action, an element of the offense that had been all but invisible during Minnesota's early-season funk.听聽-- who absolutely deserves way-too-early MVP consideration -- accounted for 218 yards (132 rushing, 86 receiving) in his latest fantasy masterpiece. The Vikes' defense also showed up, holding New York to 211 yards of total offense.
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聽is so great that we wouldn't be surprised if he purposely bent his聽聽juuuuust inside the left upright solely to mess with the hearts of聽聽fans at Heinz Field.听聽is always big, but it's even bigger when you can drop your forever rival to 1-4 -- the NFL's version of life support. It was an important get-right day for the defense, which had been savaged in back-to-back weeks, surrendering more than 1,000 yards in聽losses to the Chiefs*and Browns. The Big Ben-less聽*聽are perhaps not the greatest litmus test for the defense, but progress is progress.
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The visiting 0-4聽聽should have been money in the bank for the聽聽on Sunday. Instead, the Bolts gave up the first 17 points of the game, blew a pair of goal-line scoring opportunities and fell short in their comeback attempt in聽聽Disappointment was everywhere in this one, but let's focus on the backfield, where the return of holdout running back聽聽was supposed to bolster an attack that had thrived with聽聽leading the show. Gordon showed a ton of rust, held to 38 total yards from scrimmage and no first downs for the first time in his career. Ekeler had almost no role as a rusher, but he did have a whopping 15 receptions, nearly half of聽' total completions for the game. 罢丑别听聽are a work in progress right now.
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Even a Jon Gruden hater has to admit it: 罢丑别听聽have made undeniable progress in Year 2 under Chucky. Sunday in London represented the highpoint so far for Gruden 2.0 in Oakland:聽A dramatic 24-21 win over the Bears聽and old friend聽. The star was聽, who probably wouldn't be a Raider if not for the Mack trade that sent first-round picks back to Oakland last September. Jacobs ran for two touchdowns and set a career high with 123 yards on 26 carries.听聽was the exclamation point on a touchdown drive that covered 13 plays and 97 yards in the fourth quarter and put the聽聽ahead for good after the聽聽had wiped out an early deficit. After the game, Gruden did some聽聽in the winning locker room -- clearly a shot at the聽' so-called "Club Dub" after wins. Jon Gruden lives for this.
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Minshew Magic wasn't enough on Sunday.听聽put together another strong effort against the聽, but three end-zone prayers in the final seconds went unanswered in聽聽Minshew also had a costly fumble in the final quarter, but he wasn't the reason Jacksonville fell. It was the defense's complete helplessness against the great聽, who piled up 237 yards and three touchdowns. The Jags allowed an astounding 285 yards on the ground (10.6 yards per carry!). Up next on the schedule?聽The Saints聽and Superman running back聽. Good luck.
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So much for momentum. Last week's聽complete victory over the Ravens聽felt like a distant memory as the聽聽pulled away from an utterly overmatched聽听迟别补尘听on Monday night聽at Levi's Stadium. Cleveland was bullied in all phases, but the greatest concern coming out of the loss has to be with QB聽Baker Mayfield, who played poorly on a national stage. Last season, Mayfield set an NFL record for TD passes by a rookie. This year? He leads the NFL with eight interceptions despite the much-hyped addition of聽聽Jr., who was quiet again. Mayfield will have nightmares about聽, who lived in the backfield and聽. This was not supposed to be the script in Cleveland.
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Same old聽. Tennessee had a chance to string together back-to-back impressive performances after聽a balanced win over the Falcons聽in Week 4, but instead聽got smothered by the Bills聽in their own building. Buffalo's defense has done that to several teams this season, and will do it to several more, but with the聽, there is always that hope they can put it together and find the consistency that will shut up all the critics. Instead,听聽was under constant attack from a聽聽pass rush that finished with five sacks. 罢丑别听聽managed just 252 yards on offense, but still could have come out of this defensive dogfight with a win if聽聽doesn't fail on four field-goal attempts (three misses, one blocked). The nightmare outing聽聽and kept the 2-3聽聽in one-step-forward-two-steps-back mode.
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Every young NFL quarterback learns quickly how, well,听hard聽the job is, and the聽聽were happy to deliver the lesson to聽聽on Sunday at the Meadowlands. Danny Dimes was sacked four times, harassed constantly and held to less than 5 yards per attempt in聽a 28-10 loss. It would have been a different game had Jones not missed two crucial throws to Sterling Shepard: in the first quarter, an overthrown deep ball with Shepard alone behind the secondary and, in the third quarter, a high red-zone pass that carried Shepard out of the end zone. Big Blue settled for three points on two possessions that could have produced 14. 罢丑别听聽fared no better on the other side of the ball: 罢丑别听' Big Three of聽,听听补苍诲听聽found prairie fields of open space in the middle of a New York defense missing multiple linebackers dealing with injuries.
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The Bucs were unable to keep the positive momentum going after last week's聽eye-opening 50-burger against the Rams. 罢丑别听' defense posed a much bigger challenge to聽, who was harassed regularly in聽聽at the Superdome. New Orleans did an excellent job neutralizing both聽听补苍诲听. The wide receiver was held without a catch on three targets, thanks to blanket coverage from聽. Barrett, meanwhile, finished without a sack or quarterback hit (he still stands at a robust nine sacks through five weeks). Sunday taught us that Tampa Bay is not at New Orleans' level ... but we already knew that.
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It may be too little, too late, but it appears the聽' defense has finally come to life. The unit broke through with its first three sacks of the year in聽, and this past Sunday, Denver claimed its first three takeaways vs. the聽. Even better, Vic Fangio's team finally found a way to close out聽a win. That was supposed to be the formula here: Play great defense, lean on聽聽and the running game and have聽聽pilot the offense like the accomplished vet he is. Against the Bolts, it all finally went to script. Can it be replicated?
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础苍辞迟丑别谤听, another聽lost game聽in what's fast becoming a lost season for the聽. A violent hit by聽听办苍辞肠办别诲听Mason Rudolph聽out cold against the聽, forcing Mike Tomlin to turn to a person named聽. Nothing good happens when you get to your third quarterback by early October. The shame for Pittsburgh is how close it came to a win over Baltimore that would have reframed the AFC North. Had聽听苍辞迟听聽in overtime, the聽聽might be sitting in a three-way tie for first in the disappointing AFC North. Instead, they are two games out with an undrafted rookie free agent nicknamed "Duck"聽. Life's tough, guys.
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罢丑别听聽fancied themselves as playoff contenders when the season opened. Through five weeks, they are one of the worst teams in the NFC. Dan Quinn's defense has been an issue all season, but it reached a nadir in聽Sunday's 53-32 loss to the Falcons. This stat (聽) says it all: Atlanta's D surrendered gains of 21-plus yards to six different聽, including a 51-yarder and the 44-yarder. When you don't get to the quarterback and you don't cover in the secondary, well, 1-4 happens. With Jay Gruden now out in Washington, Quinn might be the head coach with the hottest seat in the business.
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Could the聽' final drive on Sunday act as a turning point in their season? Kliff Kingsbury had watched as a 23-9 lead turned into a 23-23 tie in the final quarter. Arizona needed a big moment from their No. 1 pick -- and聽聽delivered it. Murray led the Cards 62 yards on six plays capped by聽聽as time expired. Murray gained most of the yardage on two plays: a 24-yard pass to聽聽and 24-yard scramble that set up Arizona's first win. Progress.
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罢丑别听聽faced a pair of winless teams in the past two weeks and somehow failed to secure their own first victory. That's when you know you're one of the worst teams in football. The culprit, once again, was a listless offense that took forever to get going against a聽聽defense that no one will confuse with the '85聽. You can't accurately judge Zac Taylor until you give him more pieces to work with, but the first-year coach has not been able to make much with what he has. The hope was that聽聽would be back by now, but the star wide receiver remains sidelined with an ankle injury. If he does return and looks like his old self, it makes sense for Cincinnati to entertain the thought of trading him before the Oct. 29 deadline. This is a tomorrow team and Green is a now player. Would the聽聽ever pull the trigger?
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Is this rock bottom for the聽? You never know with this star-crossed franchise, but Sunday's聽聽to the聽聽was about as ugly as it gets.听Luke Falk, who got the start despite seeing聽听迟丑补苍听, was absolutely savaged by an聽聽pass rush that piled up 10 sacks and 16 QB hits. Falk threw聽聽and also聽聽for another touchdown. Yeesh. The good news? 罢丑别听聽finally scored an offensive touchdown (their first since Week 1), and Gregg Williams' defense showed backbone not evident elsewhere on the team. This is all a terrible look for Adam Gase, who can't put all of New York's titanic struggles on Darnold's absence. This team will have to show significant improvement down the stretch -- especially now that聽聽-- to ensure Gase gets a second year on the sideline. Yes, it's been that bad.
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Jay Gruden, you're free now. 罢丑别听聽head coach was聽聽after the聽聽fell to 0-5 with聽a 33-7 loss to the Patriots. Speaking about his dismissal on Monday, Gruden said聽, but added that he wished he had more say in how Washington's roster had been constructed during his run. This is a very fair comment, and you wonder if the聽' power structure will scare off quality coaching candidates come January. For now, making the聽聽respectable falls on interim head coach Bill Callahan. He said first-round pick聽聽is not a candidate to start right now, meaning聽聽fans will get more聽听补苍诲听聽in the weeks -- and perhaps months -- to come. These are not the good times.
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A bye week means the聽聽don't lose. Is this the last time Miami avoids an "L" in 2019? The 0-16 watch is very real, and you have to wonder if team brass saw it coming. Well, the rest of us saw 0-4 coming after Miami 's very naked attempt to, um,听shun talent聽in a quest for the first overall pick and, ostensibly, the hotshot quarterback who will change everything. In the聽' defense, they're hardly the first team to blow things up with an eye on tomorrow -- but there's just been something more, I don't know,听audacious聽about how they've have gone about it. Here's a fun question: What would聽Josh Rosen聽have to do for the聽聽to pass on taking a quarterback at No. 1? I'd say throw 40 touchdowns and stop climate change, but I'm not sure even that gets it done.
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