Welcome to Week 5 of the NFL season. While this weekend’s slate is a bit of a shrug emoji, and we’re dependent on the Ravens and Bengals to provide the requisite firepower, there are some teams who could slip into seriously murky territory with losses. The Buccaneers, for one. The Raiders, Panthers, Commanders and Saints to name a few more. For different reasons, a loss would either plummet their records into obscurity or cause the kind of nagging annoyance that may force each team to confront some lingering issues.
How does that sound for an NFL promo? We didn’t even need a $2 million budget and the hiring of Beck to sing a song about Patrick Mahomes.
So get ready for another crucial week on the NFL schedule.
To get it kicked off, Albert Breer and Conor Orr will take you through the Sunday and Monday games, noting the best matchups and what they’ll be watching.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Giants at Packers, 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday: It sure feels like the Giants, at 3–1 in Brian Daboll’s first year, head off to London playing with house money. The operation’s been tight through a month of games. New York was tough at the wire in wins over Tennessee and Carolina. The Giants represented themselves well in their one loss to the Cowboys. And now they get a win-now Packers team that’s wildly talented on defense and has a dominant run game but is still finding its footing with a young receiver group that needs to grow up fast. So you’ve got two teams with the same record, but in very different spots. —
Steelers at Bills, 1 p.m. ET Sunday: When I dug in a little on Kenny Pickett this preseason, it sounded like the most sensible changeover period was during the bye week (Nov. 6), after which the Steelers’ schedule lightens considerably. Instead, it’s a trial by Leslie Frazier and Von Miller. Pickett has a quick release, he’s decisive, and he can push the ball in tight windows. Of course, so can a lot of quarterbacks before they face one of the best defensive groups in the NFL. —
Cowboys at Rams, 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday: Cooper Rush is now 4–0 as a starter and 3–0 this year, so we should probably stop waiting for the bottom to fall out. He also has a receiver group that’s getting healthier, a young left tackle who’s getting more experienced, and a defense that may not be perfect but is scary getting after the passer around him. And that last one could be the key with the Rams’ offensive line battered and struggling, and coming off a short week. —
Eagles at Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday: This appears to be a question of endurance at this point for the Eagles. What do they want to show, and when do they want to show it? Barring an inevitable collapse, this is a team that will be in the postseason in some capacity and a team that will factor heavily into the early rounds at the very least. Against a soft defensive opponent, can they rely on a downhill running game and flatten the overaged and undermanned Cardinals? —
Bengals at Ravens, 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday: A nice test for the Ravens’ heartbreaking defense against Joe Burrow, who twice put up 40-pointers on them a year ago (albeit with a different coordinator). Baltimore may be due for life at the other end of the statistical pendulum when it comes to closing out games. Let’s see if the Ravens can get a lead and maintain it, or if the Bengals’ versatile secondary will challenge Lamar Jackson’s limited options in the passing game. —
Raiders at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. ET Monday: I’m not picking the Raiders. That said, I think there’s a real path to victory for Las Vegas here. The Raiders’ run game exploded for 212 yards against a good Denver defense last week. If Josh Jacobs & Co. can come close to that again, they can shorten the game. And, if the Chiefs trip up a little early, and get a lead, then you can tune the pass rushers up, and then you’d have the game being played on the Raiders’ terms. Likely? Again, not really. But it is possible. Of course, if the Chiefs come out of the gate like they did last week, we’re talking about something else altogether. —
