Week 5 in the National Football League was a showcase for contenders and pretenders. The kind of week Vegas needed (and I don’t mean the Raiders), where the road teams dominated and stars emerged and/or reminded us they’re as great as ever.

Let’s get into what I saw and the vibe checks around the biggest stories of the week.

QB or not QB, that is the question

“Next man up” isn’t just a catchphrase in the league; it’s a necessity. The oldheads like to say the game has never been gentler, that the quarterback has never been more protected. It’s a false narrative.

The reality is that protections have been put into place as the men playing the game have evolved. The linemen, particularly, are larger and yet more agile. It has made mobile quarterbacks a key cheat code to a playoff run. Yes, there may be more penalties to avoid QB hits – especially the inhumane kind – but when they get hit, the actual force absorbed is harder than ever in 2025.

That’s what has made backup quarterbacks a crucial building block in today’s game. More attention is put into GMs finding the right fit and one common characteristic among all budding winners is that more practice reps and prep are allotted straight down the QB depth chart.

It makes a veteran backup all the more valuable. We’re seeing it right now with the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings. Having game-tested, turnkey backups like Mac Jones and Carson Wentz has turned season-crippling injuries into continued Ws for the 49ers and the Vikings.

The old-school approach was that you have a veteran in camp to push the rookie or mentor or golf with the established star. But ultimately, there can be only one alpha in the locker room. Guys like Jones and Wentz show that there is no-size-fits-all philosophy. You can have backups that know their place in every moment and are ready to lead when called upon.

These two have been too stellar of a fit for their teams.

We in the media are always looking for a good QB controversy, often manufacturing battles that were never there to begin with. But what happens when the old phrase “it’s a good problem to have” actually isn’t good?

The 49ers and Vikings are going to have to make hard choices as J.J. McCarthy and Brock Purdy return from injury. Wentz is playing way better than I expected over a longer stretch. I had written him off as a finger-in-the-dam, one-to-two-week answer, but the All 22 tape is showing real maturity in the decisions and progressions Wentz is going through in his reads.

As for Jones, he was the “scapegoat after the GOAT” in New England, but his lack of maturity and faulty body language did not help him in his time helming the New England Patriots. After a brief mental reno in Jacksonville, insiders say he arrived in San Francisco truly ready for the tutelage Kyle Shanahan can provide.

He is now just the fourth QB to win his first three starts as a 49ers starter, an odd grouping that includes Y.A. Tittle, Jimmy Garoppolo, and yes, Brock Purdy.

And their collective on-field play has now put Shanahan and Kevin O’Connell in a spot. KOC had the luxury of knowing he was riding with Sam Darnold all year before the organization had to make a call (and by the way, how’s that decision looking?). 

McCarthy displayed the uneven play you’d have patience for with a guy like Cam Ward in an organization rebuilding like Tennessee. The Vikings are win now and built for it.

If Wentz keeps showing error avoidance skills, you can’t sacrifice Ws for on-the-fly growth for McCarthy. Sunday in London, he pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback against the Browns, something he’s now done for four different teams.

San Fran is an even tougher call. On the surface, it’s a no-brainer. You just gave Purdy his bag, you can’t sit that kind of contract.

What I’ve watched on tape from both QBs, I’d say if you really want to win with this roster, Jones is the better pick. Ultimately, it’s too much money to bench, but Mac has definitely earned a starter gig somewhere in 2026.

Shootouts aren’t always a bad thing for defense

We all love high-scoring games. I said that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks had the makings of the best game of Week 5, and they didn’t disappoint. And I’m here to tell you that the 38-35 score in that game is not an indictment of the defenses. 

This was a QB masterclass from Darnold and Baker Mayfield (both rising in our QB rankings and on our MVP Ladder). Their defensive reads, the varying between quick hits and medium- to deep threats had the defenses on tilt all day.

It’s easy to forget that the essence of defense is reacting to an already schemed play. As masterful as some teams in being predictive, those defensive coordinators count on opposing QBs making mistakes. And when QBs get on runs like in this game, you truly just tip your helmet in salute, knowing you gave your best but were beaten by even better.

Some truths about the Lions are emerging

I am excited for Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. True leaders surround themselves with great people and give them the autonomy to excel. Campbell did that with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, almost to a fault – to where they became the assumed reasons for success more than Campbell.

And when the Lions fell in their 2025 opener, we were all lined up to say, “See, it was all those guys.” It was going to be a quick end of an era in Motown, back to suffering. 

Yeah, not so fast. This is the third straight 4-1 start under Campbell, the best run in franchise history.

It’s not to put down Johnson when we say this Lions offense is even stronger this year. It’s about the continuity in leadership that Campbell has provided that has the team scoring 174 points, their best five-game start in team history.

There is a parallel truth, one that’s harder for us all to admit.

Jared Goff is not going to get the respect he deserves in his prime.

I wish I could pinpoint why. The players voted him No. 15 in the NFL 100 ranking heading into 2025. But with the overall NFL media and fandom outside of the Motor City, the consistent adulation is just not there.

Can Sean McVay seemingly giving up on Goff have this long of a stink shelf life? The stats don’t show it. The on-field results are incredible, not even pedestrian.

The irony here is that if we pan out and fast forward, Goff’s ultimate career narrative is building very similarly to the QB he will forever be linked to, Matthew Stafford. A guy who always puts up stats but doesn’t truly get the spotlight and aura until the blond hair starts turning gray.

When the same record looks very different

The Washington Commanders’ win over the Chargers put both teams at 3-2. And they’re both doing just fine in our power rankings. 

But a 3-2 record at this stage of the season is a victory for Washington. To survive the injuries to Jayden Daniels and Austin Ekeler while ramping up Terry McLaurin, the Commanders are primed for a run at the Eagles for the NFC East. 

The Chargers, that’s another story. We can cry about the injuries to Khalil Mack on the D-line, Joe Alt on the O-line, Najee Harris and now Omarion Hampton in the backfield. We can say in hindsight that it was a mistake to let Joey Bosa go to Buffalo.

Great teams, great leaders find ways to win despite the injuries (see San Francisco above). I was so ready to be all-in on Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh after the 3-0 start. 

But at 3-2 now, having squandered the vice grip they had on the AFC West lead, I’m wondering if this is the same old Chargers. And this time, I’m just not going to be Charlie Brown and let the Bolts be Lucy in my life.

When a stat says it all

You want to know why I’m down on the Philadelphia Eagles? This says more than my words ever could.

Eagles Tweet

Division in focus: The AFC South

I’m far from the only so-called expert eating crow through five weeks when it comes to this division. But I may be one of the happiest to devour that delicious foul that is prediction ineptitude.

The league office feels it more when the New York teams are losing. But you also never want to see an entire division become an afterthought. And that’s where the AFC South was heading into 2025.

The Houston Texans were the closest thing to potential contenders in all our eyes, but even they had questions galore with injuries and the seemingly stunted growth of quarterback C.J. Stroud. 

The Colts had some momentum and optimism building under head coach Shane Steichen, but after the death of team owner Jim Irsay, many questioned how the organization would move forward after losing such a dynamo atop the org chart.

Five weeks into this season, the AFC South has three teams in legit playoff contention – a feat we haven’t seen here for more than a decade at this point in the season.

The Colts have a legit MVP candidate in Daniel Jones and are off to their best start since 2013. They’ve scored the most points through five weeks (167) since 2007 (164). Jonathan Taylor is healthy and back to dominating, putting up his fourth career game with three-plus rushing TDs on Sunday, second only to Edgerrin James’ 5 in franchise history.

The Jaguars are even more of a blessing from the NFL gods. Admittedly, I’ve always been a Trevor Lawrence guy. When we moved to South Carolina, we quickly realized you had to pick a team quickly between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers. We picked Clemson (mostly because my son and wife liked the orange unis and sweatshirts better). And in that, I saw Lawrence emerge as a leader in all facets of his game at Clemson.

Staying local in Jacksonville to begin his NFL career felt at first to be a career curse. And we’ve seen players with arguably more talent and potential be discarded by other franchises more quickly. I give owner Shahid Khan massive credit for not allowing the organization’s failures around Lawrence to end his Florida story prematurely.

To be fair, Lawrence still makes the level of bad decisions we would not expect from a fifth-yard starter. When he fumbled at the goal line in a pivotal moment on Monday Night Football versus the Chiefs, in the franchise’s largest national spotlight since they hosted Super Bowl XXXIX, it felt like the same old Jags. 

I’m on a game show this fall on FOX, “The Floor.” One of the blessings of my time on the show and in Ireland filming it was meeting 99 other incredible humans and Jags diehard Molly Sperling is atop that list.

We didn’t bond straight away – I saw a lot of side eye from her as she made it clear she wanted to duel me in my Sportscasters category.

She had family at the game on Monday, and when Lawrence fumbled, our group chat took a dramatic turn toward pity. 

Head coach Liam Coen is the steady hand this organization has needed for years. He exudes confidence with a resume to match it. And even in his halftime interview, he said, “Trevor just needs to breathe. We all need to take a breath.”

And that’s just what happened. The Jags defense continued to show why they’re among the league’s best and Lawrence took calculated shots downfield as Travis Etienne and Brayshal Tuten carved through the line for just enough chunks to give the pass game the air Coen wanted. 

When Lawrence threw the pick late in the game – the play that was a blatant pass interference call missed – it was all lined up for the “Chiefs are back” narrative to take over EverBank Stadium as they cashed in on the turnover to tie it, 21-21. 

When the Chiefs went ahead on a 12-play, 86-yard drive that ate 6:23 off the clock, a two-minute drill from Lawrence felt like a pipe dream. He threw a perfect ball to Brian Thomas Jr., who erased early-season dropsies with a brilliant 33-yard grab. Five plays later, a pass interference call put the Jags at the 1.

When the Golden-Locked One tripped at the line, my heart and thoughts immediately went to friends like Molly, and even more local diehards like Jason Frazier, who is in his endzone seats at every game screaming “Duuuu-val!” until he’s raspy. 

When Lawrence got up and instead of just heaving it out of bounds like he would have in T-Law 1.0, he made a season-defining, franchise-redefining run to the endzone to seal the victory. 

And there’s hope in Houston as well with two straight wins from the Texans. Stroud has thrown six TDs and no INTs over the last two games after throwing more picks (three) than tuds (2) in the 0-3 start.

Titans fans even have reason to smile. Their team saved head coach Brian Callahan’s job by pulling off an 18-point comeback against the Cardinals, the franchise’s biggest rally since 2017 that snapped the league’s longest losing streak at 10. 

In NFL history, teams that were off to 0-4 starts were 1-170 before this rally when trailing by 15 or more points to begin the fourth quarter. Only the 1998 Bears did what the 2025 Titans did. 

Red-Flag tweet of the week

I don’t want to join the pigpile on the Baltimore Ravens after their largest home loss since 2013. I don’t want to show you this but I must.

All hargingers inside the Vegas city limits and beyond have Baltimore still the favorites in the AFC North with all the big matchups still ahead. They will get healthier, they have added reinforcements in the last two days. 

The Ravens are 8-16 without Lamar Jackson during his career. But the fact that there have been 24 games, do we put this on Harbaugh and Co. that the best backup you have is Cooper Rush?

I will simply say this. I look at Harbaugh as the football equivalent to Brian Cashman with the New York Yankees. I can’t explain how a leader who has fallen short of the ultimate goal for so many years is allowed so much continued autonomy, no matter how respected he is inside the stadium walls.

The stats, the All 22, it all shows a dramatic decline in execution in Baltimore. That could change very quickly with health. I hope it does. But if this is more failed expectations come January, is this finally the time we hold Harbaugh singularly accountable?

Let’s whip around the league

Not so super: The Eagles have been outgained in all five games, something that hasn’t been done by a Super Bowl champ since the 1987 Giants began 0-5.

Let’s go streakin’: As good as I thought Dillion Gabriel looked, he is the 17th straight Cleveland Browns QB to lose their first start in Cleveland’s 11th straight road loss. The New Orleans Saints snapped an eight-game losing streak while their QB, Spencer Rattler, got his first win in 11 career starts. And the Arizona Cardinals have lost three straight games on game-ending field goals.

Unfriendly cards in Vegas: Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll is off to his worst five-game start of his head coaching career.

Roaring back: The Carolina Panthers’ 17-point comeback is tied for the largest in franchise history.

It’s up to you, New York, New York: And we end with notes on New York futility. The New York Giants have now started 1-4 worse for the fourth time since 2020.

And this is likely the most damning stat of the week when it comes to the New York Jets, who hired Aaron Glenn for his defensive genius.

The Jets have zero takeaways in their first five games, the first team in NFL history to do this since the turnover stat was first tracked in 1933.

One final note on the column and our coverage

I want to thank everyone for their response to my initial Expert Eye column, for the emails when you didn’t see it last week and for the great stat tidbits and debate you’ve raised with me over the last few weeks.

We’ve taken big steps to evolve our NFL coverage over the last few weeks, and it’s encouraging to see that y’all are noticing and thirsty for more. Keep the feedback coming to tim.wood@essentiallysports.com.

At this rate, we’ll begin a mailbag column in the near future.