As a whole, Week 5's NFL Sunday for the most part didn't consist of any upsets, but there were some close games as half of Sunday's games were decided by 7 points or less. The big news, team-wise, from Week 5 was Denver losing its perfect record in a home loss to the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia losing its perfect record on the road in Detroit, while Minnesota has now taken the reigns of the number one record in the NFL. Here are four big takeaways from Sunday's Week 5 action.
1) The Vikings defense is undoubtedly the best in the NFL.
Make no mistake, not only is this team no joke, but this defense is absolutely killing it. Sure after Week 1 people knew it was just Tennessee and that holding them to 16 points was nothing, but how about holding Green Bay to 14, Carolina to 10, New York (Giants) to 10, and Houston to 13. A defense THAT dominant deserves recognition. I won't let myself get carried away here as three of those four games came at home, but a lot of the time you can't just look at where the game is played but also who you're playing against.
This Minnesota defense held Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, and Eli Manning to a combined total of 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions. Furthermore, the Vikings rank number one in the NFL in points allowed/game at 12.6. The next closest is Philadelphia at 12.8, but lets keep in mind that the Eagles have played the Browns, Bears, Steelers, and Lions. Two out of those four teams have a quarterback that wouldn't be starting on any other team in almost the entire league.
Seattle's defense has also been quite good, but they too have played weak opponents including the Dolphins, Rams, 49ers, and Jets. So give the credit where it's due, as the Vikings have faced stellar quarterbacks and absolutely shut down their offenses.
2) This is a new Atlanta Falcons team.
From 2008-2012, when the old Atlanta Falcons were consistently finishing every season with a winning record there was always one question about the team: its ability to win on the road. Finally, in 2016 after suffering a couple crude seasons, Atlanta looks like a whole new squad ready to make some noise in the NFC.
While two of the games were extremely close, the Falcons have put together a 3-0 road record to open the season. With wins over the (4-1) Raiders, (1-3) Saints, and now the (4-1) Broncos, Atlanta is starting to open some eyes.
The biggest key in the success of the Falcons on the road lies on player: Matt Ryan. Ryan has been known to be "Matty Ice" at home where he's always cool under pressure, but on the road he's been known to falter throughout his career. Give Ryan credit in these three road games, as he's shown the ability to limit his turnovers and still be extremely productive. Against Oakland he threw for 396 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT, while this past weekend he showed extreme poise as he threw for 267 yards and 1 TD.
Lets not just ignore the running game, as Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman have both been phenomenal. Against Oakland it was Freeman gaining the most yards with 17 carries for 93 yards, but Coleman finished with 12 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. The following week against the Saints it was a little bit of a different story as Freeman had 14 carries for 152 yards (+ 5 receptions, 55 yards and 1 touchdown), but Coleman had 12 carries for 42 yards and 3 touchdowns (+3 receptions for 47 yards). The interesting dynamic continued in Week 5 as Freeman had 23 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown, while Coleman just had 6 carries for 31 yards. However, it was Coleman who came up big in the passing game as he hauled in 4 receptions for 132 yards and 1 touchdown.
The reason I delve into the duo's stats from the three road games is to emphasize not only how balanced the running/passing attack of Atlanta's offense has been, but also to stress how important Coleman and Freeman are to the success of the Falcons. Obviously having Julio Jones lined up on the outside helps these two, but without them Ryan's life wouldn't be the same either.
On the defensive side, until this past weekend Atlanta's road defense hasn't been exactly good as they've given up 28 points and 32 points respectively to the Raiders and Saints. However, against possibly the best team out of the three road games Atlanta has played, the Falcons defense stepped up against Paxton Lynch and forced an interception and sacked him six times.
Going forward the Falcons have a tough road test against the Seahawks next week, but it remains to be seen whether the bad Matt Ryan will return on the road.
3) Ezekiel Elliott is the best running back in the NFL.
Given Cincinnati's track record against running backs this season and what Ezekiel Elliott did against the Bengals defense on Sunday, this shouldn't even be a disputed claim. Not only did they not give up a single rushing touchdown in the first four games this season, but they held Matt Forte to 96 yards on 22 carries, DeAngelo Williams to 94 yards on 32 carries, C.J. Anderson to 37 yards on 14 carries, and Jay Ajayi to 33 yards on 6 carries.
Elliott decided to ruin the Bengals fun by torching them for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 15 carries. Elliott capped off this game with a 60-yard touchdown on his longest NFL run thus far, but he's been hot as of the last three weeks.
Dallas is letting the rookie run as he racked up 140 yards and 138 yards in the last two weeks. Now we can't also ignore the fact that he faced a 24th ranked Bears run defense and 31st ranked 49ers run defense in those two games, but it's not easy to ignore what you're watching unfold on the field. Yup, I'm talking about that offensive line over there in Big D.
The key note in why Elliott is the best running back in the NFL frankly has a lot to do with that offensive line. No offensive line in the NFL has more Pro Bowlers or simply that size as that offensive line has. They've moved players out of the way for Elliott creating huge gaps that make it impossible for Elliott to not have big rushes.
Elliott is currently leading the league in rushing at 546 yards (85 yards ahead of DeMarco Murray) and it's not easy to say whether anybody will pass him. To give credit where it's due, Elliott has improved on his patience and the way he is running the football since Week 1 and will only make better reads as the season goes along.
As long as the offensive line stays healthy and Elliott keeps on improving his vision, watch out for a record-breaking year from the Ohio State product.
4) The Chargers need to fire Mike McCoy sooner rather than later.
This San Diego Chargers team is extremely hard to watch. With a well-coached team, they could've easily been 5-0. With losses of 6, 4, 1, and 3 points respectively this season, it's no surprise why Chargers fans are crying for a change. Whether it's turnovers by the offense or miscommunications by the defense, this team is all sorts of a mess.
They gave up a 21-point lead to the Chiefs, a 6-point lead to the Colts, a 13-point lead to the Saints (with 8:39 left in the fourth quarter), and an 8-point lead to the Raiders in Week 5. Two of those losses are inexcusable (Chiefs/Saints), but the point of these games being that the Chargers have a clear inability to maintain leads.
It was Phillip Rivers tossing an interception late against the Saints that cost that game, poor offensive and defensive execution/play-calling against the Chiefs, a costly fumble/inability to make a defensive stand against the Colts, and in Week 5 it was the inability to finish and a late turnover against the Raiders.
Every week it's something new and the same story simply can't continue for San Diego. Whether it's firing the offensive/defensive coordinator or firing the head coach, there needs to be a big change in Southern California. Firing McCoy may be the one change that can actually rile this team to turn this ship around.
