Story by
32 things we learned in NFL Week 5: Contenders galore after Eagles, Bills lose
- Story by
- 32 things we learned in NFL Week 5: Contenders galore after Eagles, Bills lose
The 32 things we learned from Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season :
0.The number of wins for New York Jets rookie coach Aaron Glenn, whose team was embarrassed at home 37-22 by the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. With Kellen Moore's New Orleans Saints getting off the mat against the New York Giants , Glenn is the only first-year coach among this year's seven to remain winless – and his team is now the only one league-wide without a victory.
Advertisement
1.As in who's the No. 1 contender to win Super Bowl 60 after the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles lost their first game of the season Sunday a few hours before the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills also went down? It seems like an unusually large field at the moment given the number of questions that abound around the league, so let's explore.
2.As in the number of losses Philly has now suffered over the last 365 days. The Eagles obviously remain a bona fide championship threat, yet they also have issues to redress – particularly on offense. WR A.J. Brown had another quiet game (5 catches for 43 yards) Sunday, and even RB Saquon Barkley undermined Philadelphia . On a day when he rushed for 30 yards (on a mere six carries), Barkley also committed an illegal shift infraction that nullified a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter and forced the team to punt on its penultimate possession.
2a.The Bills also remain right there, even if their icy "Cold Front" uniforms won't get them closer to any championship ice at season's end. The sky isn't falling in Western New York, though the New England Patriots' win there Sunday night was a clear announcement that the AFC East probably won't be a walkover. For a change.
3.The number of wins for the Denver Broncos , who beat the Eagles on Sunday for their first win in Philadelphia since 1986. That's two impressive victories in six days for Denver, which added six more sacks to what was already a league-leading total of 15 entering Week 5. And with QB Bo Nix belatedly settling into his second season, the Broncos look like a team that could make a deep run.
Advertisement
4.The number of 2024 first-team All-Pros, including QB Lamar Jackson , inactive Sunday for the spiraling Baltimore Ravens , who were crushed 44-10 at home by the Houston Texans . Now 1-4, their Super Bowl aspirations in serious crisis , the Ravens face the Rams in Week 6 before reaching a badly needed bye week.
5.The 34-point loss matched the Ravens' largest in Baltimore, the differential also equaling the Texans' most lopsided road win in their 24-season history.
6.The number of red-zone touchdowns – in six attempts, no less – scored by the Indianapolis Colts in their 40-6 beatdown of the Las Vegas Raiders . Still feels like a stretch to consider Indy a bona fide championship contender, but a 4-1 squad is increasingly taking on the look of a potential division titlist – and, yes, the AFC South counts.
7.In an odd turnabout to that game, the Colts played most of the day without injured K Spencer Shrader, forcing them to attempt four consecutive two-point conversions in the blowout. Meanwhile, the Raiders lost P AJ Cole , forcing K Daniel Carlson into his role.
Advertisement
8.The number of times the Texans scored at Baltimore, which also coincided with the number of drives played by QB C.J. Stroud , whose four TD passes were one shy of his career high. With two consecutive wins following an 0-3 start, Houston is re-emerging as a team that could win a third straight division title – and, yes, the AFC South counts.
9.The game of the day also featured the best (throwback) uniforms of the day, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beating the Seattle Seahawks at the gun 38-35 in a fitting celebration of two organizations in the midst of their 50th NFL seasons. Could it have been an NFC championship game preview? Very well within the realm of possibility … despite Seattle's surprising defensive letdown Sunday.
10.The Bucs aren't blowing anyone out, all four of their victories occurring on game-winning scores in the final minute of regulation – something no team has ever done on the way to its first four wins. The perennial NFC South champs remain a resilient bunch that can beat you in a variety of ways.
11.How about the matchup of former Ohio State first-round wideouts in Seattle on Sunday? The Bucs' (née Bucks') Emeka Egbuka and Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba combined for 15 catches, 295 yards and a TD apiece.
12.The Cowboys (mostly wearing white) and Jets (mostly wearing black) provided the worst-looking game of the day – visually and stylistically (21 combined penalties).
13.How crazy has the scoring been so far? There have been 14 40-burgers posted this season, already the most through five weeks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger … and Week 5 ain't done yet.
Advertisement
14.As in tied for 14th place all time with 173 regular-season wins – that's where Denver coach Sean Payton stands after Sunday's win, which broke a tie between him and his mentor, Hall of Famer Bill Parcells.
15.Payton is now deadlocked with Jeff Fisher and Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whose team doesn't appear as if it's going to keep pace with Payton's Broncos, not in the near term anyway. Mike McCarthy is alone in 13th place − for now − with 174 wins.
16.How about Carolina Panthers RB Rico Dowdle , who rushed for a league-wide season-high 206 yards in relief of injured starter Chuba Hubbard in his team's 27-24 defeat of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday?
17.Still boggles the mind that the Cowboys didn't re-sign Dowdle, who rushed for nearly 1,100 yards last year, or that no other team saw fit to offer him even $3 million for 2025 (though he could eclipse that figure by reaching certain escalators). Heck, even Jerry Jones would be willing to pay that.
Advertisement
18.The jersey number, one that might be retired one day, of Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson . With 123 receiving yards in Sunday's defeat of the Cleveland Browns in London, "Jettas" now has 7,881 in his career – third most by a player in his first six seasons. And he still has 12 games to play in a bid to overtake Randy Moss' standard (8,375 yards) over a half-dozen years.
19.The Los Angeles Chargers might have lost some juice lately, but don't blame veteran WR Keenan Allen . Making his 159th career appearance, he hauled in his 1,000th career catch – eight games quicker than Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, who'd previously set the standard for speed to that benchmark.
20.Minus both of their starting offensive tackles, the Bolts seem to be reverting to title pretender – and quite likely the third-best team in the AFC West – after suffering a second straight loss.
Advertisement
21.The Chargers' defeat came courtesy of the Washington Commanders , who had QB Jayden Daniels back in the lineup . Yet the emergence of rookie RB Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt, who had a career day Sunday – five games into his career anyway – with 150 yards and two TDs from scrimmage, could be the key to returning the Commanders to the league's elite ranks … to the degree they ever really left.
22.Would the Cincinnati Bengals just trade for Giants QB3 Jameis Winston already?
23.But not really a surprise that the Jake Browning-led Stripes couldn't handle the Detroit Lions , who also have an increasingly strong case to supplant Philly atop the league throne with a four-game heater erasing memories of their Week 1 flop at Green Bay.
24.Detroit got TDs Sunday from RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery – the 14th time both scored in the same game, tying Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston for the most games among RB teammates each scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
Advertisement
25.The Los Angeles Rams didn't win Thursday, but WR Puka Nacua caught 10 balls, giving him 52 receptions the season – most ever by a player after five games. Nacua bypassed his former teammate, Cooper Kupp , who had 49 grabs at the same point in 2022.
26.These might be the early stages of what could be a historic year for Nacua, who's on pace to snag 177 balls – which would smash the NFL single-season record (149) established by Michael Thomas six years ago (in 16 games). Nacua could also become the first-ever 2,000-yard receiver. He's currently on pace for 1,999 yards.
27. Dillon Gabriel became the Cleveland Browns ' 41st QB1 since their 1999 rebirth – but the first in the NFL to make his starting debut in an International Series game. He was solid Sunday in London but didn't do quite enough to guide Cleveland past the Minnesota Vikings .
28.Meanwhile, the Vikes improved to 5-0 all time in London … though they're 0-1 record in Dublin made their two-week European vacation something of a wash.
Advertisement
29.But Minnesota did make a bit of history in the Old Country thanks to WR Jordan Addison 's game-winning TD catch with 25 seconds on the clock. The victory was the first ever played internationally to feature a decisive TD in the final minute of regulation or overtime.
30.When will NFL players – especially ones running free to pay dirt – learn to keep the ball secured until they cross the goal line? Arizona Cardinals RB3 Emari Demercado , whose team really needed him to show up after losing James Conner and Trey Benson to injuries, was the latest to dump the rock prematurely , his would-be 72-yard TD bolt instead a 71-yard run punctuated by a turnover – one that led to his team's downfall against the previously winless Tennessee Titans .
31.Second to last, but not penultimately least, congratulations to Titans QB Cam Ward , the No. 1 pick of this year's draft, who notched his first career win Sunday at Demercado's expense. We sass .
Advertisement
32.Last, but not least, congratulations to Saints QB Spencer Rattler . We've noted, more than once, the bagel he's carried for more than a year in his personal NFL win column. But he got his first, in his 11th professional start, in Sunday's defeat of the Giants.
All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 5 takeaways: Eagles, Bills lose first games, challengers rise
