Week 5 of the NFL season is in the books, and there are no undefeated teams left in the NFC (or the NFL, for that matter), as the Philadelphia Eagles suffered a long overdue loss to the Denver Broncos. There are no new obituaries this week, but the Grim Reaper is at the Giants' doorstep.
Obituary
None.
Graveyard
Hierarchy
15) Giants (1-4): The Giants are the ultimate "get right" team for opponents, and they proved it again on Sunday, when Spencer Rattler got his first ever NFL win as a starter against them. Since last season, teams that lost a game and then played the Giants in their next game were 9-1 in their games against the Giants.
I guess that's also not really a crazy stat, given that the Giants lose a lot of games.
Last week: 15
14) Panthers (2-3): I was looking forward to killing off the Panthers this week so I don't have to write about them anymore, but they came back from down 17-0 against the Dolphins and pulled out a win.
Rico Dowdle had 206 rushing yards against the Dolphins, or just 61 fewer than Saquon Barkley has all season.
Last week: 14
13) Cardinals (2-3): I was this 🤏 close to making the Cardinals my survivor pick Week 5, before some part of my brain reminded me, "No, Jimmy! BAD! You will trust Kyler Murray and Jonathan Gannon under NO circumstances."This play made me "legit lol."
Personally, I don't think that was grounding. Adam Trautman was in the vicinity.
Also, for your pleasure, here's Kyler Murray taking a football to the face, with Gannon saying "shooom" in the background:
Last week: 10
12) Falcons (2-2): Tough bye week for the Falcons. The Buccaneers, Panthers, and Saints all won.
Last week: 13
11) Cowboys (2-2-1): The Cowboys have scored at least 37 points in three of their last four games. From the "things I didn't see coming" file, Javonte Williams is third in the NFL in rushing yards:
| Player | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Jonathan Taylor, Colts | 94 | 480 | 5.1 | 6 |
| James Cook, Bills | 90 | 450 | 5.0 | 5 |
| Javonte Williams, Cowboys | 79 | 447 | 5.7 | 5 |
| Travis Etienne, Jaguars | 77 | 443 | 5.8 | 2 |
| J.K. Dobbins, Broncos | 77 | 402 | 5.2 | 4 |
Williams averaged 3.6 and 3.7 yards per carry in 2023 and 2024, respectively, running behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL in Denver. He's somehow averaging two yards per carry more in Dallas.
Also, here's Jerry Jones flipping the bird to Jets fans:
Last week: 12
10) Bears (2-2): The Bears had their bye Week 5, so this is where I'll make a general statement about the NFC. It's better than the AFC. Here is the NFC's record vs. the AFC each week this season:
• Week 1: 1-1
• Week 2: 4-0
• Week 3: 4-2
• Week 4: 4-4
• Week 5: 5-2
TOTAL: 18-9
The NFC has just four teams with a losing record, while the AFC has nine.
But also, the big dogs in the AFC have been bad so far this season. The Chiefs are 2-3 and the Ravens are 1-4. The only team that has played close to expectations has been the Bills, who lost this weekend at home to the Patriots.
Last week: 11
9) Vikings (3-2): Carson Wentz has no pocket awareness, he makes unnecessary off-balance and inaccurate throws when he could otherwise easily set his feet, and he still takes big shots when he runs with the ball. But he can also still make some big league throws!
Credit him and the Vikings for scratching out an ugly win in London on a game-winning TD drive.
Methinks we're gonna get an Eagles vs. Carson matchup Week 7.
Last week: 9
8) Commanders (3-2): With 7:40 left against the Chargers and holding onto a 10-point lead, the Commanders intercepted a Justin Herbert pass at their own 1 yard line. They then proceeded to execute a 13-play, 99-yard TD drive that took 6:32 off the clock. I remember when a certain other NFC East team used to be able to choke out opponents late in games with the lead.
Last week: 8
7) Seahawks (3-2): Sam Darnold was 28 of 33 for 341 yards, four TDs, and 0 INTs against the Bucs until he threw a devastating INT that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Maybe he's good! The Seahawks do seem to have upgraded on Geno Smith, the golden god of wannabe QB gurus:
| QB | Comp-Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| Sam Darnold, Seahawks | 98-134 (73.1%) | 1246 (9.3) | 9-3 | 114.8 |
| Geno Smith, Raiders | 106-163 (65.0%) | 1176 (7.2) | 6-9 | 75.6 |
Last week: 6
6) Rams (3-2): In the Eagles' auditorium they have a huge banner emphasizing turnovers. One side is "ball security" on offense, and the other side is creating takeaways on defense.
They actually have a new banner this year that preaches additional teaching points. I didn't get a picture of it, sorry. One of the additional points on the "ball security" side is being extra conscious of the ball getting punched out while running through the line of scrimmage.
On Thursday night, Kyren Williams did not carry the ball securely through the line of scrimmage, and he got the ball punched out.
If you'll note on the banner above, one of the teaching points is "wrist lock." You're supposed hold the wrist of the ball-carrying arm with the hand not holding the ball so that (a) your arm is harder to pull away from your body, and (b) it's harder for defenders to punch the ball out.
You can see Williams going to reach for the "wrist lock," but instead I guess he got a whiff of the goal line and he drops his arm for more balance. The ball is exposed, and the Niners punch it out.
And yada yada yada, the Rams lost a super important divisional game.
The Rams have four lost fumbles this season, and Williams has eight fumbles in his last 20 games.
It's certainly easy (and correct) to fault Williams for his fumble, but at this point it's also on Sean McVay and his staff for (a) likely not drilling/preaching ball security enough, and (b) continuing to trust Williams with the football.
Last week: 4
5) 49ers (4-1): Mac Jones has been surprisingly good for the Niners in relief of Brock Purdy. A comparison of their stats after five games:
| 49ers QB | Att-Comp (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| Brock Purdy (1-1) | 48-73 (65.8%) | 586 (8.0) | 4-4 | 85.8 |
| Mac Jones (3-0) | 86-129 (66.7%) | 905 (7.0) | 6-1 | 99.1 |
Quarterback controversy brewing! (But seriously though, if Purdy is ready to play Week 6, it's going to be hard for Kyle Shanahan to want to go back to him.)
Side note: Remember when the 49ers bitched all offseason after they got their asses handed to them in the 2022-2023 NFC Championship Game, blaming the loss on not having an "emergency quarterback?" Well, despite Jones appearing on the injury report throughout the week with a knee injury that very obviously bothered him throughout the game, the Niners not only didn't have an emergency quarterback available, they weren't even carrying an extra quarterback on their practice squad.
Last week: 7
4) Packers (2-1-1): The Packers had their bye Week 5. Their schedule is now very easy over their next four games:
• Week 6: Bengals
• Week 7: At Cardinals
• Week 8: At Steelers
• Week 9: Panthers
I already have my Packers survivor pick in for Week 6.
Worst case, they need to go at least 3-1 during that stretch if they're going to seriously compete with the Lions for the NFC North.
Last week: 5
3) Buccaneers (4-1): Baker Mayfield was 29 of 33 for 379 yards (11.5 YPA), two TDs, 0 INTs, and just one sack against a Seahawks defense that has been very good this season. He has also had late game-winning heroics in all four of the Bucs' wins:
• Week 1 final drive, in 1:18: 4/5, 63 yards, TD.
• Week 2 final drive, in 2:04: 8/10, 78 yards, capped by a Rachaad White rushing TD.
• Week 3 final drive, in 1:49: 2/4, 48 yards, set up the walk-off field goal with no time left.
• Week 5, second to last drive: 4/5, 70 yards, game-tying TD pass to Sterling Shepard. And then on the last drive after an ensuing INT they ran it a bunch of times to kill clock before kicking a walk-off field goal.
And he has done it with missing receivers and offensive linemen.
If the season ended today, I would have Mayfield as the league MVP.
Last week: 3
2) Eagles (4-1): Here are the teams that had the most wins before their first loss in each of the last four seasons:
| Year | Teams | Wins before first loss |
| 2025 | Eagles, Bills | 4 |
| 2024 | Chiefs | 9 |
| 2023 | Eagles, 49ers | 5 |
| 2022 | Eagles | 8 |
As you can see, the Eagles appear on that list three times! That's pretty good, right?
Obviously, the Eagles do not look at all like the team that destroyed everything in their path during the playoffs last year, but they now have a three-game stretch against the Giants, Vikings, and Giants during which they can perhaps get right. They're probably happy to be playing on a short week so they have an opportunity to flush the rare taste of a loss from their system.
Nick Sirianni has become a "CEO head coach" during his time with the Eagles. These are the moments during which he has to show his value.
Last week: 1
1) Lions (4-1): The Lions have scored 52, 38, 34, and 37 points in their last four games. They're good, and they're fun.
Last week: 2
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader