Week 5 was a tough one for many NFL teams, with a whole bunch of them walking away from their games devastated for one reason or another. Some teams would’ve been better off just staying at home and simulating the game while others had baffling collapses to severely hinder their season.
Here are the five worst losses from a gut-punch Week 5 slate.
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5: Bills suffer first loss of season vs. Patriots
This one is disappointing because the Bills’ offense only managed 23 points against an inconsistent Patriots defense. Many people were introduced to how talented Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is during the game, but he is quickly becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the league and there isn’t too much shame in not being able to corral him.
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Where they should feel concerned is that the Patriots’ meager group of skill position talent had a pretty solid day against their defense, which is still a weakness for the Bills as they chase the No. 1 seed in the AFC. All is well as long as Josh Allen and the offense are intact, but this was definitely a little disappointing at times for the Buffalo defense, which should get better as the season goes on. This was already an improved performance for the unit, considering where it’s been.
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4: Jets defense continued to disappoint against the Cowboys
Dallas beating the Jets is not necessarily eyebrow-raising, but the Jets losing in the manner that they did has been really disappointing to watch. Head coach Aaron Glenn hasn’t been able to get the Jets defense to play well at all this season, continuing their backslide following the firing of Robert Saleh last season. Dallas scored 37 points as Dak Prescott diced them up through the air and the Cowboys’ running game just beat down New York’s defense.
The Jets are 29th in expected points allowed per play (0.13) and points per drive (2.78), making them one of the worst defenses in the league. They just seem to give up big plays at the worst possible times and are in clear need of a talent infusion on that side of the ball. It’s really a shame, because the offense has been functional this year with some really fun highs, but overall they’re just too bad on defense and are now the NFL’s only winless team this year.
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Glenn was able to get the Lions’ defense playing good football before injuries destroyed their unit last season, but the Jets still, unfortunately, look really far away from being a competitive defense again.
3: Raiders got unloaded on — again
This one is only in the middle of the pack because the Raiders clearly stink, but losing 40-6 and giving up SIX STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWN DRIVES is worthy of mention in a week filled with brutal losses. Geno Smith had another mixed bag game where he was OK moving the ball outside of ghastly interceptions, and the defense just no-showed. Jonathan Taylor looked like he was running against a team of Pop Warner players and Daniel Jones had another efficient showing.
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It’s tough to lose 40-6 while also going 8 of 14 on third down attempts, but it was another day where the Raiders couldn’t figure out how to score. They didn’t score a touchdown on any of their four red zone attempts and actually finished with -8 yards on 14 plays in the red zone. Not good!
The Pete Carroll experiment has been a horrific disaster so far and Chip Kelly hasn’t been able to provide a spark for this offense. Smith hasn’t been a complete mess, but he’s been turning the ball over too much trying to force the ball down the field. Ashton Jeanty has had some nice moments, but it’s been tough sledding behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Another rebuild is soon to come for the Raiders.
2: Miami made Bryce Young an unlikely hero
The Dolphins … it’s hard to even find the words. To go from what looked like an easy blowout victory to letting one of the worst teams in the league execute a ridiculous comeback win feels like the final nail on this regime. Perhaps no one gets fired this week, but it’s hard to come back from a loss like this. Bryce Young even gifted the Dolphins two turnovers and they still managed to lose by three points with a pitiful final drive where they did a whole bunch of nothing.
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Tyreek Hill being out for the season isn’t a legitimate excuse to lose to the Panthers in this manner. The Patriots scored 42 points on them last week! The Dolphins had a chance to get to 2-3 and potentially scrape together a respectable season, but at 1-4 and losing like this, it’s hard to see how they bounce back. One thing is for sure: Tua Tagovailoa simply needs to be more effective.
1: Obviously, the Cardinals
It took some of the most unlikely plays that you’ll see in a football game, but the Titans pulled off an improbable fourth quarter comeback to beat the Cardinals and get their first win of the season. It was so improbable that the Titans threw an interception, and then the Cardinals fumbled the interception and Tennessee recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. And this was after Arizona running back Emari Demercado became the latest player to fumble unprompted at the goal line. Tennessee also had its most productive quarter of the season, scoring 16 points to notch its first win, and they finally showed some signs of life as a cohesive offense.
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After holding the Titans to 115 yards and 2.7 yards per play over the first three quarters, the Cardinals defense got torched for 212 yards and 8.8 yards per play in the fourth quarter. According to TruMedia, the Titans had a 68% success rate in the final quarter of the game. The Cardinals just can’t get over the hump and move into the upper echelon of top teams in the NFL. They’re stuck in this mediocre land where it feels like they’re a perpetual fringe playoff team instead of a certified division winner. Good teams don’t let the Titans look that competent.
Arizona has now lost three games this season by a combined five points, but 2-3 is 2-3 and the franchise needs to find some sort of consistency to finish out these games and be the team that the investments suggest it can be. Congratulations to Cam Ward at least, who should be feeling a lot better in his media conferences this week.
