Takeaways From Week 5 in the NFL

Week 5 is in the books and we still have no idea who or what some of these teams are. The Cardinals are still undefeated going into game 6. Dallas, the Chargers, Buffalo, Tampa Bay are playing very well. Meanwhile, the Chiefs, 49ers, and the Seahawks are in trouble. Let’s update the divisions.

NFC LEAST: Combined Record 9-11

STOCK UP: Dallas The Cowboys continue to be as impressive as anyone on offense and got another win over the New York Giants. They now have a 2-game lead over everyone else in the division and shouldn’t have any trouble keeping it.

Big Win: Philadelphia showed a lot of guts in going into Carolina and beating the Panthers. Jalen Hurts and the gang are not quitting.

STOCK DOWN: The Giants dropped to 1-4 and possibly lost three players to injuries and this week they play the Rams. Washington lost to New Orleans and they are up and down.

NFC NORTH: Combined Record 9-11

STOCK UP: Green Bay and Chicago The Packers went into Cincinnati and won in overtime against the Bengals in a bizarre game with a ton of missed kicks. They are now 4-1. Meanwhile, the Bears journeyed into Vegas and knocked off the Raiders 20-9 and stayed within a game of the Packers at 3-2.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: Minnesota was unimpressive but won a game over the Lions that they had to win. Can they get a couple of wins in a row?

STOCK DOWN: Detroit They are 0-5. Enough said.

NFC SOUTH: Combined Record 12-8

STOCK UP: Tampa Bay got an easy win over the Dolphins and are now 4-1 in the defense of their Super Bowl Championship. On to Philadelphia next week.

GOOD LUCK FIGURING OUT THIS TEAM: The Saints are schizophrenic. Great one week; awful the next week. This was their good week and they beat Washington 33-22. And here is the good news. They have a bye on their awful week.

Nice Trip to London: If you have to travel to play a game in England, you might as well win it and that’s what Atlanta did. They hang in there at 2-3.

STOCK DOWN: Carolina blew a 12-point lead and lost at home to 1-3 Philadelphia 21-18. They could have gone to 4-1 with a win, but instead fell to 3-2. That one will come back to haunt them later.

NFC WEST: Combined Record 13-7

STOCK UP: Arizona and Los Angeles The Cardinals took care of business and stayed unbeaten with a workmanlike 17-10 over the Niners. Now they venture to Cleveland to play the Browns. LA took advantage of an injury that sidelined Russell Wilson in Seattle, and got a big division road win to stay within a game of the Cardinals.

STOCK DOWN: San Francisco and Seattle These two teams both lost and their starting quarterbacks are both hurt. Russell Wilson is likely out for at least a month in Seattle and Garoppolo might possibly be back this week for the Niners. Both teams are both 2-3 and they are in trouble.

AFC EAST: Combined Record 8-12

STOCK UP: Buffalo is making a case for being the best team in football after their 38-20 drubbing of the Chiefs in Kansas City. That was a very impressive win.

SEASON SAVING COMEBACK WIN: The Patriots might have saved their season by coming back and winning in Houston against the lowly Texans.

STOCK DOWN: The Dolphins and the Jets Miami lost their fourth in a row against Tampa and they are in danger of getting buried before they reach the halfway point of the season. New York went all the way to London to lose against the Falcons and fall to 1-4.

AFC NORTH: Combined Record 12-8

STOCK UP: The Ravens keep winning games they probably should have lost. They pulled another win out of the hat Monday night defeating the 31-25 in overtime, and they are now 4-1.

HUGE WIN: The Steelers got a win they had to have against Denver and will look to build on it this week against Seattle.

TOUGH LOSSES: Cleveland and Cincinnati. Both of these teams lost games that they should have won. The Browns go to Los Angeles and score 42 points on the Chargers and still managed to lose. Meanwhile, Cincinnati had a great chance to beat the Packers before losing in overtime 25-22. Both need to bounce back this week.

AFC SOUTH: Combined Record 5-15

STOCK UP: Tennessee (I guess). At least, Tennessee has a winning record and have a big game on Monday night against the Bills.

TERRIBLE LOSS: The Colts blew a chance to get to 2-3, blowing a 25-9 4th quarter lead, and losing 31-25 in overtime.

STOCK DOWN: Jacksonville and Houston No reason to even talk about these two.

AFC WEST: Combined Record 12-8

STOCK UP: The Chargers are now 4-1 behind the stellar play of Justin Herbert at quarterback. No one is playing any better. They are now 3-1 and have division wins over the Chiefs and the Raiders.

CAN’T PLAY DEFENSE: Kansas City can’t stop anybody and everyone is blaming the offense and Patrick Mahomes. There is no doubt that the offense is sputtering and Mahomes isn’t Superman like he has been in the past, but the defense has to be able to make some plays.

INEXCUSABLE LOSS: Las Vegas has now lost two in a row with the latest being against the Bears in Vegas. There were distractions around the quotes from their head coach, but they had to have that game.

STOCK DOWN: Denver won the first three games against inferior talent and dropped their 2nd straight. They host Las Vegas this week and the loser will have a 3-game losing streak.