A Look Back at Week 5 in the NFL
Titans and Giants Undefeated, Redskins Beat Eagles, Orton for Real
Oct 7, 2008
Tennessee Titans and New York Giants Still Haven't Lost
Many experts had picked the Giants as their Super Bowl favorite so it's no surprise they are 4-0. The only surprise is how convincingly they beat the Seattle Seahawks (1-3) on Sunday. The Giants piled over 500 total yards on the Seahawks defense while limiting Seattle's offensive output to 187 yards in their 44-6 win. Brandon Jacobs rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns while Plaxico Burress' one-week replacement, Domenik Hixon, amassed 102 receiving yards and a touchdown before leaving with an injury in the second quarter.
It IS a surprise that the Titans are 5-0, and they had a more difficult outing than the Giants on Sunday as they had to score 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens to escape with a 13-10 victory. No Titans player was particularly outstanding in the game and quarterback Kerry Collins' only shining moment was an 80-yard, 11 play drive in the final quarter that resulted in his touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler to seal the come-from-behind win. Prior to that drive he had thrown for only 83 yards and been intercepted twice. They have a bye week in Week 6 to figure out how they keep this train rolling along.
The Titans and Giants are now the only undefeated teams in the league as the Buffalo Bills were blown out by the Arizona Cardinals 44-17 to fall to 4-1. The teams that have yet to win are the Cincinnati Bengals (0-5), Houston Texans (0-4), Detroit Lions (0-4) and St. Louis Rams (0-4).
Washington Scored 23 Unanswered Points to Beat Philadelphia
After losing their first game of the season, the Redskins (4-1) have won four straight games and look to be one of the strongest teams in the league, yet they're still behind the Giants in the NFC East. After falling behind 14-0 against the Eagles in the first quarter on Sunday, the Redskins nailed 3 field goals, and scored off a touchdown pass by wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and a 4-yard rush by Clinton Portis. Portis finished with 145 rushing yards against one of the top run defenses in the NFL.
Philadelphia again had problems at the opposition's goal line as they failed to punch the ball into the end zone with two rushing attempts by Brian Westbrook from Washington's two yard line. Last week, the Eagles were stuffed on four straight runs inside the Chicago Bears' five yard line. If the Eagles had converted on those two plays they're potentially 4-1. Instead they're 2-3 and in last place in the tough NFC East. Note to Andy Reid: let McNabb try a play action pass next time you're in the red zone. The Eagles received some bad news (not that they needed it) on Monday morning as they were told Westbrook had fractured two of his ribs in Sunday's game. He's listed as questionable for this week's contest against the San Francisco 49ers.
Kyle Orton Proving He's the Guy in Chicago
First, he throws for three touchdowns against the powerful secondary of the Eagles in Week 4. Then he tosses a career-high 334 yards on 24 completions including two touchdowns in Sunday's 34-7 win over the Detroit Lions. Orton is making the brass of the Chicago Bears look like strategic wizards in picking him as their starter over Rex Grossman. He's now thrown seven touchdown passes in his last three games and has the Bears (3-2) in first place in the weak NFC North. Well, first place is first place.
The Miami Dolphins Have Already Doubled Win Total of Last Season
With two consecutive wins and 12 games to go the Dolphins (2-2) have forgotten about their abysmal 1-15 season of just one year ago. Chad Pennington was efficient in completing 22 of his 29 pass attempts with one touchdown in the 17-10 win over San Diego, but running back Ronnie Brown was again the star. Following his five-touchdown performance in Week 3 (4 rushes, 1 pass) and the Dolphins' bye week, Brown rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown on Sunday. The Dolphins are in last place in the AFC East but are just one win and one Patriots loss away from second place behind the Bills.
