Jordan’s Serial: NFL 2013 Week 5 Takeaways

After the excitement and celebration of the International Series game, UK fans had to settled down and relax. Nothing could top the wonderful weekend celebrating all things football, and a game that lived up to its billing, or could it?

Week 5 of the NFL season was nothing short of exceptional on many levels; you start to run out of superlatives for the game we love. The 2013 season just seems to get better and more intriguing with every game, no change that, every down that is played.

BILLS 24 BROWNS 37

The wisest thing Cleveland did, in fabulous hindsight was to trade their ‘star’ running back away. This has led to a win streak that has confused and muddled an already middling AFC North. Scoring 37 points against a hardy Buffalo outfit was a little surprising, but thoroughly deserved in an exhibition of how to play in all three phases of the game. Cleveland now tops the division, long may their resurgence last. Buffalo will still look to cause an upset in the East but that will depend on how quick they can bounce back from this loss.

PATRIOTS 6 BENGALS 13

At last the worst 4-0 team in the league has been found out. For too long now I have said that New England have had their day and are not the toast of the AFC. One team that I was on record as saying had caught them up on the field were Cincinnati, and so it proved last Sunday. Only one touchdown separated the teams but the Bengals were never really troubled, and held the Patriots to just two field goals. The Bengals are some way off their best; this win could be the springboard.

LIONS 9 PACKERS 22

What is Detroit without Megatron? Optimus Prime – I mean Green Bay – had the answer to a Lions team that were tame without their star wide out. Hoping to win at Lambeau Field for the first time since 1991, the Lions just had no bite (should I stop now?). This division match was vital for both to stamp their mark on each other and the rest of the NFC. Detroit needs a real breakout win to show they are for real, the Pack just needed to win to stay in touch. A few field goals and a Clay Matthews broken thumb later and it was the home crowd that went away happiest. Still some work to do though for both.

SEAHAWKS 28 COLTS 34

If you didn’t believe in Andrew Luck and his Indianapolis team before, you should do now. In the past few weeks they have beaten the 49ers and now Seattle in what was a spirited game played out between two teams that could well meet again this season. Let’s gets this right, the Colts WON this game, they weren’t given it, and had to earn it. Seattle’s problem, as we are well aware, is that they cannot win on the road – home form is not an issue, and if they can go .500 on the road they will have enough to win the West.

RAVENS 26 DOLPHINS 23

Every week it seems that Baltimore are in a must win situation. We’ve seen it all before of course, count them out at your risk, they’re champions for a reason right? Miami have suddenly derailed, they are not a crisis team yet, as there is way too much in the locker for this team to completely fold. Being in the AFC East will help them as that’s wide open this year. Ravens eventually found a little balance on offence, they need more though and Ray Rice needs to get back to full health to help this. The Dolphins just need to look after the ball more and the rest will follow.

SAINTS 26 BEARS 18

Drew Brees was 0-3 at Soldier Field, and so the New Orleans QB had to go against the jinx to keep the Saints unbeaten start to the year going. He managed this with relative ease despite the close score line. Chicago are now facing one of those moments. They are at a crossroads in their season already. After a promising start to the year they have lost two straight and if the slump continues this week they could just tumble away gain like last year. For the Saints it was a case of as you were, some fine offensive play, mixed with some aggressive defence has helped them become the number one team in the NFC.

EAGLES 36 GIANTS 21

Once known as the best division in Pro football the NFC East has slipped further into the mire. At 2-3 Philadelphia actually tops the East thanks to two wins within the division. Now the story that is perhaps yet to be told is that the New York Giants at 0-5 and just those two games out of first place know they are still in the race. How can that be when they are so bad? Well, because these are the Giants, and IF they do get on a small win streak, which we’ve seen them do before, and then anything is possible. Philadelphia will view themselves as the favourite to win the division due to everyone else’s problems.

CHIEFS 26 TITANS 17

So now it’s getting serious. At 5-0, Kansas City is for real. They are playing arguably the best football in the whole NFL. Yes that’s right, the whole league. I say this because they are winning with a complete brand of football. They might not be as high octane on offence as others, they don’t need to be. With the Chiefs it’s all about ball control and good basic defence, something that a good Tennessee team found out. There is a long way to go of course and that’s also good news for the Titans. They will look to come back from this defeat and fight their way back into people’s thoughts. Both teams have a lot of promise and have a more than decent shout of extending their season into January.

JAGUARS 20 RAMS 34

Look at that score again. Yes, it’s not a typo, Jacksonville actually scored 20 points in one game. Unfortunately they couldn’t hold St.Louis under that figure, and dropped to a winless 0-5. The measure of how woeful the Jaguars are summed up when some say that you are an improve team now that your number one QB is out. It’s a slightly different story for the Rams. Entering the season with high hopes they have still to find the promise they showed when they held the 49ers twice last year. Coach Fisher will still look upon this as a work in progress, but they were, for a quarter at least threatened by the Jags. That can’t be good, right?

PANTHERS 6 CARDINALS 22

A match between two teams that need an identity. They are at best both .500 teams and will struggle to have any influence on their divisions, not just because of the other teams in them but because of themselves. Carolina have yet to show anything like their “on paper” talent, and it showed as Arizona slowly edged away from them during the course of the game.

BRONCOS 51 COWBOYS 48

This game has been dissected in so many ways over the past few days that a CSI team would have trouble making sense of it all. And so it is that we’re still scratching our heads at the one thing that has been (not entirely) overlooked. Just how bad are these two defences? So Denver got out of jail here, I honestly believe that in the QB meet up in the middle as the game ended Manning would have said something along the lines of “Thanks ‘Bro – you got me out of jail there”. Well OK, maybe not, but the ending had that inevitable feel about it. Dallas will be wondering how on earth they can score that many points and not win. Answer please Monte Kiffin?

TEXANS 3 49ERS 34

“Taxi for Mr.Schaub!” If there’s a defining moment in a player’s career we may have witnessed it on the first Houston play from scrimmage. The wayward pass that was tossed up and returned by San Francisco for a touchdown set the tone for the night. Matt Schaub was later benched in a game which he literally threw away. Many people had the Texans down as the AFC representative in the Super Bowl; they are fast becoming like their Texas neighbours, a lot of promise but no end result. On the flip side, the 49ers are slowly coming back from the big losses to the Seahawks and Colts. Not quite at their best yet, and that’s a scary thought.

CHARGERS 17 RAIDERS 27

Oakland could, COULD, be the dark horse I’m looking for. They are a team that are seeing an upturn in fortune and wins like this against San Diego will always help confidence. They are, of course, far from the finished article but with exciting QB Pryor under centre they are in with a chance. The word ‘inconsistent’ in the dictionary actually has a diagram of San Diego’s stadium. No? If not, it should. They turn a corner with a solid display against the Cowboys a week ago only to falter in a rivalry match. This is why they will not feature late in the campaign.

JETS 30 FALCONS 28

Where and why has it all gone wrong for Atlanta this year? Once more they were on the cusp of a win only for a New York Jets team to drive down and kick a winning field goal as time expired – and kick them where it hurts. It would be easy to write them off now at 1-4 and four games back on the Saints, now without their best receiver Julio Jones, lost for the year with a foot injury. Stranger things have happened, they will need to dig deep to find that form that earned them the best record in football last term. As for the Jets they must have the most hot and cold QB in the league. Geno Smith was dropped off the radar in the draft, and when eventually picked up was seen as the forgotten man. Now firmly in control of the team’s offence he is showing the play that made him early favourite to be the number one pick.