By: Matt Sanderson
Source: (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) - Fox59.com
Another week of football is in the books, with week 5 behind us we have now surpassed the quarter of the season mark in the NFL. Time is just flying by and this was the first week where bye weeks begin. I was talking with some of my colleagues today saying "You truly do not know who will beat who on any given week and now that we only have two undefeated teams and one winless team the odds are far greater in the favour of parody.
This week was filled with ups and downs, highs and lows and I am here to break it all down in my biggest takeaways from week 5 in the NFL.
The Bears are no longer a winless team in the NFL.
The Thursday nighter this week was one of the games I was not truly going to sit down and watch...however I still found myself observing. Who would have thunk the Bears would win and then drop 40 points on the Washington Commanders...nobody, I am confident in that. If you did, go out and buy a lottery ticket because you have a horseshoe glued to you somewhere.
It was an important game for the Bears coming into a stressful situation where you are 0-4 and nothing seemed to be going right. Then all of a sudden their big acquisition they picked up in the offseason (DJ Moore) took matters into his own hands. Moore had 8 catches for 230 yards receiving and 3 Touchdowns. Where was that the first four weeks, and what changed? Regardless Fields looked better than he has in the majority of games in his entire NFL career throwing for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns without turning the ball over. On the other side of things...the previous Washington team I was excited about, I am no longer too keen on them because they clearly have a lot of problems on the defensive side of the ball that need to be corrected.
The Packers are in for a LOOOOONG season.
What started out to be a solid season at a 2-1 record and Jordan Love showing A LOT of promise has now shifted to where it's a head scratching conundrum what is wrong with this team? Well, I can tell you as a Packers fan... where do I start. This is another bad year for where the injury bug has plagued the team. Important injuries of note for this season, David Bahktiari, Aaron Jones, Eric Stokes, Jaire Alexander, Devondre Campbell, Christian Watson. There were/are some big guys out of the lineup which make things hard on the team especially most of those being superstars. Now they got some people back but you can tell they're struggling without that veteran presence.
Jordan Love has had a very up and down season thus far and the Monday Night game was probably his worst game in a Packers uniform. How long do you chalk this up to "Growing Pains" and not "Kid can't play"? It will be interesting to see how he can turn things around going forward.
The San Francisco 49ers are a Juggernaut
Look, I am still a little unsure on the 49ers because of Brock Purdy, however, this team is completely lethal and very well could get to the Super Bowl or win it this year. The 49ers dismantled the Dallas Cowboys and really exposed Dallas' weakness and it is just another reason why this team is completely deadly this season.
Brock Purdy, does the kid have ice water in his veins or what? He's thrown for 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions so far with 1,271 yards in his back pocket. His poise in the pocket is second to none and he is just doing everything right this year. So why wouldn't he be included in the very early MVP conversations?
The Cowboys are who I thought they were
I have to laugh to myself inside when people talked about the Dallas Cowboys as the greatest thing since sliced bread. All the analysts talked about "Dallas has a Super Bowl winning team and Micah Parsons is a big threat that nobody wants to deal with. Well, I sat there watching all the analysts jump the gun only to laugh maniacally when I saw them get beat down by this 49ers team this past week.
Look the defence is good but everything else is mediocre. I have seen nothing from this team that jumps out as a WOW factor to me. Not to mention Dad Prescott is only slightly above average as a QB. Mike McCarthy is showing his true form of calling offensive plays that don't make sense or move the chains. Bottom line is the overall offence is not good and needs to be worked on because they will continue to lose if they don't right the ship.
Gardner Minshew is the best back up QB in the NFL
What can you say about Gardner Minshew?! The guy is a freaking stud, he is a journeyman who has stepped into his role with grace and out performed most QBs in the league this season. If you really break it down he has such a hard task to overcome. Knowing you are the true QB2 with Anthony Richardson at the helm, and then have to pretty much go into every game thinking you might get some reps with AR getting hurt often and just being so poised and just winning football games. What an experience for Minshew, congrats to the Moustache and let the run continue!
So there are my biggest takeaways and I will switch over to my picks for this week. If you're looking for a spot to go for betting, pick Betstamp who will give you all the odds you need from one site.
Matt's Picks:
Bills over the Giants (Bills win by 10)
Detroit pulls out a close win over Tampa (Bucs to cover)
Eagles win in New York (Eagles win by 5 on Jets)
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