Jayden Daniels shines; Trevor Lawrence recovers; Aaron Rodgers doesn’t click

Eric Williams

NFL reporter

Maybe the quarterbacks were tired of hearing about the return of the running game.

With Monday night’s matchup between the Saints and Chiefs still to come, eight signal-callers threw for more than 300 yards in Week 5, led by a career-high 509 yards from Kirk Cousins ​​in the Falcons’ overtime win over the Buccaneers last Thursday.

On the other hand, this was the first week in NFL history with two 100-yard defensive touchdowns. Take a bow, Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins and Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (more on Surtain later).

On a weekend with 10 one-score games so far, the Cardinals ended a four-game losing streak against the San Francisco 49ers with a 24-23 win. Denver ended its eight-game losing streak against the Las Vegas Raiders with a 34-18 win.

The Bears recorded their eighth straight home win, the NFL’s longest active home winning streak.

Here’s a closer look at who’s hot and who’s not in Week 5.

WHO IS HOT

Yes’Marr ChaseWR, Bengal

Yes, Cincinnati lost a heartbreaker to the Ravens in overtime and my pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl isn’t looking great at 1-4 this year. However, Chase had his best game of the season with a game-high 193 yards and two scores in Week 5.

Over the last three weeks, Chase had 19 catches for 396 receiving yards and five touchdowns. According to Next Gen Stats, he reached two of the four fastest top speeds of his career on his 70-yard touchdown (21.42 mph) and his 41-yard touchdown (21.33 mph).

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow also put up good numbers, recording 392 passing yards and five touchdown passes. However, his interception late in the game as Cincinnati tried to freeze it opened the door for a Baltimore victory.

Kirk CousinsQB, Hawks

The Michigan State product had his best game of the season, throwing four touchdown passes to lead Atlanta to a big win over the Buccaneers and tie for the top spot in the NFC South with Tampa Bay. The Falcons have won three of their last four games, and Cousins ​​has silenced any rumors about a first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. replacing him at center.

With his 509 yards passing, Cousins ​​is now No. 5 in the NFL in passing yards (1,373).

Kirk Cousins ​​on the Falcons leading the Bucs 36-30 in OT

Jayden DanielsQB, Commanders

I thought Daniels would have a soft landing in the NFL with an experienced head coach in Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The Commanders have three former NFL head coaches and two former defensive coordinators on the team’s coaching staff, giving them extensive institutional knowledge on the sidelines.

However, no one could have expected the LSU product to behave like this.

According to FOX Sports Research, Daniels joined Kyler Murray and Robert Griffin III as the only players in NFL history with 1,000 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in his first five career games. And Daniels is the first player in NFL history to catch at least 1,000 passes and 250 rushing yards in his first five career games.

And yes, he has joined the MVP race.

How good are the new commanders?

Trevor LawrenceQB, Jaguars

Jacksonville ended a four-game losing streak with the team’s first win of the season, a 37-34 victory over the Colts. Lawrence was at the heart of the success, completing 28 of 34 yards for a career-high 371 yards and two touchdowns, with a single interception for a passer rating of 119.5.

According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence completed 10 of his 13 attempts outside the numbers for 158 yards, including his two touchdowns. To top it off, he put together his best performance of the season on his 25th birthday.

Pat Surtain IICB, Broncos

Surtain, one of the league’s best cornerbacks, finished the win over the Raiders with two interceptions, including a 100-yard return for a score. Surtain is the first player with two pick-sixes in his career since Marcus Peters (3).

Surtain is also the leader of one of the NFL’s best defenses, which is the main reason the Broncos are 3-2. Denver is holding teams to 14.6 points per game, second in the league. And the Broncos are tied for fifth in the NFL with eight takeaways.

WHO DOES NOT

Brock PurdyQB, 49ers

San Francisco blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and Purdy’s play at the end of the game led to the score. While the Iowa State product was largely in control in critical situations for the 49ers, he struggled in his team’s disappointing home loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Purdy finished the game 7 of 12 for 79 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the second half as San Francisco’s explosive offense went scoreless. The 49ers finished the game 1 of 6 in the red zone.

Part of Purdy’s problems had to do with kicker Jake Moody being sidelined with a leg injury that could sideline him for a few weeks, forcing coach Kyle Shanahan to be more aggressive. Still, Purdy seemed to scramble around more and chase the big play instead of taking what the defense gave him. And the 49ers are now 2-3 in the NFC West.

Aaron RodgersQB, Jets

With one of the best defenses in the league, New York doesn’t need the MVP version of Rodgers. The Jets would adopt the 2015 version of Peyton Manning, when he helped lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl title. This season, Manning has been great at getting Denver into position at the line of scrimmage before the snap, managing the play and making sure his top-five defense doesn’t get into bad situations.

Rogers has four interceptions and an 81.6 passer rating in five games. Three of those interceptions came in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings in London. At 2-3, the Jets are just one game behind the Buffalo Bills (3-2) in the AFC East, so Rogers still has time to turn things around. A possible rumored trade involving Raiders star receiver Davante Adams would help.

Jets lose in London: Will Aaron Rodgers be washed?

Deshaun WatsonQB, Tan

Through five games, Watson appeared to be one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. He averages just 4.9 yards per pass attempt and has a quarterback rating of 74.4 for the Browns, who are off to a disappointing 1-4 start after reaching the playoffs last season. Watson hasn’t thrown for more than 200 yards in a game this season and the offense hasn’t scored 20 points in a game.

The Browns are obviously in a bind because they traded for Watson in 2022, signing him to a guaranteed $230 million deal. Because of the onerous contract, they can’t trade him now. As my colleague Ralph Vacchiano points out, the Browns are sticking with Watson.

(Vacchiano: The $230 million problem: Browns are burdened by a struggling Deshaun Watson)

Eric D. Williams has covered and covered the NFL for more than a decade Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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