Week five in the NFL had a lot of thrills, jaw-dropping surprises and stunning, hair-pulling moments. Some of the best games of 2026 were played yesterday. Audiences found out which teams may be legitimate contenders and which ones could be one and done if they reach the playoffs. Here are this weeks winners and losers.
Winners: Aaron Rodgers
It has been a mixed few weeks for Pittsburgh veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This is his last NFL season and it has shown at times. That was not the case Sunday. Rodgers turned back the clock and had a vintage performance.
Aaron Rodgers was the Steelers best offensive player in a dominant home win versus Indianapolis. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 235 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 125.1 passer rating. Rodgers also had a run for six yards and was sacked once. The Colts had almost no answer on how to stop the 42 year old passer.
Pittsburgh’s offense has improved after an awful week two loss in New England, and that’s mostly because Aaron Rodgers has played better. The Steelers offense has scored 30+ points twice in their last three games. When Rodgers plays better, Pittsburgh is surprisingly a top team in the AFC.
Liam Coen
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has and will continue to catch heat for how the final seconds in London were handled after taking a one point lead, but the same should be applied to Jacksonville’s head coach Liam Coen for how he handled the end. Unlike Sirianni, Coen had his players fully prepared to play for any scenario.
The Jaguars stole a win Sunday no matter the timezone (for many in the U.S., it was morning while in London it was late afternoon). Jacksonville played from behind the entire second half until quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Parker Washington. While kicker Cam Little missed the extra point, a two point lead finally let the Jaguars breathe and consider how to play the final two minutes.
In Sirianni’s defense, Philadelphia had only eight seconds left after getting the lead back. All special teams had to do was make a simple kick to pin Jacksonville far back and seal a win. However, it seems Sirianni’s special teams had not practiced that scenario and were not ready to preserve a lead with eight seconds left. Coen’s team had and did.
Ameer Abdullah returned the 57 yard kickoff for 53 yards. He worked the angles of the field well and got great blocking that didn’t get called for a penalty. Cam Little then got to attempt and make a 57 yard field goal with one second left.
If Jacksonville didn’t have a terrible second half in Denver, they would be the talk of both the NFL and the North American sports world. Coen has his team ready to go at least 90% of the time and ready to play out any scenario no matter how good the team is plays. The Jaguars are due for a lot of credit and respect with how they play every intangible of the game well.
The Fred Warner-led 49ers defense
The 2025-26 49ers defense was well respected because of former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Saleh is an excellent coach and evaluator of defensive talent. No matter the injuries, he knew how to make the defense play well. However, the defense had pitfalls when he didn’t have his best player and captain Fred Warner on the field. Seattle was one of the few teams that could exploit that.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris had to rely on Warner in what many believe was America’s game of the week. The Seahawks offense is different this year, especially at the runningback position. The 49ers defense turned those changes into overwhelming mismatches.
San Francisco’s defense intercepted quarterback Sam Darnold on Seattle’s first possession of the game. It set up head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense at the Seahawks 18 yard line, and the 49ers scored a fast touchdown in four plays. The Seahawks tied it up and even took a lead, but San Francisco wasn’t done creating turnovers.
Whenever Seattle got their first lead of the game, Fred Warner led the defense to another turnover. He forced a fumble from runningback Emanuel Wilson. Safety Malik Mustapha recovered the fumble, and San Francisco’s offense scored a touchdown the next play. Right before halftime, 49ers defensive lineman Gracen Halton forced another fumble at the Seahawks two yard line and rolled onto the ball in the endzone. San Francisco led by eight instead of one at the half because of that play.
Seattle came close to winning several times in the second half, but was limited to six points on their last two of three possessions. The 49ers also caught a few breaks on the Seahawks last possession and came out with the win after a turnover on downs.
San Francisco is still undefeated because of how well the offense plays with quarterback Brock Purdy, but they are also undefeated because a fully healthy Fred Warner makes a difference for the defense. They are more feared, respected and play better football. The reigning Super Bowl champions are winless against him the last two times he’s been on the field. That should say everything about how important Warner is to San Francisco’s success.
Baltimore Ravens
Without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson in week five, Baltimore faced an uphill task of winning in Atlanta against the high-flying Falcons. Despite an early lead and stopping Atlanta’s offense most of the first half, the Ravens still trailed…and then the Falcons offense started playing well.
Baltimore head coach Jesse Minter kept the team focused even after Atlanta went up by eight points. Quarterback Tyler Huntley led the Ravens to their first touchdown of the game and cut the deficit to two. After Baltimore trailed by eight again, Huntley and the offense scored another touchdown and converted a two point conversion to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Tyler Huntley led the Ravens offense to another touchdown after a long, seven minute possession in overtime. According to OptaSTATS on X (formerly Twitter), Huntley is the only quarterback in NFL history to go 10-for-10 or better with a passing and a rushing touchdown in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter plus overtime. He also didn’t turn the ball over in his third start replacing Jackson.
Baltimore won the game when Falcons backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception on the first play of Atlanta’s following possession. The Ravens had no reason to come back multiple times down eight points with a backup quarterback and steal a win in overtime. Head coach Jesse Minter has some great moments the first few weeks of the season, but a Sunday night win in Atlanta could be his best one.
Losers: Klint Kubiak
Las Vegas has been a great team to watch and analyze the first month of the regular season. It’s mostly because head coach Klint Kubiak has done a stellar job with turning around the confidence, play-calls, and better usage of time management. Sometimes there are bad games. Sunday was one such example.
The Raiders got smacked around in New England start to finish. The Patriots scored touchdowns on their first two possessions in the game and never worried about Las Vegas making a comeback. Quarterback Drake Maye had five total touchdowns and 399 total yards. It got so bad Kubiak finally let number one overall pick Fernando Mendoza play and close out the game.
The Raiders had not played a terrible game a quarter into the season and that is a miracle given what viewers watched from them the last two decades. Sunday felt like a return to the past. Kubiak somehow didn’t have his team ready to play after a heavy, divisional game the previous week. It can happen for rookie coaches, but there will be concern if it happens again this month.
DeShaun Watson
Cleveland had won three games in a row and had to play a Jets team in New York that was humiliated the prior weekend in Chicago. While the Jets had a better chance to score and play a competent football game, one expected the Browns would do the same given their winning record. That didn’t happen…at least on the offensive side of the ball.
Quarterback DeShaun Watson played better the last two weeks and had a good chance to steal another win on the road. Watson completed 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. That was good enough for 12 points, but not a win after Cleveland’s defense kept New York’s offense to 17. Watson was sacked eight times and struggled to get rid of the ball To compare, Tyson Bagent was sacked once against the Jets defense in week four, and he is a less talented quarterback than Watson.
New York has a young defense that plays hard. They were embarrassed and wanted a bounce-back performance. DeShaun Watson’s improvement is a big reason the Browns have three wins and are over .500. When Cleveland does lose, it is mostly because Watson plays badly. The AFC North is a tight race and these types of games keep more inept teams out of the playoffs.
Kellen Moore
Klint Kubiak wasn’t the only offensive-minded head coach working with an undermanned team to flounder the last two weeks. New Orleans’ Kellen Moore has done a phenomenal job most of the last calendar year with turning the Saints around and getting them closer to winning the NFC South. The last two games were not kind to Moore. New Orleans’ early afternoon home loss to the Vikings was definitely on him.
The Saints offense in particular struggled. FOX put this graphic up at one point.
Not only was that terrible for the Saints offense, it highlights how Moore and quarterback Tyler Shough had no answers despite runningback Alvin Kamara getting some touches.
It’s fair to say Kellen Moore does not have enough talent to work with especially when trying to run the ball, but it’s hard to tell when there are few attempts to run said ball. A defense that heavily blitzes can be worn down by running the ball or using pass/run option read decisions. New Orleans still has a lot to work on and it’s disappointing their last two losses stem from coaches exacerbating certain offensive issues.
Arizona Cardinals offense
Two of the NFL’s worst defenses played in Arizona Sunday. The Lions and Cardinals are supposed to have really good offenses that can stretch the field and put up a lot of points. Well, Detroit listened, showed up and scored 45. Arizona though, struggled most of the game.
The Cardinals started well and got a lead early when quarterback Jacoby Brissett found tight-end Teagan Quitoriano for a two yard touchdown. That was it for Arizona until midway through the third quarter when the game was out of reach at 31-7. There was a point in the first and early second quarter where the Lions couldn’t do anything on offense. Instead of putting long scoring drives together, the Cardinals went three-and-out multiple times, couldn’t establish a stable running game, and got Brissett sacked whenever he looked downfield.
Arizona is in a serious spiral after a promising start to the season. Jeremiyah Love is struggling because of multiple ankle injuries. Love also said at one point last week that it has been a long season. That is alarming considering he said that after week four. Former high first round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. was in a slump until the Cardinals front office and staff decided to deactivate him ahead of playing one of the NFL’s worst defenses, and subsequently traded him to Houston right before kickoff. Finally, Brissett cannot keep taking a lot of hits every week. Jacoby Brissett trying to elude defensive linemen every week is a big reason why he has not inspired too much confidence outside of finding open tight-ends. A lot of pressure will turn to the Arizona’s coaching staff to start rookie Carson Beck sometime this month or next if there is no progress.
