Week 5 Takeaways: Dak Goes Down, Dalton Time in Dallas, Derek Carr's Signature Win
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 5 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Derek Carr, Act II: Ever since Jon Gruden arrived there’s been this undercurrent of negativity surrounding Carr (often fueled by his play, to be fair), and it seemed like Gruden was likely to move on as soon as he found the right quarterback. A big question was whether Carr’s reluctance to attack downfield last season was on him or on the lack of a downfield threat. His connections with Henry Ruggs in Kansas City helped provide some clarity. Carr went on the road and outdueled the best quarterback in the planet in his own building.
Henry Ruggs: That’s the stuff. He was a game-breaker in the upset win in Kansas City. Only two catches, but 118 yards between the two big plays.
Ruggs Running Deep Out of a Tight Formation: We’ll go to the dots on the Ruggs touchdown—and show why Daniel Sorensen (49) owes Charvarius Ward (35) a Coke. (It was a third-down blitz and Sorensen got sucked up by Hunter Renfrow—nice design, it happens.)
Michael Gallup Plays the Hero: Very good throw by Andy Dalton, but a phenomenal catch by Gallup even with a slightly mis-timed leap. (And this was one play after a toe-drag classic.)
Browns Defensive Line Steals the Show: The Colts have been dominating the trenches on both sides of the ball this season, but on Sunday it was Cleveland’s pass rush that utterly controlled the action. The absence of Anthony Castonzo was a factor, but Myles Garrett is playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level and even Olivier Vernon showed up in the pass rush this week.
Carson Wentz Was Tremendous: With Zach Ertz, considered his one reliable weapon, just going through the motions at Heinz Field, Wentz used a Travis Fulgham-centric attack to get after the best defense in football. The two interceptions weren’t on him—one was a clear defensive pass interference penalty that went uncalled, and the other was on a Hail Mary. He did misfire a couple of times, but those mistakes were outweighed by a number of spectacular plays late in the down. His best throw of the day was actually a miss, when he was just beyond John Hightower’s fingertips 50 yards downfield while getting his ribs caved in as he released it. Wentz also had another should’ve-been touchdown that went through Hightower’s hands. Whatever was wrong with Wentz through Week 3, it doesn’t seem to be wrong anymore.
The Legend of Travis Fulgham: He followed up last Sunday night’s star turn with 10 catches for 152 yards in Pittsburgh, owning Steven Nelson in this one. And with Zach Ertz struggling, Fulgham has emerged as Carson Wentz’s more reliable weapon.
Matt Rhule, for Your Consideration: The Panthers are young but, objectively, a bottom-five roster in terms of talent. They’ve now won three straight, all without their best individual player (Christian McCaffrey), and all their wins coming courtesy Rhule and his coaching staff outclassing the other sideline.
D’Ernest Johnson as Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer: It looked like the Colts were going to get the ball back for a potential game-winning drive, but Johnson went for 28 yards on a third-and-9, with the help of some magnificent blocking. Instead of giving the Colts the ball back before the two-minute warning, the Browns were able to seal it with a field goal four plays later.
FitzMagic Lights Up Santa Clara: Tua will have to wait another day.
Chase Claypool Is an Alpha: Four touchdowns would tell you that, but the Steelers are manufacturing touches for him the way you see the Rams use a Robert Woods or the 49ers a Deebo Samuel.
Romeo Crennel Is the Bill Walsh of Interim Coaches: It wasn’t quite snapping the Packers’ 19-game winning streak in his first game as interim coach in K.C., but the Texans took care of business against the Jaguars’ split squad team and Crennel now has a .750 win percentage as an interim head coach.
The Ravens Smash the Bengals: Not a whole lot to say—anyone expecting some Joe Burrow magic left sorely disappointed. The Bengals had 205 yards of offense, averaged 3.2 yards per play and went 3-for-16 on third downs. It was not a competitive game.
Miles Sanders: Two first-half touchdowns including a 74-yard run in Pittsburgh—his hometown, with his mom in attendance. That performance was an early Mother’s Day present. Or a very late one.
Cody Parkey Embraces the Doink: Kevin Stefanski sent him out to try to seal it with a 46-yarder against the Colts, and Parkey banked it home off the left upright.
Alex Smith Returns: There are plenty of us who weren’t sure if he should have come back. But the point is: He wanted to comeback, medical professionals cleared him, and he made it back. That can be celebrated. (As for his actual play on the field on Sunday, his mobility was limited and he was otherwise the same guy he was two years ago: Holding the ball at his belt buckle, verifying coverage multiple times after the snap and then lowering his eyes. Smith is a great guy and Ron Rivera might be able to rally the locker room around the fact that he’s a great story, but Rivera is not being honest if he believes Smith gives them a better chance to win games than Dwayne Haskins. With Smith at quarterback on Sunday, Washington ran 29 plays and gained 25 yards.)
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Regrets
Dak Goes Down: Of course, he had never missed a game in his career but will be looking at an extended, potentially season-long absence after a severe right ankle injury on Sunday. The Joneses didn’t want to give him the deal Dak wanted, and now they get a glimpse at the timeline where he’s not their quarterback.
Garoppolo Benched: And man, did he earn it. He got knocked around and didn’t look anywhere near 100% healthy, but his play was as bad as the numbers suggest (7-for-17, 77 yards, 2 INTs). His second interception was a flat-footed wobbler that he air-mailed—an ugly throw due to bad mechanics. The first though… This isn’t just a matter of not looking off the safety, he actually pumps and brings the safety to the throw, which he just lobs in there. You might as well just quick-kick it.
Philip Rivers Making His Mistakes Count: He’s not throwing as many as he did a year ago, but the ones he’s thrown so far this season have been utterly mind-boggling. The third-quarter pick-six to Ronnie Harrison was just Rivers forcing a throw at a zone defender when his receiver had already surrendered on the play. He also committed intentional grounding in the end zone in the fourth quarter with the Colts trailing by seven. In Cleveland, missing LT Anthony Castonzo, Rivers was under constant pressure for the first time this season, and he did not respond well.
A.J. Green’s Day Off: You’d like to see some effort to catch the pass, though in Green’s defense it’s just an atrocious throw. The issue is when you combine that body language with the fact that that he actively avoids making the tackle. Look, it’s Sunday, none of us want to be out there trying to tackle people when it’s not in our job description, but Green has a good 15-20 pounds on Marcus Peters. For the sake of being the member of a team, he has to at least feign trying. Performative effort.
It’s Been Minutes Since Daniel Jones’s Latest Soul-Crushing Fumble: His internal clock is like a sundial. Working late in the down on a second quarter play, he got chased down by Demarcus Lawrence and fumbled even though Lawrence didn’t really hit the ball. It became a scoop-and-score touchdown for Dallas.
49ers Defense Has No Answers: Sunday was everything you feared for this unit since losing the two star edge rushers who keyed their resurgence last season. The Dolphins feasted downfield on Sunday, and they were well over seven yards per play until garbage time.
Zach Ertz’s Long Day: This is 100% a penalty on Vince Williams—either defensive pass interference or illegal contact—though you’d like to see Ertz play a little stronger and finish the route. Earlier in the game he let Steven Nelson (who had the below pick and is also a 190-pound corner) muscle him off a route, which can’t happen to a star tight end.
Baker Mayfield Woke Up Feeling He Would Do Things That Are Unsafe: He threw one bad interception in the third quarter, and another where he held the ball too long (when protecting a two-possession lead late) and got hit as he threw in the fourth. But he was lucky to escape the first half without a turnover, when he sailed multiple passes and put it in a defender’s hands multiple times.
Pierre Desir’s Cushion: Granted, speed isn’t everything in Gregg Williams’s system with all his Cover-2 looks, but Desir is playing with his heels on the goal line on every snap—even against a Kliff Kingsbury offense that often refuses to push the ball downfield.
Jaguars’ Season of a Thousand Kickers: It’s been five kickers in five weeks for the Jaguars, and Sunday was a mess. Steven Hauschka had a very good career, but he’s not healthy and on Sunday he managed to pull a 24-yarder and come up a good three yards short on a 49-yarder. (He did hit both his PATs though, so there’s that.)
James Robinson Forgets He’s Carrying a Football: It’s a fourth-down halfback pass call, and in Robinson’s defense the play fooled no one; it was going to end up with Houston either way. (Also in his defense, the Jaguars couldn’t try a field goal because they don’t have a kicker.)
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
The Sure Hands of Andrew Thomas: On the two-point conversion, so one point for each bobble. (Whatever, I've made my thoughts on tackle-eligible plays clear.)
A Mahomes Throw:
Another Mahomes Throw: It was erased from history by a holding penalty, but in 20 years true fans will be trading bootleg recordings of it.
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
The Andy Dalton Cowboys: This summer, it was fair to wonder how Dalton would fare if forced into the lineup considering the very QB-friendly circumstances in Dallas. He was good in Cincinnati when they had one of the league’s best offensive lines, but he has always been frantic when forced to play from a muddy pocket. With both starting tackles out, that’s the fear when Dallas faces opponents who have some semblance of a pass rush (the Giants do not). The NFC East is the most winnable division in football, and even with Dalton, anything less than a division title would be a disappointment.
Browns Winning, and Winning in the Trenches: Their offensive line held up against a strong Colts front, even after losing Wyatt Teller. But the pass rush was the story in the victory over the Colts. The quarterback is a little more uneven than you’d like to see, but a dominant pass rush is a winning formula for just about anyone.
That’ll Do It for Dwayne Haskins in Washington: Not because Alex Smith or Kyle Allen took the job, but because after watching Smith and Allen on Sunday there’s no way to argue either of the veterans gives the Football Team a better chance to win than Haskins did. There’s no other explanation: This coaching staff must be really down on Haskins. Move him for a late-round pick while you can still get it.
The Ending of the End of Dan Quinn: There’s no doubt that his team plays for him, but the defensive approach seems a bit stale and he’s trying to make it work with a bunch of backups. There has to be better problem-solving than this. Ownership has watched two of his offensive assistants (Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur) go on to become highly regarded head coaches. Matt Ryan’s championship window is sliding shut, and they need some kind of change to the defensive approach in Atlanta. That likely means moving on from Quinn. (UPDATE: Apparently the Quinn Era has ended.)
QB Controversy in San Francisco?: Probably not, since C.J. Beathard didn’t to anything to take the job. But the 49ers are going to have to think long and hard before they play Jimmy Garoppolo when he’s less than 100% again.
After All That, the Eagles Are Probably Fine: The quarterback is back on track, he’ll have some weapons returning soon, and defensively the four-man pass rush is looking good (even if Jim Schwartz continues to make a head-scratching call or two every week). They’ll be kicking themselves over the Washington loss and Bengals tie come December, but this team is one again looking like the class of the NFC East.
Something Tells Me Bill O’Brien Would Have Also Gotten a Win on Sunday: Against the Jaguars’ practice-squad defense, on an afternoon when the opposing kicker left six points on the field.
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