NFL Notebook: A Look at The Week Ahead

 

Florida Sports Wire (Jacksonville)

NEW YORK — Fantastic finishes and thrilling comebacks are the norm in the NFL this season, as there have been 24 games to feature a game-winning score in the final two minutes of regulation or in overtime, the most-ever through the first five weeks of a season. 

Seven teams – Carolina, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New England, San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Tennessee – accomplished the feat last week, the most in a single week since Week 15, 2022.

Last week also featured four teams – Tennessee (18 points), Carolina (17), Denver (14) and Jacksonville (14) – to complete comebacks of at least 14 points and win, tied with Week 13, 2013 for the most 14-point comebacks in a single week in NFL history. Two additional teams – New Orleans (11 points) and Washington (10 points) – completed comebacks of at least 10 points. The six wins by teams after trailing by at least 10 points also ties the most in a single week all-time, with the most recent occurrence coming in Week 13, 2013.

London: The second of three straight weeks with a London game features the Denver Broncos (3-2) and New York Jets (0-5) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network).

Denver leads the league with 21 sacks this season and ranks second in scoring defense, allowing 16.8 points per game. Linebacker Nik Bonitto leads the NFL with seven sacks and can become the first player since 2013 to record at least 1.5 sacks in four consecutive games.

The Jets, who played Minnesota last season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, will become the seventh team to play in London in consecutive seasons, joining Detroit (2014-15), Jacksonville (2013-19, 2021-25), the Los Angeles Rams (2016-17), Miami (2014-15), Minnesota (2024-25) and the Raiders (2018-19).

Primetime slate: Three of the seven teams with four wins – Philadelphia, Detroit and Buffalo are set to appear in primetime in Week 6.

Philadelphia (4-1) at the New York Giants (1-4) (Thursday night, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video): The Eagles are the sixth defending Super Bowl champion in the past seven years to begin the season winning at least four of their first five games. Philadelphia has won the past 10 meetings with the Giants in primetime.

In Week 7 last season, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley totaled 187 scrimmage yards (176 rushing, 11 receiving) and one rushing touchdown in the team’s 28-3 win at the Giants, his first game against his former team.

In Week 4, the Giants earned their first win of the season over the then-unbeaten Chargers, as quarterback Jaxson Dart became the first quarterback to win his first career start against a team that was 3-0 or better in 23 seasons [Marc Bulger with the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 13, 2002, against the Oakland Raiders (4-0)].

Dart – who had 54 rushing yards in Week 4 and 55 rushing yards in Week 5 – can become the third quarterback in NFL history with at least 50 rushing yards in each of his first three career starts, joining Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson.

Detroit (4-1) at Kansas City (2-3) (Sunday night, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC): The two clubs will be meeting for the first time since Detroit’s memorable 21-20 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the league’s 2023 Kickoff Game.

Detroit leads the NFL in scoring offense, averaging 34.8 points per game, and have scored at least 34 points in each of their past four games. They can become the fifth team in the Super Bowl era to record at least 34 points in five games within a single season, joining the 2007 Patriots (eight games), 2000 Rams (eight), 2013 Broncos (six) and 1999 Rams (five).

Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery each scored a touchdown last week. It marks the 14th game in which they each have scored a touchdown, tying Dallas’ Daryl Johnston and Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for the most games among running back teammates each scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl era.

Including the postseason, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes has 299 touchdown passes in 138 career games. With a touchdown pass on Sunday night, he will surpass Aaron Rodgers (147 games) as the fastest player to 300 career touchdown passes, including the postseason, in NFL history.

Buffalo (4-1) at Atlanta (2-2) (Monday, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Bills seek to win five of their first six games of a season for the third time under head coach Sean McDermott (2022, 2019), while the Falcons have won seven of their past eight games on Monday Night Football.

Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson leads the NFL with 146 scrimmage yards per game and Buffalo running back James Cook ranks four among running backs with 107.8 scrimmage yards per game. Each player won the September Offensive Player of the Month award in their respective conference.

Robinson, with 100 receiving yards in Week 1 and 106 receiving yards in Week 4, became the fifth running back in the Super Bowl era with at least 100 receiving yards in two of his team’s first four games of a season. In the past 30 seasons (1995-2024), only four running backs have recorded three games with 100-or-more receiving yards in a season: Richie Anderson (2000 with the New York Jets), Austin Ekeler (2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers), Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (1998 with Indianapolis) and Arian Foster (2011 with Houston).

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen is the fifth player in NFL history with a completion percentage of 70-or-higher and multiple touchdown passes in four of his team’s first five games of a season, joining Tom Brady (2007), Drew Brees (2018), Derek Carr (2020) and Philip Rivers (2014).

Chicago (2-2) at Washington (3-2) (Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET, ABC): Quarterbacks Caleb Williams, the Bears’ No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Jayden Daniels, the Commanders’ No. 2 pick in 2024, are set to meet for the second consecutive season. It marks second occurrence ever where the No. 1 and No. 1 overall pick quarterbacks from the same Draft meet each other as starting quarterbacks in each of their first two seasons (Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson in 2021 and 2022).

Last season, in Week 8, Daniels threw a 52-yard game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Noah Brown as time expired in the fourth quarter to give Washington an 18-15 victory, as Daniels became the second rookie quarterback since 1970 to record a 50-yard game-winning touchdown pass as time expired, joining Cleveland's Tim Couch in Week 8 of the 1999 season (56-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson).

Daniels has 4,232 passing yards and 1,015 rushing yards in 20 career games and is the first player in NFL history with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first 20 career games.

Chicago wide receiver Rome Odunze was the only player in the NFL with a touchdown reception in each of the first four weeks of the season and can become the first player since Mike Evans in 2020 to record a touchdown reception in each of his team’s first five games of a season.

Top defenses meet in Jacksonville: When the Seattle Seahawks (3-2) visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX), two of the top intercepting defenses from the first five weeks of the season will be in action, as Jacksonville leads the league with 10 interceptions and Seattle ranks tied for second with seven.

Jacksonville linebacker Devin Lloyd leads the NFL with four interceptions this season, tied with Kiko Alonso (2013) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks (2002) for the most by a linebacker in his team’s first five games of a season since 2000. Last week, he had a 99-yard interception-return for a touchdown against Kansas City, marking the longest regular-season interception-return touchdown by a linebacker in NFL history.

o   Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald, since being hired in 2024, is one of five head coaches all time to win nine of his first 10 road games, along with George Seifert (10 wins), Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Brown (nine), Don McCafferty (nine) and Sean McVay (nine).

49ers (4-1) and Buccaneers (4-1) meet for fourth straight season: The 49ers and Buccaneers will meet in Tampa (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) in a battle of four-win teams coming off dramatic victories. Eddie Pineiro converted a 41-yard field goal in overtime to lift San Francisco over the Rams, 26-23, on Thursday Night Football, while Chase McLaughlin connected on a 39-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to help Tampa Bay win in Seattle, 38-35. The Buccaneers are looking to begin a season 5-1 or better for the third time in 20 years (2021, 2005), while the 49ers can reach the mark for the third time under head coach Kyle Shanahan (2023, 2019).

In addition to their last-second victory last week, Tampa Bay scored a game-winning touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in Week 1, a game-winning touchdown with six seconds remaining in Week 2 and a game-winning field goal with no time remaining in Week 3 and are the first team in NFL history to have each of their first four wins of the season come on a game-winning score in the final minute of regulation.

In the win over Seattle, quarterback Baker Mayfield became the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 375 yards (379) in a game, with four-or-fewer incompletions (four).

San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey is the only player with at least 100 scrimmage yards in five games this season. He can become the first running back with least 100 scrimmage yards in each of his team’s first six games of a season since Saquon Barkley in 2018.