The fifth week of the NFL season saw great performances from a range of teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, who completely dominated the Buffalo Bills on offense and defense. The New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons also won, making a statement that they are one of the NFC's best teams. Turnovers hurt the Eagles once again and Tom Brady beat Peyton Manning for the first time in a new uniform.
Patriots 31, Broncos 21
In one of the week's best matchups, quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning faced off for the 13thtime, but the first with Manning in his new Broncos uniform.
The Patriots raced out to a big lead and were able to hold off a Denver comeback, beating the Broncos 31-21 on Sunday afternoon.
Manning was stellar, passing for 345 yards and three touchdowns, but the Patriots were better. Brady threw for 223 yards and a touchdown while only missing eight of 31 pass attempts.
"Nobody I'd rather have than Tom Brady," New England coach Bill Belichick said to the associated Press. "But Manning's a great player."
For the second week in a row the Patriots were stellar rushing the ball, with Stevan Ridley gaining 151 yards on the ground and scoring a touchdown. Wes Welker had another excellent game, catching 13 balls for 104 yards and a touchdown.
"It's not new," Denver coach John Fox said. "They've been doing this for a long, long time. They just have a good group of guys together doing it. ... Our guy (Manning) did an outstanding job today as well."
The Patriots took a 31-7 lead near the end of the third quarter, but Manning was able to cut it with a two-yard touchdown to Eric Decker. He added a touchdown to Brandon Stokley to get within 10, but the Broncos later turned over the ball, allowing the Patriots to run out the clock.
"I know they're been great teams we've lost to, which still doesn't make it any easier," Manning said. "We are working on things and building things. It doesn't happen right away."
Falcons 24, Redskins 17
The Atlanta Falcons continued to make their claim as the best team in the NFC, winning an exciting game 24-17 against the Washington Redskins to remain undefeated.
Quarterback Matt Ryan had a stellar game, throwing for 345 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons improved to 5-0 for the first time in team history.
The Redskins lost quarterback Robert Griffin III after suffering a mild concussion in the fourth quarter. He was hit hard by linebacker Sean Witherspoon when he stayed in bounds rather than taking the safe play of stepping out.
"I felt like he was still turning upfield, so I was just trying to make a play," Weatherspoon said to the Associated Press. "Most quarterbacks would probably slide out of bounds or run out of bounds, but he's a tough guy." And there was no dispute. It was a clean hit. "It felt like a good play. I think it gave us a little energy."
Griffin left the game, but said afterwards he would be okay for next week.
"When he wasn't really sure what the score was, what quarter it was, we knew he had a mild concussion," coach Mike Shanahan said.
Rookie Kirk Cousins replaced Griffin and was solid, throwing a 77-yard touchdown pass to Santa Moss in the fourth quarter. Washington hung around with the Falcons, but Atlanta was just too good on offense.
"We were our own worst enemies in the first half," Atlanta coach Mike Smith said.
Tight end Tony Gonzalez looked like his younger self, catching 13 passes for 123 yards a touchdown. Receiver Julio Jones also had an excellent game, making 10 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown.
The Falcons and the Houston Texans are the only two undefeated teams left in the NFL. Houston plays the New York Jets on Monday night.
Steelers 16, Eagles 14
The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the ball over at an alarming pace this season and Sunday was no different. The Philadelphia Eagles have played in close games this season and Sunday was no different.
This time though, the Eagles couldn't overcome their mistakes, losing the Battle of Pennsylvania to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a last second field goal, falling 16-14.
"We had the ball last," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said to the Associated Press. "Such is life."
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was fantastic on the final drive, converting two third downs to set up Shaun Suisham's 34-yard game winning field goal as time expired.
I always have confidence in myself and the guys that we can do it," said Roethlisberger after engineering his 25th career fourth-quarter comeback. "It's good to go down. That was everybody on that drive."
Roethlisberger had a solid game, completing 21 passes for 207 yards and no touchdowns. Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, playing in his first game since returning from a knee injury, rushed for 81 yards and touchdown in the winning effort.
Philadelphia had a hard time protecting quarterback Michael Vick and giving him time to throw. He lost two fumbles, including one in the end zone as he tried to score, and threw for only 175 yards.
"This one is going to burn for a minute," Vick said. "You're going to need to score more points, going to need to help our defense out a lot more. And we tried to the best we can. Pittsburgh's a good football team; their record might not have shown it."
The win would have been the Eagles' third one-point win of the season; instead they fall to 3-2 and are now tied with the Giants for first place in the NFC East. The Steelers improve to 2-2 following a bye week and will play on Thursday night in Tennessee.
49ers 45, Bills 3
The San Francisco 49ers could give the Atlanta Falcons a run for their money as the best team in the NFC after the way they played on Sunday.
The Niners completely dominated the Buffalo on both sides of the ball, sending the team on a silent flight home after beating the Bills 45-3 on Sunday.
Alex Smith had one of his best games as a pro, throwing for 303 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions.
"Quarterback was near perfect," coach Jim Harbaugh said to the Associated Press.
The team set a franchise record on offense, gaining 621 total yards through the ground and the air. According to ESPN.com, the team became the first in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing.
"Very cool," Smith said. "When you think of the 49ers, you think of great offense."
Frank Gopre rushed for over 100 yards with a touchdown, while receiver Michael Crabtree had a stellar game, catching six balls for 113 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Vernon Dais added five receptions for 106 yards and averaged 21.2 yards per catch.
Buffalo was lost on offense. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for only 126 yards and an interception and the running game faltered, gaining only 89 total yards on the day.
"They flat-out dominated the game from end to end," Fitzpatrick said. "We just got beat bad by a better team today. There was no fancy stuff. They are who they are and they just played better."
The 49ers will host the Super Bowl champion Giants next Sunday in the first matchup since last year's NFC Championship game. The Giants were victorious in that game, beating San Francisco 20-17 on overtime.
Giants 41, Browns 27
Coming off of a tough loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants knew that their next game against the winless Cleveland Browns was a must win.
New York came out looking to start fast, but the beginning of the game was a complete mess for the Giants. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled on the first play of the game to set up a Trent Richardson touchdown.
Then after punting the ball back to Cleveland, the Giants allowed a 62-yard pass from rookie Brandon Weeden to Josh Gordon to take a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes.
"I was angry at myself for the fumble and I just used it," Bradshaw said to the Associated Press. "I was disappointed with the fumble, but you put it out of your mind. I knew I was cool. We knew the running game was there, we were confident."
The game had disaster written all over it, but Bradshaw would have his revenge. He made up for his fumble by punishing the Browns defense for 200 yards rushing and a touchdown.
A week after being shut down by the Eagles, the Giants ran for 243 yards on the ground. Rookie David Wilson had a breakout game, adding a 40-yard touchdown that should help him get out of coach Coughlin's dog house.
The Browns fell to 0-5 for the first time since 1999 and gave up over 500 yards total to the Giants. Victor Cruz added three touchdown receptions and is leading the league in catches after five weeks.
Colts 30, Packers 27
After Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia, the Indianapolis Colts knew there was one thing they wanted to do. They wanted to give their coach a game ball after earning a win. They did that on Sunday, coming back from a 19 point deficit to beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Andrew Luck had his best game as a pro and Reggie Wayne had over 200 receiving yards as the Colts defeated the Packers 30-27.
"I'm sure we were all lying to everybody the whole week, trying to downplay it," Luck said to the Associated Press. "I think we all went out there wanting to do it for Chuck more than anything else. To see all the emotions on Mr. Irsay's face, (Bruce Arians'), everyone in there, I think it's one of the greatest athletic moments I've ever been a part of."
Packers kicker Mason Crosby attempted a 51-yard field goal to try to force overtime but missed his kick.
"I thought they (Colts) played well," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Obviously, a tough week for them. I thought they played with a lot of emotion, a lot of energy. Frankly, I'm more focused on my football team and my football team is not playing the way we are capable of playing."
Indianapolis was down 21-3 at the end of the first half before making a furious comeback. Luck threw a touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen and helped set up a 50-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri. Luck added a rushing touchdown to cut the lead to 21-19 and then Vinatieri gave the team a one point lead with another field goal.
The Packers responded with a touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to James Jones, but the Colts quickly responded, with Luck finding Wayne for a four-yard touchdown with only 35 seconds left to take a 30-27 lead.
The loss sent the Packers to 2-3 and leaves them in third place behind the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears in the NFC North.
More to come....
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