NFL Week 5: Steel yourselves
The Steelers are an imperfectly perfect 4-0, Dak Prescott's injury has us bummed out, and the red-hot Browns have us questioning if we're living in a different reality.
The Steelers offense, lost in the woods last year without Ben Roethlisberger, has returned to western Pennsylvania healthy and potentially stronger than ever. Pittsburgh is 4-0 for the first time since 1979. Does that mean Roethlisberger's team is a Super Bowl contender once again?
Yes ... but it's complicated.
Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin torched an undermanned Eagles defense behind a breakthrough performance from rookie wideout Chase Claypool. The receiver came into Week 5 with seven total touches in his first three games as a pro. He earned 11 targets — and three carries — in a four-touchdown explosion that showed just how dangerous and versatile the Steelers can be.
While Claypool shined, a gap-filled defense turned small mistakes into big swings. Sacks and interceptions were traded off with missed tackles and blown coverages. The final result was an 11-point win that was much closer than the final score indicates.
So what to make of Pittsburgh in 2020?
The Steelers offense is fun again
Roethlisberger missed 14+ games last fall due to an elbow injury. Everyone on the roster was worse off in his absence.
JuJu Smith-Schuster struggled through health woes and a combination of Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges at quarterback. As a result, his catch rate fell from 6.9 per game to 3.5 as he turned in the worst season of his budding career. James Conner dealt with injuries of his own along with stacked boxes that were no longer concerned with Pittsburgh's deep-ball passing game. He finished his 10-game season with only 464 rushing yards. After ranking fourth in the NFL in yards gained in 2018, the Steelers offense fell all the way to 30th in 2019.
Roethlisberger is back for his 17th season, and while he isn't the high-usage dynamo of his mid-30s, the 38-year-old is currently playing the most efficient football of his career. Through the small sample size of four games, he's seen his passing yards and attempts per game from that torrid 2014-18 stretch (38.7 passes for 303 yards) each decrease (35.3 passes, 254 yards). At the same time, his touchdown rate has spiked, his interception rate has dropped (2.4 to 0.7), and his passer rating currently stands at a career-best 111.9.
What's his secret? Like Drew Brees before him, he's settling into a steady diet of shorter passes as he gets closer to his 40th birthday. After averaging 9.3 air yards per throw between 2015 and 2017, he's down to a modest 7.3 yards this season. Part of that change can be attributed to the loss of Antonio Brown atop his depth chart. But much of why he's been so comfortable with smaller gains has been a wide range of playmakers capable of doing more with less.
He's had different skill players step into the spotlight over that stretch in order to keep defenses confused. Backup tailback Benny Snell stepped up with the first 100-yard game of his career in a season-opening win over the Giants. Six days later, Diontae Johnson put together an eight-catch, 98-yard, one-touchdown performance to help beat the Broncos. Week 3 saw Conner and Anthony McFarland combine for over 150 rushing yards on more than six yards per carry. Sunday's game against the Eagles belonged to Claypool.
That's a wide range of MVPs, and we haven't even gotten to the team's leading receiver headed into Week 5: Smith-Schuster. That versatility has leveled up an offense that hasn't been especially explosive but entirely capable of moving the chains with regularity. That group converted 11 of its 15 third downs Sunday and sits just a shade under 50 percent when it comes to third downs on the season.
The Eagles game also showcased offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner's more creative impulses. He'd spent much of the early season rotating carries between Conner, Snell, and McFarland. On Sunday he added Claypool to the mix, making the 240-pound receiver a goal line option. It worked in the running game:
And it worked in the technically-a-pass, but designed-like-a-run game, too.
That's a lot to consider when you're facing the Steelers. Pittsburgh can slice you from a hundred different angles, and there's only so much space your shield can cover. This doesn't mean they're headed straight to a Super Bowl, or even to an AFC North title, however.
The problem, surprisingly, might be a star-studded defense
You could run out of fingers counting up the past and future Pro Bowlers along the Pittsburgh defense. Stars like T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bud Dupree, Cameron Heyward, and Joe Haden all call the Steel City home.
Coming into Week 5, the Steelers fielded Football Outsiders’ No. 3 rated unit. They were the NFL's top team against the run. They'd given up only 870 yards in three games, albeit against limited offenses from the Giants, Broncos, and Texans.
They faced another limited offense Sunday when a depleted Eagles team came to town. Philadelphia ranked 31st in that same Football Outsiders metric when it came to offensive efficiency. Carson Wentz, once an erstwhile MVP candidate, was playing the worst football of his career. His seven interceptions were the most in the league. His 4.3 adjusted yards per pass were the least.
And he, armed with a receiving corps of late-round picks and undrafted free agents, found a way to carve up the Steelers defense like a Christmas ham. The Eagles did everything they could to turn a game that looked like a blowout into a horse race. They scored a season-high 28 points and were only a foot wide on a 57-yard field goal attempt from taking a 31-29 lead with three minutes to play.
This is a problem for a defense that has yet to be tested by the kind of offenses they’ll have to tame to win the AFC. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia's first 14 points can be explained away by third-down miscues. The first saw Miles Sanders turn a third-and-9 draw into a 74-yard touchdown run thanks, in part, to some borderline holds from his wide receivers way the hell downfield:
The second came on a drive in which Wentz should have been sacked on an early third-and-3 situation, which would have forced a punt. Instead, Wentz kept the drive alive by, uh, bowing?
Philadelphia's third touchdown was a little less explainable. Haden got roasted by Greg Ward, allowing Wentz to loft up the NFL equivalent of an eephus pitch. Despite a pass that hung in the air for roughly half a minute, the veteran corner failed to recover.
Though that group eventually came together to hold the Eagles to six total yards over their final 11 plays (and a game-sealing interception), the cracks papered over by an easy schedule began to show. After facing subpar wideout groups throughout the early season, the Steelers found themselves dumbfounded by Travis Fulgham, a former practice squad regular playing in only his second game with Philadelphia.
The sixth-round selection from Old Dominion finished his career-making day with 10 catches on 13 targets for 152 yards and one touchdown. It’s not as though he thrived in the space created by bigger-name wideouts, either; the only other players with five-plus targets on the day were Zach Ertz (makes sense), Greg Ward (huh), and John Hightower (oh boy). Despite being Wentz’s favorite target and having an absolutely massive day, there were plays in which the Pittsburgh defense straight-up forgot he was on the field.
If Fulgham can have that kind of day, what about Tyreek Hill? Stefon Diggs? Hollywood Brown? It’s one thing to lord over quarterbacks like a broken Wentz, Daniel Jones, Jeff Driskel, and a stripped-down Deshaun Watson. What happens against Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, or the new, cheat code version of Josh Allen?
There were some positive takeaways from Sunday’s win. The Steelers pressured a bad quarterback into five sacks and a pair of interceptions. If you take away Sanders’ long touchdown, the Eagles ran for 20 yards on 15 carries. There are highlights to be found in Pittsburgh’s performance.
Still, a bad offense managed to put a scare into what’s supposed to be a stellar defense. The Steelers may be 4-0 for the first time since Chuck Noll was leading the team to back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 70s, but they’ve still got plenty of questions left to answer. If they can’t fix the flaws that kept Philly hanging around in Week 5, they could find themselves staring up at the Ravens once more. — CD
The unfair timing of Dak Prescott’s injury
Injuries are an unfortunate part of any NFL season, but the most lamentable are those that can change the entire trajectory of both a player’s career and a team’s season. There’s a cruel irony in Dak Prescott, who has never missed an NFL start, suffering a gruesome ankle injury when he was on pace for the best statistical season of his career — and during a contract year at that.
Prescott’s injury invoked an immediate emotional reaction on the field and around the NFL. If Jason Garrett, now the Giants’ OC, coming over to check on his former quarterback didn’t choke you up, then Prescott’s teammates gathering around him before he was carted off the field in tears probably did:
Prescott’s season is likely over now, and it’s impossible to ignore the larger ramifications of this injury for him. (We’ll discuss what it means for the Cowboys later this week.)
For each of the past two offseasons, Prescott seemingly has been on the verge of receiving a big extension, only for it to never come to fruition. While he played the entire length of his absurdly cheap rookie deal (four years, $2.7 million), Prescott kept proving over and over, his goblin, attention-seeking haters be damned, that he was a real franchise quarterback and has earned a long-term contract. Instead, Dallas used its franchise tag, which offers no security beyond the current season, on Prescott earlier this year.
I, like Prescott’s brother Tad, have no doubt Dak will make a triumphant return to the football field at some point. That’s easy to believe when, on the same day as Prescott’s injury, Teddy Bridgewater won his third game as the Panthers’ starting quarterback and Alex Smith took significant snaps for Washington.
But it’s too soon to know if this is the end of Prescott’s time with the Cowboys. Jerry Jones’ statement about the injury is yet another indication of how highly the billionaire owner regards Prescott — just not enough to have locked him down with a fair contract before he shattered his ankle. If Jones doesn’t do so in the future, then hopefully another team jumps at the chance of having Prescott — with his career 97.3 passer rating, 4.6 touchdown percentage, and 42-17 record — leading its offense.
NFL players put their mental and physical well-being at risk every time they suit up for our entertainment. That’s never been more true than this year, when Covid-19 protocols are even leaving players to openly question how much the league really cares about their safety. When the time comes, they deserve to be paid what they’re worth, because sometimes their best opportunity can be snatched away in brutal fashion. — SH
Week 5 results, in five words or fewer
Texans 30, Jaguars 14
Texans celebrate post-BOB life
Rams 30, Washington 7
Alex Smith returns, gets sacked
Ravens 27, Bengals 3
Panthers 23, Falcons 16
That’s all for Quinn, Dimitroff
Cardinals 30, Jets 10
Steelers 38, Eagles 29
Raiders 40, Chiefs 32
Dolphins 43, 49ers 17
Fitzmagic sparkles, Garoppolo gets benched
Browns 32, Colts 23
Cowboys 37, Giants 34
Seahawks 27, Vikings 26
Next stop, the Twilight Zone
The Browns are 4-1, with their win on Sunday coming against a legitimate opponent. Folks, I think the Browns are actually … good? That’s not all, though. This also happened:
That’s former Bears kicker Cody Parkey, responsible for the infamous “double doink” kick, doinking *in* a field goal to seal the game for the Browns.
I would make a “the end times are nigh” joke but that feels a little too realistic right now, so instead let’s just all agree we live in another dimension now. — SH
The Week 5 Pain Index
It was tempting to include the Jaguars in this week’s pain index. Not only did they lose their fourth game in a row, but it came against the previously winless Texans — something that’s becoming a bit of a pattern for Jacksonville:
But the Jaguars weren’t supposed to beat the Texans or even be very competitive this season. The same can’t be said for the three teams that found themselves singled out in Week 5 for all the wrong reasons.
3. Chiefs
Before this weekend, the Chiefs hadn’t lost a game since last November. They had also won five straight games against the Raiders, who last beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in 2012.
Derek Carr has especially struggled against his Kansas City rivals. He was just 2-10 against the Chiefs in his career and had gone 0-6 at Arrowhead and 0-4 head-to-head against Patrick Mahomes.
Then Sunday happened. If you pull up any article about the game, you’ll find some variation of “Derek Carr outplayed/outshined/outdueled Patrick Mahomes” in the first paragraph. And it’s true!
Carr played the best game of what has been a quietly good season for the seven-year veteran. He threw for a season-high 347 yards and three touchdowns, including bombs to Henry Ruggs III and Nelson Agholor. He also picked up two key fourth downs, one during a second-half touchdown drive and another to ice the game.
Although Mahomes wasn’t bad (340 passing yards, two touchdowns), he completed a career-low 51.2 percent of his passes, was under pressure all game, and failed to create his signature big-play magic. As a result, he suffered the biggest loss of his NFL starting career. Yes, really:
The Chiefs were eventually going to lose a game. Every great team produces at least one stinker during a season. That the Chiefs had a letdown against a divisional rival, and a quarterback they have historically owned, was a particularly painful way for that to happen — even if the Raiders deserve credit for putting together the exact right game plan to beat the defending champs.
2. 49ers
While the Super Bowl winners stumbled Sunday, the runners-up in the midst of a full-on Super Bowl hangover. Injuries are to blame for many of the 49ers’ woes, especially on defense, but this week, they got Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, and Deebo Samuel back. The result? Their worst offensive performance of the season in a blowout loss to Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins.
Garoppolo fumbled, threw a pick, and then threw another pick on three consecutive drives to end the first half. Still dealing with a bum ankle, he was replaced in the second half by C.J. Beathard. Garoppolo finished with a QBR of 1.4, the worst of any quarterback in a game this year. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick went off to the tune of 350 yards, three touchdowns, and a 154.5 passer rating.
It’s only Week 5, but this was a must-win game for the 49ers when you remember this was the easy portion of their schedule. Their next seven games are this gauntlet: vs. Rams, at Patriots, at Seahawks, vs. Packers, at Saints, at Rams, vs. Bills. My god.
A win would’ve gotten the Niners back above .500 and given them a boost of confidence in a trying year. Instead, they got thoroughly dismantled by a journeyman quarterback and what had been the NFL’s second-least efficient defense. Now, there’s a real question if San Francisco can win another game before Hanukkah.
1. Vikings
Halloween is still a few weeks away, but the Vikings decided to celebrate early by staging their own horror show on Sunday Night Football. And we, the audience, knew exactly what was coming and despite screaming at our TVs, we were powerless to stop it.
The Vikings were in firm control for most of the game. They kept the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands and strung together long drives with a mix of Kirk Cousins dinking and dunking, and letting Dalvin Cook cook. Then Cook got hurt and the Seahawks pounced, scoring 21 straight points in less than two minutes. This is when it seemed like the wheels were about to fall off, but to the Vikings’ credit, they came right back with two straight touchdown drives of their own to take a 26-21 lead.
After intercepting Wilson, the Vikings had a chance to put the game away. They burned nearly three minutes off the clock before Mike Zimmer faced the biggest decision of the night. Fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 6-yard line: kick the field goal or try to end the game?
Zimmer went for it, giving the ball to Alexander Mattison, who racked up 112 yards on the ground in relief of Cook. Unfortunately for the Vikings, they needed him to get to 113 yards, which he did not.
So the Seahawks got the ball, down by five points, deep in their own territory, with 1:57 left in the game. We all knew how this was going to end, complete with not one, but two clutch fourth-down catches from DK Metcalf.
Even if the Seahawks had lost, it probably wouldn’t have changed their season. But a Vikings win would’ve meant so much to them, proof that they were just slow starters and really did belong with the contenders.
Zimmer’s decision to go for it on fourth down backfired, but I still think it was the right call. Besides, let’s face it, this is the Vikings. The kicker would’ve totally missed in that situation and the end result would have been the same. Sometimes you can’t escape fate. — SH