The 2021 NFL season is starting to pick up, and we are learning a lot about certain teams, with some starting to show us exactly who they are.
As you know, we give you a breakdown week-by-week of what’s going on in the league. So do me and favor and just flow with me.
Let’s check out what happened in Week 5.
Packers vs Bengals
First of all, the kicking in this game was worse than an Eddie Murphy song with a Nick Cannon feature.
This game should have been over at least 45 minutes before it actually ended. But the kickers for each team decided to miss five straight kicks that would have won the game.
Now, as for the game itself, this was a really good test for both squads. The Packers needed to keep stacking good performances, and the Bengals needed to prove that they were a solid team and not a pretender.
Both of these things happened.
Aaron Rodgers was typical Aaron Rodgers, which is why the Packers won. But Joe Burrow and that Cincinnati offense is no joke. And he went toe-to-toe with Rodgers in the last few moments of that game like he was auditioning for Dancing With The Stars. Let’s hope his postgame throat injury evaluation turns out to be benign.
The Packers got a good road win against a solid Cincy team that is on the come-up.
Eagles vs Panthers
This might be one of the biggest surprises of the day.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles marched into Carolina and beat a Panthers team that was playing some really good ball. Hurts was solid and accounted for three total touchdowns on the day and connected with DeVonta Smith a lot.
But the Eagles defense stole the show yesterday. For a huge part of this season, the Philly secondary had been letting folks run right by them like they were in Squid Game and heard “Red Light” come over the intercom. But yesterday they were able to force Sam Darnold into three picks and less than 200 yards passing.
It was a great win for the Eagles, who will probably need a biblical miracle to try to get into the playoffs this year — but it’s good to see this young team starting to put the pieces together.
Bears vs Raiders
The Raiders are falling back into the pack after they pump-faked their abilities in the first couple weeks of the season.
They let Justin Fields come into Las Vegas with Matt Nagy, a man who has a football intellect that’s only 2.5 notches above former Jets coach Adam Gase, and they left with a W.
I understand that the Bears defense is one of the best in the league, and Khalil Mack was likely playing with some increased motivation because he’s going up against his former team. But scoring only nine points at home is inexcusable if you’re a team that is trying to have AFC Championship aspirations.
On the other hand, Fields is starting to look better, and beginning to get his NFL legs under him behind a solid rushing attack in Chicago.