NFL Week 5 takeaways Everything feels over for the Patriots Lions look legit AFC South shakeout
The have been buried a bajillion times since their dynasty window opened up back in 2001. Bill Belichick famously repeating "" in 2014 came after a Week 4 blowout lo s to the that dropped the Pats to 2-2 amid a whole host of obituaries being written about Belichick and his aging (37) quarterback . They'd go on to finish 12-4 and win the .Doubting the Pats and quickly looking stupid was a routine aspect of their dynasty. After watching the Patriots get utterly dismantled by an average team to the tune of 34-0 -- the worst home lo s in the history of the Patriots franchise -- there are way more questions than answers for Belichick. And not doubting the Pats, now 1-4 after back-to-back 30-point lo Austin Hedges Jersey ses for the first time since 1970, feels like an impo sible leap of faith. Belichick lost by 30 in his first 453 games as an head coach and he's had it happen twice in the last two weeks.This lo s to the Saints wasn't just a bad lo s or a bump in the road. It feels like something more coming on the heels of a 38-3 bloodbath in Dallas against the last week. It was the second-largest lo s of Belichick's career, with the worst lo s coming the week before. The Pats have been outscored 72-3 the last two weeks, each of which featured a healthy dose of , because things were so out of control in each game. isn't being benched and Belichick even went so far as to say there are other i sues the Patriots are dealing with. "Yeah, there are a lot of problems," Belichick said when asked if Mac was still the starter moving forward. "Certainly wasn't all him."He's not wrong! The Pats finished with 156 total yards (3.1 per play) and averaged 2.5 rush yards per attempt. This isn't a high-octane, pa s-first offense. If the Pats can't run the football, it's difficult finding a path for them to win. New England doesn't have much in terms of pa s-game weaponry, so any kind of decent deficit basically puts the game away.Mac starts pre sing and mistakes happen. He's thrown four pick-sixes at home now, including one on Sunday, which is the same number Brady threw at Gillette Stadium ... in his entire career. Let's not pretend the Saints offense was prolific in this game either. threw a pair of touchdowns but he failed to top 185 pa s yards for the third straight start. The Saints ran the ball OK, banged down a bunch of field goals and basically leaned into the fact the defense was going to outscore the opponent. This was the first time since Week 7 of last year the Saints topped 30 points.Anything can happen on a Sunday afternoon in the NFL, but the Patriots are staring down the barrel of a lost season with a road trip to Vegas next week followed by matchups against explosive divisional rivals in the and on back-to-back weeks.We'll see what happens with the , but they're not a pushover and Josh McDaniels should be just as desperate as his mentor for a win in Week 6. But lose that game and both Buffalo and Miami will absolutely smell a chance to formally snuff out the Pats' 2023 season over the next two weeks. All of which might lead to a bigger question: what does the future hold for Belichick in New England? Using the phrase "hot seat" Miguel Diaz Jersey with Belichick -- easily the greatest coach in the history of football -- isn't something anyone should take lightly. But with the Patriots continuing to struggle, and actually get worse, in the post-Brady era, would Belichick and owner Robert Kraft consider some kind of "mutual decision" before things get worse? Belichick is bearing down on Don Shula's record for most wins all time by a coach. And clearly everyone involved wants it to happen.There's almost no way the Patriots keep getting bludgeoned and are Gerardo Reyes Jersey unable to find any semblance of offensive production moving forward. no way. But if it does, things might get extremely awkward in Foxborough.Detroit closed as a 10-point home favorite against a winle s team that is struggling acro s the board right now, so I don't want to put too much into the Lions victory on Sunday. Declaring them "legitimate" based on beating Carolina would be silly. they beat Carolina is much more interesting to me. The box score really doesn't do this beatdown justice: 14 of the Panthers 24 points came in the fourth quarter amid mostly garbage time after the Lions extended their lead to 35-10 (they would eventually win 42-24). was outstanding, going 20-for-28 for 236 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another rushing touchdown on a goal-line sneak. , who has been coming on like gangbusters the last few weeks, caught a pair of touchdowns. He's a sneaky OROY candidate right now. wasn't even active for this ma sacre, but it didn't matter, with stepping up in his spot. continues to be an impre sive revelation in this rushing offense, rumbling for 109 yards on 19 carries with inactive.Defensively, the Lions put the clamps on the Panthers anemic offense early and didn't even consider letting up until the game was completely out of hand. Aiden Hutchinson is really shaping up to be an all-time "really overthought that one because you hate Jim Harbaugh" situation for Jags GM Trent Baalke. This is back-to-back weeks where the Lions have slaughtered an inferior opponent. That's a strong mark of a great team. The Lions are CLEARLY the cla s of the NFC North at this point and have a formula built in Dan Campbell's likene s, with their biggest strengths coming in the trenches. Two straight road games are on deck for Detroit (Tampa Bay and Baltimore, respectively) and those are never easy in the NFL, but there isn't a reason to think the Lions can't win both or even go 1-1 to keep their stranglehold on the division.Put on a different uniform -- because of the Lions lengthy history of being terrible -- and you could envision this team representing the NFC in Vegas come February.I was eying the southernmost American Football Conference division heavily during the early slate of games, especially after my bold prediction last week that we might see multiple AFC South teams in the postseason. I still stand by it, although it may be tougher as a result of some of Sunday's action. The bolstered their case as a playoff squad by beating the Bills on Sunday in London at Tottenham. Buffalo's travel schedule is certainly worth scrutinizing, but the Jags defense did its job on Sunday morning, particularly in the first half, by holding the Bills to just a single score before the Dave Winfield Jersey break. Locking down for just 20 points is a strong effort, but the Jags created multiple turnovers and sacked Allen five times, an impre sive number for someone as strong and fast as Allen. threw the ball really well, especially considering he dealt with some kind of calf injury in the second half, and used his legs in very efficient fashion. was dominant, particularly on third down. played so well he apparently beat himself in fantasy. I played against myself in fantasy fb today Travis Etienne Jr (@swaggy_t1) The Jags managed to go 2-0 over in London and look like they righted the ship nicely after an extremely start to the season. Next up is a matchup against the which looks like it might not feature .That's because the Colts rookie quarterback got hurt again. While executing a designed run, again. This is the third time so far this year, with two of the injuries coming to his shoulder and one in the form of a concu sion. Three different injuries, three different games, three designed runs ... and we're five weeks into his career. and consider this a full-blown red flag for Richardson's long-term viability in the NFL. He's an athletic freak who looks like he could become a dynamic, versatile weapon ... if he can stay healthy. Yes, it's a small sample size, but it's a LOT of injuries inside that sample size, especially when it's in an offense that asks him to run aggre sively. The good news for Indy is they have , who helped to orchestrate a win over the that moved Indy to 3-2. You know the Colts feel they can win if they' Austin Allen Jersey re handing out huge contracts to after four weeks on the PUP. But the contract looks a little questionable when Zach Mo s dominates the Titans on the ground, carrying the ball 23 times for 165 rushing yards. If the Colts are back as a dominant run team a division and/or playoff run isn't off the table at all. The Titans are endle sly frustrating. Now 2-3, they've basically gone as and have gone. They slaughtered the last week, got slaughtered by the the week before and split a pair of one-score games prior to that. Mike Vrabel's one of the best coaches in the NFL and I think he'll keep this team competitive on a week-to-week basis, but the Titans have to figure out ways to steal some of these one-score games if they want to stay in the AFC mix. One thing to note: really flashed on Sunday for the first real time as a Titan.The nearly got themselves to 3-1 as well on Sunday, but the and managed to sneak out yet another home win as a small favorite, beating Houston 21-19 on a last-second field goal. No one wants to lose one-score games and moral victories are for losers, but the Texans have to feel good about where they are as a team. Week 1 against Baltimore feels like an aberration. continues to add to his record for most pa s attempts without an interception to start a career.