NFL Best And Worst: From 49ers-Seahawks Thriller To Giants-Commanders Blunder

Niners-Seahawks put us on the edge of our seats, while Commanders-Giants left us … shaking our heads in disbelief. In Packers land, the arrow is pointing up after a whooping of a fierce division rival. Then there’s Nashville, where hopes keep lowering for the Titans. In my Best and Worst superlatives coming out of Week 5, I focus on game play, defenses and overall team quality: Sunday’s 49ers-Seahawks matchup added to the many thrilling games we’ve seen between the NFC West rivals over the years. Niners kicker Eddy Piñeiro hit the go-ahead 44-yard field goal with 1:56 left and San Francisco’s defense forced a turnover on downs on the Seahawks’ final possession to escape Seattle with the 32-29 win. Seahawks star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a stunning drop on third-and-10 that would’ve set Seattle up in field goal range and Cooper Kupp was ruled short of the line to gain on the ensuing fourth-down play. The game featured four lead changes, two ties and an NFL season-high seven combined turnovers. There wasn’t a touchdown drive longer than 24 yards until early in the fourth quarter, when 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Mike Evans caught fire, connecting four times for 75 yards and a two-point conversion on a go-ahead possession with 11:02 left. The ejection of Dre Greenlaw in the second quarter was a pivotal moment as well — the 49ers’ veteran linebacker headbutted the Seahawks’ Ernest Jones IV after delivering a late hit to Sam Darnold by Seattle’s sideline. San Francisco managed to overcome that for its biggest win of the season yet, improving to 5-0. What did we learn from this spectacular slugfest? Both heavyweights reaffirmed that they’re among the top Super Bowl contenders this season. While sloppiness defined Sunday’s showdown, both squads showed high-level play in all three phases. The Niners carry a two-game lead in the NFC West entering Week 6, but the division feels destined to go down to the very end. The Rams will factor into that as well. This 27-27 game provided a masterclass in terrible late-game execution and clock management. In overtime, the Giants blew their chance for the game-winning field goal when running back Cam Skattebo fumbled and lost the ball after a strip by Commanders nose tackle Daron Payne inside the 25-yard line. Washington then botched its opportunity to win as well. Despite having no timeouts, quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambled and took a sack with 12 seconds left in overtime and the Commanders couldn’t spike the ball before time expired, preventing them from kicking the potential game-winning field goal. In many ways, this overtime tie defined what the NFC East is becoming this season: a massive disappointment, with whoever is the least bad coming out on top. The Giants (3-1-1) currently lead the division, but their upside is capped with QB Jaxson Dart out for the season with a knee injury. The Eagles (2-3), with their terrible offense, could be barreling toward a rebuild. The Cowboys (2-3) have a massive liability in their defense, which can’t stop anybody. And the last-place Commanders (1-3-1) constantly have Daniels’ health concerns hanging over their heads. Washington didn’t need to add insult to injury with abysmal game management. The Packers suffocated their hated rival in the Bears, forcing a season-high five turnovers — Green Bay’s most takeaways in a game since 2016. Four of the five came on consecutive possessions in the second half. Chicago had been managing without star quarterback Caleb Williams (hamstring) the past couple of weeks, winning its previous two games, but Green Bay provided a reality check. The Packers had two interceptions off Tyson Bagent (12-of-21, 87 yards), who was benched after three quarters, then added two more takeaways off Case Keenum (11-of-19, 108 yards, INT, lost fumble). Wide receiver Rome Odunze also lost a fumble, with linebacker Zaire Franklin forcing the ball out and safety Evan Williams recovering it. Safety Xavier McKinney had a team-high two picks. The Packers also held the Bears’ No. 1-rated rushing attack to 81 yards, by far a season low, and limited Chicago to 3.6 yards per play. Not only did Green Bay’s defense make Chicago miss Williams, but the performance was the former’s season best ahead of Micah Parsons’ eventual return. The star edge rusher hasn’t started practicing yet, but he’s been eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list since last week. Earlier this month, the Packers looked like a team in danger of missing the playoffs. The past couple of weeks have shown us that we can’t count them out. They’re starting to find themselves. The Raiders weren’t the only team to allow 45 points this week — the Cardinals are in that party, too — but Las Vegas’ defense was worse across the board. In their 45-17 win, the Patriots went 6-of-12 on third down, had 536 yards of offense, averaged 8.1 yards per play and scored six touchdowns against the Raiders. We’re starting to learn that Las Vegas’ effectiveness defensively may be reliant on the ability to force turnovers. The Raiders are 3-0 when they have two-plus takeaways and now 0-2 when they have no more than one. Las Vegas’ defense couldn’t get off the field Sunday, as New England had a time of possession of 34:27. It’s part of the reason why I’m not yet buying the Raiders as a contender. They’ve had just one bad loss — they went down to the wire with the Chiefs in Week 4 — but haven’t shown consistency on defense from start to finish against good teams. The Raiders gave up 30 points and 189 rushing yards to Kansas City last week. And Las Vegas’ 3-0 start came against the Dolphins, Chargers and Saints — teams that are a combined 1-14. The Patriots beat the Raiders by 28 points, the NFL’s largest margin of victory in Week 5. Highlighting the dominance was quarterback Drake Maye, whose funk just a couple of weeks ago feels like an alternate reality. A week after winning AFC Offensive Player of the Week, Maye played lights out against Las Vegas: a 76.5% completion rate for 374 yards, five total touchdowns (four passing) and a 150.9 passer rating, the latter of which is the third-highest mark of his career. It was all the more impressive given that New England was without two of its top wide receivers — A.J. Brown and Mack Hollins. We are starting to see that the Patriots’ offense can be as explosive as any in the league. But credit to New England’s defense as well in Week 5. The Raiders scored at least 26 points in each of their first four games, but the Patriots kept them under 20. New England erased the run game (Vegas had a season-low 38 rushing yards) and held up well when the Raiders reached scoring position. Las Vegas had just 17 points to show for six possessions that reached plus territory. After a big win over the Bills last week and a dominant showing against the Raiders this week, the Patriots are back as serious AFC contenders. The Titans keep finding ways to create new lows. Facing a fellow 0-4 team in the Texans, Tennessee scored just a field goal en route to a 23-point loss to a division rival at home. Former No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward (23-of-36, 170 yards, 0 TDs, INT) took several steps back after an encouraging performance against the Ravens in Week 4, reigniting questions about his standing as the Titans’ quarterback. Tennessee’s offensive line, which has largely been solid this season, fell apart against Houston — Ward was sacked a season-high four times and the Titans produced a season-low 57 rushing yards. Tennessee’s defense was fine through two quarters — Houston had just 12 points to show for four drives that got inside the Titans’ 35-yard line — before unraveling down the stretch, giving up back-to-back touchdowns to start the second half. Nothing will change in the Titans’ outlook until they can get something going on offense, where they rank dead last in both scoring and yards produced per game. Former Giants head coach Brian Daboll has been a massive disappointment as the offensive coordinator hire to this point, and Ward’s development has been headed backward.