NFL Week 5 scores. Early games included the Detroit Lions’ first win and the K.C. Chiefs’ first loss that came in the 
hands of Peyton Manning and the Colts.
Chicago Bears 23 vs. Carolina Panthers 6: No Jay Cutler, no problem for the Bears who used their running game to win the game. QB Todd Collins was intercepted 4 times and was pulled in favor of Caleb Hanie, in his second year with the Bears. Matt Forte ran for 166 yards and 2 TDs. The Panthers were held to two field goals as Jimmy Clausen only managed 61 yards through the air with one INT.
Detroit Lions 44 vs. St. Louis Rams 6: The Lions broke into the win column with a pasting of the Rams. Shaun Hill continues his great fill-in job for Matt Stafford, throwing for 3 TDs with no picks. Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson found the end zone as did TE Brandon Pettigrew. The Rams got decent run yardage from Steven Jackson (114 yards) but Sam Bradford threw 2 picks and couldn’t find a WR open in the end zone.
Baltimore Ravens 31 vs. Denver Broncos 17: Joe Flacco didn’t throw one TD pass and yet, the Ravens cruised over Denver. Flacco scored one with his feet; while Ray Rice ran wild for 133 yards and 2 TDs. Kyle Orton continued to throw for copious amounts of yardage (314 on 23-38) but only two TDs, both to Brandon Lloyd. The Ravens shut down the Broncos running game as well, allowing only 40 net yards.
Indianapolis Colts 19 vs. Kansas City Chief 9: Peyton Manning was frustrated and didn’t hide it. He couldn’t connect with a receiver for a TD all day, but the Colts won on the foot of Adam Vinatieri and his 4 FGs and got one running TD from backup Mike Hart. Matt Cassel led his team on a two-minute drill down field but couldn’t get to the end zone. Coach Todd Haley chose a final seconds 51 yard FG attempt rather than going for it on 4th down and 4 yards to go.
In OT Washington Redskins 16 vs. Green Bay Packers 13: The Packers’ Mason Crosby missed a 53 yard try with 1 second in regulation and off to OT we went. Redskins kicker Graham Gano sealed the victory for Washington with a 33 yarder at 8:06 of the extra period. The Packers offense was stymied by the Redskins, continuing a trend that began in the second half of last week’s game vs. the Lions. The Redskins still can’t get many points on the board. McNabb threw for 357 yards but only 1 TD and Ryan Torain is no replacement for Clinton Portis. He gained only 40 yards without a score.
Tampa Bay Bucs 24: vs. Cincinnati Bengals 21: Carson Palmer threw for more than 300 yards last week in a loss. They tried it a different way (21-of-36 for 209 yards) and it still didn’t work against the Bucs. His 2 INTs in the fourth quarter allowed the Bucs to score a TD and a FG in the final minute of the game, to stun the Bengals at home. Josh Freeman threw his only TD to Michael Williams. He was 20-of-33 with an INT as well.
New York Giants 34 vs. Houston Texans 10: The Giants continue to ignore their early stinker games and used the Texans to make an offensive statement. Eli Manning threw 3 TDs and Brandon Jacobs remembered how to get into the end zone for a TD on 41 rushing yards. The Giants D bottled up Arian Foster (25 total yards) and intercepted Matt Schaub once. The only TD scored by Houston all day was by RB Derrick Ward.
Atlanta Falcons 20 vs. Cleveland Browns 10: The Browns kept it close ‘til their QB threw a pick-six with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and that QB was Jake Delhomme. He was put in after an ankle injury felled Seneca Wallace who had thrown the only Browns TD of the game. It had been a tough day for Matt Ryan as he couldn’t muster 200 yards through the air but he did just enough, waiting for the INT score. He threw 1 INT and 1 TD to trusty Roddy White.
Jacksonville Jags 36 vs. Buffalo Bills 26: The Jaguars moved to 3-2 on the season and handed the Bills their 5th consecutive loss. David Garrad threw three TDs, two to TE Marcedes Lewis but it was the foot of Josh Scobee who carried the day. He hit on 5 FGs, two for 49 yards each. The Bills were in the game through the middle of the 3rd quarter and then it was all Scobee and Garrard from there on. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills QB had a good day with 3 TDs on 20-of-30 passing but the Jags D held the Bills runners short of the end zone all day.
NFL Week 5 late games were filled with mistakes which kept the outcome of all three in doubt until the final minutes of each.
Arizona Cardinals 30 vs. New Orleans Saints 20: Drew Brees was intercepted three times, the last one with less than 25 seconds on the clock to seal the game for the Cards, via a pick-six for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The Arizona D also recovered a Ladell Betts fumble for a TD. Young third–string QB Max Hall earned his first win, as the Cards surprised the Saints, who sputtered on offense for the second game in a row. Hall who got the start after Derek Anderson’s benching, demonstrated his toughness early and the Cards responded for him. He left the game for a few minutes after getting laid out near the goal line on a broken play, but showed his willingness to run into the teeth of defenders. Brees threw 1 TD to Jeremy Shockey and didn’t get more than 85 yards from his RBs as the Super Bowl champs fall to 3-2 and the Cards climb to the same record.
Tennessee Titans 34 vs. Dallas Cowboys 27: The Titans kept the Cowboys guessing with different looks on offense and defensive stops when they needed them. Tony Romo passed for 406 yards and 3 TDs but was intercepted three times, the final time with less than a minute on the clock. After tying up the game with 4 minutes + left in the 4th quarter, Dallas kicked off to the Titans’ rookie, Marc Mariani. He returned it into the red zone, leading to Chris Johnson’s second 1 yard TD of the day, giving the Titans a 7 point lead with 3.48 to go. Romo started leading his team down the field and got into Titans’ territory only to turn the ball over on downs, but got it back for the final attempt that ended with the 3rd interception. Felix Jones’ 109 yards was 90% of the running game on the day but he didn’t score. Vince Young contributed 2 TDs and the Cowboys fall to 1-3 with Tennessee climbing to 3-2 on the season.
Oakland Raiders 35 vs. San Diego Chargers 27: The Chargers got behind 12-0 with less than 5 minutes off the clock in the first quarter. Two blocked punts, one that went for a safety and the other, a return touchdown by the Raiders, led the list of reasons why. That sent Chargers QB, Philip Rivers into a passing frenzy. When the dust cleared at half-time, San Diego was up 17-15 on 290 yards passing by Rivers, more than half of it to Malcolm Floyd. The Raiders don’t give up like they used to, however, and they have a real offense these days, even when their QB Bruce Gradkowski gets knocked out, which ushers in the benched Jason Campbell. He threw a third quarter TD to Zach Miller to get his team to within 2 and then into the lead with 3:39 left on a 2 pt. conversion throw to Johnnie Lee Higgins and a Michael Bush RD. The Chargers turned the ball over in their final two drives and the Raiders won their first game in 7 years against the Charger. Rivers threw for 431 yards and lost. Jason Campbell just won a job back, maybe.
Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
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