The fifth week of the 2011 NFL season proved to be very unpredictable. The already struggling Philadelphia Eagles dropped another game this week to the Buffalo Bills, despite there late fourth quarter surge, bringing there record to 1-4. The Bills are one of the biggest surprise stories of this season, jumping off to a 4-1 start with a stunning week three win against the New England Patriots. This weeks success can be credited to a strong defensive effort which forced Philly quarterback Mike Vick into throwing four interceptions, as well as a solid rushing game anchored by Fred Jackson's 111 rushing yard.
Another team having early season problems is the Indianapolis Colts, who lost by four points at home this week against the Kansas City Chiefs taking there record down to 0-5. The Colts are still having quarterback issues with the absence of Peyton Manning. Kansas City improves to 2-3 behind a massive air strike that saw Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breaston each catching two touchdown passes.
Week five was not short on rivalries as there were four interdivisional matchups. The New Orleans Saints edged the Carolina Panthers by a score of 30-27. The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos 29-24, even after the Bronco's Tim Tebow threw a touchdown to Knowshon Moreno to cut the lead down to two points with three minutes to play. Tom Brady led his New England Patriots to a 30-21 win against AFC East opponent New York Jets. This matchup was a rematch of last years AFC divisonal playoff game in which the Jets defeated the Patriots 28-21 in Foxboro, MA. Other noteworthy games this week were the Seattle Seahawks over the New York Giants 36-25, and the San Francisco 49ers advancing to a 4-1 record with a 48-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Monday Night Football Primetime game this week was an NFC North battle between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions. The Bears came into this game with a 2-2 record led by there notoriously brutal defense and linebacker Brian Urlacher. The Detroit Lions got off to a 4-0 start to the season, which surprised many fans due to the Lions previous seasons, the worst of which was there winless 0-16 season in 2008. The Bears were plagued with penalties the entire game, as they were flagged 14 times for a total of 104 penalty yards.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford hooked up with his favorite target Calvin Johnson for the first score of the game in this 73-yard TD pass. This was Johnson's only score of the game, however he broke a record as the only NFL player to every have catch nine touchdown passes in the first five weeks of the season. The game was blown open in the second have with Brandon Pettigrew's 18-yard TD catch and Jahvid Best's 88-yard TD run. The Lions went on to win 24-13 and improve to a recod of 5-0, making them and the Green Bay Packers the only remaining undefeated NFL teams.
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Browns 2-3, last in AFC North. Lions 5-1 suffer first loss to 49ers. Peyton Manning had neck surgery before the season started. It will still be several weeks until he is capable, but will the Colts be relevant at 0-6?
Who would have thought that Detroit would have been undefeated so far...because I sure didn't. I remember last year when the Lions were just as bad as the Browns, and I say this as a Browns fan! What did Manning injury? And when is he supposed to get back on the field?
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