By Matthew DelDonna, PSO Director of Football Development
Oct 12, 2020

Many teams had no trouble putting up big plays through the air and racking up yards in a slew of entertaining games. Las Vegas stunned the Chiefs in KC, Steelers WR Chase Claypool had a HUGE game against the Eagles, and the Seahawks pulled off an incredible comeback against the Vikings. The story of the day however wasn’t about a big play but rather the big return of Washington QB Alex Smith after he suffered a severe leg injury in 2018 which seemingly derailed his playing career 30 years to the day after QB Joe Thiesmann infamously broke his leg after being sacked by LB Lawrence Taylor. 

Ironically, division-rival Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott suffered a very similar injury on the same day as Smith’s return. Week 5 finally concluded on a very rare Tuesday night game between the Bills and the Titans, which was rescheduled after numerous TEN players & coaches tested positive for COVID-19. 

Enjoy the most entertaining highlights from NFL Week 5:

*Via @NFL on Twitter/YouTube

With a chance to end the game, the Minnesota Vikings went for it on 4th and inches on the Seahawks’ 5-yd line but failed to pick up a first down, giving Russell Wilson and the SEA offense 1:57 to go 95 yds and score a TD if they wanted to win. On a crucial 4th and 10, Russ completed a HUGE pass to WR DK Metcalf to put the ‘Hawks well into MIN territory. On the final play of the game, Russ and DK connected once again for the GW-TD to seal an amazing comeback as the Seahawks won 27-26 and remain undefeated. 

SEA got back in the game thanks in big part to their offense, down 13-0, scoring 3 TDs in less than two minutes during a wild 3rd Qtr run. 

After being down by as many as 17, the Saints made a number of key plays late in the game which helped propel them to the win on Monday Night Football. 

The Cowboys might have won their game over the Giants, but lost their incredibly talented QB Dak Prescott to a broken ankle that will essentially end his season. There was a silver lining though when backup QB Andy Dalton entered in relief of Dak and led the Cowboys on a game-winning drive to set up Greg Zeurlein’s 34-yd FG for the win. 

Prior to leaving the game, Dak and the Cowboys’ offense executed their version of the Philly Special to perfection for a TD. 

After suffering a pair of disappointing losses, the Las Vegas Raiders played phenomenally against their division rival and upset the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-32 shootout. 

The Las Vegas Raiders surprised a lot of people when they drafted WR Henry Ruggs with their first pick in the 2020 draft over Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb. After getting off to a slow start this season, Ruggs finally had his breakout performance against the reigning champs with a 118 YD-1 TD game. 

Patrick Mahomes completed yet another unrealistic no-look throw to TE Travis Kelce, a throw very few QBs other than Mahomes are able to complete, if any. 

He also dropped in this dime to Tyreek Hill as one of the best QB-WR connections in the NFL

Steelers rookie WR Chase Claypool is showing his worth very early in his NFL career and had a colossal game against the in-state rival Philadelphia Eagles with 116 total yards and a whopping 4 TD. He became the first rookie in NFL history with 3+ REC TD & 1+ RUSH TD in a single game.

The Los Angeles Rams may have won the game 30-10, but perhaps the biggest moment of the game came on the Washington side of the ball as QB Alex Smith returned to the playing field for the first time since his gruesome leg injury in 2018 that many thought would end his career. 

Rams QB Jared Goff spoiled Smith’s return as he had his way against the WAS defense, throwing for 309 yds and 2 TD while also running in a score. 

The Baltimore Ravens’ defense had a dominant performance against the Cincinnati Bengals as they tallied 7 sacks, 1 INT, 3 FF, 2 FR and a TD while only allowing a 3 points. 

Following the firing of HC Bill O’Brien after an 0-4 start to the season, the Texans’ outlook going forward looks gloomy. HOU took the first step in changing their fortunes on Sunday as Jacksonville was no match for their offensive firepower in a 30-14 win. 

The Atlanta Falcons continue their search for a win this season after falling to the Carolina Panthers 23-16. Falcons HC Dan Quinn’s seat got a little more hot, and after losing yet another close game, he may be out of a job by the end of the week. UPDATE: Atlanta fired Dan Quinn AND GM Thomas Dimitroff.

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray took advantage of a weak Jets defense and lit them up with some help from his No.1 weapon. 

Titans RB Derrick Henry laid a massive stiff-arm on Bills CB Josh Norman, making him look like a rag doll in one of the top highlights of the week. 

Chargers rookie QB Justin Herbert showed off his arm with a number of dimes and threw 4 PASS TD, as the first rookie to ever do so on Monday Night Football.

Philadelphia Eagles RB Miles Sanders made a house-call on this 74-yd TD in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.

Following his promotion from the practice squad the day of their game against the 49ers, WR Travis Fulgham made a huge catch for a TD in that game to propel the Eagles to a big win over SF. In his first full game of action, Fulgham had a huge day with 10 receptions for 152 yds and a score. After a performance like this, PHI just might have found a new go-to weapon for Carson Wentz.

The Cleveland Browns are making a statement in the AFC North as they joined division rivals Baltimore and Pittsburgh by earning their fourth win of the season over the Colts 32-23. The AFC North might be the most competitive division in the NFL this season if its top 3 teams can continue to look like this. 

Isaiah Rodgers had an amazing 101-yd TD on a kickoff return for the Colts that helped them back in the game and represented the longest TD of the 2020 season through five weeks. 

The Miami Dolphins came into Santa Clara and absolutely dominated the reigning NFC Champs from start to finish. Jimmy Garoppolo’s return to the field was short-lived as he was benched for Nick Mullens (not injury-related) after an awful first half. It didn’t matter though, as Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins picked up an unexpected blowout victory in the Bay, 43-17.

On Thursday Night Football, a rare Super Bowl 52 QB re-match took place with both signal-callers suiting up for different teams than on that grand stage a few years ago. However, the result was the same as Nick Foles led a game-winning drive and Tom Brady’s offense came up short in the final moments (where he forgot it was 4th down).

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