Key events
Jets 3-0 Cowboys 7:43, 1st quarter
It’s good! Nick Folk puts a smile on the faces of the home crowd with a 25-yard chip shot.
Panthers 0-3 Dolphins 9:03, 1st quarter
It’s good! Riley Patterson boots a 44-yard field goal to give Miami the lead in Carolina.
TOUCHDOWN! Ravens 0-7 Texans 9:24, 1st quarter
CJ Stroud hits Xavier Hutchinson with a five-yard strike. Houston off to a brilliant start in Baltimore!
Eagles 0-0 Broncos 12:22, 1st quarter
Hurts goes bombs away and just overthrows Dallas Goedert and the Eagles go three and out. A pair of punts to start this one. Nix and the Broncos take over on offense from Denver’s 32-yard line.
Eagles 0-0 Broncos 13:20, 1st quarter
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton drops an easy catch up the sideline and Denver punts it away for a touchback. Your move Jalen Hurts.
Eagles 0-0 Broncos 14:53, 1st quarter
We are underway in Philadelphia. Bo Nix takes the field to lead Denver’s opening drive from the 31-yard line.
Preamble
Hello football fans! Welcome to week five in the NFL where I will (be attempting to) bring you all the action from the opening window, a nice mid-morning affair on the west coast at 10am (PST) stretching to an early evening 6pm (BST) in jolly old England from whence we just saw the Vikings fightback to beat the Browns 21-17 thanks to a 12-yard Jordan Addison touchdown grab with 25 seconds left at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Minnesota move to 3-2 and Cleveland 1-4. The Sunday slate is already off and running.
We have a healthy roster of six games to follow:
Baltimore Ravens v Houston Texans
Carolina Panthers v Miami Dolphins
Indianapolis Colts v Las Vegas Raiders
New Orleans Saints v New York Giants
New York Jets v Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles v Denver Broncos
The BIG game is going down in Philadelphia with the unbeaten Super Bowl champions receiving a visit from Denver. On paper you might expect an easy win but a quick google of the Eagles pops up the mildly click-baity headline from ESPN: Are the Eagles the worst 4-0 team ever? Who knows. What we do know is they have benefited from a little luck thus far on special teams with three blocked kicks, one of which earned a win against the Rams. The key battle will be how Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph dials up his linebackers to stop Philadelphia’s dual threat quarterback Jalen Hurts from marauding down field. If they can force the pass then a statement win might follow for Denver, currently 2-2, that would have all the prognosticators, myself included, who said the Broncos would finally depose the Chiefs in the AFC West feeling a little happier.
Elsewhere a host of one-win wonders are eager to edge closer to .500 with a W or right on the button in the case of the Dallas Cowboys after their madcap 40-40 tie with Green Bay on Sunday has them 1-2-1. A trip to the Meadowlands to face the … sigh … winless New York Jets should do the trick as they look to keep the offensive fireworks flowing between quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver George Pickens. In the long run star pass catcher CeeDee Lamb’s injury might actually help the Cowboys as Pickens’ increased role since will have accelerated his progression while making the offense more powerful when Lamb does return. In the here and now the Jets’ backfield needs to be on their toes and then some to prevent a sorry slip to 0-5.
A pair of unexpected 1-3 merchants go head-to-head in Baltimore as the injury-hit Ravens are led into battle with the Texans by back-up quarterback Cooper Rush. In this fixture last season we saw Beyoncé’s stupendous half-time show bookended by Houston enduring a horrendous 31-2 defeat at home on Christmas Day followed by a 34-10 whipping in the playoffs a month later at Baltimore. However, without the injured two-time MVP Lamar Jackson on the field, who threw four touchdowns, ran in three scores and racked up 507 total yards across the two thrashings, Houston’s defense will be relieved confident.
