Week 5 brought another slate of NFL games that included some entertaining duels and some absolute blowouts across the league.
After five weeks, the AFC East has one team at the top again – the Miami Dolphins at 4-1.
Miami took on the New York Giants at Hard Rock Stadium in a game where Brian Daboll’s team was missing three of their starting offensive lineman and their starting running back. The Dolphins dominated the game, and the only reason that the margin of victory wasn’t more than 15 points was because they turned the ball over three times. While things weren’t perfect, it’s very clear that Miami is among the top teams in the conference.
The Bills dropped to 3-2 after a hard-fought game in London that the Jacksonville Jaguars won 25-20. Jacksonville had stayed in London for the week after playing there in Week 4 as well, and it was evident that the time change was playing a factor. Buffalo started slow, and their comeback effort fell short after the Jaguars scored two late touchdowns to earn a victory. Sean McDermott’s team needs to find more balance, as they only ran the ball 10 times with their backs. However, we know what they’re capable of, and that’s making a postseason run to the AFC Championship game.
Robert Saleh’s team improved to 2-3 after downing the Denver Broncos 31-21 on Sunday. The New York Jets were up by three points with the Broncos driving with less than a minute to go in the game when Quincy Williams forced a strip sack that was returned for a touchdown which was a knockout blow. New York has shown to be a little frisky, and if Zach Wilson doesn’t try to do too much, they can win some games.
In a strange twist of events, the New England Patriots are at the bottom of the division at 1-4 after getting shut out by the New Orleans Saints 34-0 at home. They’ve scored fewer points each week and after losing two of their best defensive players, Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez, the week before, not much is going right in New England. Throw in a second straight Mac Jones benching and the Patriots have all of the makings of a team that is contending for the top pick in next year’s draft.
Week 6 AFC East matchups:
- Miami Dolphins (4-1) vs. Carolina Panthers (0-5)
- Buffalo Bills (3-2) vs. New York Giants (1-4)
- New York Jets (2-3) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0)
- New England Patriots (1-4) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (1-3*)