This week’s version of the biggest winners and losers features a couple of upset victories, a season-ending injury, and a benched quarterback. Let us dive deep into who these teams are and how they can either continue their success or bounce back from their failures.

Winners

Tennessee Titans

It has been a long time, but the Tennessee Titans finally played a game. On Tuesday night, Tennessee drew a tough matchup against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. After not playing and barely practicing for over two weeks, plus a bunch of keys players missing to COVID-19, the Titans went out and trounced Buffalo 42-16. The Titans are now 4-0 in a rather mediocre division. Next week, they will play the Houston Texans who finally got their first win. If the Titans can move to 5-0, they can basically have the division wrapped up extremely soon.

Miami Dolphins

Yes, they are rebuilding. Yes, QB Tua Tagovailoa still has not played, but the Miami Dolphins have been playing solid football. In Week 5, the Dolphins demolished the reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers by a score of 43-17. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 3 TD while the defense forced 49ers’ starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo to be benched at halftime. Next week, they have a date with the Jets, giving them an extremely good chance to be 3-3 heading into the bye week. The Dolphins are not there yet, but they are closer than you think.

Las Vegas Raiders

Anytime you can take down the Super Bowl champs, you will be considered a winner. That is exactly what the Raiders did when they went on the road and upset the Kansas City Chiefs in a shootout, 40-32. Derek Carr found the endzone twice, one of those coming on a 72-yard bomb to rookie WR Henry Ruggs III. The Raiders are sitting at 3-2 heading into their bye after the huge win and will look to continue their success against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7.

Losers

Dallas Cowboys

Even in a win over the division rival New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys are the biggest losers this week because of QB Dak Prescott. In the third quarter, Prescott was getting tackled by DB Logan Ryan when his ankle did not give and broke. It was an ugly scene and one that is hard to look at. Dallas will now have QB Andy Dalton leading the way. Dalton, a 32-year old veteran, is a very accomplished quarterback, but his skill set does not come close to matching Prescott’s. It should be interesting how Dallas responds on Monday night against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.

Minnesota Vikings

Right when things looked to be turning in the right direction, they turned right back. The Minnesota Vikings were up 13-0 and well on their way to a second straight win at halftime against the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle came storming back, but Minnesota had a 26-21 lead with two minutes left. Head coach Mike Zimmer decided to go for it and came up short, giving the ball back to QB Russell Wilson. Wilson marched down the field and hit DK Metcalf for a six-yard touchdown to take the lead and eventually win. Minnesota is now 1-4, plus an injury to star RB Dalvin Cook. Things do not look good for the Vikings and they need to turn it around fast before the season gets away from that.

San Francisco 49ers

You would not think there would be controversy with the NFC defending champions, but controversy there is. The 49ers are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins, and QB Kimmy Garoppolo did not play well in this game. For that matter, Garoppolo has not looked good all season. In a loaded NFC West, the 49ers sit in last place with a 2-3 record with the 4-1 Los Angeles Rams looming next week. They then follow that up with games against New England, Green Bay, and New Orleans before their bye week. If the 49ers do not pick it up, things can get ugly fast, especially in the NFC West.

Info from profootballreference.com

-By: Richie Dordas

NFL Week 5 Biggest Winners and Losers