Monday 9 October 2017 18:01, UK
It was another wild night in the Sky Sports studios on Sunday as we served up three tasty games and brought fans highlights of so much other big news from around the league in Week Five.
Games went down to the wire, star quarterbacks shone bright and big-name players such as New York Giants' Odell Beckham Jr. and Houston Texans' J.J. Watt were lost to injuries that will likely wipe out the remainder of their 2017 seasons.
So there is plenty to get stuck into. Here's my pick of the top six storylines from Week Five…
Rodgers delivers in instant classic
The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers served up the best game of the year so far on Sunday night. And it looked like the hometown Cowboys were going to emerge victorious as quarterback Dak Prescott scored on an 11-yard run with just over a minute remaining.
But while Prescott danced and celebrated in the end zone, the rest of the western world glanced at the clock and thought in unison: 'You've left too much time for Aaron Rodgers.'
Rodgers is in imperious form once again this season and he delivered the 35-31 win for the Packers by firing a 12-yard touchdown strike to Davante Adams. Rodgers didn't even need the full minute and 13 seconds - he took just 62 seconds to march 75 yards in nine plays and hand the Cowboys their third loss of this young season.
The quarterbacks wake up
The defences were ahead of the offenses around the NFL in the first couple of weeks of the season, to the point where scoring was at a 20-year low after the first fortnight of the new campaign. Some of that could be down to the limited amount of playing time the big-name stars receive in the preseason.
But with the in-season getting-up-to-speed period completed, the quarterbacks of the NFL woke up in Week Five as nine quarterbacks topped the 300-yard passing mark. Some familiar names such as Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger (I'll have more on Big Ben later) were on that list but there were also some unexpected names such as Brian Hoyer and Jacoby Brissett in the overtime game between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts.
Big Ben has a shocker
Ben Roethlisberger was so rattled by his five-interception display in Pittsburgh's 30-9 defeat at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars that he stood by his locker after the game and pondered, 'Maybe I don't have it anymore.'
That is a bold and shocking statement from the leader of the Steelers team but Big Ben was truly shocking and had two of his interceptions returned for touchdowns, casting doubt on Pittsburgh's ability to truly emerge as a Super Bowl contender in the AFC.
Roethlisberger flirted with retirement in the off-season and you have to wonder how much gas he has left in the tank. He has certainly struggled with the trademark deep balls that were a symbol of his success a year ago. If Big Ben is running on fumes the rest of the way in 2017, the talented but frustrating Steelers will be little more than bit-part players in the post-season story.
Jags find winning formula
I still wonder if Blake Bortles has a long-term future as the quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sure, he had a nice day at Wembley a few weeks back, but do the Jags really trust him to lead their team?
The answer to that, right now, is 'not at all.' Bortles completed only eight passes during Sunday's win over Pittsburgh. To gauge where their offensive heart lies at the moment you only need to look at the 28 carries for rookie running back Leonard Fournette, who ended the day on 181 rushing yards.
The Jags have been a rampaging force on defense during their three wins this season and they have the ground game in place with Fournette at the helm. Bortles is merely asked not to screw it up. That is fine for now, but surely you want more from your quarterback if you are to become a complete team and a true contender?
Cam still the man (on the pitch)
I'm not giving Cam Newton a free pass after sexist comments to female reporter Jourdan Rodrigue showed his worryingly-true colours last week. And I'm not buying his well-written and well-read apology, which came after he lost a major sponsorship deal in the United States.
But this is a column about American football, so I'll try to stick to that for now when it comes to Cam.
Newton may not be a grown man away from the gridiron, but he is certainly that and a whole lot more when he puts on his shoulder pads and helmet. He produced one of the games of his NFL life at Detroit on Sunday, throwing for 355 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 win.
Many would have been rooting against him on Sunday night following his midweek 'amusement' at the question asked of him by the journalist from the Charlotte Observer but Newton showed on-field mental prowess and class.
If only those two attributes could now be added to his life away from the football field.
McAdoo in trouble in New York
Sports Illustrated's Peter King joined us on Sunday night and insisted the Giants are a not a 'hot seat' kind of team and that Ben McAdoo would not be an in-season firing in 2017.
But surely McAdoo is on borrowed time in the Big Apple. The Giants went 11-5 and made the playoffs a year ago but they have already matched that loss total with an 0-5 start to the year. And a brutal 27-22 loss to the previously-winless Los Angeles Chargers was a new low.
The Giants led in the fourth quarter but found a way to lose with Eli Manning coughing up a fumble near his own end zone that led to the Chargers' winning points. The Giants are 0-3 in games they have led in the fourth quarter this season - in similar games last year they went 11-1.
OBJ is likely gone for the year and fellow wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Brandon Marshall also left the game through injuries. The wheels are falling off the Giants and McAdoo has no idea how to fix things. He will not be coaching this team in 2018.
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