The two most consequential games in Week 5 were tight, high-scoring affairs between Super Bowl contenders that weren't decided until the last seconds.
How they got there couldn't be more different.
The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 37-34 in overtime in a back-and-forth game that featured noteworthy performances from the last two AP NFL MVPs in Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford.
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in a turnover-filled
battle where the defenses fueled much of the scoring.
Let's start with the Bills win on Monday night that was the latest shootout that Allen pulled out with a historic dual-threat performance.
Allen ran 10 times for 121 yards and a touchdown and also threw for 210 yards and a score for his fourth career game with at least 100 yards rushing and 200 yards passing. That's the second-most ever but he has a long way to catch the leader with Lamar Jackson having nine of them so far.
Allen did become the first player in NFL history to average both 10 yards per rush and 10 yards per pass in a game with at least 10 attempts of both and extended a remarkable winning streak for Buffalo. The Bills have won eight straight regular-season games when allowing at least 31 points. No other team in NFL history has had a streak longer than four with Baltimore doing that in 2023-24 and Green Bay in the 2011 season.
Stafford and the Rams were on the other side of the odd history, somehow losing a game when they gained 454 yards, had five touchdowns from scrimmage, 33 first downs and didn't turn the ball over once. They became just the second team in the Super Bowl era to hit those marks in a loss. Pittsburgh did it in a 42-37 loss to Kansas City in Week 2 of the 2018 season.
Stafford threw for 383 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions and now has four games since the start of last season when he threw for at least 370 yards with three TDs and no interceptions in a loss in the regular season or playoffs.
No one else has done that even once in the past two seasons or has more four of those games in their careers.
The 49ers-Seahawks game was known more for the mistakes than the stellar offensive play with the seven combined turnovers the most in any game this season.
The offenses also struggled to move the ball for most of the game, outside of one go-ahead touchdown drive by the 49ers in the fourth quarter, as the teams combined to average 4.48 yards per play.
But despite all that, there were plenty of points as San Francisco won 32-29. This was the first game since at least 2000 with four touchdown drives that started inside the opponent’s 25 with all four coming after takeaways. The Niners also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a fifth touchdown.
That helped make this the first game in 10 years with at least 60 points and teams averaging less than 4.5 yards per play. It last happened in Week 4 of the 2016 season when New Orleans beat San Diego 35-34 in a game that had an average of 4.47 yards per play.
Players picked in the top five of the draft typically have a long leash to prove they can produce.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is the rare top-five player that a team cut ties on before the end of his third season.
Arizona traded Harrison to Houston after drafting him fourth overall in 2024. Harrison played just 33 games for the Cardinals before being dealt with a seventh-round pick for a second and a sixth next year. Harrison had only five catches this season and just 1,578 yards receiving in his career with Arizona.
Only eight players taken in the top five since 2000 played fewer games for their original team. The list includes notable draft busts like JaMarcus Russell (31 games), Jason Smith (29), Dion Jordan (26), Jeff Okudah (25), Justin Blackmon (20) and Charles Rogers (15).
Trent Richardson, the third pick in 2012, was dealt by Cleveland to Indianapolis after 17 games played, and Trey Lance was traded by San Francisco to Dallas after appearing in eight games as the third overall pick by the 49ers in 2021.
Two other players who played more than 33 games for their first team also were dealt before the end of year three with Seattle trading 2009 No. 4 pick Aaron Curry to the Raiders in his third season and Tampa Bay trading 2007 No. 4 pick Gaines Adams to Chicago in his third season.
Jared Goff is off to a record-breaking start this season for the Detroit Lions.
After throwing three touchdown passes in a 45-21 win over Arizona on Sunday, Goff became the first quarterback in NFL history with at least 12 touchdown passes and no turnovers in the first five games.
Russell Wilson had 12 touchdown passes and no interceptions to start the 2019 season but lost a fumble. Two other players in the last decade had 11 touchdown passes and no turnovers in the first five games, with Drew Brees doing it in 2018 and Alex Smith in 2017.
No other quarterback this season has more than four TD passes without a turnover with backups Drew Lock and Marcus Mariota pulling that off.
Calais Campbell took over sole possession of most games played by a defensive lineman when the 40-year-old played 32 snaps in Baltimore's overtime win at Atlanta.
Campbell has now played in 283 games in a career that began with Arizona in 2008. He passed Jim Marshall for the most games played by a defensive lineman. The only defender with more career games is Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green with 295 — a mark Campbell could tie if he plays in every regular-season game this season.
If he does that, he would trail only Jerry Rice (303 games) and Bruce Matthews (296) for the most games played by a non-quarterback or specialist.
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