14 things we learned: Week Five

It’s hard to believe we’re almost a third of the way into the 2026 season, and the past fortnight in particular has seen numerous teams’ early-season fortunes change – some for better, others for worse. A handful of franchises already have their eyes set on the 2027 NFL Draft, but the rest have their focus exclusively on a Super Bowl push, as we enter perhaps the most important phase of the regular season.

There was a lot to take out of Week 5’s action, and Preme Football have broken down the major storylines and talking points from each of the past weekend’s games into 14 simple paragraphs, so here are the main takeaways from the fourth week of the regular season.

1) 2026 is no different in Dallas

It’s a new year, but yet again, the same story for the Cowboys. Hosting the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night seemed like an easy kill to help America’s Team improve to 3-2 and start to get the ball rolling on their campaign, especially in a wide-open NFC East division. But they blew it. They were blown out of the water by a 3rd quarter blitz from Tampa Bay, and concerningly, it wasn’t even on the back of another horrible defensive showing this time. Their offense produced its worst performance in years, CeeDee Lamb got injured, and less than a fortnight into his tenure as a Cowboy, Joey Porter Jr. already missed his first game. A true make-or-break fortnight awaits with trips to Green Bay and Philadelphia, but unless it results in 2 convincing wins, it’s hard to see this team making any noise come playoff time.

2) The league has a clock management epidemic

Where to even begin with this one. While Week 5 produced a number of games that went right down to the wire, the result of a couple of them was determined solely by incompetent clock management in the dying seconds. Nick Sirianni took full responsibility for the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to allow Ameer Abdullah to return a kickoff with 8 seconds remaining and put the Jacksonville Jaguars in position to attempt and convert the game-winning field goal. With the Jaguars out of timeouts, it was clear to all but the Eagles’ head coach (and their former center, Jason Kelce, in the broadcast booth), that the smart play was to boot the ball out the back of the end zone and subsequently defend the sidelines. Then there was the crazy ending between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders. Having missed a field goal early in overtime already, for some reason the Giants weren’t satisfied in getting to the Commanders’ 24-yard line to attempt a game-winner. They instead handed it off to Cam Skattebo, who lost a fumble and changed the complexion of the game entirely. Their horrific execution was to be beaten moments later, however. Having worked it all the way downfield, but with no timeouts, Jayden Daniels ran it up the middle for no gain, leaving no opportunity to spike the ball in time as the clock expired. It was fitting that this match ended in a draw, but these 3 NFC East teams will certainly be working on their late-game execution on the practice field this week.

3) The Bears’ backups’ honeymoon is over, they need Caleb Williams back

It was a fun fortnight while it lasted. After Case Keenum’s masterclass on primetime against the Philadelphia Eagles and Tyson Bagent’s strong showing last week over the New York Jets, the absence of Williams was finally exposed on Sunday. The Green Bay Packers, who entered as underdogs only to produce by far their best performance of the season so far, made both Bagent and Keenum look like the backups they are, with the former being benched for the latter during the second half. They’ve gone 2-1 and held down the fort well enough in their franchise quarterback’s absence, but Williams is expected to return this week against the Atlanta Falcons in a much-needed boost to get this offense back on track.

4) Cincinnati need a statement victory

Preme Football’s preseason Super Bowl-winning prediction are ticking along reasonably well at 3-2, but it’s needless to say that their current form is incomparable to that of the teams who have established themselves atop any list of contenders. Sunday’s victory in Miami saw the Dolphins added alongside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans, who are a combined 2-13, as victims of the Bengals this season, while their losses came against more formiddable opposition in the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers. Week 6 is a bye week for Cincinnati, but they return in Baltimore in Week 7, which will reveal just how legitimate of a threat they are in season 2026. The defense looks improved, but whether this team can match it against the established forces of the league remains to be seen.

5) No one beats up on lowly opponents like the Lions

When Detroit get an opportunity to blow a team out, they do just that. Sunday’s 24-point victory in Arizona was hardly a surprise. Their highly-talented offense sliced through the Cardinals’ defense like a hot knife through butter, while their own defense was sturdy enough against a below-average attack. In 2024, when the Lions finished 15-2, they went 9-0 against non-playoff teams with a whopping point differential of +186 in those games. Last season, despite not even making the playoffs themselves, they still went 6-3 in such games and again held an impressive +87 margin. There’s no denying what they’re capable of when they have the game on their terms, but question marks certainly still linger as to whether they can overcome adversity and defeat the league’s best when it matters most.

6) Baltimore have added a steely resolve this year

Down Lamar Jackson and in the home stadium of the NFL’s hottest team over the prior fortnight, the Ravens trailed by 8 points late in the fourth quarter on Sunday night. Tyler Huntley had been ok, but appeared unlikely to be able to recapture the magic that Jackson has made a career out of, while Derrick Henry’s influence had been quelled. But instead of losing control of the game, which they did in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints as well as many times in previous years, they held their nerve, and struck at just the right time. Huntley and the offense put together a composed drive to send the game to overtime, before the quarterback immediately following it up with the decisive touchdown himself to begin the additional period. With Tua Tagovailoa taking over under center for the Atlanta Falcons in OT, Kyle Hamilton swooped on his poor throw for the game-ending interception. This team has lost so many important regular season and playoff games in heartbreaking fashion in the Jackson-era, but they may have an extra layer of grit to help conquer those demons in 2026.

7) The 2008 Lions and 2016 Browns may be written out of the history books

Detroit’s ’08 team made history by becoming the first team in a 16-game season to go winless, and they were thankful when their infamous record was equalled by Cleveland 8 years later. Fast forward a decade, and their shared misery may be superseded. Since the NFL added an additional game to its regular season, no team has finished 0-17, or even 1-16, at the end of a campaign. The 2026 Tennessee Titans are struggling to convince anyone at the moment that they won’t be the first team to fail to record a win in the 17-game-era. They again managed just 3 points against the Houston Texans on the weekend in another blowout loss. It becomes increasingly more difficult each week to see where they might pick up a victory. Cam Ward needs time, and given the success of fellow number 1 pick Bryce Young in his 4th season after a slow start to life in the NFL, he should be at least 18 months away from any serious concern or considerations regarding his future in the league. But for the organisation as a whole, if they haven’t hit rock bottom yet, they can’t be far away.

8) Pittsburgh is back to being one of the league’s hardest places to travel to

One of the league’s most passionate fanbases longs for their opportunity to make some noise at a Steelers home game every second week, and they seem to be doing a good job so far this year. Pittsburgh sit at 3-2, with each win coming at home and both losses away, as well as the offense proving much more productive in front of the Acrisure Stadium crowd. Aaron Rodgers has posted over 500 passing yards and 6 touchdowns in their last couple of home games, while Jaylen Warren has continued his breakout season as the true lead running back. Unfortunately for the Steelers, 4 of their next 5 games are away from home, although they begin that stretch in Tampa Bay this Sunday, where they enter as favourites against a Buccaneers team they should handle with ease on their best form. If Pittsburgh can claim an unlikely AFC North crown, no team would want to face them in a Wildcard matchup.

9) Mike Vrabel flipped a switch and brought back the 2025 Patriots

Keen observers of New England were quick to make it clear after this year’s 1-2 start that it was incredibly similar to that of last season, noting that they didn’t hit their straps until midseason. A fortnight later and those obsevers would feel very vindicated. Drake Maye posted career-best numbers in the Patriots’ home domination of a Las Vegas Raiders outfit, who had made a very strong start to the year. So hefty was the Raiders’ defeat that we even got our first look at Fernando Mendoza during meaningful action. Many critics thought New England would struggle to overcome the demons that might come with a poor showing in Super Bowl LX, but all of a sudden, they have reminded everyone that their best form has them placed as well as anyone throughout the AFC.

10) There’s every chance we saw an NFC Championship Game preview in Seattle

The game of the week didn’t disappoint when the Seahawks hosted the San Francisco 49ers. There was minimal doubt going in that the NFC West division is the strongest in football as it stands, and there’s certainly none now. In a back-and-forth game that had it all, the 49ers made the right plays at the right time to improve to 5-0, but Seattle lost absolutely no admirers on the day, ultimately losing by a matter of inches on a failed 4th down conversion. The Minnesota Vikings sit alongside San Francisco as the other undefeated team in the conference through 5 weeks, but even their biggest fans would have a hard time justifying their chances in a playoff environment against either of these sides. It was a destruction of the highest order when they faced off in last year’s Divisional round, will the 49ers get a chance to right their playoff wrongs this season?

11) The Saints’ win in Baltimore was a complete anomaly

Should the Ravens have the season that most expect and go deep into the playoffs, that Week 2 result will be 2026’s ‘How did that happen?’ game. Since that come-from-behind win, New Orleans have gone 0-3 with an average losing margin of 13 points, and they put up their worst offensive performance of the year on Sunday, albeit against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. Tyler Shough was held to 96 passing yards and intercepted twice, while only 7 of their 13 points were actually generated by the offense. Without Travis Etienne Jr. and Alvin Kamara in the lineup, their struggles as one of the league’s worst rushing attacks were only further exemplified, and Chris Olave was shut down for the first time this season. A promising first fortnight had Saints fans bullish about their prospects this campaign, but expectations have well and truly been tempered as they head to New York to take on the Giants this week.

12) You can stop Buffalo’s passing game or running game, but never both

Although they did go for 210 yards, Josh Allen completed just 12 passes in Monday night’s win in Los Angeles over the Rams. Halfway through the third term, that number was just 4. When a team’s best player is its quarterback, those numbers rarely equate to a winning formula, but Allen, who finally won his first overtime contest after 7 failures, is more than just his team’s best player. Realising the aerial attack wasn’t getting it done, he took it upon himself to use the ground, through a combination of designed runs and scrambles. James Cook III was typically handy as well in the run game, surpassing 100 rushing yards for the third time in 5 games as Buffalo amassed 37 more points to maintain the league-lead in scoring. There’s no need to list all the offensive weapons Joe Brady is working with, but it’s no wonder they’re hard to look past when assessing who might hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year.

13) Denver play the first 3 quarters of every game on easy mode

Although come-from-behind wins have exhilarated Broncos fans over the past couple of years and made them a great team for neutral fans to view, this surely cannot be sustainable. It got them within 3 points of the AFC Championship without Bo Nix last season, but it still fails to convince the majority. Denver entered the final term against the now 0-5 Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday facing a 7-point deficit, which they ultimately overcame with relative ease due to the Chargers collapsing again, but this formula hasn’t had such success against the league’s best teams. Just last week they scored only 3 points to 3-quarter time in San Francisco, and left themselves too much work to do late. Playoff football demands 4 quarters of a team’s best, and the Broncos will be found out as soon as this week if they fail to show up for another first half against the Seattle Seahawks.

14) David Bailey already has one hand on the Defensive Rookie of the Year trophy

There might not have been a single better individual performance than Bailey’s 3-sack effort against the Cleveland Browns in the week gone by. The New York Jets’ defense brought down Deshaun Watson a total of 8 times in the rain, led by the game-wreckind duo of Bailey and Will McDonald IV. 5 games into his NFL career, the number 2 overall pick of 2026 sits only behind Will Anderson Jr. and Greg Rousseau for total tackles for loss, and equal-4th in the league for sacks. Bailey faces an opponent he’ll need to get used to this week in Drake Maye and the New England Patriots this Sunday, and there’s no doubt he’ll be keen to introduce himself from the get-go.

What was your biggest takeaway from the fifth week of regular season play?