NFL - Week Five Review

The NFL's  two undefeated teams, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, remained that way while surprises were abounding again in Week Five around the league.
The Seattle Seahawks pulled off the biggest one by topping the host New York Giants, 36-25 behind a huge defensive play by Brandon Browner, a 94-yard interception return for touchdown to seal the game.
Charlie Whitehurst stepped in for injured quarterback Tavaris Jackson and threw a fourth quarter touchdown pass to give the 'Hawks a 29-25 lead prior to the big play by Browner.
The Buffalo Bills improved to 4-1 with a thrilling 31-24 win against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles (1-4) behind a big day from running back Fred Jackson (111 rushing yards and 85 receiving yards) who scored a touchdown to go with a defensive score from linebacker Nick Barnett on a 31-yard interception return.
The Eagles' Michael Vick put up some big numbers (315 pass yards with two TD passes and 90 yards rushing) in the loss as he was intercepted a career high four times by the Buffalo defense.
The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to form with a 38-17 pasting of the visiting Tennessee Titans behind Ben Roethlisberger (pictured below), the Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week.

Big Ben threw five TD passes along with 228 yards passing and was sacked only once in the win. In addition, the Steelers also ran for 174 yards, including 107 yards by Jonathan Dwyer.
The Oakland Raiders won one for owner Al Davis, who had passed away a day earlier, in a 25-20 decision at Houston.
Despite being outgained 473-278 by the Texans, the Raiders used four field goals by kicker Sebastian Janikowski, including three from over 50 yards, and Michael Huff intercepted Matt Schaub's pass in the end zone on the final play of the game to help win the game.
Minnesota finally got in the win column with a 34-10 triumph against the visiting Arizona Cardinals behind three rushing touchdowns from Adrian Peterson (in the first quarter) and a stiff defense that came up with four turnovers, including three interceptions and also registered four quarterback sacks.
New Orleans and quarterback Drew Brees (359 yards passing with two TD) survived the host Carolina Panthers in a 30-27 win.
Brees found running back Pierre Thomas for the game winning score on a six-yard pass play with just under a minute remaining in the game.
Kansas City kept the Indianapolis Colts winless with a come from behind 28-24 victory as quarterback Matt Cassel threw for 257 yards and four TD passes. Colts' QB Curtis Painter passed for two scores in the loss.
The Cincinnati Bengals toppled the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-20 to go to 3-2 as quarterback Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and the defense kept the Jags at bay late in the fourth quarter.
The New England Patriots kept pace with the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East by beating the New york Jets, 30-21 as Tom Brady topped 300 yards passing (321) and running back Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis ran for 136 yards and scored twice on the ground the pace the attack.
The Patriots' defense, which was ranked last in the NFL, limited the Jets to 255 yards in total offense. It was the third consecutive loss for the Jets.
The San Francisco 49ers served notice they are no slouch as they crushed the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-3 behind three touchdown passes by Alex Smith and a defensive touchdown. Running back Frank Gore ran for 125 yards and scored a touchdown while tight end Vernon Davis had two TD grabs in the win.
The San Diego Chargers went into Denver and beat the Broncos, 29-24 to improve to 4-1 for the first time in five years as running back Ryan Mathews paced the ground game (206 yards) with a 125-yard effort.
Chargers' kicker Nick Novak made five field goals in the game and the defense limited Denver to just 113 passing yards in spite of Tim Tebow, who took over at quarterback in the third quarter and ran for a TD as well as passing for one to get the Broncos close before the Chargers defense held to seal the game.
In the Sunday Night Football game, Green Bay fell behind the host Atlanta Falcons, 14-0 before coming back for a 25-14 win to remain perfect in five games.
Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers had 396 passing yards and two TD passes, including a 70-yard strike for a score to James Jones (five catches for 140 yards) to put the Packers ahead for good in the third quarter.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford

The only other remaining unbeaten team, the Detroit Lions, topped the Chicago Bears, 24-13 in their first Monday Night home game in ten years.
Two big plays for the Lions, a 73-yard scoring pass from QB Matthew Stafford to wide receiver Calvin Johnson and a 88-yard touchdown run by Jahvid Best, made the difference in the outcome.
The Bears (2-3) were whistled for nine false start penalties in the game, which had 26 penalties called overall.