NFL Week 5 Winners and Losers: Clock Management Blunders From Commanders, Eagles Underscore a Wild Sunday

Sunday in the NFL gave us yet another slew of exciting games. In fact, heading into Sunday Night Football, 57.1% of contests this season had been decided by one possession—on pace for the second-highest rate in league history. 

That number only climbed with the Ravens’ 30–23 overtime win over the Falcons to close out the weekend.

Sunday also saw the Texans notch their first win of the season, star wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase further add to their Hall of Fame–worthy highlight reels and two division rivals blow fourth-quarter leads with costly mistakes.

So that’s where we’ll start. Here are our winners and losers from Week 5.

Loser: Clock management

Two NFC East teams lost in dramatic fashion on Sunday, and both did so thanks to some ridiculously poor clock management.

We start in London, where the Eagles and Jaguars faced off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Philadelphia entered this one with plenty of questions after Lane Johnson’s sudden retirement last week, which was followed with a trade of interior offensive lineman Cam Jurgens to the Ravens. Still, the Eagles took a 17–16 lead over the Jaguars with just eight seconds left in the game—then somehow managed to blow it.

After Jaguars running back Ameer Abdullah returned the ensuing kick back to the Philadelphia 39-yard line, kicker Cam Little was put in position for a 57-yard field goal with one second remaining on the clock. Naturally, as one of the best kickers in the NFL, he nailed it.

Two gaffes by the Eagles ultimately led to the Jaguars having a chance to win. First, on their final offensive drive, Philadelphia wide receiver Makai Lemon was pushed out of bounds by Jacksonville cornerback Jourdan Lewis—which stopped the clock and ultimately allowed the Jaguars another possession. Then, instead of having kicker Jake Elliott boot the ensuing kick off through the end zone and pin Jacksonville in their own territory, the Eagles gave the Jaguars a chance to return it—and it cost them.

“I didn’t make the right decision, and I lost us that game,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni admitted in his postgame press conference.  “And that’s what I said to our guys. What hurts is that the guys fought so hard and then I [didn’t] make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game. I put that fully on me.”

Later, it was the Eagles’ division-rival Commanders who were on the wrong end of brutal clock management. After blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to the Giants, Washington was in position to kick a game-winning field goal in overtime. That was, until time ran out on them.

With 13 seconds remaining, no timeouts and the ball on the Giants’ 24-yard line, quarterback Jayden Daniels dropped back for what was designed to be, as coach Dan Quinn put it, “an outside throw or a clock [it].” Instead, Daniels scrambled up the middle, realized the clock was running then failed to get the offense in position to spike the ball before the clock hit triple zeroes. 

“Leaving tonight with a tie feels like a loss,” said Quinn after the game. “The sequencing of that does not fall on [Jayden Daniels]. It’s an outside throw or a clock. Those are the two: out-of-bounds throw or a clock. And that has to come from me. I don’t have to put him into that spot. I can do that earlier and we can finish [with] the kick earlier. We didn’t have to gain more yards, so that’s on me.”

A bad look for two coaches who are already flirting with the hot seat. –Mike Kadlick

Winner: Long snappers

There might have been no better PR for long snappers than the Jaguars on Sunday. The Jaguars were without their long snapper, Ross Matiscik, forcing them to turn to their backup, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton. The importance of the oft-underappreciated long snappers was on display as the Jaguars clearly missed their two-time first-team All-Pro in Matiscik. The Jaguars’ kicking operation was off throughout the game due to high snaps, contributing to a costly missed extra point and the Jaguars opting to go for it on fourth down multiple times in the red zone. Fortunately for Jacksonville, the long snap was good enough when it mattered most, when Cam Little kicked a 57-yard game-winning field goal in the final seconds. –Eva Geitheim

Loser: Dan Quinn

While Quinn and the Commanders’ clock management disaster was detailed above, that was far from the only faux pas in this game. At multiple points in the second half, the Commanders had a double-digit lead over the Giants, taking a 19–6 lead in the third quarter then a 27–13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Instead of cruising to a win, the Commanders blew the lead and had to go into overtime. The Commanders were fortunate to get the ball back for one last chance in overtime thanks to a Cam Skattebo fumble, but failed to capitalize because of horrendous clock management.

Quinn entered the 2026 season with a warm seat, and this game will only heat it up more. Beyond just the game management blunders, this was a costly missed opportunity for the Commanders. Both the Eagles and Cowboys lost this week and fell to 2–3. The Commanders had the perfect chance to knock the Giants off their 3–1 start and re-insert themselves in the NFC East race. Instead, they are last in the division with a 1-3-1 record. –EG

Winner: Drake Maye’s confidence

Drake Maye got his swagger—and ultimately, his confidence—back on Sunday in Foxborough.

While helping the Patriots to a 45–17 win over the Raiders, the third-year quarterback filled up the stat sheet, going 26-for-34 (76%) passing for 374 yards and four touchdowns. Maye also carried the ball seven times for 25 yards and a score on the ground—a designed sweep with running back Rhamondre Stevenson serving as his lead blocker.

“We love it,” said Stevenson when asked about the confidence Maye played with on Sunday. “He’s our guy. As long as we can keep him confident and know who he is, which is a great football player, we’ll be fine.” 

“It’s just fun to see Drake smiling big on the sidelines,” linebacker Robert Spillane added of the Patriots quarterback. His confidence is obviously back, and just watching him lead and push the ball down the field was fun.

After an up-and-down start to the 2026 season, Maye is finally looking like the quarterback who finished second in last year’s MVP race. –MK

Loser: Ben Johnson

Bears coach Ben Johnson has helped revive the fire in the Bears-Packers rivalry, including by giving Packers coach Matt LaFleur tellingly brisk handshakes in their postgame meetups on the field. On Sunday, however, he was unable to live up to all the talk. Chicago had a great opportunity to earn a special win over Green Bay and honor legendary coach Mike Ditka, who died on Friday. Instead, they fell to a Packers squad that hadn’t played well in recent weeks, allowing Jordan Love to throw deep all game and roll to a 31–7 victory.

Johnson has been excellent to start his tenure in Chicago, but one of his most questionable decisions was choosing to start Tyson Bagent after Case Keenum led the Bears to a Monday night win over the Eagles. The Bears won with Bagent (and technically Keenum) starting in Week 4, but that was largely due to their running game and in spite of Bagent throwing multiple interceptions that were called back by penalties against the Jets. Bagent was benched for Keenum on Sunday, and while Keenum didn’t play well in relief, it didn’t make sense to move away from the hot hand in the first place.

Along with Johnson, Bears receiver Luther Burden III was called out by Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin after the game. Franklin, who is new to the Bears-Packers rivalry, said, “We see all the little weird stuff they be doing in the media and all the different stuff they be saying. You got guys that never really made a real play in this league talkin’ ’bout making somebody quit. That’s weird. We don’t do that. He quit today, by the way. He ain’t wanna play anymore. But we focused on ourselves, man. We ain't really worried about that. We ain’t play that in a team meeting or nothing. We just focused on ourselves.” –EG

Winner: Aaron Glenn’s meme factory

Aaron Glenn led the Jets to their second win of the season in Week 5, and in the process, he added another meme to his collection.

While getting ready to challenge a play in New York’s 17–12 victory over the Browns on Sunday afternoon, the coach dangled his red flag before giving somewhat of a wry smirk toward the officials. 

Funny enough, this came after a fumble near the goal line by rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq—which is automatically reviewed since it was a turnover—and likely wouldn’t have been overturned anyway. Still, you can add the above video to the assortment of memes that Glenn has inadvertently produced over the years, which includes his rain-soaked glasses while serving the Lions’ defensive coordinator and his celebratory dance down the Jets’ sideline last season. –MK

Loser: Tyler Shough and the entire Saints’ offense

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores made life miserable for the Saints on Sunday. En route to a win that brought their team to 5–0 on the season, Minnesota held New Orleans’s offense to just 13 points while forcing Tyler Shough into arguably the worst performance of his NFL career. Shough went 16-of-25 passing for 96 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions on the afternoon while posting a passer rating of just 38.1. Still, coach Kellen Moore sounds confident in his second-year quarterback’s ability.

“I thought Tyler battled,” Moore said after the game. “Ultimately, we had a couple of turnovers [and] we’ll have to learn from those and we’ll just have to get better. He’s battling. He’s the guy that’s going to help us get through this adversity that we’ve faced the last few weeks. There’s a healthy dose of football ahead of ourselves and we have to focus on that. Focus on getting better to provide those opportunities.”

The Saints couldn’t get anything going on the ground, either, as they finished with just 55 yards on 17 carries—an average of just 3.2 yards per attempt. –MK

Winner: Jordan Battle’s pregame comments

During the week, Bengals safety Jordan Battle went viral for saying Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has a “tell,” and that they could use that as a “key to break on the ball.” Looks like Battle had a pretty good feel for Willis’s game after intercepting him twice on Sunday, helping Cincinnati earn a 31–24 win over the Dolphins. The Bengals broke a two-game losing streak and moved to 3–2 on the year. –EG

Loser: Sam Darnold

The Seahawks’ offense made a number of mistakes on offense, including quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw two interceptions in their 32–29 loss to the 49ers. Darnold’s first interception came on the Seahawks’ first drive of the game, and the 49ers capitalized by scoring a touchdown on the turnover. The 49ers picked him off again in the third quarter, but missed their field goal attempt after. The Seahawks’ two other turnovers came on fumbles from running backs Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. 

Overall, Darnold finished the game 18-of-29 for 195 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while taking five snaps. The bright side for the Seahawks is they still nearly won the game despite Darnold and the offense playing far from its best football. 

Winner: Jaylen Warren

Steelers running back Jaylen Warren had a career day in Pittsburgh’s win over the Colts on Sunday, leading the team in both rushing and receiving yardage. He rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries (6.7 yards per carry) and also caught six passes for 107 yards and a touchdown, helping the Steelers win 34–22. This included an 80-yard touchdown catch and a 50-yard touchdown run, allowing Warren to show off his explosive ability. 

“He’s such a slippery player,” Aaron Rodgers said of Warren. “First guy rarely brings him down. He’s good inside the tackles, outside the tackles, always moving forward, always spinning out of plays, finishing runs. He’s also one of the most-liked players on the team.” –EG

Loser: Offensive lineman touchdowns

On the night of his 200th consecutive start, the Falcons designed a play to get tackle Jake Matthews a receiving touchdown. Matthews successfully broke open and Michael Penix Jr. threw to him, but he dropped the pass, costing him the chance of hauling in his first career touchdown. It’s always fun to see an offensive lineman score a touchdown, but even more devastating to see them fail to secure the pass—especially when it’s unknown if they’ll get another opportunity.

In all seriousness, Matthews is a winner for making it to his 200th consecutive start, an incredible feat in the NFL. Matthews has not missed a game since his rookie year, and holds the league’s longest active consecutive start streak by a non-special teams player. He has also continued the legacy of an ironman family. His dad, Hall of Fame tackle Bruce Matthews, is sixth all-time among non-special teams players in consecutive starts with 229, from 1987 to 2002. –EG

Winner: C.J. Stroud

Only time will tell whether the Cardinals or Texans win the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade, but right now, C.J. Stroud is definitely a winner of the deal. After playing well in the Texans’ first win of the season, Stroud was cheesing about the addition of receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. during his postgame presser. Harrison was traded to the Texans on Sunday, and the two former Ohio State teammates will now reunite in Houston. 

“I think he’s a great guy, I think he’s a great player and I’m excited to get him here,” Stroud said of Harrison Jr. –EG