The NFL Roundup 2018: Week 5 – What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​I’ve always been fascinated at how sometimes, a particular theme worms its way into a particular week of football, and for Week 5 in the NFL, adversity would have to be that theme. Because so many teams were facing it during this past weekend’s slate of games, and how they handled it, in either good or disastrous fashion, is what we are going to focus upon when it comes to today’s recap. Because how teams dealt with something as important as adversity matters, since it taught us plenty about what our favorite teams and the rest of the league are made of, so let’s not waste any more time and get right down to discussing what we learned about every team in the league when it comes to the challenges they faced.
 
Congratulations to Drew Brees, the all-time passing yards leader.  
If there is one man who is the poster child for adversity in the NFL, it’s Drew Brees. Because I distinctly remember hearing about how he was too short to play the game when he first came into the league, or how the Chargers thought Philip Rivers would be the better quarterback when it comes to the future of their franchise. But rather than fuss about such criticism or decisions, Drew has chosen to leave it all on the field and for his efforts, he’s enjoyed the wonder of a Super Bowl Championship and he’s started to shatter passing records and last night, an important record fell into his hands. Because Drew is now the all-time leader when it comes to career passing yards and that’s just magnificent, so, I tip my hat to Drew for proving to everyone what hard work and dedication accomplishes and I do hope he savors every single moment that comes with being the most prolific passer in NFL History.
 
The Denver Broncos have proven they are not a tough team.
What you always hope to see when a team is on a losing streak, is for the players to respond with a little fire and bravado when they take the field for their next game, and that’s precisely what Broncos Country wanted to see on Sunday. They wanted to see their boys manhandle the Jets and end a two-game skid with a tough and convincing win, the kind that showed everyone that their early season success was no fluke. But alas, none of that happened. The Broncos folded when the Jets smacked them in the mouth and it led to Denver once again being blown out and I hate to say it, but this team is not tough in the slightest. They handle adversity by crumbling and folding and if they cannot find a way to buckle down and inject a little heart into their game in the next couple of weeks, then expect General Manager John Elway to start one hell of a housecleaning in Denver.
 
The Cleveland Browns are starting to surprise everyone with their grit.
I used to say, that the last time I saw the Cleveland Browns exhibit a genuine desire to win games and go as far as they can was the mid 1980’s, when they constantly matched up with the Denver Broncos for thrilling games in the playoffs. But all of that changed this past weekend because I can unequivocally that Sunday is the last time I saw the Browns show us a genuine desire to win because holy cow, these guys fought the good fight for nearly seventy-five minutes and refused to back down, finally sealing a win in the closing moments of overtime and wow, what a game this turned out to be and I really do hope this is the beginning of something special for the Browns because this team and their fans deserve to enjoy the wonder of victory for a change.
 
The Detroit Lions have been quite the pleasant surprise as of late.
Sometimes, I say some incredibly harsh things about teams in the NFL, and I was pretty hard on Detroit earlier this season when they started off the year in embarrassing fashion. But, I’m also one to send credit where credit is due, and I have to take the time today to tip my cap to this team for quickly turning things around with some impressive wins as of late. Because not only did they topple the Pats a little while back, they also manhandled the mighty Aaron Rodgers this past weekend, forcing him to fumble several times and they did just enough on defense to ensure a big time win over a quality team and this squad is starting to believe and starting to play hard for sixty minutes and I firmly believe we will see more wins from them in the weeks to come.
 
The Chiefs and the Rams, are for real.
The true mark of a great team, is how they handle the challenges that come their way over the course of a game, and well, right now the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams are showing the football world just how tough and how great they are. It doesn’t matter what a defense throws at their offenses, they find a way to overcome it and earn the yards and get the points they so desperately need and their defenses make all the necessary adjustments to shut down their opponents offenses on a moment’s notice, and well, it’s quite incredible to watch these two teams defy the odds and adversity week in and week out and I fully expect to see both of these squads go deep into the playoffs thanks to their stunning efforts on the field.  

---