Not many teams in the NFL can go toe-to-toe with the Kansas Chiefs in a shootout, but that's exactly what the Las Vegas Raiders did on Sunday. In one of the biggest upsets of the season, the Raiders beat the Chiefs at their own game in a surprising 40-32 win for Las Vegas. The reason the Raiders' win was a surprise is because this isn't a team that's known for winning shootouts. Since Derek Carr was drafted in 2014, the Raiders had only topped the 40-point mark a total of two times before Sunday, and a big reason for that is because Carr generally seems to be afraid to take shots downfield.
Well, if that was his biggest weakness then the rest of the NFL might be in trouble, because Carr seems to have overcome his fear of throwing deep. Not only did the Raiders quarterback outgun Patrick Mahomes, but he did it in spectacular fashion.
With the Raiders trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, they needed a big play, and they got it because Carr was willing to throw deep.
.@DerekCarrQB goes DEEP to Nelson Agholor for the 59-yard TD! #RaiderNation
— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2020
📺: #LVvsKC on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/BGCKhfX8uY pic.twitter.com/G0GpNH5weO
What you see there is a 59-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Nelson Agholor that seemed to spark the Raiders offense.
Not only did Carr make the pass, but he actually one-upped himself later in the quarter when he threw a perfect strike to Henry Ruggs for a 72-yard touchdown. This time around, the score gave the Raiders the lead just before halftime.
YOU CANNOT KEEP UP WITH HENRY RUGGS.
— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2020
72-yard TD for the @Raiders rookie! @__RUGGS
📺: #LVvsKC on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/BGCKhfX8uY pic.twitter.com/J8SusJ9LmB
Carr's willingness to throw deep probably caught the Chiefs off-guard, and that's because he had never really tried to do it all season. Through the first four weeks of the year, the Raiders only had one play of 40 or more yards. In their win on Sunday, the Raiders had four such plays. Carr, who threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, absolutely outplayed Mahomes, who threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a wild Week 5 Sunday, and John Breech, Ryan Wilson and host Will Brinson break everything down on the Pick Six Podcast; listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness.
Of course, Carr wasn't the only reason the Raiders won. Vegas also was able to pull off the upset because of a brilliant performance by the team's defense in the second half. After surrendering 24 points in the first half, the Raiders buckled down and only gave up eight points in the second half.
The Chiefs had the ball a total of five times in the second half and they only came away with one touchdown, which happened in garbage time. The Raiders' secret to slowing down Mahomes was pretty simple: They were able to put pressure on the Chiefs quarterback (who got sacked three times), which made nearly every throw tough for Mahomes. The Raiders secondary also did a fantastic job of sticking with Kansas City's receivers, even on plays where Mahomes tried to turn things into backyard football.
Patrick Mahomes' first interception of the season courtesy of Jeff Heath! #RaiderNation
— Sunday Night Football (@SNFonNBC) October 11, 2020
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/EBe81Wp4an
That interception right there came in the fourth quarter and was Mahomes' first one of the season.
With the win, the Raiders just kicked the door open on the AFC West race. Instead of Kansas City running away with the division, Vegas has to now like its odds of winning.
Alright, let's get to the grades for every game from Week 5. If you're looking for a deeper dive on the Buccaneers-Bears game that was played on Thursday, be sure to click here.
Las Vegas 40-32 over Kansas City
| A+ |  |
| The Raiders played exactly the style of football necessary to upset the defending Super Bowl champions in their building. They withstood a three-straight touchdown barrage by Kansas City in the first half and even matched them in scoring, heading into the locker room for halftime tied. They took the Chiefs' best shot and were still standing. Derek Carr was extremely clutch in the second half converting a number of third-down attempts and the defense was even able to bait Patrick Mahomes into an interception (his first of 2020) to help set up another touchdown, extending their lead. Can't ask for much better than what they did on Sunday. | |
| B- |  |
| While the Chiefs did get handed their first loss of the season, Kansas City was still wildly impressive at various points in this game. Mahomes was dazzling with his arm in the first half, while Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce were torching the Las Vegas secondary. The Chiefs simply couldn't keep that scoring output up as the second half rolled on and their defense struggled mightily to get off the field, allowing the Raiders to have a near 10-minute time of possession advantage. The 16-0 dream is over, but this is still a dangerous football team. | |
Raiders-Chiefs grades by Tyler Sullivan (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Houston 30-14 over Jacksonville
| D |  |
| You can't win in the NFL if you make a bunch of embarrassing mistakes, and the Jaguars made a lot of embarrassing mistakes in this game. Let's start at the kicking position where the Jags missed two field goals. Missing two kicks isn't embarrassing, but missing a 24-yarder (wide left) and falling short on a 49-yarder is. Offensively, James Robinson lost an embarrassing fumble on a fourth-and-1 play for Jacksonville in the second half. That was one of two lost fumbles for Jacksonville, which is ugly enough, but it was even uglier for the Jaguars because Houston was able to score a touchdown after each fumble. | |
| A- |  |
| If any Texans players were mentally checked out for the final few weeks of Bill O'Brien's coaching career, they were definitely checked back in for the team's first game without him. The Texans piled up 486 yards of offense in this game, which is notable because they only hit that number twice in six years with O'Brien. The offensive explosion was led by Brandin Cooks, who caught eight passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Although Deshaun Watson threw two interceptions, he more than made up for that by throwing for 359 yards and three touchdowns. | |
Carolina 23-16 over Atlanta
| B+ |  |
| It's been two weeks since the Panthers lost Christian McCaffrey, and somehow the Panthers offense hasn't lost a beat. Once again, Mike Davis filled in more than admirably as the McCaffrey's replacement totaled 149 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers put this game away with two TDs over the final 2:30 of the first half. Not only did they get a score from Davis, but D.J. Moore also added a 57-yard TD that involved roughly 50 yards after the catch. The Panthers also continued to get lights-out play from Teddy Bridgewater, who threw for 261 yards in the first half. Although he was on pace for more than 500, Bridgewater finished with 313 yards as the Panthers spent most of the second half pounding the ball on the ground. Bridgewater was able to put up big numbers thanks in large part to Robby Anderson, who rans circles around the Falcons defense to the tune of eight catches and 112 yards. | |
| D |  |
| For the first four weeks of the season the Falcons defense couldn't stop anyone, and when they finally did on Sunday the offense couldn't take advantage of it. The Falcons offense actually got off to a hot start by scoring a touchdown on their opening drive of the game, but after that they absolutely sputtered. The Falcons just couldn't finish a drive as they were limited to three field goals after the opening-drive TD. Matt Ryan also threw a back-breaking interception in the end zone with under nine minutes left to play that cost Atlanta any shot it had at a win. At 0-5 for the first time since 1997, the big question in Atlanta now revolves around Dan Quinn and whether or not he's going to be fired, and based on early reports, the answer appears to be yes. | |
L.A. Rams 30-10 over Washington
| A+ |  |
| The offensive razzle dazzle that the Rams used to get to the Super Bowl in 2018 seems to be back for Los Angeles, and a big reason for that is due to the play of Jared Goff. This game turned into The Jared Goff Show as the Rams QB came out on fire, completing his first 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown on his way to a 309-yard performance. The Rams also got a monstrous performance from Aaron Donald, who single-handedly overwhelmed Washington's offensive line as he racked up four sacks. Troy Reeder wasn't bad himself, as he added three sacks. | |
| D |  |
| Although Washington got blown out in this game, that's not what anyone is going to remember. For Washington, the only thing that mattered on Sunday was the return of Alex Smith. After suffering a devastating leg injury in November 2018 that put his life in danger, Smith finally returned to the field. The Washington QB didn't put up big numbers, but he did get sacked multiple times and there's a good chance he'll be a lot more comfortable on the field going forward now that he's taken some actual hits. | |
Arizona 30-10 over N.Y. Jets
| A- |  |
| This game started at 10 a.m. PT, which is notable because the Cardinals looked like they slept through most of the first half. With the score 7-3 late in the second quarter, the Cardinals finally woke up, and after that it was all over for the Jets. After throwing for just 90 yards and an interception on Arizona's first four possessions, Kyler Murray rebounded with 290 passing yards and a rushing touchdown over the remainder of the game. Murray was slinging the ball to everyone who made the trip to New York as nine different Cardinals players caught a pass, including DeAndre Hopkins, who had another huge game with 131 yards and a TD. | |
| F |  |
| There are a lot of reasons to give the Jets an "F" in this game, but the biggest reason we're giving them a failing grade is because of coaching. The Jets are winless and have nothing to lose, but despite that Adam Gase refused to go for it on two different fourth-and-shorts that he faced in the first quarter. When he finally did go for it on a fourth-and-1, it came after he tried to convert a third-and-1 by giving the ball to a backup tight end on a handoff. Basically, it was a game of questionable decisions for both Gase and the Jets, who continue to look like the worst team in the NFL. | |
Pittsburgh 38-29 over Philadelphia
| D |  |
| While Travis Fulgham (10 catches, 152 yards, one touchdown) helped make up for the absences of receivers DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery, no other Philadelphia player had more than 37 receiving yards on Sunday. The Eagles' offense, despite Sanders' early success, attempted just 16 runs while becoming one-dimensional. Philadelphia's pass rush, which led the NFL in sacks heading into Sunday's game, sacked Roethlisberger just once despite Pittsburgh losing Pro Bowl right guard David DeCastro in the first half. The Eagles' defense also allowed the Steelers to go 11 of 15 on third down and a perfect 3 of 3 in the red zone. | |
| B+ |  |
| The Steelers' offense did not miss a beat despite last week's unexpected bye. On Sunday, the Steelers' offense topped 30 points for the first time since 2018, as Pittsburgh received an historic effort from rookie Chase Claypool, the first rookie in franchise history to score four touchdowns in a game. Claypool also contributed to a Steelers rushing attack that churned out 136 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. While they allowed the Eagles to convert on 10 of their 14 third down opportunities, the Steelers' defense was able to come up with two late stops that included Steven Nelson's second interception of the game. Pittsburgh also sacked Carson Wentz five times while holding Philadelphia to under 100 yards rushing. | |
Eagles-Steelers grades by Bryan DeArdo (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Baltimore 27-3 over Cincinnati
| C- |  |
| Let's give some serious credit to the Bengals defense, a unit that Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense has owned in Jackson's brief career. After giving up 17 points on the first three possessions, the Ravens offense was held to 41 plays for 203 yards and three points the rest of the way. The Ravens had 161 yards rushing, but Jackson had a career-low three rushing yards in the win -- his lowest rushing output since 2015 (his freshman year at Louisville). The offensive line made up for the excellent play of the defense, allowing Joe Burrow to be sacked seven times and hit 15 times. The Bengals had just 205 yards of offense and only scored points with 35 seconds left after the game was way out of hand. Burrow has been getting rocked by opposing defensive lines in all five games and won't make it 16 games if he keeps getting hit like this. | |
| B+ |  |
| The Ravens offense was a disappointment against the Bengals, even if they rushed for 161 yards against a bottom-five run defense. Lamar Jackson was inaccurate in this one, only able to develop chemistry with Mark Andrews -- who was shut out in the second half -- and he only completed 51.4% of his passes in the game. Jackson struggled against the blitz and the three-man rush, as Cincinnati held him to just three rushing yards on the game. Without Jackson's legs, the offense stagnated. But the final score still ended up a blowout because of how dominant the defense was, holding the Bengals to 3.2 yards per play and 3 of 16 on third down. Cincinnati didn't have a chance to score until the game was way out of hand. | |
Bengals-Ravens grades by Jeff Kerr (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Miami 43-17 over San Francisco
| A+ |  |
| After the Dolphins' loss to the Seahawks last week, people started to wonder when Tua Tagovailoa would take over as Miami's starting quarterback. Ryan Fitzpatrick was given another chance to start on Sunday and he made the most of his opportunity with a monster performance. The defense as a unit was the true X-factor in this matchup, however, as they sacked the 49ers quarterbacks a total of five times and forced three turnovers. We saw the Dolphins improve as the year went on last season, and that might be something that happens this year as well. | |
| F |  |
| With Jimmy Garoppolo back in the starting lineup and a 1-3 team coming to town, this appeared to be a great opportunity for the 49ers to get back on track. Just kidding. Garoppolo was benched in the second half and San Francisco's defense allowed Ryan Fitzpatrick to complete 22 of 28 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Put simply, everything went wrong for the 49ers in Week 5 and there will surely be questions about the quarterback position moving forward. | |
Dolphins-49ers grades by Jordan Dajani (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Dallas 37-34 over N.Y. Giants
| D |  |
| When you go up 14-3 on an opponent and get 27 points out of your offense, that should be a win. Instead, the Giants found a way to do what they do best: cost themselves the game with poor decisions and lack of execution. They had the Cowboys right where they wanted them but let Dallas punch their way out of the closet and couldn't stop the offense even when Dak Prescott was carted off the field. Andy Dalton stepped in and finished cooking the very secondary Prescott had turned the heat up on following a pick-six in the first quarter, and Jason Garrett's homecoming was spoiled not because of anything he did wrong, but because his defense let him and Joe Judge down. | |
| B+ |  |
| Mike McCarthy's bunch could've mailed it in when they went down 14-3 in the first quarter, but they didn't. They could've mailed it in when they saw Dak Prescott's ankle snap in the third quarter -- forcing him to be rushed to the hospital for what might be season-ending surgery -- but they didn't. Instead, they withstood the best the Giants could throw at them and found a way to eek out a must-have win. Andy Dalton overcame a lost fumble to later pair with Michael Gallup for two consecutive game-changing catches, and Greg Zuerlein did the rest. So while the defense allowed the lowly Giants to score a season-high 34 points (explaining the lack of an "A" here), they did just enough, and the offense and special teams did the rest. | |
Giants-Cowboys grades by Patrik Walker (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Cleveland 32-23 over Indianapolis
| B |  |
| The Colts defense, even without linebacker Darius Leonard, is the real deal. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has that team playing inspired football. They were the reason that this game remained within reach. There are concerns about the Philip Rivers-led offense, but I came away thinking that these are both good football teams. The hope is that Anthony Castonzo returns soon because his replacement, Le'Raven Clark, was a massive liability on the edge. Clark got beat bad on the game-changing safety that Indy surrendered in the fourth quarter. | |
| A- |  |
| In recent weeks, the narrative has been that Cleveland's run game is the best in the NFL, but there were concerns about whether the pass game could carry its weight. The first half of Sunday's game showed us that Baker Mayfield is capable of leading this team to victory when the run game is struggling. Myles Garrett produced two more sacks and another turnover play to bolster his candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year. Cleveland overcame injuries and a few plays that would have crippled them in the past. The losing culture is slowly being overtaken by a thought that the Browns might actually be able to get out of their own way in the first season under head coach Kevin Stefanski. | |
Colts-Browns grades by Josh Edwards (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Seattle 27-26 over Minnesota
| B- |  |
| They get the same grade as Seattle only because, coming in, we all anticipated a lopsided affair. This is a 1-4 team with a lot of youth on defense, but they also kept Russell Wilson -- the undisputed MVP front-runner -- under wraps for the majority of the evening. Their ground game was also on point, with Alexander Mattison maybe even looking better than Dalvin Cook as a fill-in. Still, a loss is a loss, and they crumbled in crunch time. At least they fought until the end? | |
| B- |  |
| Hard to give them anything below a "B" considering how they finished, but we all know they can be better. For crying out loud, it looked for a good long while there like the Vikings were going to keep them in the single digits, and there's still lots to be concerned about on their defense. And yet ... Russell Wilson. D.K. Metcalf. Can you get any more magical? Even on a sloppy night, they found a way to get the job done in thrilling fashion. | |
Vikings-Seahawks grades by Cody Benjamin (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
New Orleans 30-27 over L.A. Chargers
| B- |  |
| Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense got off to a hot start in New Orleans, jumping out to a 20-3 lead, but then they hit a lull, which allowed the Saints to get back in the game. Although Herbert struggled for most of the second half, he came through in the clutch with a 64-yard TD late in the fourth quarter that gave L.A. a 27-20 lead. Herbert also set the Chargers up for a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation, but Michael Badgely missed off the upright from 50 yards away. Defensively, the Chargers got diced up by Drew Brees in the second half despite the fact that the Saints quarterback struggled to throw the ball downfield. | |
| B+ |  |
| For just the second time in his career, Drew Brees led his team back from a 17-point deficit to win. After a first half where it looked like he was ready for retirement, Brees bounced back with a monstrous second half plus overtime where he went 21 of 25 for 232 yards and a touchdown. Of course, this comeback wouldn't have been possible without the play of a Saints defense that clamped down after surrendering 20 points in the game's first 25 minutes. Trey Hendrickson led a pass rush that sacked Justin Herbert three times while forcing him to make multiple bad throws. Offensively, Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook saved the Saints in this game with huge catches in the fourth quarter. Cook's went for a 41-yard score while Kamara had a wild 28-yard grab that set up a game-tying TD for New Orleans with under a minute left to play. With Michael Thomas out, Brees' favorite target was Emmanuel Sanders, who caught 12 passes for 122 yards. | |
Tennessee 42-16 over Buffalo
| D |  |
| This game was basically a disaster from start to finish for the Bills, who likely will never want to play on Tuesday night ever again. The Bills made multiple errors in this game with two of the biggest ones coming from Andre Roberts, who not only let a pass go through his hands that led to a first quarter interception, but he also lost a fumble on a kickoff in the fourth quarter. Josh Allen also struggled in this game and that was mostly because the Titans defense had him confused for most of the night. | |
| A+ |  |
| After going nearly two weeks without practicing, no one would have been surprised if the Titans came out rusty for Tuesday's game, but that's not what happened. Instead, the Titans excelled in all three phases of the game. Defensively, the star was Malcolm Butler, who not only picked off two passes, but he also set up two Tennessee touchdowns by returning both interceptions inside of Buffalo's 20-yard line. On special teams, Kalif Raymond set up a TD in the first half with a 40-yard punt return that gave the Titans possession deep in Buffalo territory. The Titans offensive stars (Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry) didn't put up big numbers from a yardage standpoint, but they did capitalize on every opportunity as they combined for five touchdowns with three of those coming from Tannehill's right arm and two of those coming from Henry's legs. | |
