Sports Then and Now

As we took off into the second quarter of the season (for most teams), the fascinating phenomena kept rolling in. Included in this week’s list is something that hasn’t happened to the New England offense in seven years, a first for any quarterback since the merger, the continuation of home dominance for one NFC North team, a record-tying day for one tight end and an offensive outburst in Dallas. Here are your Week 5 NFL headlines.

Travis Benjamin had a career night in the return game for the red-hot Browns.

The Browns scored their first rushing touchdown of the season (and it wasn’t Trent Richardson) in their fifth game and stayed perfect when starting quarterback Brian Hoyer as they beat the Bills, 37-24, on Thursday night. They did, however, lose Hoyer for the season with a partially torn ACL suffered early in the game. Cleveland punt returner, Travis Benjamin, tied a franchise record with 166 punt return yards in the win for the first-place Browns. Their 37 points were the most they have scored in a game since putting up 41 back in 2009. Since Week 3, they are averaging 28.3 points per game after averaging eight points per game in the first two weeks.

The Patriots fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and the Bengals improved to 6-22 against the AFC East since 1998 as New England managed only six points in the 13-6 loss. The six points were the fewest for the high-powered New England offense since being shut out on Dec. 10, 2006, 21-0, in Week 14 against Miami. The Bengals’ 5-22 record had been the third-worst against one division in that span. Andy Dalton’s first-quarter interception in the red zone was the first red-zone pick of his career. Tom Brady fell two short of the all-time record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass as he failed to record one in game No. 53. The Pats had won 63 straight games when allowing 13 points or less with their last such loss coming in 2001.

The Packers won their 12^th division game out of their last 13 as they beat the Calvin Johnson-less Lions, 22-9. The Lions have now lost 22 straight games at Green Bay, the longest-ever losing streak by one team at another. The Pack improved to 22-1 in their last 23 home games.

David Wilson scored his first rushing touchdown of the season for the Giants on his 40^th rushing attempt, but would soon exit the game with a neck injury and the Giants fell to 0-5 with a 36-21 loss to the Eagles at home. Last year, he ran for his first touchdown on his eighth attempt. New York became just the third team ever to give up 30 or more points in each of their first five games, joining the 1954 Cardinals and 2012 Titans. The Giants have surrendered 182 points through five games – the most since the Raiders gave up 187 in 1961.

Despite actually spending some time in the lead, the Jaguars fell to 0-5 with a 34-20 defeat at the hands of the Rams. Justin Blackmon returned with five receptions, 136 yards and a 67-yard touchdown reception. It was Jacksonville’s first first-quarter touchdown since last year’s finale. The Jags have a minus-112 point differential through five games – the second-worst since the merger and they have lost 10 straight.

T.Y. Hilton is quietly one of the best big-play receivers in the game.

Andrew Luck found T.Y. Hilton for two touchdowns on the day including one from 73 yards out as the Colts came back to hand the Seahawks their first loss, 34-28, with 11 fourth-quarter points. The 73-yard touchdown pass was the longest Seattle has allowed since 2007. It was Hilton’s fourth 60-plus yard touchdown since the start of last season, trailing only Adrian Peterson (six). Luck became just the second quarterback in the Super Bowl era to record nine game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first two seasons, joining Jake Plummer.

The Titans committed their first turnover of the season and the Chiefs took advantage, improving to 5-0 under Andy Reid with a 26-17 win. Tennessee had been only one of two teams in history with no turnovers through their first four games. Chris Johnson scored his 15^th 45-yard touchdown in the last six seasons – the most of anyone. KC improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2003. They are the only team to ever begin a season 5-0 after having two or fewer wins in the previous season.

Jimmy Graham matched the NFL record for a tight end with four consecutive games over 100 yards receiving as the Saints remained perfect with a 26-18 win over the once-3-0 Bears. Chicago’s Alshon Jeffery had 218 receiving yards in the loss, passing his total of 211 from his first four games of the year.

Peyton Manning led another game-winning drive for the perfect Broncos.

Peyton Manning set two NFL records in the wild afternoon finale – a 51-48 win over the Cowboys in which the defenses stayed on their respective buses. He has thrown 20 touchdown passes through his first five games and began the season with those 20 TD’s before he threw his first pick. Manning also ran for a score, his first rushing touchdown since 2008. Denver’s 217 points scored through five games ties the most ever by any team. Tony Romo had a pretty good day himself as he set a Cowboys record with 506 passing yards. The Broncos have won 16 straight regular-season games and Dallas came one point shy of tying the record for the most ever scored in a loss. Denver became the first team to score 50-plus points in consecutive weeks in 63 years, according to Elias.

Matt Schaub now has the unfortunate distinction of being the first quarterback since the merger to throw a pick-six in four consecutive games as the 49ers rode the touchdown to a 34-3 rout in Sunday night game No. 1. The Texans now have a losing record for the first time in 36 games. Houston has been outscored, 54-3, in its last six-plus quarters and it was the seventh time since 2011 that the 49ers have allowed three points or fewer – the most in the league.

Oakland scored a touchdown in the first two minutes of the game for the first time since 2011 and held on to beat the Chargers, 27-17. Terrelle Pryor threw two touchdowns on his first eight attempts, matching his total in his previous 81 attempts. Charles Woodson tied the NFL record with his 13^th career defensive touchdown for the Raiders, who improved to 2-3 while San Diego fell to 2-3.

Tony Gonzalez became just the second player ever to record at least one reception in 200 consecutive games, joining Jerry Rice, but the Falcons lost for the first time, 30-28, thanks to a field goal as time expired. The Jets scored more points (17) in the first half than they did all of last week (13). Geno Smith became just the second rookie QB to ever throw three touchdown passes on Monday Night Football, joining Dan Marino and also became just the second rookie signal caller to win on the road on Monday night.

Some information taken from ESPN Stats & Info.

Follow me on Twitter @RealAndyLarmand.