Cover 32: Turnover machine Geno Smith becoming historic disaster, plus game balls, biggest gaffes from Week 5

When your phone buzzed last spring and you checked your notifications to find that the Las Vegas Raiders struck a deal with the Seattle Seahawks to acquire veteran quarterback Geno Smith, you probably raised your eyebrows slightly, shrugged, and went about your day. It was not a deal designed to stop you in your tracks or leave your jaw on the floor with thoughts of Las Vegas suddenly thrusting itself into the Super Bowl conversation. Really, it was a trade to bring them to respectability at the position. Through five weeks, that effort has failed miserably. 

With their 40-6 loss at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders have dropped to 1-4 on the season. That record is good for last place in the AFC West, and any thought of even being in the hunt by the time Thanksgiving rolls around is fleeting. Worst of all, they whiffed on the quarterback position with Smith, who has been a turnover machine since landing in Sin City. 

In this latest defeat, Smith endured his third multi-interception game of the season, tossing two into the arms of Indy defenders. Both were compounded by the Colts scoring a touchdown on the ensuing possessions, further fueling the blowout. Smith’s turnovers turning into points for the opposition have been a theme throughout his brutal start with the Raiders. Thus far, he’s tossed nine interceptions. Seven of those picks have resulted in scoring drives by the intercepting team to a total of 35 points (four touchdowns and three field goals). 

Smith’s nine interceptions are tied for the second-most by a Raiders quarterback through his first five games with the franchise since 1970. He joins Josh McCown (2007) and Kerry Collins (2004) in that no-so-illustrious group, who are only looking up to Jay Schroeder (1988). Given that, it’s not out of bounds to talk about Smith’s tenure with the Raiders getting off to one of the worst starts in the team’s history. 

Again, this was an acquisition intended to raise the floor of the Raiders’ passing attack after a lackluster effort in 2024, spread across Gardner Minshew (nine starts), Aidan O’Connell (seven starts), and Desmond Ridder (one start). So far, it’s either been ever so slightly better or worse. 

On top of trading for Smith, the Raiders also signed him to a two-year, $75 million extension that has him currently tied to the organization through the 2027 season. However, the bulk of Smith’s guaranteed money came in this season ($40 million), according to Over the Cap. For 2026, Las Vegas could release Smith with a post-June 1 designation and save about $8 million in salary cap space, but it will also be required to eat $18.5 million in dead money. 

If Smith continues on this current trajectory — and he’s showing no signs of turning a corner — that’s the road we’re heading down. And then it’ll be back to square one for the Raiders under center yet again, and that could cause a cascading turn of events where Las Vegas is also resetting across the board as 74-year-old Pete Carroll hasn’t looked dialed-in either to begin his tenure.  

This situation screams one-and-done. 

Game balls

• 10 catches for 146 yards

it was a heck of a homecoming for Diggs, who was playing in his first game at Highmark Stadium since being traded by the Buffalo Bills during the 2024 offseason. The Patriots wideout looked like his old self as New England pulled off the upset win, hauling in 10 of his 12 targets for 146 yards. This was the second-consecutive game that Diggs has reached 100 receiving yards. And his performance goes beyond the massive production as his catches came at critical points in the game, including a 30-yard gain to help the Patriots build a 10-point lead in the third quarter. 

• Week 5 stats: 21 of 39 passing, 265 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT

The No. 1 overall pick has earned his first career win in dramatic fashion. Ward and the Titans rallied from a 21-3 deficit to defeat the Cardinals to move to 1-4 on the season. Ward was spectacular on the game-winning drive, completing five of his six passes for 67 yards to set up the game-winning field goal. That included a 38-yard dart to Calvin Ridley to put them in range. 

• Week 5 stats: 23 carries, 110 yards; 1 catch, 18 yards

For my money, Quinshon Judkins has been the most impressive rookie running back we’ve seen this season. Facing a stout Vikings defense and tasked with helping ease in a rookie quarterback making his first career start, Judkins put together a career day. The Ohio State product rushed 23 times for a career-high 110 yards in London, albeit in a 21-17 defeat. This is the third time in his four games played this season that Judkins has topped 80 yards rushing, and his touches out of the backfield are increasing by the week. Remember, Judkins essentially came into this season cold as he missed training camp and the preseason due to off-the-field issues and a contract dispute. The arrow should only be pointing up from here.

• Week 5 stats: 23 carries, 206 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 28 yards

Slow clap for the fantasy managers (not me) who picked up and started Rico Dowdle. Your bravery was rewarded. With Chuba Hubbard injured and inactive, Dowdle — who signed a one-year deal back in March — went nuclear. The veteran rushed for 206 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. He also added three catches (four targets) for 28 yards as Carolina rallied to defeat the Miami Dolphins, 27-24. As you might expect, this was Dowdle’s career high in rushing yards, and it was tied for the second-most rushing yards in a game in Panthers history. 

• Week 5 stats: 23 of 27 passing, 244 yards, 4 TD; 1 carry, 30 yards

Can I give a half-game ball? On the one hand, C.J. Stroud was awesome in Week 5. He had 244 yards passing and threw as many touchdowns (four) as he did incompletions (23 of 27). He also rushed for 30 yards. That said, he posted this 44-10 win against maybe the most injured team in the NFL in the Baltimore Ravens. The defense has been in shambles and was missing Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Nnamdi Madubuike. Even with that in mind, we’ll give him his flowers, especially has he’s helped Houston resurrect itself a bit after winning two straight. 

• Week 5 stats: 10 catches, 142 yards

We’re going back to Thursday night with this game ball, but it’s deserving. With San Francisco’s receiver room depleted, someone needed to answer the call. In Week 5, that was Kendrick Bourne. He was the go-to option for Mac Jones in the Niners’ overtime win over the Rams, catching 10 of his 11 targets for 142 yards. Pretty impressive to be the most prolific wide receiver in a game that also featured Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. 

Gaffes

A.J. Brown with a PBU on Eagles Hail Mary

Brown made waves this week as his frustrations of not being as involved in the Eagles passing game as he’d like took center stage, despite his team being 4-0 after the opening month. Well, fast-forward a week, and Brown may have been a little too eager to get his hands on the football in the most critical situation. As Philadelphia was backed into needing a Hail Mary to avoid its first loss of the season, Jalen Hurts chucked up a prayer, and it was nearly answered. The football landed perfectly into the hands of DeVonta Smith for what would’ve been a game-winning touchdown. However, Brown was also in the vicinity of the football and leaped behind Smith, blocking his avenue for the ball, which fell incomplete. Ballgame. 

Oh no, Emari Demercado

How? How does this keep happening? You’d think that after Indy’s Adonai Mitchell did it last week, every head coach in the NFL would take 30 seconds at some point before Week 5 to remind his players to hang onto the football through the goal line. Guess not. Style points are not worth actual points.

Cam Ward INT somehow turns into Titans TD

Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and that was certainly the case here for Tennessee. After Ward threw an interception, safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson fumbled the football, and it was recovered by Tyler Lockett for a Titans touchdown. You have to see it to believe it.  

Browns poor clock management

For a minute, it looked like the Browns were going to give up an early-morning upset over the Vikings in London. Cleveland held a 17-14 lead and had just forced Minnesota to punt with roughly 3:30 to play in regulation. After back-to-back runs by Quinshon Judkins were met with timeouts called by the Vikings. Instead of opting for another run to further bleed the clock and force the Vikings to burn their remaining timeout, head coach Kevin Stefanski called a pass for rookie Dillon Gabriel, who threw the ball incomplete. That stopped the clock, allowing Minnesota to keep a timeout in its pocket to go along with the two-minute warning. That helped them take possession and drive 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown. In all, Cleveland took just 22 seconds off the clock on that possession. 

Kyren Williams fumbles away win

It’s been a few days, and I still can’t believe Williams fumbled on the goal line. The Rams were on the doorstep of escaping Thursday night with a win after falling behind early against the San Francisco 49ers, but the victory quite literally slipped through their fingers. Williams now has two fumbles this season after five in 2024. I won’t be surprised if Blake Corum further eats into the backfield touches. 

Two-minute drill

Here are some of my quick-hitting takeaways from Week 5:

• Andrew Berry absolutely crushed the 2025 NFL Draft. Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, and Harold Fannin Jr. all appear to be set-and-forget starters/high-level contributors. If one of the quarterbacks hit, look out for Cleveland in the near future. 
• Drake Maye has arrived with a signature performance in New England’s upset win in Buffalo. At 3-2, the Patriots could go on a serious run with New Orleans (road), Tennessee (road), Cleveland (home), and Atlanta (home) on deck over the next month. 
• Lost in the defeat to the Patriots is that Buffalo is getting a legit breakout season from tight end Dalton Kincaid, who had six catches for 108 yards in Week 5. 
• Yes, it’s gone haywire for the Baltimore Ravens, but the 1-4 record should have no bearing if Lamar Jackson plays in Week 6 or not. Can’t compound the problem with coming back too early and suffering an even worse injury. 
• The Darren Waller resurgence — five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in Week 5 — was not on my 2025 bingo card. 
• We’re underscoring how well Shane Steichen is doing in Indy. All of the attention is paid to Daniel Jones, but it’s his head coach who is pushing the right button. He’s firmly in the Coach of the Year race after saving his job by going with Jones. 
• Did we fall for it again with the Los Angeles Chargers? They’ve lost two-straight. 
• I have a ton of Detroit Lions stock, but how they played down the stretch (21 fourth quarter points allowed) didn’t exactly make me feel great even though it was garbage time. 
• Jacory Croskey-Merritt — aka Bill — had his breakout game, rushing for 111 yards and two touchdowns while adding 39 yards on two catches. 
• The Cardiac Bucs! They’ve had four game-winning scores in the final minute of the game this season. Baker Mayfield and Co. have the “it” factor. 
• Congrats to Spencer Rattle for getting his first win as a starting quarterback. He’d previously gone 0-10 to begin his career. 
• An Aaron Glenn-led team having zero takeaways in the first five games (first team to do that since at least 1940) is inexcusable. The Jets coach needs to turn the tide defensively in a hurry, or we could be talking about him being one-and-done. 
• Don’t look now, but Dak Prescott is putting up MVP numbers.