A potential Super Bowl preview, a big NFC West showdown and hello to the byes: 5 things to know about NFL Week 5

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We’ve got five winless teams, Mr. Irrelevant as the MVP, a Detroit Lions defense putting up historically bad numbers and a potential Super Bowl preview on Monday night. Oh, and fantasy managers, enjoy your full rosters while you can – bye weeks have officially arrived.

Here are five things to know heading into Week 5.

A popular Super Bowl pick for Valentine’s Day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, is the Buffalo Bills vs. the hometown Los Angeles Rams. On Monday night, we get a preview of exactly what that matchup could look like.

The two teams arrive riding very different emotions.

The Rams were down 20-10 in Philadelphia with 7:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Eagles had the ball at the 2-yard line. Next Gen Stats had the Rams’ win probability at roughly 3%.

Not only did the Eagles fail to score, Matthew Stafford then engineered two touchdown drives to stun Philly, 24-20.

It was Stafford’s 40th fourth-quarter comeback, joining Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger as the only quarterbacks to reach that number.

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The turnaround was stunning. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had been 41-0 when leading by 10 points in the final five minutes of a game. That’s the kind of lead you’re simply not supposed to lose.

But it also showed the veteran presence and calm this Rams team possesses. Instead of heading home with a shocking 1-3 record, Los Angeles is 2-2 and suddenly feeling pretty good about itself.

The Bills are coming off the opposite experience.

Their streak of 22 straight wins when leading at halftime came to an end against the New England Patriots. Drake Maye finally looked like the quarterback who finished runner-up to Stafford for MVP last season, throwing three touchdown passes, including the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining.

Josh Allen, meanwhile, had his worst game of the season. Now, he faces a Rams defense that just held the Eagles to 93 passing yards – Philadelphia’s lowest total in 23 years.

Oddsmakers apparently aren’t expecting another defensive struggle. The over/under for Monday night is 54.5, the highest total of the weekend.

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Nobody has gotten off to a better start this season than the San Francisco 49ers.

Despite once again dealing with a mountain of injuries, Kyle Shanahan keeps finding ways to win. And if the MVP trophy were handed out after four weeks, Brock Purdy would have a pretty good case to take it home.

The former Mr. Irrelevant leads the NFL with 11 touchdown passes and has thrown just one interception.

Maybe even more impressive: Purdy has received elite protection. He hasn’t been sacked once through four games. The 49ers are the first team in 20 years to make it through the first month of a season without allowing a sack.

That streak will be tested this weekend.

San Francisco heads to Seattle to face the defending-champion Seahawks, who bounced back from a bad loss to the Washington Commanders with a win over the Chargers.

Whenever the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams play one another, the stakes feel enormous. This season, that’s especially true. Every one of these NFC West matchups could go a long way toward deciding not only who wins the division, but who ultimately earns that coveted No. 1 seed in the NFC.

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Lions fans have seen some really bad defenses over the years.

This year’s version is making a run at the title of worst of the bunch.

At this point, whenever Detroit is playing, just expect a shootout. The Lions are allowing 31.8 points per game. Only two teams in the last 40 years have allowed more than 32 points per game over an entire season.

The 2020 Lions and the 2008 Lions.

So, yeah, Detroit has some history here.

The frustrating part is that the offense has been really good. The Lions rank fourth in the NFL in points per game, and Jared Goff has thrown nine touchdown passes without an interception.

Goff is the first quarterback to throw for at least 1,200 yards with zero turnovers through four games and somehow not have a winning record.

The Lions visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and Dan Campbell made his expectations pretty clear: “We won’t accept mediocrity on either side of the ball.”

Based on what we’ve seen from this defense through four weeks, that might be easier said than done.

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We have FIVE 0-4 teams this season.

For Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans fans, maybe that isn’t the biggest surprise in the world. But the 0-4 starts have rocked the worlds of Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans.

And history says they should all be very worried.

An 0-4 start is basically a death sentence for a team’s playoff hopes. Only one team has ever rallied from an 0-4 start to make the playoffs: the 1992 then-named San Diego Chargers, who won 11 of their final 12 games.

The Texans’ start might be the most shocking of them all.

Houston entered the season as a trendy Super Bowl pick. The big question was whether CJ Stroud could play well enough to support what was expected to be one of the NFL’s best defenses.

Instead, the opposite has happened.

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Stroud has actually played pretty well. It’s the defense that keeps letting Houston down. For the third time in four games, the Texans’ defense needed just one stop to win the game – and couldn’t get it.

Here’s the stat that really sums up how bizarre their start has been: The Texans are the first team in NFL history to start 0-4 without throwing a single interception over the first four weeks.

The good news? We can’t have five 0-5 teams: Houston visits Tennessee on Sunday, so somebody has to win.

Unless they tie, which, considering how these seasons are going, would easily be the funniest possible outcome.

Bye weeks have officially arrived. Boooooooooooooooo .

Fortunately, Week 5 is one of the “baby-bye” weeks, with only the Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers off.

There are three baby-bye weeks this season: Weeks 5, 9 and 14.

But enjoy those while you can, fantasy managers. The Bye-pocalypse is coming with six teams being off in Week 11. Consider yourself warned.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. ET

Philadelphia Eagles @ Jacksonville Jaguars (in London, UK), 9:30 a.m. ET

New York Giants @ Washington Commanders, 1 p.m. ET

Cleveland Browns @ New York Jets, 1 p.m. ET

Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. ET

Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m. ET

Minnesota Vikings @ New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m. ET

Las Vegas Raiders @ New England Patriots, 1 p.m. ET

Cincinnati Bengals @ Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. ET

Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers, 1 p.m. ET

Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m. ET

Detroit Lions @ Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. ET

San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks, 4:25 p.m. ET

Baltimore Ravens @ Atlanta Falcons, 8:20 p.m. ET

Buffalo Bills @ Los Angeles Rams, 8:15 p.m. ET

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我们有五支未尝胜绩的球队，MVP是“无关先生”，底特律雄狮队的防守数据创历史新低，周一晚上的比赛或许会成为超级碗的预演。哦，对了，各位梦幻经理们，趁现在还能用满阵容的时候好好享受吧——轮空周已经正式来临了。

以下是进入第五周需要了解的五件事。

在加州英格尔伍德的SoFi体育场，情人节当天最热门的超级碗比赛对阵双方是布法罗比尔队和主场作战的洛杉矶公羊队。周一晚上，我们将提前一睹这场比赛的精彩对决。

两支队伍带着截然不同的心情抵达赛场。

比赛第四节还剩7分32秒时，洛杉矶公羊队在费城以10比20落后，老鹰队在己方2码线处拥有球权。根据Next Gen Stats的预测，公羊队的胜率约为3%。

老鹰队不仅未能得分，马修·斯塔福德还组织了两次达阵进攻，以 24-20 的比分震惊了费城。

这是斯塔福德职业生涯第 40 次在第四节逆转取胜，使他与汤姆·布雷迪、佩顿·曼宁和本·罗斯里斯伯格一起成为仅有的四位达到这一数字的四分卫。

米切尔·莱夫/盖蒂图片社

这逆转令人震惊。老鹰队四分卫杰伦·赫茨此前在比赛最后五分钟领先10分的情况下，战绩为41胜0负。这种领先优势，你根本不应该输掉。

但这同时也展现了这支公羊队老练的球风和沉着冷静。洛杉矶公羊队没有像预想的那样以1胜3负的糟糕战绩回家，而是以2胜2负的战绩强势回归，士气大振。

比尔队则经历了截然相反的情况。

他们此前半场领先的情况下连续22场胜利的纪录，在对阵新英格兰爱国者的比赛中被终结。德雷克·梅耶终于展现出了上赛季MVP评选中仅次于斯塔福德的实力，他传出三个达阵，其中包括比赛还剩不到两分钟时的制胜一击。

与此同时，乔什·艾伦打出了本赛季最糟糕的一场比赛。现在，他将面对一支刚刚将老鹰队传球码数限制在93码的公羊队防守组——这是费城23年来的最低纪录。

博彩公司显然不认为周一晚的比赛会再次出现防守大战。总分盘口为54.5分，是本周末最高的总分。

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本赛季至今，没有哪支球队的开局比旧金山49人队更好。

尽管再次遭遇伤病困扰，凯尔·沙纳汉依然找到了赢球的方法。如果MVP奖杯在四周后颁发，布罗克·珀迪很有可能最终捧得奖杯。

这位昔日的“无关先生”以 11 次达阵传球领跑 NFL，并且只被拦截过一次。

更令人印象深刻的是：普迪得到了顶级的保护。四场比赛下来，他一次擒杀都没有。49人队是20年来第一支在赛季首月没有让对手完成一次擒杀的球队。

这一连胜纪录将在本周末接受考验。

旧金山队将前往西雅图挑战卫冕冠军海鹰队，海鹰队在输给华盛顿指挥官队后，战胜了闪电队，重振旗鼓。

每当海鹰队、49人队和公羊队交锋，比赛的意义都无比重大。本赛季尤其如此。每一场国联西区内战都可能对最终的分区冠军归属，乃至国联头号种子席位的归属产生深远影响。

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这些年来，雄狮队的球迷们见识过不少糟糕的防守。

今年的版本很有可能成为历年来最差的版本。

现在，只要底特律雄狮队出战，就意味着一场激烈的对攻大战。雄狮队场均失分高达31.8分。过去40年里，只有两支球队整个赛季的场均失分超过32分。

2020 年的雄狮队和 2008 年的雄狮队。

是的，底特律在这方面确实有些历史渊源。

令人沮丧的是，进攻端表现一直非常出色。雄狮队场均得分在NFL排名第四，贾里德·戈夫已经传出9次达阵，而且没有一次被拦截。

戈夫是第一位在前四场比赛中传球至少1200码且零失误，但最终战绩却未超过五成的四分卫。

雄狮队将于周日客场挑战亚利桑那红雀队，丹·坎贝尔明确表达了他的期望：“我们不会接受攻防两端的平庸表现。”

根据我们过去四周从这支防守队伍的表现来看，这可能说起来容易做起来难。

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本赛季我们有五支战绩为0胜4负的球队。

对于迈阿密海豚队和田纳西泰坦队的球迷来说，这或许算不上什么天大的意外。但0胜4负的开局却让休斯顿德州人队、洛杉矶闪电队和坦帕湾海盗队的球迷们感到震惊不已。

历史表明，他们都应该感到非常担忧。

0胜4负的开局基本上就宣告了一支球队季后赛希望的终结。历史上只有一支球队在0胜4负的开局后最终打进季后赛：那就是1992年当时名为圣迭戈闪电队的球队，他们在最后12场比赛中赢下了11场。

德州人的开局可能是所有球队中最令人震惊的。

休斯顿队赛季初被视为超级碗夺冠热门。最大的疑问是CJ·斯特劳德能否发挥出色，为这支被寄予厚望的NFL顶级防守阵容提供支持。

然而，结果却恰恰相反。

蒂姆·华纳/盖蒂图片社

斯特劳德其实打得相当不错。真正拖休斯顿后腿的是防守。四场比赛以来，德州人队的防守第三次只需要一次成功防守就能赢得比赛——但他们却没能做到。

以下这个数据真正概括了他们开局的怪异之处：德州人队是 NFL 历史上第一支开局 0-4 且在前四周比赛中没有一次被拦截的球队。

好消息是？我们不能有五支0胜5负的球队：休斯顿将于周日客场挑战田纳西，所以总得有一支球队赢球。

除非他们打成平局，考虑到本赛季的走势，这很可能是最搞笑的结果。

轮空周正式来临。呜 ...

幸运的是，第 5 周是“小轮空周”，只有堪萨斯城酋长队和卡罗莱纳黑豹队轮空。

本季共有三周是婴儿的休息周：第 5 周、第 9 周和第 14 周。

但各位梦幻经理们，趁现在还能享受这些轮空周，好好享受吧。第11周将有六支球队轮空，轮空周的末日即将到来。你们可要当心了。

坦帕湾海盗队对阵达拉斯牛仔队，美国东部时间晚上8:15

费城老鹰队客场挑战杰克逊维尔美洲虎队（英国伦敦），美国东部时间上午9:30

纽约巨人队客场挑战华盛顿指挥官队，美国东部时间下午1点

克利夫兰布朗队客场挑战纽约喷气机队，美国东部时间下午1点

印第安纳波利斯小马队客场挑战匹兹堡钢人队，美国东部时间下午1点。

休斯顿德州人队客场挑战田纳西泰坦队，美国东部时间下午1点。

明尼苏达维京人队客场挑战新奥尔良圣徒队，美国东部时间下午1点。

拉斯维加斯突袭者队客场挑战新英格兰爱国者队，美国东部时间下午1点。

辛辛那提猛虎队客场挑战迈阿密海豚队，美国东部时间下午1点。

芝加哥熊队客场挑战绿湾包装工队，美国东部时间下午1点

丹佛野马队客场挑战洛杉矶闪电队，美国东部时间下午 4:05

底特律雄狮队客场挑战亚利桑那红雀队，美国东部时间下午 4:25

旧金山49人队客场挑战西雅图海鹰队，美国东部时间下午4:25

巴尔的摩乌鸦队客场挑战亚特兰大猎鹰队，美国东部时间晚上8:20。

布法罗比尔队客场挑战洛杉矶公羊队，美国东部时间晚上8:15