Rekubit Exchange:32 things we learned in NFL Week 5: Ravens, Patriots spiral as other teams get right

The Rekubit Exchange32 things we learned from Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season:

(5)1. RIP, Dick Butkus. The Chicago Bears legend wasn’t the league’s first great linebacker, nor is he universally regarded as the best to man the position 50 years after his final appearance as a player. But Butkus exemplified football toughness. He exemplified the Bears. He exemplified Chicago at large. And he exemplified the NFL in his prime. (And I enjoyed his second phase as an entertainer, watching him in the TV series “Blue Thunder” as a kid.) Rest easy, sir.

2. The number of wins Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett has in three career starts against the archrival Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh’s offense had yet another spotty showing in Sunday’s 17-10 victory, but Pickett – playing despite on a battered knee – put the Steelers ahead for good with a 41-yard touchdown pass to WR George Pickens with 77 seconds left.

3. The number of losses Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has in four career starts against Pittsburgh, Sunday’s performance including a pair of turnovers – one a killer interception in the end zone that the Steelers leveraged into their game-winning drive in what was likely a fatal 14-point swing. Fourth-quarter miscues remain a stain on Jackson's otherwise glittering pro résumé.

4. Josh Allen > Josh Allen. The Jacksonville Jaguars pass rusher is now 2-0 against the Buffalo Bills superstar quarterback of the same name – though Buffalo’s Allen was pretty sterling (359 yards and 2 TDs passing, 1 rushing TD) Sunday in defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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5. Zach Wilson > Russell Wilson. The Denver Broncos veteran quarterback outplayed the New York Jets’ third-year enigma on the stat sheet but not well enough to get the win in a game both clubs, each starting the day 1-3, needed to remain on AFC playoff life support.

6. Nathaniel Hackett > Sean Payton. The former Denver coach (and presently Jets OC) came out on the winning side against the current one, who derided Hackett this summer to USA TODAY Sports for doing one of the “worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”

7. Injured Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who defended Hackett during training camp, had looked forward to this matchup but could only contribute digitally.

8. Jets RB Breece Hall scored the go-ahead TD with a 72-yard run on the same field where he tore his ACL last season, cutting short his rookie year.

9. Jets CB Bryce Hall scored the game-clinching TD on a 39-yard scoop-and-score after Russell Wilson was stripped in the final minute.

10. We've had a terrible game of the year in successive weeks, 49ers-Cowboys following Bills-Dolphins down the chute. (And if this is how Dallas QB Dak Prescott plays when he's mad entering the week ...)

11. New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara scored his 73rd career TD on Sunday, breaking a tie with Marques Colston to become the franchise’s all-time leader.

12. New England Patriots QB Mac Jones threw his fourth career pick-six at Gillette Stadium … matching the number Tom Brady ever threw in the building.

13. A 34-0 drubbing from the Saints leaves the Pats at 1-4, their worst record through five games since HC Bill Belichick’s first season in 2000. New England has lost its past two games by a collective score of 72-3.

14. The number of plays the Patriots ran on third down\. They converted one for a first down. New England never even reached the red zone.

15. The number of catches Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase had Sunday, a new club record for one game, while racking up 192 yards and three TDs in a 34-20 defeat of the Arizona Cardinals.

16. The number of sacks New York Giants QB Daniel Jones absorbed over the past two games. No wonder his neck hurts.

17. After hanging another 524 yards on the Giants in Sunday’s 31-16 victory, the Miami Dolphins’ top-ranked offense now has 2,568 – most ever in NFL history through five games.

18. Dolphins rookie RB De'Von Achane’s 76-yard scoring bolt gives him seven TDs in his first four career games, most by any player to start his career during the Super Bowl era (since 1966).

19. The number of penalties in Sunday’s Bills-Jaguars game in London. Way to market the game abroad, fellas.

20. The number of points, minimum, the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions have scored in their past 14 games, a team record.

21. San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey has now scored a TD in 14 consecutive games, tied with Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for the fourth-longest streak in league history and three shy of Lenny Moore's record.

22. Welcome back to Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor, who gained 34 yards on seven touches after his 2023 debut was delayed by a healing ankle and money matters. But congratulations on your new contract – one that could stabilize your positional market.

23. But who needs Taylor when you have Zack Moss, whose 195 total yards and pair of TDs powered Indy past the Tennessee Titans – the Colts’ first home win in 51 weeks?

24. Welcome back to Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp, who had eight catches for 118 yards after missing the first four weeks with a hamstring injury.

25. But who needs Kupp when you have LA WR Puka Nacua, who caught seven passes for 71 yards and a TD while continuing one of the greatest rookie breakouts in recent memory?

26. Welcome back to Buffalo LB Von Miller, who had one tackle in his first game since tearing up his knee on Thanksgiving last year.

27. And the Bills sure are likely to need him given the way their defense is being decimated by injuries, notably the one LB Matt Milano (knee) suffered Sunday.

28. Houston Texans rookie QB C.J. Stroud has thrown 186 passes without an interception, the best string to start a career in league history.

29. The Giants haven’t run an offensive play with the lead all season.

30. Flagging another artificial surface? Kansas City Chiefs superstar TE Travis Kelce injured an ankle and Vikings WR Justin Jefferson injured a hamstring Sunday, both appearing to struggle with their footing at Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium. Though Taylor Swift did not attend the game, Kelce was able to shake it off, returning to catch a TD pass in the reigning champs’ 27-20 win.

31. The number of NFL teams – all of them save the Chiefs – K.C. QB Patrick Mahomes has now beaten in his seven-year career after he took down the Vikes.

32. Let’s bring this home by praising embattled Falcons QB Desmond Ridder, who hasn’t lost a home game since he was in high school. Sunday’s win over Houston improved Ridder’s mark to 5-0 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He was 26-0 at home for the Cincinnati Bearcats in college.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.