NFL Week 5 Preview, Stats, Storylines for Five-Game FOX Slate

Greg Auman

NFL Reporter

The calendar has turned to October, and there’s another exciting slate of NFL games on FOX this Sunday for Week 5.

Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will be in Los Angeles for the call of the Commanders–Chargers game as part of America’s Game of the Week. And while it’s Week 5, we’ll also hear someone make their NFL debut this Sunday. Charlotte Hornets play-by-play broadcaster Eric Collins will call his first NFL game for FOX as he’ll be announcing the Dolphins–Panthers game.

Here are the stats and storylines you need to know about FOX’s five-game Week 5 slate.

If you like points and yards, Dallas is your team this year. It’s No. 1 in total offense at 404 yards per game, and No. 32 in total defense, giving up 420 a game. If it can sustain that for a full season, it would be the most yards allowed by a team since the 2012 New Orleans Saints, who gave up 440 a game.

The Cowboys‘ defense is especially bad on third downs, allowing opponents to move the chains at a 58% conversion rate. The NFL record for the highest allowed by a team is 52%.

One reason why the Jets are 0-4 is that they’re the only NFL team without a takeaway this season, a frustrating start for a defensive coach like Aaron Glenn, who had 41 interceptions in his playing career. No active NFL player has more than 37

The Jets have already lost six fumbles, the most in the NFL and only two short of their season total in 17 games last season. No NFL team has lost 20 fumbles in a season since the 2012 Eagles, who lost 22.

Geno Smith finished last season one interception short of leading the league with 15, and his interception percentage has nearly doubled this year. He already has a league-high seven, putting him on course for 29 over a full season.

The excitement in Las Vegas is around rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who had his first big splash last week, racking up 155 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. If he can rack up another game with 150-plus yards and three-plus scores, he’ll be just the third player in 15 years to do it twice in the same season — Christian McCaffrey had two in 2019 and 2023, while Derrick Henry had two in 2021.

Ashton Jeanty had a breakout game on Sunday, putting up 155 yards of toal offense. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)

Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell’s fumble into the end zone for a touchback instead of a touchdown was fitting. Since the start of last season, no NFL receiver has had more targets (67) without a touchdown, or with a lower catch rate.

One reason Indy is off to a 3-1 start? Big-play potential on offense. The Colts lead the league in yards per pass play at 8.63, more than two yards better than last year, when they ranked 16th. Three different players — Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and Ashton Dulin — already have touchdowns of 50-plus yards.

The Panthers went straight from a 30-0 win over the Falcons to a 42-13 loss to the Patriots. What’s stranger still is that their defense gave up more yards and first downs to the Falcons than they did to New England.

The addition of rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan hasn’t done much to add a deep-play threat to Carolina’s offense. The Panthers ranked 30th in yards per attempt (6.5) last year and are down to 5.4 this season. McMillan has one 40-yard catch, but Carolina tied for last in the league with three catches of 40-plus yards last season. Since coming into the league in 2023, Bryce Young has the lowest yards per attempt (5.4) out of the 34 quarterbacks with at least 500 passes.

The same is now true for Miami without receiver Tyreek Hill, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Monday. The Dolphins only have seven pass plays of 20-plus yards, and four of them were to Hill. What’s worse, a porous Miami secondary is giving up 8.2 yards per pass, second-worst in the league.

The Commanders have the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL, despite having three different backs lead them in rushing in their four games. They averaged 154.1 yards on the ground as the No. 3 rush offense last year, and they’re at 154.8 now.

Washington will want to own the line of scrimmage against a coach like Jim Harbaugh, who likes to assert his running attack as well. Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton is coming off his best game as a pro, rushing for 128 yards on 10 carries in the loss to the Giants.

Can Omarion Hampton be the difference maker for the Chargers on Sunday? (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter got head-coaching buzz early last season, and his group is No. 3 in total defense and No. 2 in the red zone, giving up touchdowns on only 31% of opponents’ trips inside the 20. They’ll have a good test with the Commanders, who have the league’s No. 3 red zone offense, scoring on 78% of their opportunities, despite missing Jayden Daniels for two games.

The Lions are a 10.5-point favorite on the road, with the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense (34.3 points per game) facing a Bengals defense giving up 29.8 points per game. That’s four points a game more than last year, when Cincinnati’s defense was bad enough that it lost four games while scoring 33 points or more.

Cincinnati’s offense has taken a major step back with Joe Burrow’s toe injury. Backup Jake Browning has thrown five interceptions, and another lopsided loss would only add to speculation the Bengals could trade for a veteran quarterback.

The Lions have it easy this week, but then they open a five-week stretch that’s as tough as any after Sunday. They play at the Kansas City Chiefs, home for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings, before closing at the Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles. But for all the concern about losing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears, Detroit has scored 124 points in its last three games. It did that in just one three-game stretch in three seasons with Johnson.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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