Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will recap the best and worst from around the league. Here are our winners and losers from Week 5:

Winner: Lamar Jackson

Just when we think we’ve seen it all, Jackson does that.

That, of course, is accounting for 403 total yards and four touchdowns in the Ravens’ 41-38 overtime win over the Bengals on Sunday. It featured perhaps the best play of the star quarterback’s career, turning a would-be sack into a touchdown pass after dropping the snap, stiff-arming defensive end Sam Hubbard twice and throwing across his body just before going out of bounds to hit Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone.

“Lamar Jackson is the best to ever do it,” Pro Football Network analyst and TikTok personality Theo Ash posted on X just after the play. That was one of just many comments on social media Sunday expressing a mix of admiration and awe for Jackson, who keeps surprising viewers with his rare talent.

Have we reached a turning point in terms of where Jackson ranks among his peers? He’s a former Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, and yet because of his underwhelming postseason record, untimely injuries and the misfortune of playing at the same time as Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady, he’s rarely been considered the league’s best player.

In the annual NFL Top 100 list chosen by players, Jackson has ranked No. 1 (2020), No. 24 (2021), No. 36 (2022), No. 72 (2023) and No. 2 (2024). Most quarterback and player rankings from the media have put Mahomes at the top since his breakout 2018 season, and that has only calcified with the Chiefs star winning three Super Bowl titles over the past five years.

But if we’re just considering pure talent, the imperfect science of recognizing the best player on the field in any given game, Jackson might stand alone.

“[He’s] the best player in the league; [he’s] the G.O.A.T for a reason,” said Ravens running back Derrick Henry, himself a transcendent player who surpassed 10,000 career rushing yards and 100 career touchdowns Sunday. He might know a thing or two about greatness.

Of course, in our championship-obsessed sports culture, Jackson will never get G.O.A.T. status until he wins a Super Bowl ring. And to pass Mahomes and Brady, he’ll need to win more than one. But at 27 years old, he’s far from the finish line. And right now, nobody in the league is playing better than him.

Loser: San Francisco 49ers

It’s worth stating the obvious: The 49ers miss Christian McCaffrey.

In the NFL, there are few running backs who are true difference-makers. Because of what he can do as both a runner and a receiver, McCaffrey is one of them. Without him in the lineup, San Francisco’s offense simply isn’t as effective.

That’s not to disparage backup Jordan Mason, who ranks second in the league in rushing yards (536) through five games. But he’s not nearly as dynamic as a pass catcher, and defenses don’t respect that part of his game. That’s making it harder for coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy to get their playmakers the ball in space.

That was evident in Sunday’s 24-23 loss to the Cardinals in which San Francisco was shut out in the second half. The Niners scored just one touchdown in six trips to the red zone, and while an injury to kicker Jake Moody robbed them of a chance to extend their lead late in the third quarter, Purdy also threw two interceptions and Mason fumbled inside the 10-yard line.

Even the 49ers’ defense struggled Sunday, allowing Kyler Murray and company to march down the field on back-to-back scoring drives of 73 and 75 yards late in the game. James Conner bullied his way to 86 yards on 19 carries, while Murray picked up 83 yards on just seven attempts.

“In the second half, we kind of melted down,” 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said. “Too much leaky yardage, missed tackles, not fitting it right.”

At 0-2 in the NFC West and 0-3 in the NFC, this is far from the juggernaut that has dominated in recent seasons. The Niners have to hope that McCaffrey can find an answer to his Achilles tendonitis before it’s too late.

Winner: Rookie quarterbacks

In Week 1, things looked bleak for the rookie quarterbacks. Now, the sun is starting to peek through.

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix all have a winning record through five weeks, going a combined 10-5. According to ESPN, those 10 wins are the second-most by rookie quarterbacks in the first five weeks of a season since 1970, trailing only the 13 wins in 1987.

It’s a small sample, but it speaks to how pro-ready each young player is.

Daniels has been the biggest revelation, putting himself in the MVP conversation by leading Washington to an improbable 4-1 start. Williams is coming off his best game as a pro, completing 20 of 29 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns in the Bears’ win over the Panthers. Nix threw for 206 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in the Broncos’ blowout of the Raiders.

It hasn’t all been easy, of course. Daniels was not at his best Sunday, completing just 56% of his passes and throwing an interception, but Washington still scored 34 points and amassed 298 of its 434 total yards on just eight plays. Williams and Nix have largely benefitted from playing behind two of the league’s best defenses, with their offenses ranking 26th and 25th, respectively, in efficiency as measured by DVOA. Nix even got into a spat with Sean Payton on the sideline Sunday, with the coach bemoaning how much “Ferris Bueller” there is in his rebellious young starter.

No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye will reportedly be making his pro debut this week for the Patriots, replacing Jacoby Brissett after a dreary 15-10 loss to the lowly Dolphins on Sunday.

This was considered a potentially transformative quarterback class, and so far the rookies are exceeding expectations.

Loser: New York Jets

In a surprise move, the Jets fired coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday, ending his tenure in the middle of his fourth season. Davante Adams to the rescue?

The Jets certainly need a spark after a 23-17 loss to the Vikings in London in which they fell behind 17-0. Aaron Rodgers showed flashes of his old self, but he mostly looked old as he threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, and hobbled around after being sacked three times and hit 11. The 40-year-old was no match for coordinator Brian Flores’ aggressive defense.

Perhaps most concerning is the lack of contributions from anyone other than Garrett Wilson, who had 13 catches on a whopping 22 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown. Wilson, Allen Lazard and tight end Tyler Conklin seemed to be the only receivers Rodgers trusted Sunday as running back Breece Hall once again disappeared from the game plan.

That brings us back to Adams. The price for the three-time All-Pro wide receiver might be steep in terms of draft picks and salary, but do the Jets have any other choice? They’re all-in on Rodgers this season, and Adams was his favorite target during their time together in Green Bay. For this offense to function as intended under coordinator Nate Hackett, who was hand-picked for the job because of his relationship with Rodgers, the Jets need a receiver who operates on the same wavelength as their mercurial quarterback.

Given everything that’s at stake in this make-or-break season, acquiring Adams from the Raiders might be the only button left to push after changing coaches. Clearly owner Woody Johnson wants to do everything he can to appease Rodgers, whose relationship with Saleh was the subject of much scrutiny after some awkward interactions on the sideline and an apparent disagreement in the use of Rodgers’ presnap cadence.

For all that’s gone wrong during this 2-3 start, a win over the Bills on Sunday would put the Jets in first place in the AFC East. It’s now or never.

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