NFL Week 5 scores and live updates: Vikings vs. Jets in London, schedule, inactives, predictions, odds and analysis
Week 5 in the NFL brings the year's first London excursion with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings meeting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile in the states, the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals renew a rivalry as do the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. A pair of 3-1 teams clash with the Buffalo Bills traveling to Houston to meet the Texans .
The Jayden Daniels Show continues with the Washington Commanders hosting the Cleveland Browns.
In the afternoon window today, the Los Angeles Rams host the Green Bay Packers, while Davante Adams trade speculation runs rampant around the Las Vegas Raiders, who face the Denver Broncos.
This live experience from The Athletic covers it all. Stay tuned here for the latest scores, stats, analysis and more.
Streaming NFL games: Fubo (try for free)
Subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here . Find the best ticket deals on StubHub .
After a slow start, projected AFC contender Baltimore got a much-needed win in Dallas in Week 3, and then dominated fellow conference elite Buffalo at home last Sunday night. Offseason pickup Derrick Henry hit his stride as the workhorse back/sidekick Lamar Jackson has long lacked, and Jackson was slinging and toting the rock for touchdowns while the previously disjointed defense rounded back into form.
Now the Ravens hope to carry that momentum into Week 5, where they travel to Cincinnati to take on yet another anticipated playoff team in their AFC North rival Bengals. Cincinnati opened the year 0-3 before pulling off a much-needed win in Carolina last week. This should be another showdown between two of this generation's top quarterbacks (Jackson and the Bengals' Joe Burrow).
Jackson has won his last three games against Cincinnati, but the Bengals bounced Baltimore from the first round of the playoffs two years ago with Jackson sidelined by a knee injury. Can the Ravens continue their ascension, or was last week the get-right game the Bengals needed?
Stephon Gilmore. What a start for this guy, who is showing that training camp is entirely overrated. He has stepped in and given the Vikings everything they could possibly ask for at one of their thinnest positions. The pass rush has been outstanding. Blake Cashman is tackling like a madman. But Gilmore has quietly gone about his business and locked down his spot. I would imagine he will see plenty of time on Garrett Wilson. If he can stay on top of that, I don't see how the Jets hurt the Vikings defense.
Well, so much for expectations. Despite being favored by more than a touchdown at home against Denver, the Jets turned in one of the year's most anemic performances in a 10-9 loss. Their reward is a trip to London to face the undefeated Vikings, who, improbably, are the league's most complete team through four weeks. Unsurprisingly, New York is not favored in this matchup.
While the Jets offense looked like they all met just before kickoff Sunday, the Vikings have been in sync since the opening game. Sam Darnold leads the NFL in passing touchdowns by a comfortable margin (he's the only one in double digits), Justin Jefferson has the most touchdowns and is fifth in yards, and running back Aaron Jones has 464 all-purpose yards, which is sixth in the league. Number two wideout Jordan Addison came back from injury completely in rhythm, sliding back into action with 72 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay.
That's to say nothing of their defense, which has all but eliminated opposing rushing attacks. But this is the NFL abroad, and London games are never predictable. Prior to Week 4's debacle, New York's passing attack seemed to be finding its footing. If Aaron Rodgers can restart that momentum, the Vikings are vulnerable through the air. Breece Hall and Braelon Allen will likely have an unpleasant day on the ground, but if the Jets use their receiving abilities to accent the wideouts, they could stress the weak spot of the Minnesota defense enough to create some cracks.
The Vikings have every advantage on paper, but the narrow spread shows just how variable overseas games are. Unfortunately for Londoners in attendance, the safest bet on the board is the under.
How to watch Jets vs. Vikings
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London
Time:
TV: NFL Network
Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
Read more here for predictions .
His father thinks he's nuts. As in: Seriously, Matt? You're going to take the four-hour train ride south from Hessle to London for this?
Matt understands. His father is a rugby loyalist and prideful man who played the sport and thinks American football is a just silly offshoot. That's what Matt used to think, too. Why lie about it? Who were these players? Why did so many people in that other country care? He wondered, and then one afternoon he turned on the television for fun.
The purple and gold team was playing the gold and black team. There were lots of starts and lots of stops, and the clock was ticking down for some reason rather than up. He kept watching. For what reason? To this day, he is still not entirely sure. The game neared its end, and the purple and gold team received one final chance. The thrower of the football hurled a pass toward the right side of the screen, and the receiver leaped and not only caught the pass but also spun.
He sprinted forward. The announcers screamed. He raised the ball into the air and held his arms out wide as if he was taking a bow. The announcers screamed uncontrollably. The receiver tossed his helmet. Players hugged each other. Music played. The fans were going berserk. Matt couldn't take his eyes off the screen. It was as if the joy on the screen had reached out from the television and snatched him, too. He liked this. No, he loved this.
"The Minneapolis Miracle," Matt says, "it got me."
With the Vikings set to face the Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, The Athletic spoke with a few friends about how their fandom began.
Read more here .
WARE, England — Hanbury Manor is an old property, built in the late 1800s, many years later converted into a sprawling hotel and resort property. The buildings are still Victorian, as is the art. Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson walked through it on Friday, marveling at the idea that this sort of thing is just normal to people who live in the area.
"This manor is so beautiful," Wilson said. "The art on the walls, it's crazy."
To get to practice, the Jets had to walk down a hill, to a football field built in the foreground of a golf course. After the week the Jets had stateside, a deflating 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos, perhaps a trip across the pond is just what the doctor ordered for a team that, even at 2-2, feels desperate for a win.
The energy was (mostly) positive this week, and it was high on Friday even though the Jets came straight from the airport to the hotel and only had a short break before practice, jet lag be damned.
"We've got the whole season ahead of us," Jets coach Robert Saleh said. "We're 2-2. We're in the thick of it. We're at the nothing part of football — this is the part of the season where teams start figuring out exactly who they are and you're either climbing up the hill or staying at the bottom. So these next four games are a big part of the season. But the guys are in great spirits and ready to get after it."
You're either climbing up the hill or staying at the bottom.
This year's Jets were at the bottom of the hill on Friday — and the Jets organization has felt like they've been at the bottom of the hill for a long time. The climb is arduous, but this was supposed to be the team to do it, with Aaron Rodgers leading them and a roster believed to have playoff-caliber talent. A loss to the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings on Sunday will only make the climb harder.
"I think you have to understand the Jet fan in America and what they've gone through," Rodgers said before practice, adeptly explaining the Jets fan experience to inquiring British media. "The last 13 years (missing the playoffs) and within the last 55 years not winning a Super Bowl. Sport fans in general get behind an underdog. We're a team that hasn't had the success we wanted to in a while."
Read more here .
