Week 5 NFL Preview

NEW YORK – This season, 18 games have featured a game-winning score in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime – only one season (1983) had more through the first four weeks. Three teams remain unbeaten – Kansas City (on a bye in Week 5), Minnesota and San Francisco – entering Week 5 while seven of the 15 matchups this week feature teams each with two or more wins this season.  

Here’s a look at a few interesting storylines entering Week 5:

• Undefeated on the road: The two unbeaten teams in the NFC – Minnesota and San Francisco – are on the road in Week 5. The Vikings can begin 5-0 for the second time in the past three seasons (2024) while the 49ers can start 5-0 for the third time since head coach Kyle Shanahan was hired in 2017 (2019 and 2023).
  
  • San Francisco (4-0) at Seattle (3-1) (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX): The 49ers are the only team to rank in the top five in both scoring offense (tied for second, 30.5 points per game) and scoring defense (third, 16.0 points per game allowed). The Seahawks enter Week 5 leading the NFL in total defense (246.8 yards per game allowed) and passing defense (144.8 yards per game allowed). In their last meeting, Seattle defeated San Francisco, 41-6, in the 2025 NFC Divisional Round, the team’s first win on its journey to the Super Bowl LX championship last season.
    • San Francisco became the first team in 21 seasons and the fifth team ever to not allow a sack in each of their first four games of a season, joining the 2005 Indianapolis Colts, 1984 and 1989 Miami Dolphins, and 1975 St. Louis Cardinals.
    • 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy leads the NFL with a 126.2 passer rating and ranks tied for first with 11 touchdown passes entering Week 5. He can become the fifth player since 2000 with multiple touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100-or-higher in each of his team’s first five games of a season, joining Tom Brady (2007 and 2015 with New England), Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (2013 with Denver), Aaron Rodgers (2011 with Green Bay) and Russell Wilson (2020 with Seattle).
    • Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the league in touchdown receptions (six), ranks third in receiving yards (481) and fourth in receptions (32) this season. He is one of two players, along with New Orleans’ Chris Olave, with at least five receptions and 75 receiving yards in each of the first four weeks.
      
  • Minnesota (4-0) at New Orleans (1-3) (1 p.m. ET, FOX): The Vikings lead the NFL in scoring defense (12.8 points per game allowed) and sacks (16) entering Week 5. Minnesota, with a 9-3 win in Week 2 and a 15-10 win in Week 4, became the third team in NFL history, and the first in over a century, to begin a season 4-0 without scoring a touchdown in two of their first four games, joining the 1922 and 1923Chicago Cardinals.
    • Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner ranks second in the league with 5.5 sacks and per Next Gen Stats, leads the NFL with 30 quarterback pressures this season.
       
• Buffalo (3-1) at the Los Angeles Rams (2-2) (Monday night, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC): Buffalo leads the NFL with 31.8 points per game this season while the Rams rank second in total offense (417 yards per game) entering Week 5. Los Angeles is set to become the first team since 1970 to play four of its first five games of a season in primetime.
  • Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen has 30 touchdowns (28 passing, two rushing) and a 105.0 rating in 11 career Mondaystarts. This week, Allen can become the first quarterback all-time with a rushing touchdown in each of his team’s first five games of a season.
  • Last week, Rams running back Kyren Williams became the first player since 2016 (Rob Kelley, Nov. 20, 2016) with multiple rushing touchdowns in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter as Los Angeles overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Philadelphia, 24-20. (Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker later accomplished the feat in the afternoon window on Sunday in Week 4).
     
• Philadelphia (2-2) vs. Jacksonville (3-1) (London, 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network): For the second consecutive week, a game will be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London as Philadelphia meets Jacksonville.
  • The Eagles are 2-0 in international games, with wins in 2018 against Jacksonville (at Wembley Stadium in London) and 2024 against Green Bay (at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil).
  • The Jaguars have appeared in a league-high 14 international games (7-7) entering 2026 and for the third time in the past four seasons, will play multiple games in London (vs. Houston at Wembley Stadium in Week 6).
     
• Chicago (3-1) at Green Bay (2-2) (1 p.m. ET, FOX): Each of the past five matchups between the Bears and Packers have been decided by one score (eight points or fewer), including Chicago’s 22-16 overtime win in Week 16 last season. This season, Chicago leads the NFL in total offense (429 yards per game), rushing offense (196.3 yards per game) and time of possession (36:36).
  
• Las Vegas (3-1) at New England (2-2) (1 p.m. ET, CBS): Las Vegas is one of two teams, along with Detroit, to score at least 26 points in each of the first four weeks of the season and can win four of their first five games of a season for the first time since 2016. The Patriots, including the postseason, have won nine of their past 10 home games, including a 20-3 win over Pittsburgh in Week 2 this season.
  • Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins ranks tied for first with 11 touchdown passes in 2026 and can join Tom Brady (2015 with New England) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (2014 with Denver) as the only quarterbacks age 38-or-older with multiple touchdown passes in each of his team’s first five games of a season.
     
• Baltimore (3-1) at Atlanta (2-2) (Sunday night, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC): The Falcons are set to play in primetime for the third consecutive week after defeating Green Bay, 35-14, on Thursday Night Football in Week 3 and New Orleans, 45-24, on Monday Night Football in Week 4.
  • Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson has at least 145 scrimmage yards in each of his past four primetime games and his 764 scrimmage yards over that span are the most by any player in a span of four primetime games all-time.
  • Since 2023, Robinson (6,262 scrimmage yards) and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (5,658) rank first and second, respectively, in scrimmage yards.
  • Henry ranks tied for first with seven rushing touchdowns this season, including at least one touchdown in every game in 2026. Henry has a touchdown in 87 career regular season games and with a touchdown in Week 5, can tie Pro Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton (88 games) and Adrian Peterson (88) for the fourth-most games with a touchdown by a running back in NFL history.
  • Atlanta leads the NFL in rushing defense (48.3 yards allowed per game) in 2026 and are the fourth team since 2000 to allow fewer than 50 rushing yards per game in their first four games of a season, joining the 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (47.5), 2016 Green Bay Packers (42.8) and 2000 Baltimore Ravens (46.5).