When it comes to NFL suspensions, most people circled Tom Brady's return in Week 5 as the most important comeback of the year. However, if you were to ask someone in Pittsburgh this week, they might disagree with you and tell you that honor belongs to Le'Veon Bell.
Since Bell's return in Week 4, the Steelers offense has turned into an unstoppable juggernaut, and we can probably all agree that it's not a coincidence.
Over the past two weeks, the Steelers have averaged 37 points per game, a total that includes the team's 31-13 win over the Jets on Sunday.
Bell's presence opens up the Steelers offense, and if you need proof, all you have to do is look at what Ben Roethlisberger has done since Bell's return. Over the past two weeks, Big Ben has thrown nine touchdowns and zero interceptions while averaging 340 passing yards per game (Roethlisberger averaged 272 yards per game without Bell, and threw six touchdowns to four interceptions).
Roethlisberger threw for 380 yards against the Jets, a total that probably would've been about 50 yards higher if Sammie Coates didn't drop every other pass that was thrown his way. Officially, Coates dropped three passes in the game, a number you could argue was actually five.
The scary thing about the Steelers is that if Coates ever stops dropping passes, this offense might be impossible to stop. Even with the drops, Roethlisberger still finished 34 of 47 with four touchdowns.
The game against the Jets marked only the third time in his career that Big Ben threw for 380 or more yards with at least four touchdown passes and no interceptions.
As for Bell, he opens up the Steelers offense because he's a matchup nightmare. Not only is the Steelers running back one of the best runners in the league, but he's also one of the best backs out of the backfield, and that was on display against the Jets.
Bell did most of his damage through the air in the game, catching nine passes for 88 yards. Overall, Bell totaled 154 yards in the game, which was just 24 yards below his total from Week 4 (178 yards). When your running back is averaging 166 yards per game and's arguably not even your team's biggest offensive threat -- that honor belongs to Antonio Brown -- then you know other NFL teams are in trouble.
There's a reason the Steelers were a trendy Super Bowl pick this year, and that reason is because if Roethlisberger, Brown and Bell are all healthy, no one's going to be able to stop the Steelers. Oh, and it will also help if Coates catches a few more passes thrown his way.
Big Ben goes DEEP.
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2016
That's Sammie Coates.
That's 6 points. #NYJvsPIT#HereWeGohttps://t.co/ht83zLumT1
Actually, as long as he keeps catching passes like that, the Steelers should be OK.
The bad news for the rest of the AFC North is that the Steelers are now in first place by themselves and they don't look like they'll be giving that spot up for the rest of the year.
NFL Week 5 Grades
New England 33-13 over Cleveland
Patriots: A
Roger Goodell probably should've just given the Lombardi Trophy to the Patriots after this game because Tom Brady does not look like a man who's going to be stopped this season. Brady shook off the rust -- OK, there was no rust -- and he threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns. The only people happier than Patriots fan about Brady's return are Rob Gronkowski fantasy owners. Gronk caught five passes for 109 yards in the game, which was a huge step up from the one pass for 11 yards he caught in the two games before Brady's return. Martellus Bennett fantasy owners also got a pleasant surprise: They might have the new most valuable fantasy tight end in football. Bennett (67 yards) was on the receiving end of all three of Brady's touchdown passes.
Browns: C
It's almost unfair to grade the Browns for this game. Not only did they have to go up against buzzsaw known as Tom Brady, but they had to do it with their fourth-string quarterback. Seriously. You probably already heard that RG3 and Josh McCown went down with injuries earlier in the season, well, third-stringer Cody Kessler went down in this game, which forced the Browns to put in Charlie Whitehurst. Fate has been unkind to the Browns lately, so to even things out, we're grading them on a curve this week.
Detroit 24-23 over Philadelphia
Eagles: B-
The Eagles made it through the first three weeks of the season without turning the ball over, and if they had been able to continue that in Detroit, they'd probably still be undefeated. Although the Eagles beat up Matthew Stafford (four sacks) and held the Lions to under 250 total yards, they lost this game because they gave the ball away two times in the final 2:40. The first one game on a Ryan Matthews' fumble that set up the Lions' game-winning field goal. The second turnover came when Carson Wentz threw the first interception of his career with 80 seconds left in the game. The lesson here: Don't turn the ball over ever, but especially not in the final three minutes of a game the you're leading.
Lions: B+
Just when you thought the Lions were going to blow a second-half lead and get Jim Caldwell fired, they come back and totally redeem themselves. A lot of credit has to go to Theo Riddick, who put up 33.6 percent of the Lions' offensive yards by himself. Not only did the running back total 49 yards on the ground, but he also added 33 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
"Oh f---" pic.twitter.com/T024BnR7HT
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 9, 2016
After Matthew Stafford took a hit with no helmet on, it almost felt like there was no way the Lions were going to lose. By the way, just to give you an idea of how impossible this win was Detroit: Before Sunday the Lions were 1-12 in games where they put up 245 yards or less dating back to 2008. They put up 244 against Philly.
Indianapolis 29-23 over Chicago
Bears: B-
Jay Cutler better get used to the bench because he's likely be going to be staying there after the way Brian Hoyer played on Sunday. Hoyer wasn't perfect, and he was erratic at times, but he kept the Bears moving for most of the day, throwing for a career-high 397 yards. That total helped the Bears put up their most offensive yards (522) since 1989. The only time Chicago wasn't moving the ball was on third down: The Bears went just 2 for 9 in the game. Oh, and it seems that Jordan Howard has decided he'd like to throw his hat in the ring for the offensive rookie of the year award. The rookie ran for 118 yards and added 45 yards and a touchdown through the air against the Colts.
Colts: B
Colts general manger Ryan Grigson basically said this week that the Colts defense is horrible because the team spent all their money on Andrew Luck. Fittingly, the Colts defense was horrible against Chicago, and they had to be bailed out by Luck. The Indy defense surrendered 522 yards against the Bears, which is the most the Colts have ever given up at home since moving to Indianapolis before the 1984 season. Luck then proceeded to bail out the Colts (28 of 39, 322 yards, two TDs) with some help from his 43-year-old sidekick Adam Vinatieri, who hit five field goals in the game (54, 53, 26, 41, 46).
Tennessee 30-17 over Miami
Titans: B+
When Titans coach Mike Mularkey said he was going to run an "exotic smash mouth" offense this year, he apparently forgot to tell us that it would take his team five weeks to figure out how to run it, but that finally happened in Miami. The Titans run game looked unstoppable against the Dolphins, with DeMarco Murray (121), Derrick Henry (60) and Marcus Mariota (54) combining for 235 yards on the ground. That number was Titans' highest rushing total in a game since 2009. Mariota was also clutch through the air, throwing a total of three touchdown passes. The one negative in this game for Tennessee is that the Titans gave up a punt return for a touchdown, which probably gives the last laugh to Bobby April. The former Titans special teams coach was fired after the Titans gave up a punt return TD in Week 4.
Dolphins: D
Well, it looks like we officially found out what will happen to a team if they lose their starting left tackle during warmups, and let's just say, it's not pretty. The Dolphins were expecting Laremy Tunsil to start at left tackle, but he injured his ankle before the game and was a late scratch. Apparently, the rest of the Dolphins' O-line decided to take the day off, too, because Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times. Of course, even if Tunsil played, Tannehill probably would've been killed. The Dolphins quarterback has been sacked five or more times in three of five games this season and Miami is 0-3. Let's not completely blame the Dolphins' O-line though because when Tannehill had time to throw, he wasn't good. The Dolphins quarterback threw two interceptions
Washington over Baltimore, 16-10
Redskins: B-
Kirk Cousins threw an interception against Baltimore that ended up turning into a 17-yard gain for the Redskins, and that basically describes this game in a nutshell. With the Redskins leading 13-10 late in the third quarter, Cousins was picked off by C.J. Mosley who looked to have a pick-six. However, Mosely would fumble the ball out of the end zone for a Redskins touchback.
As @QadryIsmail would say, Mother of Pearl! C.J. Mosley makes incredible INT but lets go of ball before he crosses end zone. pic.twitter.com/aNggscqaS9
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) October 9, 2016
Instead of a 17-13 Baltimore lead, Washington would drive down and get a field goal on the ensuing drive to take a 16-10 lead. Of course, Jay Gruden doesn't care how his team wins as long as they win, and in this game, it was special teams and defense. One of those special teams plays was an 85-yard punt return for a TD by Jamison Crowder.
Ravens: D
John Harbaugh is a special teams coach, which why it was absolutely baffling to see the Ravens run one of the most bizarre fake field goals in recent history on Sunday. On the play, the Ravens had right-footed kicker line up as a left-footer. Hey! I think the fake's coming, guys!
"Hey guys, I know I'm right-footed, but we should run a fake where I line up left-footed." Ravens actually did this https://t.co/mm0R62ha5spic.twitter.com/rfOlirY7Hq
— John Breech (@johnbreech) October 9, 2016
If the Ravens had gotten three points on that second quarter play, that could've changed the complexion of this game. The Ravens offense looked good early, but seemed to fall apart after Steve Smith left the game with an ankle injury. For some reason, Baltimore didn't keep feeding Terrance West, who averaged 8.6 yards per carry (11 rushes, 95 yards).
Minnesota 31-13 over Houston
Texans: F
The Texans need to hire a lawyer and see if there are any outs in Brock Osweiler's contract because he definitely doesn't look like the future for Houston. Osweiler was an atrocious 19 of 42 for 184 yards and a touchdown in the game. Of course, a lot of that came during garbage time in the second half when the Texans were trailing 31-6. Third downs were also garbage time for the Texans: They went just 1 of 13 in the game.
Vikings: A
Every week, you pretty much know that the Vikings defense is going to show up and terrorize, well, this week, we found out what happens when the offense and special teams both contribute big plays: The Vikings roll. The Texans were basically left for dead by the second quarter after Marcus Sherels returned a punt 79-yards for a touchdown. Adam Thielen also came out of nowhere to have the biggest game of his career: The receiver caught seven passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. That's really impressive when you consider that he only had 144 receiving yards in all of 2015.
Pittsburgh 31-13 over NY Jets
Jets: D
At this point, the Jets should probably ask the NFL if they can skip trips to Pittsburgh from now on. With the loss on Sunday, the Jets are now 1-10 all-time in the Steel City, and this one might've been the ugliest. First, the good news for Jets fans: Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't throw six interceptions in this game, or three. He threw zero! Now that bad news: The Jets defense was overmatched an had no answer for Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben's 380 passing yards was the most the Jets have given up in a game since 2008.
Steelers: A
When the Steelers offense watches film on this game this week, they're probably going to rag on Sammie Coates. Although the Steelers receiver torched the Jets defense for 139 yards and two touchdowns, HE COULD'VE HAD MORE. Coates officially dropped three passes in the game, a number you could argue was actually five. The scary thing about the Steelers is that if Coates ever stops dropping passes, this offense might be impossible to stop. Ben Roethlisberger finished 34 of 47 for 380 yards and four touchdowns. This game marked only the third time in his career that Big Ben threw for 380 or more yards with at least four touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Ben Roethlisberger since Le'Veon Bell's return to the @steelers this season:
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 9, 2016
340 pass YPG
9 TD, 0 INT
143.0 passer rating pic.twitter.com/qSXNvdEyyI
Apparently, Ben really likes having Le'Veon Bell back.
Atlanta 23-16 over Denver
Falcons: A+
Six days before this game kicked, Falcons running back Tevin Coleman said that he wasn't sure if he'd be able to play in Denver because he carries the sickle cell trait. In the end, he decided to play, although the Broncos probably wished he hadn't. Denver did shut down Julio Jones on Sunday, but they couldn't stop Coleman, who caught four passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. If you're not good at math, that's a ridiculous 33 yards per catch. In the most shocking turn over events, the Falcons defense outplayed Denver's D. The Falcons racked up six sacks in the game, the team's highest total since 2005. Three and a half of those sacks came from Vic Beasley Jr. With the win, the Falcons became just the third two in the past 50 years to beat both team from the prior year's Super Bowl in consecutive weeks.
Broncos: C
When you're starting a rookie quarterback, the last thing you want to do is fall into a giant hole to start the game, but that's exactly what happened to the Broncos. With Lynch under center, the Broncos couldn't move the ball through the first three quarters and the Falcons jumped out to a 20-3 lead. Not only did the Broncos punt on six of their first eight drives, but they were especially ugly in the first half, totaling just 76 yards of offense. Broncos fans probably never thought they'd say this, but when does Trevor Siemian get back?
Dallas 28-14 over Cincinnati
Bengals: F
The Bengals failed in every possible way that a football team can fail, which is somewhat impressive, because there's a lot ways a football team can fail. Receivers couldn't get open, the offensive line couldn't protect Andy Dalton, the defense couldn't stop Ezekiel Elliott, the secondary got picked apart by Dak Prescott, the kicker couldn't make a field goal. The bad thing for the Bengals, who are now 2-3, is that it doesn't look like things are going to get any easier next week. In Week 6, Cincy gets to travel to New England to be the sacrificial lamb in Tom Brady's first home game back from suspension.
Cowboys: A+
Although it's always fun to talk about what Dak and Zeke do in a game, the most impressive part of this win for the Cowboys was what their defense did to the Bengals offense. Going into Week 5, the Cowboys had just five sacks on the season, a total they almost doubled against Cincinnati. The Cowboys defense racked up four sacks, and pitched a shutout for three quarters. OK, that's enough about their defense, now it's time to talk about the rookies. Ezekiel Elliott looked like a machine as he ran for 134 yards on just 15 carries. The Cowboys running back is just the third rookie in NFL history rush for 130 or more yards in three straight games.
Buffalo 30-19 over Los Angeles
Bills: A
Although it was a sunny day in L.A. on Sunday, it was a shady day on the field -- just ask the Rams defense about that. Shady McCoy rushed for 150 yards in the game, which is even more impressive when you consider that he only carried the ball 18 times in the game (an average of 8.3 yards per carry). As good as McCoy was on offense, that's how good corner Nickell Robey-Coleman and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander were on defense. Alexander racked up three sacks in the game while Robey-Coleman picked off two passes, including a third-quarter interception that he took to the house. Bills Mafia, get out your Zubaz pants and wear them all week because this team looks legit.
Rams: C-
Rams fans have been used to it for years, so it shouldn't come as any shock: Bad coaching and bad quarterbacking buried the team on Sunday. Jeff Fisher made two controversial calls in the fourth quarter that both went against him. On the first call, with his team trailing 23-16, Fisher decided to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the Bills' 4-yard line. Things got even worse on the Rams' next series when Fisher tried a fake punt from his own 23-yard line with under four minutes left. If you're going to go for it on fourth down, go for it on fourth down, don't ask your punt team to get it. As for the Rams' quarterback play, Case Keenum was the opposite of clutch. Keenum threw a pick-six in the third quarter that ended up being the deciding points in the game.
Oakland 34-31 over San Diego
Chargers: B-
It's almost becoming painful to watch Chargers games because they seem to find a new way to lose every week. In this week's edition of "In what improbable way will the Chargers lose?" San Diego botched a field goal attempt that would have tied the game with two minutes left.
.@Chargers line up to tie the game with a FG...
— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2016
But they fumble the snap! @Raiders take over. #SDvsOAKhttps://t.co/IBGX4v5JTq
That's holder Drew Kaser letting the snap go through his hands. The rough part for Kaser is the botched hold might've only been his second worst play of the day. The punter also had a 16-yard punt from his own 18-yard line in the second half that set up a Raiders touchdown in the fourth quarter. Kaser and Mike McCoy might both get a pink slip if the Chargers lose to the Broncos on Thursday. Anyway, Kaser shouldn't shoulder all the blame: Philip Rivers threw two picks, and Antonio Gates and Melvin Gordon both lost a fumble.
Raiders: B
The Raiders defense is still giving up over 400 yards per game, but who cares, Raiders fans, because your team is 4-1 for the first time since 2002. The defensive shortcomings haven't been a huge deal yet because Derek Carr keeps lighting up the scoreboard with the Raiders offense. The AC/DC combination was huge on Sunday as Amari Cooper was on the receiving end of 138 yards and a touchdown. It's probably also fitting that Sebastian Janikowski played a big part in the win with four field goals (20, 26, 56, 48). Janikowski is the only player left who was on that 2002 team that started 4-1.
Green Bay 23-16 over NY Giants
Giants: C-
Despite the fact that the Giants promoted their offensive coordinator to head coach this year, the team's offense is somehow getting worse. The Giants only managed 219 total yards of offense against Green Bay, which is even worse when you consider the fact that 63 of those yards came on the Giants' final drive of the game at a point that was arguably garbage time. The total yardage was the team's second lowest since coach Ben McAdoo was hired as offensive coordinator in 2014. It's also an ugly number for the Giants: The team is 0-7 since 2010 when they total 220 or fewer yards. The only good news for New York is that Odell Beckham finally made up with the kicking net.
😍😍 @OBJ_3 😍😍 pic.twitter.com/44CQBqsQbN
— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2016
Maybe that will spark the Giants to a few wins going forward.
Packers: B
Aaron Rodgers wasn't on his 'A' game, and to be brutally honest, he wasn't really even on his 'B' game, but that didn't matter against New York because the Packers had Eddie Lacy, Randall Cobb, and a stout defense. Lacy ran all over the Giants, averaging 7.4 yards per carry in the game (11 carries, 81 yards). As for Cobb, he caught everything thrown his way (nine catches, 108 yards), which was good news for the Packers because Rodgers seemed to be erratic while throwing to everyone else. As a matter of fact, Rodgers was 14 of 19 for 193 yards and one touchdown in the game while targeting Cobb and Davante Adams. On the other hand, he was just 9 of 26 for 66 yards when targeting everyone else. Rodgers also threw two interceptions at home, marking the first time since October 2010 that he threw multiple interceptions at Lambeau Field.
Bye week: Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, Seattle