NFL Sunday Rewind: Cowboys, Giants get to 4-1; Ravens upend Bengals in primetime

LOS ANGELES — It was another fun NFL Sunday in Week 5 a we saw a number of upset wins and exciting finishes.

Four underdogs won their games outright including the Houston Texans, who got their first win of the season. Houston was the final winless team in the NFL going into Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles took care of business in Arizona to move to 5-0 and they remain the last unbeaten team in the NFL.

The NFC East continues to flex its muscles. The Dallas Cowboys won again with Cooper Rush at QB as they defeated the Rams in L.A. and the New York Giants moved to 4-1 with an upset win over the Packers in London.

Let’s check out some of the top storylines from Sunday’s NFL action.

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The Dallas Cowboys just keep winning. After many wrote them off following their Week 1 loss to Tampa, when Dak Prescott was knocked out of the game and set to be out for multiple months, here they are at 4-1.

The Cowboys defeated the Rams 22-10 on Sunday in L.A. and it started with a bang.

On the Rams’ third offensive play, Dallas’ Dorance Armstrong bashed through their offensive line and hit Matthew Stafford. DeMarcus Lawrence scooped up the quarterback’s fumble and rumbled into the end zone.

“It was a surreal moment,” Lawrence said of his second touchdown in nine NFL seasons. “When the ball came out and it hit my feet, I was like, ‘This can’t be true.’ When I turned around and I didn’t feel nobody around me, I was like, ‘This is real!’”

The Cowboys’ impressive start to the season without Dak Prescott is also very real — and not even the defending Super Bowl champions could slow them down.

Tony Pollard made an outstanding 57-yard TD run for the Cowboys, who are off to a 4-1 start for the second consecutive season after racking up four consecutive wins without Prescott, who seems close to a return from thumb surgery. 

Prescott said he can grip a ball with his surgically repaired thumb, but noncommittally called himself “day to day.” He hailed the victory: “A game like this, it wasn’t the prettiest, but the defense and the special teams did what they had to do to win.”

The Cowboys will get a great test next week when they take on the 5-0 division-rival Philadelphia Eagles.

The New York Giants are 4-1 on the year now after an improbable comeback win over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in London 27-22.

Giants RB Saquon Barkley took a direct snap and ran for a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to cap New York’s comeback.

Rodgers then drove the Packers to the 6-yard line, but his pass on fourth-and-1 was swatted down at the line of scrimmage by safety Xavier McKinney with just over a minute left.

The Giants (4-1) scored 17 unanswered points in the second half as Jones, playing on a sprained ankle, led three scoring drives to erase a 20-10 deficit. It’s the Giants’ best start since 5-0 in 2009 and matches their win total from last season (4-13).

“Give New York all the credit. They outcoached us, they outplayed us,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “They definitely wanted it more. It was the tale of two halves. They kicked our butt in the second half. You can’t do that in this league.”

After back-to-back three-and-outs to start the game, the Giants scored on five consecutive possessions. They were six of 11 on third down.

Barkley rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries and had 36 yards receiving — his third consecutive game with more than 100 yards from scrimmage, his longest streak since 2019, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Rodgers threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but couldn’t get any points on the board in the second half. Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard and Marcedes Lewis for first-half scoring strikes.

“We had chances, a lot of chances,” Rodgers said. “We’re five weeks in, and there’s a lot of football left. Can’t squander any more games like this, though, because the season is going to be pretty tough.”

The Giants entered the game as the NFL’s top rushing offense, but struggled to run the ball early, falling behind 17-3 after Lazard’s 4-yard touchdown reception and Lewis’ 2-yard catch in the end zone when Rodgers found the veteran tight end wide open.

Jones completed 21 of 27 passes for 217 yards, and he carried 10 times for 37 yards. 

It wasn’t the offensive showcase that many may have expected coming into this game, but the Baltimore Ravens got the job done against the Cincinnati Bengals with a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter that set up a Justin Tucker game winning field goal.

The Ravens won the game 19-17 after they fell behind 17-16 with two minutes to go after a Joe Burrow touchdown run.

“We’ve got the GOAT at kicker,” Lamar Jackson said, using the acronym for “Greatest of All-Time.”

Tucker kicked a 43-yard field goal on the final play to lift the Ravens over the Cincinnati Bengals 19-17 on Sunday night and into sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

Tucker also made a 58-yard kick in the third quarter, and even when the Ravens (3-2) fell behind 17-16 on Joe Burrow’s 1-yard sneak with 1:58 remaining, they could feel confident because they only needed a field goal. Tucker’s game-winner extended his streak to 61 straight successful field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime.

He is 17 for 17 in his career on attempts in the final minute of regulation.

“What matters in those 1.3 seconds between snap, hold and the kick, are the things that are going to help the kick go through the uprights,” Tucker said. “My feelings, my emotions — for 1.3 seconds, they don’t really matter, whether I’m feeling very confident or nervous or even outright afraid. That’s partly why I always make it a point to say a brief prayer as I’m lining up to kick — not to ask for results, but to ask for peace and to show gratitude just for sort of being able to be in that moment.”

Jackson shook off a rough night passing, leading the Ravens with his arm and his legs on the winning drive. Baltimore blew leads of 21 and 17 points in its previous two home games when it lost to Miami and Buffalo. The Ravens squandered a 10-point lead in this one but recovered.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the Baltimore defense, which allowed 41 points in each of two losses last year to the AFC champion Bengals. This time the Ravens kept Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase mostly under control and pulled off an impressive stand in the third quarter after Cincinnati (2-3) had first-and-goal from the 2.

The Ravens are now 3-2 on the year with the win.