Confetti from an NFL weekend
With five days left before Cowboys-Eagles.
New York Giants 27, Green Bay 22:
— There was Huff, Robustelli, Van Pelt, Martin and (moment of respectful silence) Lawrence Taylor. Today, Dexter Lawrence is writing his name on the wall of great defensive Giants. The Clemson alum is the ringleader of a QB-hunting defense that has allowed 10 touchdowns in five games. On Sunday, Oregon rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux joined in with two pass breakups.
— The Giants (4-1) also present Daniel Jones for your consideration. Hurt, dazed and confused in his first few years, Jones has thrown only two picks and was 21 for 27 against the Packers.
— Aaron Rodgers called the current Green Bay offense “unsustainable.” Imagine his attitude when he saw Davante Adams frolicking for two long touchdowns in the Raiders’ loss to Kansas City Monday night.
Dallas 22, Los Angeles Rams 10
— Matthew Stafford saw this coming and still decided to show up. With a riddled offensive line and with stagnant running backs, Stafford was hit 11 times and sacked five by Dallas. Former UCLA star Osa Odighizuwa taggged Stafford four times by himself and had two tackles for loss and a sack, which means Micah Parsons doesn’t have to go it alone, even though he can.
— Stafford has been pressured on 36 percent of his attempts. Last year, with Andrew Whitworth and Austin Corbett on the offensive line and with the Rams far more willing ro run, the figure was 22 percent.
— Next stop for the Cowboys is Philadelphia on Sunday night against the 5-0 Eagles. Dallas is a surprising 4-1 and backup QB Cooper Rush is 4-0. It has 20 sacks, only one fewer than league leader San Francisco.
San Francisco 37, Carolina 15:
— The Panthers come to play the Rams this week but they won’t be bringing coach Matt Ruhle. He got fired after the Panthers fell to 1-4. Steve Wilks, who was Arizona’s head coach for one very long year, gets the interim spot.
— Ruhle was 11-27 for the Panthers as they kept whiffing on quarterback picks and had to play long stretches without Christian (Captain Checkdown) McCaffrey, their closest thing to an offensive star.
== But this doesn’t change Ruhle’s distinguished record at Baylor and Temple and the fact that he is still only 47. The Nebraska job would seem to be fairly natural for a guy who knows his way around the Big 12.
Kansas City 30, Las Vegas 29
— The two teams honored the sturdy Chiefs-Raiders rivalry from the AFL with long plays, comebacks and lots of hate. It ended when the Raiders’ Derek Carr hit Davante Adams on third-and-one for 15 yards, and put the ball on the Chiefs’ 39. That’s within Daniel Carlson’s foot range. But the completion was reversed, and Carr couldn’t hit Adams on fourth down.
— Travis Kelce is the one-man answer for Red Zone Syndrome, the neurological disorder that afflects teams within the plus-20. Kelce caught seven of the eight passes that Patrick Mahomes threw him. They totaled 25 yards. Four of them were good for touchdowns.
— The Raiders are 1-4. That includes a five-point loss at the Chargers, an OT loss to Arizona at home, a two-pointer at Tennessee, and this one. Meanwhile the Chiefs gather up every bit of defense they can find and present it to the Buffalo Bills, who come to Arrowhead Stadium. Then Kansas City goes to San Francisco before a hard-earned bye.
Buffalo 38, Pittsburgh 3
— The Bills have a plus-91 point differential after five weeks, easily tops in the NFL.
— Buffalo had five plays that went 31 yards or more, including a 98-yarder for a touchdown to Gabriel Davis in the first two minutes.
— In a complete betrayal of their brand, the Steelers had no sacks and one QB hit. They are 1-4.
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