NFL Week 5

-Parity (or mediocrity, whatever you want to call it) is becoming the dominant theme in the NFL this season. A few examples for you: Sunday saw the fall of the league's final undefeated team in 2010: the Kansas City Chiefs. To serve as a comparison, last season, there were five undefeated teams at this point in the season: the Saints, Colts, Broncos, Giants and Vikings.

Here's another story. Of the league's 32 teams, 24 (or three quarters) have already lost two games. The NFC is a particularly level playing-field, 13 of 16 have lost at least two games in the first five weeks.

A few more snippets: almost half the teams in the league (15) have 3-2 or 2-3 records. Only three teams have win streaks of three games or more going right now. Four playoff teams from last season – Chargers, Vikings, Cowboys, Bengals – have losing records. Five non-playoff teams from last season are leading their division right now.

All in all, the NFL feels like a bit of a pack right now, with a few stragglers and a few front-runners but a large amorphous center. It might seem confusing – feels like there are more and more upsets every week – but it's really a blessing for the league that there aren't two 10-0 teams and a host of other teams in danger of not winning a single game all year.

The water will clear in coming weeks as we get a better sense of how everyone stacks up but for the moment, just be thankful that your team probably still has a decent chance of taking their division if they piece a winning streak together .

-Quick mention for the Oakland Raiders who battered, clattered and clawed their way to victory over the Chargers snapping a 13-game losing streak to their SoCal rivals. I haven't had many nice things to say about the Raiders in my time as an NFL columnist (and the decision to cut possibly the worst number one draft picks of all-time, JaMarcus Russell, was one of them). But on Sunday, this was a team that got behind a coach that they appear to like and respect and won a very important game for him.

Oakland's D was always going to struggle to contain the Chargers passing game but they took of every potential opportunity to both score and prevent points. In the first quarter alone, they blocked two punts – resulting in a touchdown and a safety – and forced two San Diego fumbles when they were driving into the redzone.

The most important turnover of all came deep in the fourth quarter as San Diego attempted to get within field goal range. Safety Michael Huff came on the blitz and got to Rivers, knocking the ball out of his hand as the quarterback went to throw it. Tyvon Branch picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown, sending all of Oakland into delirium.

-Here's a shortlist of the studs of the week:

a. Bears running back Matt Forte: Was the difference in a game where both offenses struggled to move the ball through the air. Rushed for 166 yards and 2 TDs.

b. Redskins safety LaRon Landry: Made plays all over the field for Washington, including 10 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles. It was his two big plays though -- a forced fumble and then an interception in overtime -- that made it an All-Pro day for him.

c. Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams: Was a tackle-making machine against the Ravens. Made 10 solo tackles and assisted on 5 more. Exactly what you need out of a middle linebacker.

d. Lions quarterback Shaun Hill: Was solid in the short to intermediate passing game, completing 21 of 32 for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns.

e. Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick: Deserves a mention for a rare good performance by a Buffalo QB. Completed 20 of 30 passes for 220 and 3 TDs.

-Here's a shortlist of the goats of the week:

a. Bears quarterback Todd Collins: Threw 16 total passes, 4 of which were intercepted. He was yanked in the fourth quarter.

b. Cardinals running back Beanie Wells: Averaged a paltry 1.75 yards a carry on 20 carries. Tough day for the former Buckeye who also lost a fumble (which he recovered).

c. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer: Threw three interceptions, including a pick-six and an interception with 31 seconds left that set up Tampa Bay for the game-winning field goal. His poor, interception-filled year continues. He's entering Jake-Delhomme-in-Carolina territory.

d. Cowboys cornerback Malcolm Jenkins: Was picked on by the Titans, who continually threw to his side, and produced a number of big plays on his side of the field.

e. Texans running back Arian Foster: Gained 25 yards on 11 carries, by far his lowest total of the season.

-Rookie of the Week: Titans Alterraun Verner made a brilliant instinctive play, laying out to catch a short Tony Romo pass in front of the intended receiver after it had been deflected at the line of scrimmage. He added 6 tackles and a defended pass. Not bad for the fourth round pick who has already entrenched himself as a starter in Tennessee.

-Play of the Week: Add Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann to your list of the NFL's most athletic guys.

-Ridiculous Play of the Week: Ridiculous in the sense that: how do you let two punts in a row get blocked??

Five Quick Hits:

1/ Redskins new kick returner, rookie Brandon Banks, looks like a real find. Won't be long till he returns a kick for a touchdown. Even at 5'7'' and 155, he was only one tackle away from doing so a couple times against the Packers.

2/ Eagles second-year running back LeSean McCoy is starting to look like a nifty little player.

3/ Bucs rookie receiver Mike Williams already looks like a beast.

4/ Stat of the day: Two quarterbacks passed for more than 400 yards on Sunday. Both guys, Tony Romo and Philip Rivers, ended up on losing teams. One quarterback, Todd Collins, passed for 32 total yards. His team won. I guess the quarterback position can be a little overrated sometimes.

5/ Poor Kyle Orton. He's finally developed into an above-average NFL quarterback only to find himself on a team without any kind of running game. The Broncos are dead last running the ball: they average 51 yards per game which is more than twenty yards less than the Saints, the second worst team.