NFL Week 5 takeaways: Biggest storylines, playoff contenders and teams to watch

Week 5 was a wild one. Has everyone caught their breath?

Week 5 was a lot like how this entire NFL season has gone so far. We’ve seen nail-biters, blowouts, shootouts, defensive slugfests and everything in between. And the best news for football fans is that we have a long, long way to go before the action wraps up.

Every NFL season has its share of stories worth following. After five weeks, we finally have enough data to start looking at some of the more notable storylines shaping the 2026 NFL season.

NFL Week 5 takeaways: Five biggest storylines shaping the 2026 season

From the race for the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft to undefeated teams making their case as Super Bowl contenders, several storylines are starting to take shape. Here's a closer look at five developments worth watching as the season progresses.

2027 NFL Draft: Which winless team will land the No. 1 overall pick?

Through five weeks, three teams remain winless at 0-5 — the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers.

Two of those are hardly unexpected. The Titans picked first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft and went 3-14 last season, while the Dolphins finished 7-10 last year and underwent a major rebuild that left the roster largely devoid of top-end talent.

But the Chargers made the playoffs last year and landed a notable offensive play-caller in Mike McDaniel to help Justin Herbert and Co. score more points.

Mission failed.

All three teams have major weaknesses, primarily on offense. The Titans rank 32nd in both offensive yards and points scored. The Dolphins are 31st in points scored, while the Chargers rank 30th.

The Titans’ offense doesn’t have a ton of talent, and it looks like Cam Ward isn’t the answer at quarterback. The Dolphins lost their only proven playmaker in De’Von Achane, and Malik Willis has struggled with a group of pass catchers that is arguably the NFL’s worst. But the Chargers have Herbert and other offensive talent, yet they still can’t score.

So who has the "upper hand" in the race for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft?

The Chargers probably have the toughest remaining schedule, as they face the Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Ravens over the next four weeks. They also have the Patriots, Chiefs (for a second time) and Broncos late in the season.

The Titans have the Jaguars twice, as well as the Lions and Texans, among their notable remaining matchups. The Dolphins face the Patriots and Bills twice each, along with the Broncos, Bears and Lions.

The Chargers have shown enough fight against good teams that I’d be shocked if they picked first overall.

That leaves Tennessee and Miami, and I’ll "back" the Dolphins in this race. The roster simply isn’t very good, and they have a relatively difficult schedule the rest of the way. Based on what we’ve seen so far, winning just one or two games all season may be the likeliest outcome.

Jahmyr Gibbs' 2026 stats: Can the Lions RB break LaDainian Tomlinson's touchdown record?

Detroit’s star running back appears to be the NFL’s new Mr. Touchdown.

Gibbs has had a fantastic start to the year, recording 747 total yards and nine touchdowns in just five games. Over a 17-game season, that pace would put him at just over 30 touchdowns.

The NFL single-season record? That belongs to former Chargers MVP running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who scored 31 touchdowns in 2006.

The caveat is that Tomlinson scored 31 times in a 16-game season. Gibbs has the luxury of playing 17 regular-season games. But still, the fact that Gibbs is even on this kind of pace is pretty unbelievable.

The former first-round pick has 58 career touchdowns so far, an NFL record for a player before turning 25 years old. He’s taken advantage of the Lions’ backfield situation this year, as he’s no longer losing meaningful touches to David Montgomery. Gibbs has played 77% of Detroit’s offensive snaps this season.

So can Gibbs catch L.T.?

If anyone can, it’d be Gibbs. He has a nose for the end zone, plays in an elite offense, faces no clear competition for red-zone touches and is an elite receiving threat out of the backfield.

If Gibbs does tie or break Tomlinson’s record, there will be questions about the advantage of a 17-game season. So perhaps if he’s close late in the year, the Lions will try to get him the record in their 16th game.

That’s a lot of ifs, though, and there’s plenty of season left to play. But it’s at least worth monitoring given what Gibbs has accomplished thus far.

Lions vs. Vikings: Are Minnesota and Detroit legitimate Super Bowl contenders?

Speaking of the Lions, they and their NFC North rivals, the Vikings, are two of the more interesting teams in the entire NFL, in my opinion.

Let’s start with Minnesota.

The Vikings are a perfect 5-0. The biggest reason? Defense.

The Vikings have a new version of the Purple People Eaters, and it comes in the form of all-out warfare at the line of scrimmage. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is no stranger to blitzing, but the Vikings are rushing five or more defenders more than 70% of the time!

It’s clearly working, as Minnesota ranks third in yards allowed and first in scoring defense, surrendering just 12.8 points per game. After allowing 22 points in Week 1, the Vikings have given up just 3, 16, 10 and 13 points in their subsequent games.

So why the question about their ceiling?

It stems from the offense. Kyler Murray got hurt in Week 1, and while Carson Wentz led the Vikings to 39 points overall, much of that production came from the defense forcing turnovers in the second half.

Minnesota scored just nine points in Week 2, and with Murray back, the Vikings have scored 23, 15 and 23 points. Murray has two touchdowns and two interceptions on the year.

The Vikings’ offense, even with elite playmakers like Justin Jefferson, feels limited. The defense is elite and more than Super Bowl-caliber, but if the Vikings can develop into a fringe top-10 offensive unit, there’s a case for Minnesota being the best team in the entire NFC.

As for the Lions, they have the opposite problem.

Detroit is 3-2 and tied with Buffalo for the NFL lead in points per game at 32.8. Jared Goff has been nearly perfect, while Gibbs is a touchdown machine and players like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta are tough to cover.

Few teams can match the Lions offensively. That is, unless you’ve been playing against Detroit’s defense.

The Lions had their best defensive effort of the year against Arizona in Week 5, holding the Cardinals to 21 points. But before that, Detroit had allowed 30, 41, 24 and 32 points.

There are still major question marks on that side of the ball, and they drastically limit Detroit’s ceiling.

The offense is elite, but until we see more consistency from the defense, the Lions look like a team that could make the Wild Card Round but get bounced early.

Houston Texans playoff chances: Can Houston overcome an 0-4 start?

I might be crazy, but I still have faith in the Texans.

They’re 1-4, and there are six non-division leaders in the AFC sitting at 3-2, but I just can’t help myself.

I’m a DeMeco Ryans fan, and it’s not hard to see why. He guided a Texans team that appeared lost for years to three straight AFC Divisional Round appearances and a pair of AFC South titles.

Additionally, the Texans have been in a similar position before.

Houston started 0-3 last year. The Texans had an abysmal offense that scored just 9, 19 and 10 points during that stretch. Then came a 26-0 blowout over Tennessee, and Houston went 12-2 the rest of the way to clinch a playoff spot.

The Texans just blew out the Titans 26-3, so might we see history repeat itself?

The issues are clear.

First, there are a ton of winning teams in the AFC this year. With a deeper playoff pool, it’ll be harder for Houston to catch up.

Second, the Texans have yet to face the Jaguars, who are 4-1. That changes this weekend in England.

And most importantly, the Texans started 0-4 this year — not 0-3.

Only one team — the 1992 Chargers — has made the postseason after an 0-4 start. Still, I think it’s too early to count Houston out.

The offense has Nico Collins back and has scored 31, 30 and 26 points with him in the lineup. The Texans also added talented but so far underwhelming wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. to the mix, reuniting him with his former college teammate, quarterback CJ Stroud.

And Ryans’ defense was among the best in the NFL last year, with elite talent at every level.

It’s a tall task, but if any team can rise from the ashes to make the postseason after such a bad start, it’s the Texans.

If they beat the Jaguars this weekend, watch out.

NFL power rankings: Are the undefeated San Francisco 49ers the best team in football?

The 49ers are one of three undefeated teams right now, along with the Vikings and Chiefs. San Francisco and Minnesota are 5-0, while Kansas City is 4-0 after having a Week 5 bye.

The 49ers made the playoffs last year but were blown out in Seattle in the Divisional Round. That came after falling to the Seahawks in Week 18 in a game where the NFC West title and No. 1 seed were on the line.

San Francisco was viewed as a playoff team entering 2026, but the 49ers were still considered the third-best team in their own division behind the Seahawks and Rams.

Well, the 49ers dominated the Rams 27-7 in Australia in Week 1, took down the Dolphins, Cardinals and Broncos, then went into Seattle and beat the Seahawks 32-29 in a wild, turnover-filled game.

In the race for the NFC West — and likely the No. 1 seed in the conference — the advantage goes to the 49ers.

So are they the NFL’s best team?

I think they’re better than the Vikings, who have shown some major question marks on offense, whether it’s Murray and the passing game or the rushing attack behind Aaron Jones Sr.

This really boils down to the 49ers vs. the Chiefs, which, funny enough, has been the Super Bowl matchup twice since the 2019 season.

Both teams are playing very, very well overall. The offenses are elite, with the Chiefs enjoying an actual run game for the first time in years behind Kenneth Walker III and the 49ers finding plenty of success with different receivers and runners getting the ball in their hands.

Both quarterbacks are playing like MVP contenders, with Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy leading the charge thus far.

For now, I give a slight edge to the 49ers, but only because they have two high-quality wins over the Rams and Seahawks.

Both the 49ers and Chiefs beat the Broncos, but I’m having major doubts about just how good Denver really is this year.

It was a good sign that the 49ers registered five sacks on Sunday, as their pass rush had been a glaring weakness through four weeks.

If that part of the defense gets going, the 49ers are going to be really, really tough to beat moving forward, provided they stay healthy.