There is a whole lot to break down from NFL Week 5, from Justin Herbert cementing himself in the MVP conversation to the Kansas City Chiefs‘ fall to 2-3 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ continued dominance.
Now that the first run of PFF analysis has been finalized and made available in PFF's Premium Stats, we get to fill you in on this week’s top performers. Here, we present PFF’s Team of the Week and player awards from Week 5 of the 2021 NFL season.
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PFF TEAM OF THE WEEK
Offense
QB: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
RB: James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars
WR: Kadarius Toney, New York Giants
WR: Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
TE: Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
Flex: Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
LT: Taylor Lewan, Tennessee Titans
LG: Alijah Vera-Tucker, New York Jets
C: Ben Jones, Tennessee Titans
RG: Wyatt Teller, Cleveland Browns
RT: Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Defense
DI: Poona Ford, Seattle Seahawks
DI: Javon Hargrave, Philadelphia Eagles
Edge: T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers
Edge: Randy Gregory, Dallas Cowboys
LB: Eric Kendricks, Minnesota Vikings
LB: Alexander Johnson, Denver Broncos
CB: Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans Saints
CB: Darius Slay, Philadelphia Eagles
S: Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans
S: Tracy Walker, Detroit Lions
Flex: Elijah Molden, Tennessee Titans
Offensive Player of the Week: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Jackson had a near-flawless passing performance against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. He posted a 90.5% adjusted completion percentage and only threw two uncatchable passes across 43 attempts en route to his third-highest passing grade of his career (90.7).
The Ravens quarterback earned a 99.9 passing grade on passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield, as he went a perfect 8-of-8 for 187 yards and a touchdown, with four big-time throws.
Rookie of the Week: WR Kadarius Toney, New York Giants
Toney was a featured piece of the Giants offense against the Dallas Cowboys, generating 13 targets on 24 routes. The former Florida Gator took advantage of the opportunity by producing a 93.3 receiving grade and averaging 7.88 yards per route run — both of which are top-five single-game marks among rookie wide receivers since 2010.
Kadarius Toney put the moves on Trevon Diggs 👀
pic.twitter.com/akh70NWrY3— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2021
Toney's combination of balance, agility and explosiveness makes him almost impossible to tackle. The first-year pass-catcher shed three tackles on 10 catches and averaged 8.9 yards after the catch per reception.
Defensive Player of the Week: CB Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans Saints
Lattimore had one of the most productive games of the PFF era against the Washington Football Team on Sunday. Tested a whopping 10 times in coverage, the Ohio State product allowed only two catches for 31 yards while forcing seven incompletions.
For reference on how impressive that forced incompletion total is, only five other cornerbacks forced multiple incompletions in Week 5 — and they all had two.
https://twitter.com/PFF_Anthony/status/1447587300041494529?s=20
Lattimore gave up four catches for 114 yards and a score last week in what was one of the worst games of his career, making this bounce-back game all the more impressive.
Offensive Line of the Week: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs' line had to go toe-to-toe with a blitz-heavy Miami Dolphins defense that entered Week 4 tied for fourth among defenses in pressure rate generated. But Tampa’s offensive line put the clamps on that Miami pass rush, and the Dolphins ultimately recorded the second-lowest pressure rate of the week.
Tampa’s offensive line nearly pitched a shutout, combining for only four pressures allowed on 48 dropbacks. They were the highest-graded group on true pass sets, which is the most important area of evaluation for offensive line play.
Secret Superstar of the Week: S Elijah Molden, Tennessee Titans
The third-round rookie played only in dime packages against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he played a key role in the Titans' big divisional win.
Molden, playing mostly in the slot, saw three targets on 17 coverage snaps and none of them resulted in a first down. He notched a passing stop on each of those three targets and notably forced the fumble that Kevin Byard scooped up and took to the end zone for a score.
Elijah Molden with the forced fumble that leads to the #Titans first touchdown of the game 😤💪 pic.twitter.com/lteexeVRsJ
— Titans Radio (@TitansRadio) October 10, 2021
Play of the Week: Kyler Murray‘s deep shot to Rondale Moore
Murray has been a human highlight reel this season. On Sunday, he delivered multiple big-time throws under pressure in the Cardinals' win over the San Francisco 49ers. One of those big-time throws didn't just stand out as the best throw of Week 5, it also resulted in the best catch of the week.
Insane
pic.twitter.com/3kX0dquDuK— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2021
Murray now trails only divisional rival Russell Wilson for the highest big-time throw rate in the NFL through Week 5. He’s also the league’s highest-graded passer under pressure this year.
As for Moore, he owns the highest receiving grade (80.5) and yards per route run average (3.11) among rookie wide receivers through the first five weeks.
Biggest Game-Changing Moment: Justin Herbert‘s third-down big-time throw with the game on the line
Justin Herbert did more than his part in what was one of the most entertaining games of the 2021 season. He remained as composed as ever when the game started coming down to the wire and delivered the game-changing moment of Week 5 with this third-down big-time throw with a few minutes left to play.
JUSTIN HERBERT DIME TO KEENAN ALLEN 🍿
pic.twitter.com/bjakWDP7Pf— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2021
Herbert has been a sensation ever since he first took the field as a rookie in 2020, and he’s seemingly getting better by the week. He has opened up his sophomore season in the NFL by earning an 80.0-plus PFF grade in four of his five starts, making him the third-highest-graded quarterback in the NFL so far.
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