Five things we learned this weekend in the NFL: Week 5

1. The 500 Club grew by one

Tom Brady added to his legacy on Thursday night by becoming only the third player to ever throw for 500 passing touchdowns. He joined hall-of-famers Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, who will surely see his bust in Canton someday. Deflated footballs or not, that is a lot of touchdowns.

Besides adding to his legacy, he helped the Patriots march past the struggling Colts. On the way to a 38-14 win, Tom Brady finished with 341 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Rookie running back Sony Michel chipped in with 98 yards and a touchdown.

The Colts still look lost this year and the Patriots seem to be getting back into the swing of things. When you have a guy like Tom Brady, just about anything is possible.

2. It is the year of the rookie… or at least the week

This weekend marked the first time that four rookie quarterbacks led their respective teams to victory.

While Josh Allen had a tough day at the office, he managed to lead the Bills to a 13-12 victory over the Titans. While Allen only threw for a meager 82 yards, including one interception and no touchdowns, he did have the highlight of the game. The highlight came on a nice 14 yard scamper to the endzone where he made defenders miss left and right.

Thanks to Baker Mayfield, the Browns overcame another kicking disaster. While the kicker, Greg Joseph, can have a pass on his 55 yarder he missed, he also missed an extra point which would have been the difference in regulation. Needless to say, Mayfield wound up leading the game winning drive in the overtime period. He was able to give Joseph the opportunity for a 37-yard chip shot. Good thing it was only 37 yards, because Joseph barely snuck the kick over the crossbar and inside the left upright, giving the Browns the 12-9 win.

Oddly enough, Sam Darnold was the rookie this week who led his team to the most points and who had the best production. The Broncos defense looked flat in this one as Darnold torched them for three touchdowns, one of which was a 76 yarder to Robby Anderson. The Jets would wind up victorious by a score of 34-16.

Josh Rosen also managed to lead the Cardinals to their first win. While he did have a nice 75 yard touchdown pass in the contest, he was more of a game manager this week. The Cardinals defense is ultimately what led them to the win, accumulating five takeaways. No winless teams this year. Not even the Browns.

3. Le’Veon who?

The Steelers looked like the contenders we all thought they would be finally. As they squared off against the Falcons, it didn’t seem like they missed Le’Veon Bell as much this week. James Conner had himself a monster day, managing 185 yards of total offense to go along with two scores.

Big Ben and Antonio Brown finally got on the same page as well, connecting for two touchdowns.

The most important takeaway is that the Steelers defense finally found their desire to win, for the time being at least. They held Julio Jones to less than 75 yards, only allowed 65 rushing yards, and even had six sacks. They had looked mostly horrible to this point, perhaps this game will prove as the beginning of a turnaround.

4. The unbeatens remain

Coming into the week, it looked like the Rams would have an easy win against the Great Value brand of the Seahawks from just a few years ago. Many were also quick to say that the Chiefs would have a very tough time overcoming the best defense in the league. Their games would prove to be just the opposite.

The Rams struggled all game with the Seahawks, for whatever odd reason. It was Todd Gurley that single handedly led the Rams to a narrow, two point win in this one. He tallied 77 rushing yards to go along with a trio of touchdowns. Jared Goff was a little off on Sunday, but that was something the Rams could afford, seeing as how they are so well rounded.

The Chiefs and their star “return specialist” would also surprise everyone, except me. Going in to the game most thought that it would be closely-contested throughout. So much for that. The Chiefs were staked to an early 20-0 lead and wouldn’t look back. If it weren’t for Blake Bortles attempt to give his own lineman a concussion on a pass attempt that seemed as if it were going to be a touchdown, the game may have been more interesting.

5. Saints rookie wide receiver impresses

Congratulations on your first and second touchdowns, Tre’Quan Smith, but that is all we have for you at this moment.

Drew Brees was the real story Monday night. He would pass for 363 yards, three touchdowns, and a near perfect passer rating. Oh yeah, he also became the all-time leading passer in NFL history, passing a couple of regular old guys by the names of Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. It is a truly great accomplishment that only adds to what has already been one of the best careers a quarterback has ever had.

After next week’s bye, Drew will look for his 500th touchdown pass, and will probably find it fairly easy.