Snap Judgments
Don Banks, SI.com
PHILADELPHIA -- And a good day for the NFL's class of 2006 was had by all. Did you notice? Rookies were all the rage in Week 5. To wit:
• Reggie Bush catches 11 passes and scores his first career touchdown on a game-winning 65-yard punt return with just over four minutes remaining in New Orleans' 24-21 comeback win over winless Tampa Bay. Bush went nearly untouched on his big play, probably making him feel like he was back in college.
• Matt Leinart tosses a pair of touchdown passes on his first five throws as an NFL starter in Arizona's 23-20 loss against Kansas City. Despite Leinart's boffo debut, his efforts failed to save the Cardinals' season -- and by extension, maybe, coach Dennis Green's job. The 1-4 Cardinals couldn't hold leads of 14-0 and 20-10, letting the Chiefs score the final 13 points of the game.
• Vince Young leads the woeful Titans to a shocking near-upset at Indy -- an 18½-point favorite in the eyes of Vegas -- scoring his first career touchdown on a 19-yard first-quarter run in the 14-13 Tennessee loss. OK, Young's 10-of-21 passing day for 63 yards was a pittance by NFL standards, but he also ran four times for 43 yards and the touchdown, and showed 50 percent improvement over his out-of-control outing last week against Dallas.
• Bruce Gradkowski gave Tampa Bay's beleaguered fan base some flicker of hope in the absence of Chris Simms, passing for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first career start. The Bucs couldn't hold a fourth-quarter lead, but don't blame Gradkowski, a sixth-round pick out of Akron. He doesn't play on Tampa Bay's punt coverage team, which got burned by Bush's Dante Hall impersonation.
• Green Bay receiver Greg Jennings continued his strong first-year work, catching a game-high five passes for 105 yards, with a 46-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of the Packers' 23-20 loss to the Rams. Jennings is suddenly Brett Favre's favorite receiver, with three touchdowns in the past four games, and 19 receptions for 359 yards in that span.
• Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew racked up two more touchdowns in the Jags' 41-0 pasting of the visiting Jets, giving him four this season in five games. Jones-Drew had rushing scores of four and six yards.
• And Eagles rookie receiver Hank Baskett hauls in an 87-yard scoring bomb from Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia's much-ballyhooed grudge match with a team led by a certain ex-Eagles receiver. (Just wondering, but every time Baskett makes a grab, is it a Baskett catch?) Baskett, a collegiate free agent, in essence replaced Terrell Owens on Philly's roster. You can't make this stuff up, folks.
• You tell me, Joey Harrington or Daunte Culpepper in Miami? I know who I'd stick with if I were Nick Saban. Harrington didn't pull off the upset at New England, but with him in the pocket the Dolphins at least had a legitimate passing game for the first time since Week 1 at Pittsburgh. Harrington completed 26 of 41 passes for 232 yards, with two interceptions, but he took only one sack and moved the ball despite Miami's having little success running the ball against the Patriots (21 rushes for 62 yards).
• Speaking of Ronnie Brown, the Dolphins' second-year running back is averaging only 3.3 yards per rush behind a shaky offensive line. With 278 yards through five games, Brown is on pace for 890 yards this season, or 17 fewer than his rookie year. Brown had to carry 17 times to grind out 39 tough yards against New England.
• Good thing the city of Detroit has the feel-good Tigers to get lost in, because the winless and toothless Lions couldn't be more embarrassing. Up 17-3 at the start of the fourth quarter at Minnesota, Detroit watched as the Vikings scored the game's final 23 points, assuring Lions rookie head coach Rod Marinelli his fifth loss in five tries.
Someone keep an eye on the real-estate listings to see if Matt Millen's house goes on the market Monday morning.
• That's three defensive touchdowns by the Vikings in their past two home games, against Chicago and Detroit. When was the last time you said "Minnesota" and thought defense first? Maybe when Tony Dungy coordinated a No. 1-ranked Vikings defense in 1992, but more likely when Bud Grant was still roaming the sideline of Metropolitan Stadium.
• Wow. An honest-to-goodness Cedric Benson sighting, and his first two career touchdowns to boot (both on one-yard plunges). Who would ever have thought the Bears' offense could be this scary? Between Benson's supporting role in Chicago's blowout win over the Bills and Young's step in the right direction in Indy, it wasn't a bad day for ex-Longhorns.
• I guess you could say that after getting stomped last week, the Titans went down kicking and fighting this week against the Colts.... Oh, relax. It is a little funny.
• Marc Bulger is quietly having a superb season. He still hasn't thrown an interception in five games this season, and his 214 consecutive pass attempts without a pick is the Rams' longest such streak in about four decades. Bulger deserves some Comeback Player of the Year buzz, because he had six interceptions after four games last year.
• Who is Noah Herron and what is he doing rushing for 106 yards for Green Bay? Answer: He's this year's version of Samkon Gado, an unheralded young Packers running back who ironically enough got his break when Green Bay sent Gado to the Texans earlier this season.
• T.O.'s return to Philly wasn't the only reunion of note. Dick Jauron went back to Chicago. LaVar Arrington faced the Redskins for the first time. Norv Turner matched wits with the Raiders. Trevor Pryce played once again in Denver. And Junior Seau took on his ex-Fish-mates in New England.
And while we're at it, somehow I just knew the story line of Heath Evans facing his old team, Miami, was going to get overlooked on Reunion Sunday.
• With every week that goes by, it becomes more apparent that Deuce McAllister is the runner and Bush the receiver in the Saints' two-headed offensive backfield. Bush had 11 catches for 63 yards against Tampa Bay, but only 23 yards on nine rushes. McAllister, in his best game of the season, ran 15 times for 123 yards and a touchdown.
• What, no Charlie Frye rushing touchdown this week? You just can't count on anything anymore.
• No more calls, we have a winner in the asinine quote of the year contest, and it was issued in Week 4, by the Titans' occasionally clueless second-year cornerback, Adam "Pacman'' Jones, when asked for his reaction to the Albert Haynesworth incident last week against Dallas: "It happened. Albert got frustrated. He let his actions take over. But that's football, man, I don't fault Albert for not one reason. That's football.''
Yep, the five basic football skills: Blocking, tackling, passing, running and face-stomping.
• I don't know how you feel about it, but in my book, Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey is the only guy in that singing NFL Network commercial who gets out with his dignity intact.
• Kevin Jones of Detroit had himself a day. Ten carries for eight yards, with a long gain of five. Anybody check on the Barry Sanders comeback lately?
