Week 5 of the NFL season was a wild one, with crazy finishes and blown leads all over the league. Some of them came as a surprise, while others were just rhetorical latest episodes in futility for some of the NFL's troubled franchises.
Who came out on the wrong end of Week 5? Let's take a look at the biggest losers of the weekend.
Cardinals suffer one of the worst losses in recent memory
The 2025 Arizona Cardinals are no stranger to confusing, heartbreaking losses. In fact, Jonathan Gannon's group has already suffered a pair of them against divisional opponents. After squandering a chance to beat the 49ers on the road, the Cardinals lost a chance to complete a comeback against the Seahawks, losing both games on last-second field goals.
With a 21-6 lead over the winless Tennessee Titans and Emari Demercado strolling toward the end zone in the second half on Sunday afternoon, thoughts of a third such loss were nonexistent. However, a few seconds later, the Titans were right back in the game.
Cardinals RB Emari Demercado with a 72-yard touchdown run, but he dropped the ball before the goal line… pic.twitter.com/JPMm726fDO
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) October 5, 2025
Tennessee scored a touchdown to cut the Arizona lead to 21-12, but the madness wasn't done. With Tennessee driving in the fourth quarter and trying to get one of the two scores it needed, Cam Ward threw what should have been a game-ending interception. However, the Cardinals once again had other ideas.
Picked!
Fumbled!
Touchdown!A WILD @TITANS TD! pic.twitter.com/o22RMgaghL
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
Tennessee got the ball back again, and Ward hit Calvin Ridley down the sideline to set up a game-winning field goal. There are inexcusable losses every week in the NFL, and there were more on Sunday, but it will be hard to top this one in the foreseeable future.
It's over for Geno Smith
Geno Smith had a stunning career resurgence with the Seattle Seahawks, turning himself into an above-average starter in the Pacific Northwest after spending most of his career as a backup. He played so well that he earned himself a big contract extension after a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, and he lit up the New England Patriots in his Raiders debut in a Week 1 win.
Since that victory, the last month has been ugly. The Raiders lost their fourth straight game in a 40-6 rout at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and Smith was a shell of the man that had the Seahawks, offensive line problems and all, on the verge of playoff contention every year.
Smith finished 25-for-36 with 228 yards and a pair of interceptions in this game, bringing his interception total to a league-leading nine in five games. His negative-0.30 EPA per dropback in Week 5 was the second-lowest of the week, beating out just Ravens backup Cooper Rush in a 34-point loss of his own.
The season-long efficiency numbers for Smith aren't much better. He has the sixth-lowest EPA per dropback among qualified passers this season. The five below him: Russell Wilson, Bryce Young, Cam Ward, Joe Flacco and Jake Browning. Wilson has already been benched and Flacco has been benched and traded, likely to replace Browning when he is inevitably benched. That's the company Smith is keeping at the moment.
On top of the turnovers, Smith has been inaccurate in ways that he just wasn't with Seattle. This could end up being a disastrous move for Las Vegas if this continues.
Injuries have derailed the good-vibes Chargers
After three weeks, the Chargers were the talk of the NFL. Jesse Minter's defense was rolling, Justin Herbert looked like an MVP frontrunner, Greg Roman was airing it out in the passing game and Los Angeles was sitting pretty at 3-0.
Now, a mounting pile of injuries looks like it has truly taken the wind out of the Chargers' sails. That was on full display on Sunday, as Los Angeles didn't score another point after taking a 10-0 lead in a 27-10 loss to the Washington Commanders.
The Chargers already can't run the ball efficiently because of some of the injuries we'll get to shortly, but now they are down both of their running backs. After losing Najee Harris to a season-ending Achilles injury, standout rookie Omarion Hampton suffered an ankle injury on Sunday that will keep him out for at least four games.
Up front, the Chargers were managing the loss of star tackle Rashawn Slater during the preseason, but the dam broke when their other star tackle, Joe Alt, went down with a high-ankle sprain. Bradley Bozeman, Trey Pipkins and Mekhi Becton have all been in and out of the lineup with injuries, and Herbert has been under siege over the last three weeks.
If you would like a visual update on the state of the Chargers' offensive line, here you go.
Couldn't figure out why the Chargers center goes left here, so I listened to broadcast audio and lol
Herbert tells the TE he's hot if Luvu (4) comes, so the OL should be working opposite.
The center Bozeman points left just before the snap.
Herbert: No!
Bozeman: Gdi
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) October 6, 2025
Defensively, the loss of Khalil Mack has taken the teeth out of the Chargers' pass rush. All in all, unless this team starts to get some reinforcements back, this season is in danger of spiraling out of control.
Having a lead is a curse
Sunday was a wild day in the NFL, as teams struggled to hold onto leads in the second half of games all day. At one point on Sunday, the following teams had these leads:
The Dolphins led the Panthers 17-0.
The Giants led the Saints 14-3
The Cardinals led the Titans 21-6
The Chargers led the Commanders 10-0
The Eagles led the Broncos 17-3
All five of them lost! Then, on Monday night, the Jaguars overcame a 14-0 hole to beat the Chiefs in a 31-28 thriller. Not everyone had as many embarrassing missteps as the Cardinals did, but all six of these teams will be kicking themselves for the numerous mistakes that led to losses this week.
