13 Biggest Winners, Losers from NFL Week 5

The NFL's fifth week saw three fewer games played, as six teams enjoyed a temporary respite from the gridiron.

That, however, did not cause a shortage of studs and duds from Sunday's 12 matchups.

As we swing into the second quarter of the regular season, here are the 13 teams or players that graded well or poorly in this most recent slate of contests.

Winner: Buffalo Bills Defense

It's kind of unusual to shower praise on a group that allowed the opposing offense to gain 489 total yards on them, but the Buffalo Bills defense was opportunistic and continued to create key turnovers.

For a majority of the standout efforts against the Philadelphia Eagles, George Wilson was there. The Buffalo safety led the team in tackles, had three passes deflected and snatched a first-half interception.

In all, the Bills had four picks. Two came from linebacker Nick Barnett, who took one back for a touchdown. His other put an end to a potential game-tying drive and helped preserve a 31-24 victory that kept Buffalo on top of the AFC East.

Loser: Philadelphia Eagles

The misery of the "Pipe Dream Team" continues.

Battered and bruised Michael Vick was the victim of four interceptions at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. Although he led a furious comeback, the 1-4 Eagles were ultimately done in by five turnovers and numerous mental errors.

Philly closed out a lousy first half with equally bad clock management. In field-goal range, the Eagles aimed for the end zone. However, Vick's pass landed as time expired.

Later, an illegal hands to the face penalty in the fourth quarter on rookie offensive lineman Danny Watkins wiped out a Vick TD run that could have tied the game.

Any hopes of trying to get the ball back one last time with 1:23 left were quashed when Juqua Parker jumped offside on a 4th-and-inches. It gave the Bills a first down, which allowed them to run out the clock and further sink Philadelphia's "Titanic" season.

Winner: Adrian Peterson

The Vikings running back made sure that his team got a lead it couldn't squander.

Adrian Peterson had touchdowns rushes of four, 24 and 14 yards–all coming in the first quarter as Minnesota jumped out to a 28-0 advantage on the Arizona Cardinals.

Head coach Leslie Frazier vowed to use Peterson more often, and Sunday showed why that's a wise decision. "All Day" finished with 122 yards on 29 carries, and the Vikes recorded their first "W" in 2011.

Loser: Kyle Orton

The start of the third quarter of the Broncos game against the San Diego Chargers was officially "Tebow Time."

Denver fans, who have long awaited this moment, were cheering when Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton at the starting quarterback position.

There was solid evidence to make the switch on this afternoon, as Orton completed six of 13 passes for 34 yards with no touchdowns and an interception over the first two quarters.

Head coach John Fox now has a tough decision to make on who will be his starting quarterback next game. That choice was made tougher when Tebow engineered the Broncos to a pair of touchdown drives in the fourth period that nearly brought Denver all the way back.

Winner: Seattle Seahawks

Silencing a New York Giants team that was hoping to win its fourth straight, the Seattle Seahawks won on their East Coast trip to Metlife Stadium to pull out a 36-25 victory.

It wasn't done in conventional fashion. The Seahawks' starting quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, went out with an injured pectoral in the third quarter. Backup Charlie Whitehurst came to the rescue, throwing a 27-yard touchdown pass to unheralded Doug Baldwin with 2:37 remaining that gave Seattle a 29-25 lead.

Then, the equally unsung Brandon Browner picked off Eli Manning at the Seahawk 6-yard line and returned it all the way back to bury the G-Men.

Loser: Roman Harper

Carolina Panthers wideout Steve Smith has been no stranger to verbal squabbles. However, he got involved in a physical altercation with New Orleans Saints defensive back Roman Harper.

As Smith crossed the goal line and strolled into the end zone, Harper drilled him. The obvious late hit drew a well-deserved unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Smith didn't react at first. However, as other players began to scrum, Smith and Malcolm Jenkins went at it, sparking more pushing and shoving from both sides.

There were no ejections as a result of this tussle, but Harper (at least) is guaranteed to see a fine.

Winner: Matt Cassel

Whatever Todd Haley said to his quarterback during their sideline confrontation last week must have worked. Ever since the incident, Matt Cassel has played effectively. His best day of what has been an otherwise dreadful season came on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

Cassel threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns on 21 of 29 passing as the Chiefs rallied from a 17-point deficit to come out of Indy with a 28-24 win.

Loser: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled from western Florida to the Bay Area for their Week 5 encounter with the San Francisco 49ers, they must have left their defense behind. It was simply nowhere to be found on Sunday at Candlestick Park.

The Niners' offensive line gashed holes in the Bucs' defensive front, and points poured in from all directions.

Tampa Bay allowed 205 passing yards and averaged 9.3 yards a completion. It also yielded 213 yards on the ground.

The damages equaled an embarrassing 48-3 setback.

Winner: Ben Roethlisberger

Big Ben walked onto the Heinz Field turf with a limp, but he likely walked off with a swagger following a five-touchdown showing against the Tennessee Titans in a 38-17 Steelers victory.

The left foot injury that Ben Roethlisberger suffered late in last week's game against the Houston Texans didn't seem to bother him. He connected on 24 of 34 passes for 228 yards, and all five of his scoring plays were via the air.

Two of the touchdown strikes went to veteran wide receiver Hines Ward. The final throw to pay dirt was a 40-yard pass to emerging star Mike Wallace.

Loser: NFC East

The Eagles' offseason acquisitions had prognosticators predicting a Super Bowl. Now, sitting with one win in the first five games of 2011, it's a question of if they'll make the playoffs.

Philadelphia's demise has opened the door for the other three teams in the division. Unfortunately, the Giants don't seem to want to step through and take advantage.

New York stumbled to a home loss against the underdog Seattle Seahawks on Sunday as it turned the ball over five times. Eli Manning accounted for three interceptions and one fumble lost.

The Dallas Cowboys spent their bye week thinking further about a 24-point collapse against the Detroit Lions as well as looking ahead to a tough match-up against the New England Patriots.

Rex Grossman and his preseason prediction that the Washington Redskins would win the division is looking better with each passing week.

Winner: Cincinnati Bengals

The feel-good stories of the NFL season so far have mostly been centered on the Lions and the Bills.

However, one that has been overlooked up to this point has been the gallant effort of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Widely predicted to be at the basement of the league, they have a 3-2 record thanks to a highly ranked defense and a pair of rookies on offense.

Quarterback Andy Dalton completed 21 of his 33 passes for a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

Five passes were hauled in by first-year wideout A.J. Green, accumulating 90 receiving yards and a 37-yard TD grab in the first quarter of Cincinnati's 30-20 win in Jacksonville.

Loser: Kevin Kolb

The early returns on the Arizona Cardinals' new quarterback are not positive, and the latest performance did nothing to make those feelings any better.

Kevin Kolb connected on just 50 percent of his passes (21-of-42) for 232 yards, no touchdowns and a rating of 46.9. More significantly, he had three turnovers (two INTs, one fumble) and a poor first-half effort that contributed to the Vikings handing the Cards a 34-10 thrashing.

Winner: Oakland Raiders

The thrilling victory by the Oakland Raiders over the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium was dramatic enough if there weren't any outside story lines.

However, the death of owner Al Davis on Saturday added extra emotion.

The Raiders overcame 11 penalties and a sub-par performance from leading rusher Darren McFadden to prevail with a last-second interception of Houston QB Matt Schaub in the end zone.

The game wasn't pretty, but Hue Jackson's Raiders held on by heeding the famous words of their long-time leader.

Just win, baby.