The drop in average scoring during the first month of the NFL season sparked theories and outcry. Were quarterbacks suddenly bad? Should defenses playing two high safeties be banned?
In Week 5, scoring returned — and, in several cases, it happened in some of the oddest and most unexpected ways.
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ Tank Bigsby was first hit 14 yards from the end zone by one Indianapolis Colts tackler and appeared to be wrapped up by another at the 11. Yet, with two teammates pushing him forward, he wound up with a touchdown instead of a short gain, a score that became part of Jacksonville’s first victory.
In Los Angeles, there was another play that looked like it should have ended long before the score. Two minutes before halftime, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love dropped back into his end zone and was shoved with two hands — but not sacked for a safety — by a chasing Rams defender. Still wobbling after the hit, somehow, Love tried to avoid the safety by throwing the ball away. Instead, it went for the wildest 3-yard pick-six you may ever watch.
Sprinting around the right edge of Arizona’s field goal unit, San Francisco 49ers defensive back Deommodore Lenoir blocked what would have been a 45-yard kick and instead returned it 61 yards for a touchdown. The score put San Francisco in control up 10 points, though it wouldn’t last, as Arizona came back from down 13 points to win on the road.
The highest-paid cornerback in the NFL looked the part against the Las Vegas Raiders. Early in the second quarter, Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos intercepted Gardner Minshew for a 100-yard pick-six touchdown. It was the second-longest interception return in team history, and it factored into the Raiders’ decision to bench Minshew later, but Surtain wasn’t done. In the fourth quarter, he caught a tipped ball thrown by Minshew’s successor, Aidan O’Connell, for a second interception.
On his way to being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player twice, Lamar Jackson has extended plays in jaw-dropping ways. But few looked like his 6-yard touchdown pass for the Baltimore Ravens to tight end Isaiah Likely against Cincinnati.
But the most bizarre game of them all Sunday was Seahawks-Giants, in which each team scored in stunning ways.
Seattle opened its scoring when it least expected — when the Giants had the ball just a yard from the end zone, as running back Eric Gray leaped over the top, inches from a touchdown. Gray was hit hard enough to shake the ball loose, and it rolled into the hands of Rayshawn Jenkins a few yards deep into the end zone. While everyone else looked around in the pile, Jenkins was running the other direction. Officially, he went 101 yards, 18 yards longer than Seattle’s previous franchise record for a fumble return.
The only appropriate ending for a game that began that strangely was, of course, another surprise touchdown. With Seattle attempting a 47-field goal in the final minute, Isaiah Simmons leaped over a blocker and swatted the kick, which sent the ball caroming to Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who scooped and scored on his first career touch.
