Five things to watch for in Week 5 of the NFL:
1. Drew Brees needs 201 passing yards Monday night against the Washington Redskins to surpass Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the league’s all-time leader in passing yardage. Brees is at 71,740, while Favre is at 71,838 and Manning is at 71,940. This says more about today’s pass-oriented NFL than it does about Brees. He probably wouldn’t make many top-10 lists of the greatest quarterbacks, but he’s been durable and consistent.
2. For the second time five weeks, the NFL is featuring a conference title game rematch. In the second week, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New England Patriots after losing to them in the AFC title game last year. Sunday’s schedule features a rematch of the NFC title game when Minnesota goes to Philadelphia. The Vikings were crushed last year, 38-7, but both teams are struggling this year with the Eagles at 2-2 and Vikings at 1-2-1. Both need a win to get back on track.
3. Cleveland rookie Baker Mayfield faces a tough test against Baltimore. According to ESPN, the Ravens are 15-5 against rookie quarterbacks in the John Harbaugh era. Mayfield came off the bench two weeks ago to give the Brown their first win in 635 days against the New York Jets, but then lost at Oakland last week. Baltimore is off to a 3-1 start.
4. Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott needs a rushing touchdown against Houston on Sunday night to become the sixth player in history to gain at least 3,000 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns in his first 30 games. He has 3,040 rushing yards. The list is led by Jim Brown, who had 3,206 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in his first 30 games. He needs 167 yards to top Brown’s total for 30 games.
5. Atlanta’s Julio Jones needs nine catches against Pittsburgh to become the NFL’s all-time reception leader through a player’s first 100 games. Hones has 614 catches, while the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown had 622 in his first 100. Jones is already the NFL’s receiving yardage leader in his first 100. Lance Alworth is second. Both teams are desperate in this game with the Steelers at 1-2-1 and the Falcons at 1-3.