NFL Week 5 Winners and Losers: 49ers Improve to 5-0, Cowboys Don't Stack Up

Dallas Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones viewed his team's Week 5 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers as a measuring stick of sorts.

"They are, right now, probably the most likely team to go win the Super Bowl, but in order for them to get there, they have to go by us, hopefully two times if that's the way it falls in the playoffs. And we're in the playoffs, of course," Jones said on KRLD-FM in Dallas.

"But the bottom line is, you're playing the best. You don't need the game to tell you you're playing the best, but you need the game to show you how you stack up against the best," he said.

If Sunday's results were any indication, the Cowboys don't stack up very well with the 49ers.

San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns, including three to tight end George Kittle, in the 49ers' 42-10 win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Dallas' self-proclaimed "best defense in the NFL" allowed 421 yards and six touchdowns against San Francisco. The 49ers may hold that title after forcing four turnovers and recording four sacks while holding Dallas' offense to under 200 yards for the night.

The 49ers have knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and delivered a regular-season blow to "America's Team" in Week 5.

"I knew it was our biggest game so far this year, as far as nationally and just media-wise and the hype," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said postgame. "Sometimes you worry your team can get too up for stuff.... They were so locked in all week. They didn't make too big a deal of this game and were ready to go."

Kittle unveiled a "[expletive] Dallas" shirt after the 49ers improved to 5-0 on the season. Dallas, meanwhile, suffered its most lopsided defeat in a decade and now sits at 3-2. The 49ers and Cowboys represent Sunday's biggest winner and loser.

Here's a look at a few others.

NFL Winners From Week 5

Ridder Bounces Back: The Atlanta Falcons had averaged an NFL-worst 156 passing yards per game through the first month of the season. And quarterback Desmond Ridder committed three turnovers in Atlanta's Week 4 loss. So Ridder throwing for a career-high 329 yards and a touchdown in a 21-19 comeback win over the Houston Texans came as a bit of a surprise.

The Texans took a late lead on a C.J. Stroud touchdown pass with less than two minutes to go, but Ridder drove Atlanta down the field and put the Falcons in position to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Jets Get Their Revenge: New York Jets players and coaches congratulated offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in the final moments of their 31-21 win over his former team, the Denver Broncos. Current Broncos coach Sean Payton brought a bit of controversy with his unflattering offseason comments about Hackett. But when it came time for football to be played, Hackett came out on top. Running back Breece Hall ran for 177 yards and a touchdown as the Jets scored a season high in points.

Colts' Backfield: Sunday marked a productive day for Indianapolis Colts running backs in more ways than one. Previously disgruntled star Jonathan Taylor made his season debut after signing a three-year, $42 million contract extension. Zack Moss, the Colts' starter in Taylor's absence, didn't let Taylor's presence stop him from running for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Does the Colts finally paying their All-Pro running back on the same day a much cheaper player, Moss, dominated on the ground make for some odd timing? Sure. But there's no denying both Colts running backs came away from Week 5 on a high note.

NFL Losers From Week 5

Mac Jones, Daniel Jones Struggles Continue: The hunt for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's 300th career regular-season win lives on. A week after Belichick suffered the worst loss of his head coaching career, the New Orleans Saints beat the Patriots, 34-0, in the second-worst shutout loss in team history.

Patriots QB Mac Jones was benched for the second straight week after completing 12 of his 22 passes for 110 yards and turning the ball over three times.

In other rough quarterback news, New York Giants signal-caller Daniel Jones left a 31-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins early, with a neck injury. A week after Jones took 10 sacks in a loss, the QB was taken down another six times by the Dolphins.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll said after the game he was "optimistic" Jones could play next week. But Jones' health will continue to be a point of discussion until the Giants can do something to protect their $160 million quarterback.

Baltimore's Late-Game Execution: The Baltimore Ravens squandered what at one point appeared to be a sure win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Two fourth-quarter turnovers from quarterback Lamar Jackson, multiple dropped touchdown passes from Ravens wide receivers and a 41-yard touchdown allowed by Baltimore's defense with just over a minute to go will do that.

The Ravens allowed 14 points over the final minute of play, losing 17-10 despite scoring the first 10 points of the game. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are both now 3-2.

Bills Defense Falling Apart: The Buffalo Bills lost in more ways than one on Sunday. Buffalo's defense allowed 474 yards of offense (including 196 on the ground) in a 25-20 international loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. And the bad news for the Bills defensive unit doesn't end there.

All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano left Sunday's game with what head coach Sean McDermott referred to as "a knee, a lower leg. I know it's not looking good right now, but I don't know any details beyond that at this point."

NFL Media reported that Milano suffered a fractured leg and a potentially season-ending knee injury in the loss. The Bills will play the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and other high-powered offenses during the rest of the regular season during their push for the playoffs. But it seems they won't have their star linebacker on the field to lead the defense in those matchups.