Week 5 is in the books, and 6 backup QBs were earning their money this weekend.

Despite the absence of their highest profile player, which teams have kept their season on track?

Derek Anderson for the Panthers

Anderson might not have expected to start in Monday Night Football until the surprise early announcement that reigning MVP Cam Newton wouldn’t progress out of the concussion protocol in time. Anderson is one of the better backups in the league, but consistently made poor decisions throughout an ugly home loss to the Buccs. The Panthers will hope to have Newton back next week, but their season is already on the rails following a shocking 1-4 record.

Charlie Whitehurst for the Browns

Clipboard Jesus seems to have a career that will never end, but his time in Cleveland might be over after just 1 game. Whitehurst was only brought into the building a week ago, with the Browns already having RGIII, Josh McCown and Cody Kessler struck down in the opening 4 weeks, but he was forced to look into the abyss, as Tom Brady returned to guide the Patriots to an easy win. Charlie’s performance will be instantly forgotten in a game no-one expected them to win, while one of McCown or Kessler will surely be back on the field in week 6. But with a 0-5 record, who is starting under centre is just one of the Browns many problems.

Brian Hoyer for the Bears

The Bears looked like a rudderless ship under Jay Cutler in the opening games of the season, but while they suffered another defeat, Hoyer (with a little help of surprise breakout RB Jordan Howard) is reinforcing his reputation as a strong backup / low level starter. Hoyer kept his side competitive through Week 5, albeit against an equally average Colts side. The Bears seem to finally be looking at life beyond Jay Cutler, but Hoyer isn’t going to kill them while on the field, and it seems he might keep the job for a longer spell despite the imminent return of #6.

Drew Stanton for the Cardinals

Stanton has not been a lucky charm for the Cardinals, but he managed to get the job done in Week 5. Despite only throwing for a measly 124 yards, he managed to lean on the skills of the evergreen Larry Fitzgerald, and the boisterous running of David Johnson to get the Cards a priceless division win over San Francisco. I’m not sure even the Cards think he can repeat the act, and they’ll be desperate for a healthy Carson Palmer this week.

Paxton Lynch for the Broncos

The Broncos aren’t just the reigning SuperBowl champs, they’ve been the best team in the league for over a year, and so far this season the unlikely starter Trevor Siemian has been the surprise success story. Ultimately the long term job should end up in the hands of 1st round pick Paxton Lynch, but he looked nervous and unprepared against the high flying Falcons. With Siemian due to return, expect things to get back to normal in Denver, but this preview of the future already has some concerns.

Dak Prescott for the Cowboys

Some might have already forgotten that Prescott is a backup – the rookie has started the season like a seasoned pro, and Cowboy fans are already talking about the next superstar QB/RB combo in fellow rookies Prescott and Elliott. But on the sidelines there is a big grinning reminder of who really sits at the top of the depth chart – Tony Romo is sure to return when finally healthy, but this might be his last year to try and win something with the Cowboys – Prescott is building a glowing resume, and won’t be holding the clipboard for long.

This week on the 5th Down UK podcast, we discussed the different fortunes of 2 starting quarterbacks on the East Coast who were out of contract in the summer –
Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Jets, and Kurt Cousins of the Redskins.

By the start of the pre-season, both were back under contract, albeit in differing circumstances – Cousins would be taking home $20million under the franchise tag, while Fitzpatrick’s hold out resulted in a lower-end 1 year contract worth $12million.

Through the opening 2 weeks of the season, their performances did not seem to respect those valuations – Fitz was driving his powerful offence to a dominant Week 2 victory over the Bills in Thursday Night Football (following a somewhat unfortunate 1pt defeat to the Bengals in Week 1), while Cousins was enduring a couple of error strewn home defeats against the Steelers and the Cowboys.

So then Week 3 happened….

In the Jets matchup away at the Chiefs, Fitzpatrick threw an unbelievable 6 interceptions for 0 touchdowns in a brutal 3-24 defeat.

One more interception, and Ryan Fitzpatrick would’ve thrown as many today as Tom Brady did all last season.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 25, 2016

On the flipside, Kurt Cousins went error free on his away-day, leading the Redskins to their first victory of the season, against a much fancied New York Giants.

Both teams are now 1-2, but in just one week things are now a lot more positive in Washington. And for 2 quarterbacks who went into this season on the hot seat, it seems you get what you pay for.

So with the opening weekend of the season now in the books, we can finally reflect on the finale of the pre-season treat, Hard Knocks.

It’s been a long time since the Greatest Show on Turf, and never has there been a franchise so entrenched in mediocrity than the Rams – as soon as owner Stan Kroenke signalled an intent to build a new stadium in Inglewood, the writing was on the wall for the St Louis experiment – the Rams were heading home.

So, the Rams secured the move that several other franchises were coveting, and returned to Los Angeles 22 years after they had quietly left the city in 1994. With the move, they coughed up a kings ransom to the Titans in exchange for the first pick in the 2016 draft – the L.A. Rams would now begin their 2nd life in Southern California with a #1 pick QB under centre… or would they?

So, this brings us up to where this season of Hard Knocks started. The Rams had been an obvious choice from the outset, with the NFL clearly invested heavily in this move to a major untapped market. Despite the Rams mediocrity over the past decade, there were quite a few pro-bowl calibre players on the roster (and a fair share on nut-balls that Hard Knocks always likes to gravitate towards), and Goff would be the icing on the cake.

The series opened with stylised credits, showing Todd Gurley running past the city landmarks (a 20+ mile run if this was filmed without edits); but this highlighted that the city of Los Angeles would be the star of this show just as much as any of the coaches or the players.

As is standard fare with Hard Knocks these days, some characters shined such as Eric Kush (who would eventually be cut and end up starting the season with the Bears) and Strength & Conditioning coach Rock Gullickson; whereas some couldn’t help but annoy – Todd Gurley & Tavon Austin please step forward (or back, out of earshot preferably).

It seemed as the series went on, the producers found the Rams just as bland as fans have, and were forced into following threads like the mermaid loving, dinosaur nay-sayer William Hayes until the point was driven too deep. Yes, he’s a kook, we get it.

Throughout the series we got to see a lot of Head Coach Jeff Fisher; producers seemingly inspired by the coverage of Bruce Arians in Amazons summer hit “All or Nothing”, we got to see the hard and the soft side of the man. While his handling of the Lamarcus Joyner situation in Episode 5 was nicely done, between the crazy new contract he gives Tavon Austin, and the attention his team gives to his warning on golf carts, he ultimately failed to cut the figure of a Head Coach who could take this team to the post-season.

And the fate of the #1 pick, Jared Goff? Well, he was in his civvies this weekend, watching the game. Apparently he’s not yet ready for the big time – the question should really be, are the Rams?

To paraphrase Fisher himself, unfortunately this whole season of Hard Knocks felt like some 7&9 bullsh!t.

Already I’m asking myself whether NFL Films & HBO have turned over this season of Hard Knocks to the funny folks at Saturday Night Live? As the Rams kick off their pre-season, we see Coach Fisher tackling the big issues; where to stand for the National Anthem, and how to safely get to and from the dorm rooms. We get to meet mermaid fan and dinosaur nay-sayer William Hayes, some robot blockers, and the whole team take remedial swimming lessons complete with bright pink floats.

In seasons gone-by there was always one thing wasn’t lost on the viewers – training camp is hard, tackling is fierce, and roster cuts are brutal. The newly re-located Rams however seem to be having a great time, laughing in the sun and soaking up the fan attention that had eluded them in St. Louis.

I may have only been young when the Rams last played in LA, but the reputation of warriors like the Fearsome Foursome and the legendary back Eric Dickerson mean that there are big shoes to fill now that the team has returned to the Coliseum. Outside of the physically imposing Aaron Donald, it’s not clear whether this current roster has the intensity of their Hall of Fame brethren.

On a lighter note, centers are never big name tickets on any team, but already our favourite Ram is the tank loving Eric Kush, who backs up his Fat-Arm-Friday promise from Episode 1, this time with a little help from his O-line. This is a glimpse of the Hard Knocks we love, but unfortunately it’s a bit lost within an episode that gravitates towards Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin gooning around for the cameras, and the opening pre-season game against the Cowboys.

So far, it seems, that the LA fan base are backing their Rams – the Coliseum was full for the opening night, in stark contrast to their final season there in ’94. This season of Hard Knocks may not have had the greatest starts (neither did the Rams against the Cowboys for that matter!), but we’re hoping it only gets better from here on.

This season of Hard Knocks starts on Sky Sports 2 tonight at 10:30pm. Episode 1 and 2 are available on the NFL Game Pass right now. New episodes go up every Friday.

Let’s make one thing clear – at the 5th Down UK, we love Hard Knocks. It’s been brilliant for the UK market, and has gradually got more accessible, starting on Channel 4 with the ’13 Bengals, through to the last few seasons on Sky Sports. It’s also helped newcomers to the sport understand what it takes to be a professional footballer in the NFL just as much as it highlights what it means to the players who aren’t able to make it. It’s with this affection in mind when we say that the 1st episode of the new 2016 series was massively disappointing.

We’d be very surprised if the nickname “Hollywood Jeff Fisher” catches on

The Rams are a side who haven’t had a winning season since 2003. Head Coach Fisher (who we see literally fishing in the opening scenes) hasn’t coached a winning team since 2008. For all their talent, this is a team established in mediocrity, and we worry that this series, as with the fates of the Rams, may end up in the shadow of the superb “All or Nothing” series that covered their NFC West rivals, the Cardinals and their effervescent Coach Arians.

Part of the backdrop of the series (and presumably a big reason why the Rams were selected), is the new location of Los Angeles – the Rams going back to a city they left in 1995 because of lack of fan interest, and a long spread of mediocre play. The NFL have a lot invested in the Rams being successful in LA, and when Les Snead sold the house in the draft earlier this year to bring in a big name QB in Californian Jared Goff, it was surely to try and reignite some excitement about pro football in such a big media market. The jury will be out on Goff until he actually hits the field, but as this episode highlights, he still has to win the starting job.

On the positive side, Hard Knocks has always thrown up some unlikely stars, and the brightest moments of the opening episode see Aaron Donald show how much he cares about table tennis, and Eric Kush walk us through his wonderful collection of tanks. This was all classic Hard Knocks.

We hope as the season goes on, we see more of Donald and Kush, and a little less of Gurley and Goff, who both seem to be overly aware of the cameras. As Fisher says – there is a little too much “7 and 9 bullshit” around this team. Let’s hope this season of Hard Knocks can avoid the same fate.

Hard Knocks will be on Sky Sports later in August, and episode 1 is now up on NFL Game Pass, and new episodes go up every Friday.