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Players of the week

Players of the week · NFL · Week 5

NFL players of the week: Week 5, 2026

Two of this week's six decided their games at the very end: Cam Little's 57-yarder as time expired in London and Josh Allen, whose runs in overtime at the Rams capped a 331-yard, two-touchdown night. San Francisco's 32-29 win at Seattle produced two more, Gracen Halton's fumble-return touchdown and Corliss Waitman's five punts inside the 20. David Bailey had three of the Jets' eight sacks against Cleveland, and Jordan Love threw for 367 yards against Chicago.

AFC

AFC offense

Josh Allen

QB · Buffalo Bills

W Bills 37, Rams 34 (OT) · at Los Angeles Rams

12 of 19, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 10 rushes, 121 yards, 1 TD; 1 two-point conversion pass

Allen put Buffalo ahead three times after the Rams took a 20-19 lead early in the fourth quarter. He ran 22 yards and hit Ray Davis for 31 to the Los Angeles 2, scored from the 1 and threw the two-point pass to Dalton Kincaid for 27-20. After the Rams tied it, his scrambles of 15 and 21 yards, the second to the Rams' 5 just after the two-minute warning, set up James Cook's touchdown with 1:39 left. In overtime, after Greg Rousseau blocked a Rams field goal try, he ran for 19 and 13 yards to set up Tyler Bass's 45-yarder with 1:55 left. Drake Maye had the bigger line, 374 passing yards and five touchdowns with no turnovers against a Raiders team that came in 3-1, but it came at home in a game that was 21-7 at halftime. Allen's came on the road and decided an overtime game.

Runner-up: Drake Maye, Patriots: 26 of 34, 374 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT, plus a 3-yard TD run, in a 45-17 win over Las Vegas

Box score

AFC defense

David Bailey

LB · New York Jets

W Jets 17, Browns 12 · vs Cleveland Browns

7 tackles (5 solo), 3 sacks, 3 TFL, 4 QB hits

Bailey had three of the Jets' eight sacks of Deshaun Watson in a five-point win over a Cleveland team that came in 3-1 on a three-game winning streak. Two came in the first half, the second on third down to force a punt. The third came early in the fourth quarter with the Jets up 10-6, an 8-yard loss on third down that forced another punt. He added three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. Kyle Hamilton was the closest call: his interception at the Baltimore 40 ended the Ravens' overtime win in Atlanta. It ended a game, but it was his one big play, while Bailey kept getting to the quarterback against a team with a better record. Will Anderson Jr. also had three sacks, in a 26-3 win at a Tennessee team that came in 0-4.

Runner-up: Kyle Hamilton, Ravens: 6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and the game-ending interception in overtime of a 30-23 win at Atlanta

Box score

AFC special teams

Cam Little

K · Jacksonville Jaguars

W Jaguars 19, Eagles 17 · vs Philadelphia Eagles in London

2 of 2 field goals (34 and 57 yards), 1 of 2 extra points, 7 points

Philadelphia went ahead 17-16 on Jake Elliott's 48-yard field goal with 8 seconds left. Ameer Abdullah returned the kickoff 53 yards to the Eagles' 39 with a second left, and Little made a 57-yarder as time expired. He had missed the extra point after Parker Washington's 27-yard touchdown with 3:20 left, so Jacksonville led 16-14 instead of 17-14, and Elliott's kick put the Eagles ahead rather than tying it. His 34-yarder in the third quarter had cut Philadelphia's lead to 14-10. Greg Rousseau was the closest call: his block of a Rams field goal try in overtime kept Buffalo alive, and Tyler Bass then won it from 45 yards. Rousseau's play saved a game. Little's won one, from 57 yards on the final snap.

Runner-up: Greg Rousseau, Bills: blocked a Rams field goal try in overtime, setting up Tyler Bass's winning 45-yarder in a 37-34 win at Los Angeles

Box score

NFC

NFC offense

Jordan Love

QB · Green Bay Packers

W Packers 31, Bears 7 · vs Chicago Bears

25 of 31, 367 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (137.5 rating); 6 completions of 30 or more yards

Love threw for 367 yards on 31 attempts with no turnovers against a Chicago team that came in 3-1. His 42-yard touchdown to Christian Watson finished a 91-yard drive on Green Bay's first possession. After the Bears cut it to 14-7 late in the first half, he opened the third quarter with throws of 31 and 53 yards to Watson, the second a touchdown that made it 20-7. A 46-yarder to Tucker Kraft set up a field goal, and a 36-yarder to Matthew Golden set up the touchdown that made it 31-7. Bucky Irving was the closest call: 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Tampa Bay's 24-16 win at Dallas, including a 72-yard run on the first snap of the second half that set up the go-ahead score. His came on the road in a closer game, but Love threw for more than twice Irving's 175 yards from scrimmage. Matthew Stafford threw for 383 yards and three touchdowns in a home loss.

Runner-up: Bucky Irving, Buccaneers: 21 rushes, 165 yards, 1 TD (long 72); 2 catches, 10 yards, 1 TD in a 24-16 win at Dallas

Box score

NFC defense

Gracen Halton

DT · San Francisco 49ers

W 49ers 32, Seahawks 29 · at Seattle Seahawks

3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery for a TD

Halton scored a defensive touchdown in a three-point road win over a Seattle team that came in 3-1. With San Francisco up 14-13, Corliss Waitman's punt was downed inside the Seattle 5, and Seattle took over with 18 seconds left in the half. On the next snap Halton hit George Holani behind the line, forced the fumble and recovered it in the end zone for a 21-13 lead. Earlier in the quarter he sacked Sam Darnold for a 9-yard loss, the first sack of his career. Renardo Green intercepted Darnold twice in the same game, and the first set up an 18-yard touchdown drive, but the second led only to a missed field goal. Halton's play put seven points on the board by itself.

Runner-up: Renardo Green, 49ers: 2 INT and 3 passes defensed in the same 32-29 win at Seattle

Box score

NFC special teams

Corliss Waitman

P · San Francisco 49ers

W 49ers 32, Seahawks 29 · at Seattle Seahawks

5 punts, 216 yards, 43.2 average, 0 return yards, 5 inside the 20 (3 inside the 10)

Seattle started all five drives that followed his punts at its own 18 or worse: the 11, 18, 8, 9 and 4, with no return yards. Three of those drives ended in takeaways that San Francisco turned into touchdowns: Renardo Green's interception at the Seattle 18, Fred Warner's forced fumble at the 11 and, after his last punt pinned Seattle inside its 5 with 18 seconds left in the half, Gracen Halton's fumble return. That's 21 points in a game the 49ers won by three. Eddy Pineiro's 44-yarder with 1:56 left provided the winning points, but he also missed from 52. Jason Myers made all five of his field goals, from 40 to 50 yards, in Seattle's loss, and Will Reichard made kicks of 54 and 55 yards in Minnesota's 10-point win at New Orleans.

Runner-up: Will Reichard, Vikings: 3 of 3 field goals (40, 54 and 55 yards) and 2 of 2 extra points in a 23-13 win at New Orleans

Box score

How we pick

One player per slot, judged the way the power rankings judge teams: what happened on the field, against whom and where. Production counts, and so does the opponent. A big game against a good defense or on the road beats the same numbers at home against a bad one, and a play that decided the game beats one that padded a lead. A great game in a loss can still win if nothing else comes close.

NFL awards follow the league's format, AFC and NFC, and go up on Tuesday morning, a day before the league names its own. College awards are national and go up on Sunday morning. Where there's an official pick (the NFL's, or Walter Camp's for college offense and defense), it's listed under ours, agree or not.

Sources: ESPN NFL scoreboard, Week 5. Stat lines from each game's ESPN box score.

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