James Lang/US Presswire

Sunday was a good day for Texans QB Sage Rosenfels -- until this play against the Colts. Rosenfels fumbled after being hit by Marlin Jackson (28); Indy's Gary Brackett (not pictured) picked up the loose ball and ran 68 yards for a TD. It was a pivotal play in the Colts' 31-27 comeback win. ZOOM GALLERY

Week 5 analysis: Titans, Ravens bucking trends

By John Clayton, ESPN.com

BALTIMORE -- Park Avenue, the New York home of the NFL offices, doesn't buy into the styles of the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. The NFL loves scoring because scoring excites fans. It is baseball's equivalent to the long ball, and you know chicks dig the long ball.

In the league's eyes, there is nothing better than a three-hour, 30-28 thriller filled with long passes and big plays. Steelers-Ravens and Ravens-Titans isn't marquee in NFL eyes.

"We aren't what the league wants,'' Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said of his defensive-minded Titans. "Defense is a mentality. We are trying to come out and stop the offense from scoring, so we know a lot of calls are going to go their way. There are a handful of teams around the league that play great defense and we hope to be one of them.''

The Titans' 13-10 victory over the Ravens was a throwback to the way football used to be. Officials were using their arms more than quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Kerry Collins. Bill Carollo's crew threw 21 flags for 169 yards. Collins had 17 completions for 163; Flacco had 18 for 153. In fact, had Carollo not called this game closely, it might have ended in a scoreless tie. All four scoring drives were aided by penalties that favored the offense.

Coming into Sunday's action, Park Avenue couldn't have been happier with the scoring trends of the league. The NFL's 45.2-points-a-game average entering Week 5 was the highest-scoring start since 2002 and the second-best since 1979. For the NFL, 2008 is a big score.

In a time when shooutouts are the norm, the Titans and Ravens waged an old-fashion grudge match. During the Titans' first defensive series Sunday, Bulluck and Co. knew life was going to be tough. Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch was offsides on the first play. Then Titans safety Chris Hope received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty after mixing it up with a pair of Ravens receivers. The Titans gave up only a field goal.

Both defenses played with an intensity rarely seen on the field. Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan got an unnecessary roughness penalty for a sideline hit. As he went back to the huddle, Bulluck stunned him with a two-handed shove to settle him down. Teammates were getting physical with each other.

Collins stayed calm through the hard-hitting chaos and rallied the Titans with an 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. Flags helped him. A third-down incompletion was negated by a controversial roughing the passer call on Terrell Suggs. What made it so controversial was the play didn't officially exist because left tackle Michael Roos committed a false-start penalty.

"[Suggs] got him on the side of the helmet,'' Carollo explained later. "We're blowing the whistle, blowing the whistle. He may not have heard that, but he still can't hit the quarterback on the helmet.''

A 12 men on the field penalty against Baltimore turned a potential third-and-10 into a makeable second-and-5. On third down after an incomplete pass, Collins hit Bo Scaife for 15 yards and then followed with a game-winning, 11-yard touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler.

The Titans feel the win in Baltimore is partial revenge for the Ravens' victory over Tennessee in the 2000 playoffs. The Titans were the top seed in the AFC that season but had to watch the Ravens celebrate a Super Bowl victory over the Collins-led Giants.

"I think this organization felt [the Ravens] took something from them,'' Bulluck said. "They lost. They can't say much.''

Five things I learned in Week 5

By John Clayton, ESPN.com

Despite a right shoulder sprain that could have kept him out, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers played well against the Falcons. He completed 25 of 37 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns.

"He didn't throw with the velocity he is capable of,'' Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "But I thought he was effective managing the game.''

Rodgers was fine. The rest of the team wasn't, and the result was a 27-24 loss. Someone has to take the blame for Green Bay's age and lack of depth at cornerback. The Packers stress man-to-man coverage, but Al Harris is out with a lacerated spleen and Charles Woodson is playing, but can't practice with a broken toe.

The Packers let Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan throw 26 passes without being sacked and Roddy White catch eight balls for 132 yards. The offensive line is another problem. The Packers lead the league in holding penalties and had four more Sunday. The Packers, now 2-3 heading to Seattle, are in trouble.

"Our house is messy right now, and it needs to be cleaned up,'' McCarthy said.

Prior to the Titans-Ravens game, I talked with some coaches about the impact of the direct-snap running play -- otherwise known as the Wildcat. One coach said, "I'd run it until they stop it,'' and that's what the Dolphins did in beating the Chargers 17-10.

Apparently, San Diego's Ted Cottrell is among many defensive coordinators who haven't figured out how to stop the Wildcat. The Dolphins had 10 direct-snap running plays for 48 yards. They averaged 4.0 yards a carry on their other runs. The direct snap is like direct deposit: it's automatic. As long as the blocking strategy is sound, the direct snap to a good running back such as Ronnie Brown sets up a scenario in which the back -- if everyone is blocked -- only has to beat one or two defenders to get his yards.

The inability of defenses to figure out the Wildcat is turning a trick play into a solid part of offensive schemes. The Dolphins took the direct snap to new levels Sunday. They used it on two scoring drives that accounted for a combined 279 yards and 10 points. The Dolphins' effective use of the Wildcat and the Chargers' inability to score from the 1-yard line with LaDainian Tomlinson are the reasons the talented Chargers are 2-3 instead of 3-2.

The Bengals say Marvin Lewis isn't in jeopardy of being fired despite an 0-5 start. As long as Bengals management keeps bungling roster decisions, Lewis should be immune from job scrutiny. Who let Rudi Johnson go and kept Chris Perry as the starting running back? Perry's fifth fumble of the season was a big reason the Bengals lost to the Cowboys. Johnson had fumbling problems of his own, but he was also a workhorse. Johnson had more than 1,000 carries between 2004 and 2006, fumbling 11 times.

Perry has five fumbles in 85 carries this season. His lost fumble on Sunday was a momentum killer in Cincinnati's 31-22 loss. Early in the fourth quarter, the Bengals cut the deficit to 17-16, and they had good field position at the Cowboys' 37. Carson Palmer was starting to get into a groove. With 12:42 left in the game, Perry held the ball loosely and Cowboys defensive tackle Tank Johnson knocked it out.

There was no reason to release Johnson. Heading into camp, the Bengals had a deep running back corps that featured Johnson, Perry and Kenny Watson. They cut Watson to make room for wide receiver Chris Henry, so now if they want to bench Perry, the Bengals have to go to Cedric Benson, who has been with them for less than a week. Management turned a strength into a weakness.

Red zone woes continue to haunt the Eagles, who had a 14-0 lead over the Redskins after an opening touchdown drive and a 68-yard punt return for a score by DeSean Jackson. After that, the Eagles hit a red light when it came to the red zone. Late in the second quarter, they drove to the Redskins' 32 and had to settle for a 50-yard David Akers field-goal attempt that went wide right.

The killer was in the fourth quarter. Trailing 23-14, the Eagles were desperate for a touchdown. Donovan McNabb worked an efficient 12-play, 86-yard drive. A 9-yard completion to Reggie Brown put the Eagles at the Redskins' 2 with a second-and-1. Brian Westbrook was stopped for no gain on second down. He tried to run around left end on third down and lost 3 yards. The Eagles had to settle for a 23-yard field goal and a 23-17 deficit. The inability to get a touchdown ruined their chances to pull off a comeback victory.

The Reliant Stadium roof might be in better shape than the Texans following Sunday's 31-27 collapse against the Colts. The roof can be repaired. The Texans' season cannot. How the Texans blew a 17-point lead in the final eight minutes defies description.

The retirement of defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock, the release of defensive tackle Ed Johnson because of personal problems and the injury to safety Bob Sanders (high ankle sprain) have left the Colts vulnerable to a good run game.

Houston coach Gary Kubiak established the run, and it helped the Texans build a 27-10 lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Texans had 146 rushing yards on 28 carries. Then the unthinkable happened. Instead of being safe with the ball, QB Sage Rosenfels tried to do a John Elway helicopter jump on a third-down run and lost the ball. Gary Brackett returned the fumble 68 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Texans' lead to 27-24. Three plays later, Rosenfels had the ball stripped by defensive end Robert Mathis, eventually setting up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne.