There won't be any panic among the Green Bay Packers following their stunning 27-22 loss to the New York Giants.

However, after letting slip a 10-point lead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there is undoubtedly plenty of frustration.

Green Bay's progress towards what looked set to be a routine victory in their first game in the United Kingdom could hardly have been more serene. The second half was an entirely different tale.

The Packers had zero issues moving the ball through the first two quarters, and did so without having to ask their back-to-back MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers to do much at all.

Indeed, the Packers were able to lean heavily on the run game and the short passing attack in racking up 228 yards at an average of six yards per play in the first half.

But the warning signs were there late in the second quarter, with Giants finding the endzone to give themselves hope, a 40-yard rush on a direct snap from Saquon Barkley helping set up their opening touchdown with 75 seconds to go in the first half as a double reverse play worked to perfection and allowed tight end Daniel Bellinger to find paydirt.

Packers kicker Mason Crosby ensured a two-possession lead with a field goal to bring the opening half to a close, but the Giants had already gained the necessary belief they could spring a turnaround few would have thought possible.

That optimism was soon furthered in the second half, which the Giants opened with a field goal drive before stopping a promising Packers drive with a third-down sack of Rodgers.

From there, a pattern set in, as the Giants tied things up with a 15-play drive capped by a Gary Brightwell touchdown run that was swiftly followed by a Packers three-and-out.

Having moved the ball at will, progressing it down the field suddenly looked an impossible challenge for the Packers, who found no joy on longer developing passing plays that dominated their approach in the final two quarters.

Joy was soon unconfined for the Giants, though, as Barkley – having missed the previous drive through a shoulder injury – surged for 41 yards on a catch and run from Daniel Jones and then burst into the endzone from two yards out to complete the comeback.

Rodgers drove the Packers to the six-yard line in response, but saw a fourth-down pass intended for Allen Lazard batted down before he was sacked on a Hail Mary attempt after an intentional safety taken by New York, leaving the Giants jubilant and Rodgers and head coach Matt LaFleur to answer questions about a worrying trend.

While the Packers headed to London with three wins, only their Week 2 victory over the Chicago Bears was convincing and, in their Week 4 defeat of the New England Patriots, Green Bay allowed third-string quarterback Bailey Zappe, aided by a run game that averaged 5.1 yards per rush, to take them to overtime.

This week, the Packers were left bemoaning once again failing to perform for four quarters, with a run defense they hoped to have addressed adequately in the offseason proving all too fallible once more, especially on the Giants' game-tying drive on which Jones confounded Green Bay with his ability to make plays with his legs.

"Certainly there's been a lot of struggles – that is this league," LaFleur said of his impression of the Packers' season to this point.

"We just got to be more consistent because there's some moments where we look pretty good. We have yet to put together a complete game as a team.

"It's like every game has been one good half. That's not good enough in this league. You got to play every play like it's your last. If you don't, you get your a** whipped."

Asked about the reasons for the issues with run defense, which have plagued the Packers in significant moments during his tenure, LaFleur replied: "I can't name one thing for you right now.  

"I just know that I thought there were some times where we had 'em in some longer yardage situations. They were able to convert on some long third downs. You can't do that. You can't do that in this league.  

"Coming in, we had the top third down defense in the league. Just didn't execute in the second half."

Though struggling to shackle opposing running backs is not a new problem for the defense, Rodgers and the Packer offense are finding it tough to overcome a difficulty they perhaps did not anticipate at the end of last season, with the future Hall of Fame signal-caller still evidently lacking chemistry with his young receiving corps following Davante Adams' offseason trade to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Rodgers connected with old friend Randall Cobb seven times for 99 yards and found trusted target Lazard on four occasions, including for the Packers' opening score.

No other receiver had more than three catches, however, and rookie wideouts Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, who suffered a hamstring injury, were essentially non-factors, Rodgers showcasing only a sporadic rapport with the former.

For his part, Rodgers refused to accept a paucity of familiarity as any kind of excuse for the Packers' inconsistency on the offensive side.

"That's a tough question," Rodgers said when asked how close the Packers are to putting a complete game together.

"The cliche answer would be really close. The actual answer is unknown, honestly. There's a standard that we've played at for a long time. Just because the faces change doesn't mean the standard changes. That's a hard concept I think to grasp at times.

"We hold ourselves to a really high standard. I hold myself to a high standard. We're just not quite there yet.

"So I trust Matt and the staff and the conversations we'll have this week that we'll clean some things up. This team, we're five weeks in, and there's a lot of football left. Can't squander any more games like this though because the season is going to be pretty tough."

Rodgers' assessment is a hard one to disagree with. The Packers have a winning record, they will be expected to bounce back at Lambeau Field against the New York Jets in Week 6 and the likelihood is that they will be contesting the postseason again in 2022, yet the standard Rodgers speaks of has been allowed to slip too often in the first five weeks and, come the pressure cooker of the playoffs, a failure to uphold it could leave Green Bay with an all too familiar feeling of January disappointment.

The Dallas Cowboys have now won four games in a row with backup quarterback Cooper Rush after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 22-10 away from home on Sunday.

Rush, who now owns a 5-0 record as a starter as he continues to fill-in for the injured Dak Prescott, was not burdened with a large responsibility against the Rams as it was the running backs and defense doing the heavy-lifting.

Cowboys pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence got things started with a fumble recovery for a touchdown after just 93 seconds, and the only other touchdown they scored came from a 57-yard Tony Pollard run in the second quarter.

The Dallas defense made life miserable for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, sacking him five times, as well as snagging an interception and recovering two forced fumbles. Second-year star Micah Parsons led the way with two sacks, and Malik Hooker came up with the interception in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

Often considered a controversial aspect of the Cowboys offense, their two-pronged running back attack was the key to their success on the offensive end.

Highly paid Ezekiel Elliott was again given the larger workload, carrying 22 times for 78 yards, and he was once again outperformed by his backup, Pollard, who tallied 86 yards and a touchdown from just eight carries.

Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp was as reliable as ever for the Rams, catching seven passes for 125 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown.

Eagles move to 5-0 after late kick fails to send it to overtime

The Philadelphia Eagles remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL after a 20-17 road win against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals had a chance to tie the game with a 43-yard field goal in the dying seconds, but missed, allowing the Eagles to secure the win in regulation.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a clean game, completing 26 of 36 passes for 239 yards and no turnovers, and he was also his side's leading rusher with 15 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

Marquise Brown was on the end of Kyler Murray's only touchdown pass of the day, and adding insult to injury is the fact that starting running back James Conner (ribs) and third-stringer Darrel Williams (knee) both suffered injuries.

Tom Brady called on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve after he equalled an NFL record by moving to 11-0 in his career meetings with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Brady shook off a shoulder injury to help the Bucs to go 3-2 for the season with a 21-15 home win over their NFC South rivals, cutting a two-game losing streak.  

The 45-year-old's 11th straight win against Atlanta saw him equal the record for most wins by a quarterback without losing against a single NFL opponent, matching John Elway's 11-0 return against the New England Patriots and Andrew Luck's perfect record against the Tennessee Titans.

Speaking after the win, however, Brady said he was simply focused on halting the Bucs' alarming slide following recent defeats to the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

"Yeah, it's obviously tough to lose straight at home, right? And we didn't deserve it, but that's football, you've got to earn it," Brady said.

"There's no easy games, you've got to play good. Certainly, five games in, we've got a lot of work to do.

"We need a lot of people to step up. We've got to get people out there, healthy, playing consistently, we've got to keep practicing, make the corrections and continue to improve."

Brady threw 52 passes throughout Sunday's game, completing 35 for 351 yards and a touchdown.

However, the Bucs were pegged back after storming into a 21-0 lead, and Brady acknowledged they failed to maintain their standards in the second half, adding: "We just had a lot of three and outs, we just weren't very good. 

"Bad execution and it wasn't our best in the second half. We've got to learn from it and get better."

Brady was aided by a questionable roughing the passer call against Atlanta's Grady Jarrett late on, when a third-down sack would have given Atlanta the ball with a chance to steal victory late on.

But the Bucs star was unwilling to get involved in debates surrounding the controversial call, simply stating: "I don't throw the flags."

Seattle Seahawks leading rusher Rashaad Penny’s season is likely in jeopardy after the running back reportedly fractured his left tibia in Sunday’s game at New Orleans.

According to NFL.com, Penny is expected to need surgery and will undergo further testing Monday to determine if he sustained additional damage.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told reporters after his team’s 39-32 loss that Penny sustained a "serious" ankle injury, but did not elaborate further.

Penny entered the contest with 292 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 49 attempts through four games, and added 54 yards on eight carries Sunday before exiting early in the second half. He had his lower left leg bend awkwardly while being tackled on a third-quarter run and was taken off the field on a cart.

Rookie Kenneth Walker III replaced Penny and recorded 88 yards on eight rushes, including a 69-yard touchdown that gave Seattle a short-lived 32-31 lead with 6:54 remaining.

A first-round pick of Seattle in 2018, Penny re-signed with the Seahawks on a one-year contract in March after setting career highs of 749 rushing yards and six touchdowns in 2021.

The Seahawks took Walker, who won the 2021 Doak Walker Award honouring the nation’s top college running back, after rushing for 1636 yards and 16 touchdowns for Michigan State, in the second round (41st overall) of this year’s draft. The 21-year-old has 146 yards and one touchdown on 23 rush attempts through his first four NFL games.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater became the first player to be removed from play under the new concussion protocols established by the NFL and NFL Players Association in recent days.

Bridgewater was starting his first game of the season in place of Tua Tagovailoa, whose concussion during the Dolphins' Week 4 defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals led to the protocols being changed.

The Dolphins came under heavy scrutiny for their decision to field Tagovailoa against the Bengals.

In Tagovailoa's previous outing against the Buffalo Bills, he appeared unsteady on his feet after his head slammed against the turf following a heavy collision. 

The NFL and NFLPA launched an investigation into the handling of that injury after he returned to the field shortly thereafter.

Although it found the Dolphins to have followed existing protocols "as written”, the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to modify protocols.

Remarkably, Tagovailoa's replacement Bridgewater was ruled out after the very first play of Miami's 40-17 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday due to the changes to the concussion protocol.

The quarterback left with an elbow injury and was evaluated for a head injury, with Miami stating that Bridgewater would not return.

Third-choice quarterback Skylar Thompson replaced him, and after the game Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel showed confidence in the rookie's ability to hold down the fort.

"It's rough," McDaniel said. "But the whole team has confidence in Skylar. I think our team in general doesn't look at it like we're a one-man saviour at any spot.

"So it is a new set of circumstances of adversity so early, but I don't think that the rest of the team's response to losing Teddy had anything to do with losing the game."

Saquon Barkley is unconcerned whether outsiders take the New York Giants' 4-1 start seriously after they produced a superb comeback to stun the Green Bay Packers in Week 5.

The Giants trailed 20-10 at half-time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the Packers, backed by a raucous crowd, looked set to ease to victory in their first game in the United Kingdom.

However, the Giants flipped the script in the second half to prevail 27-22, with running back Barkley playing a critical role.

Barkley's game appeared as if it could be over in the second half because of a shoulder injury, but he returned after Gary Brightwell punched in a two-yard run to tie the game at 20-20.

And Barkley then took centre stage as the Giants produced a game-winning drive. Barkley moved the Giants inside the red zone with a 41-yard catch and run from Daniel Jones and then took a direct snap into the endzone for a two-yard score that proved decisive despite Green Bay's MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers driving the Packers down to the six-yard line in response.

The Giants were not seen as contenders heading into the season and three wins from the first four games for Brian Daboll's men did little to change that perception.

Asked if a win over the Packers will change minds as to the Giants' legitimacy, Barkley told his post-game press conference: "I don't think it's any statement to the league.

"To be completely honest, it's the NFL. Every time you go against somebody, this isn't college. It isn't like you're playing at Penn State and going against your Week 1 team who is someone you should beat by 40. It's the NFL and it's hard to win in this league.

"For us, we can't even focus on that. If anyone want to take us serious or not, the main thing we got to focus on is interior, inside our building, continue to love the process and continue to get better and continue to lean on each other and find ways to get wins."

The Giants' 4-1 start is their best for 13 years, but Barkley refuses to think too much about their achievements to this point.

"Yeah, it's great start. 4-1. It’s where you want to be. But like I said, you can't get too caught up in it, you've just got to keep working and there's a reason why we're 4-1 and that's because of the process," he added.

"That's because we've got guys coming in and working and believing in the system, setting the culture, setting the standard and following it. That's what it means.

"We've got to continue to do that and if we continue to do that, continue to believe in each other - when we look back at this thing we'll be pretty excited."

The Los Angeles Chargers survived a late scare to defeat the Cleveland Browns 30-28 on Sunday afternoon thanks to a massive performance from running back Austin Ekeler.

Ekeler finished with two of the Chargers' three touchdowns, rushing for 173 yards and a score from 16 carries, and adding 26 yards and a touchdown from four catches.

Both times Ekeler scored he put the Chargers back into the lead in a rollercoaster of a game, where the Browns jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter through touchdowns to focal points Amari Cooper and Nick Chubb.

Chubb's second rushing touchdown gave the Browns a 17-14 lead at half-time, and they were up 28-27 going into the fourth quarter after Kareem Hunt converted a goal-line carry for a touchdown of his own.

Taylor Bertolet's field goal put the Chargers back in front with nine minutes to play, finishing three-for-three with his kicks for the day, and the game looked to be sealed when Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw an interception with under three minutes on the clock.

Needing a couple of first downs to put on the finishing touches, the Chargers were presented with a fourth-and-one at their own 46-yard line, and instead of punting and playing it safe, they went for it and failed.

A short completion gave the Browns a 54-yard field goal opportunity to win the game in the final seconds, but it drifted wide right, with kicker Cade York missing both of his attempts for the game.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert completed 22 of his 34 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers, with his top receiver Mike Williams catching 10 for 134 yards.

Chubb was the offensive star for the Browns, carrying 17 times for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Bills blow away the Steelers

The Buffalo Bills took their foot off the gas in the second half to coast to a dominant 38-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wide receiver Gabriel Davis was the star of the show along with quarterback Josh Allen, combining on a 98-yard passing touchdown just 64 seconds into the game. It was the longest touchdown in the NFL this season.

They were not finished there, linking up again to begin the second quarter with a 62-yard touchdown.

Allen added two more touchdown passes in the first half – one to Stefon Diggs and one to Khalil Shakir – to open up a 31-3 lead at the long break, and from there they were never tested.

Another Dolphins quarterback leaves with concussion

Making his first start of the season after Tua Tagovailoa was sidelined with his concussion last week, Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was pulled after the first play in a 40-17 loss to the New York Jets.

Bridgewater was evaluated for a concussion and could not return, handing rookie Skylar Thompson his first snaps as a professional. 

Neither team threw for a touchdown in the game, with the Jets rushing for five scores as exciting rookie Breece Hall finished with 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, adding two catches for 100 yards, and goal-line back Michael Carter pushed his way in for two touchdowns.

Adding to the great day for Jets fans was the fourth overall pick from this year's NFL Draft, cornerback Sauce Gardner, recording his first career interception.

Brian Robinson Jr. made his NFL bow on Sunday, as the Washington Commanders rookie played his first game just six weeks after he was shot twice.

The running back survived an attempted robbery in the capital on August 28 and has not played since, but was activated from the non-football injury list ahead of this weekend's game with the Tennessee Titans.

Brought on to a hero's welcome at FedExField, the third-round pick was unable to prevent another loss, which leaves the Commanders' record at 1-4 after a 21-17 defeat.

But Robinson nevertheless notched solid numbers for the NFC East outfit, posting 22 yards from nine carries with an average 2.4 gain.

The 23-year-old will hope his performance earns him further game-time over the coming weeks, with Washington set to travel to the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.

Matt LaFleur conceded he did not call a good enough game as a head coach after the Green Bay Packers' collapse in their shock 27-22 defeat to the New York Giants.

Playing in their first game in the United Kingdom, the Packers looked in command at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after building a 20-10 half-time lead.

From there, however, the Packers scored just two points, which came on an intentional safety given up by the Giants at the end of the game, as New York produced a remarkable comeback.

A 15-play, 91-yard drive capped by a two-yard rush for Gary Brightwell saw the Giants tie the game at 20-20 before Saquon Barkley, who finished with 106 yards from scrimmage, averaging over six yards per touch, gave New York the lead with a two-yard run on a direct snap.

Green Bay responded with a drive to the Giants' six-yard line but failed to punch in the tying score, Aaron Rodgers seeing a fourth-down throw to Allen Lazard batted down before he was sacked on a failed Hail Mary attempt in the final seconds.

The Packers had dictated matters in the first half through the ground attack and the short passing game, but the run was a non-factor in the second, as Green Bay was forced to punt after gaining only 46 yards on their first two drives before the failed effort to tie the game.

While LaFleur credited the Giants' defense and their coordinator Wink Martindale for forcing the Packers away from the run, he did take responsibility for an anaemic second-half showing.

Asked if he anticipated going pass-heavy, LaFleur told his post-game press conference: "Just depended upon what they were giving us. Like I said, we had a lot of run-pass cans [options].

"They played a lot of single high [safety coverages], manned us up. Do you want to run into a loaded box or try to get it through the air?

"Unfortunately that didn't work for us. Like I said, give credit. Wink is a guy I got a lot of respect for. He out-coached us in the second half, and they outplayed us.

"Give New York all the credit. They out-coached us, they outplayed us. They definitely wanted it more. It was the tale of two halves. They kicked our butt in the second half. You can't do that in this league.  

"Obviously the plan and the play calls that I gave weren't good enough. 

"We just got to regroup. Everybody's got to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do better because it was a collective effort right there in terms of not being able to come out on top. 

"They kept playing. Give New York a ton of credit. I don't think the mindset for our guys was ever to let up. Certainly you look at the results out there. There was too many mistakes. It wasn't just one person; it was a collective effort like I talked about.  

"It starts with myself. I got to be better. I got to be better for this team. We got to demand that we get better in certain areas. It's just disappointing."

The New York Giants produced a stunning comeback to upset the Green Bay Packers 27-22 and move to an improbable 4-1 with victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Green Bay, playing in the United Kingdom for the first time in front of a raucous crowd dominated by Packer fans, dominated the first half and led 20-10 at half-time.

Two touchdown throws from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard and Marcedes Lewis along with a pair of Mason Crosby field goals seemingly had Green Bay in command.

The second of those three-pointers came after the Giants' first touchdown drive, capped by a double reverse touchdown by tight end Daniel Bellinger, which served as a harbinger of what was to come in the second half.

A field goal from Graham Gano cut the deficit to seven points and, after a Dexter Lawrence sack stopped a promising Packers drive, the Giants drove 91 yards on 15 plays with star running back Saquon Barkley back in the locker room nursing a shoulder injury, Gary Brightwell's two-yard rushing touchdown tying the game. 

Barkley returned for the next drive after a quick Packers three-and-out and, having set up the Giants' first score with a 40-yard scamper, he gave New York the lead, getting them into the red zone with a 41-yard catch-and run before taking a direct snap two yards to complete the turnaround.

Green Bay responded with a drive deep into Giants' territory but, on fourth-and-one from the New York six, Rodgers saw his pass to Allen Lazard batted into the air, sealing a remarkable win to drop the Packers to 3-2, an intentional late safety taken by Brian Daboll's men proving immaterial.

The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to modify concussion protocols following an investigation of Tua Tagovailoa's recent injury, saying his return to a game against the Buffalo Bills was "not what was intended when the protocols were drafted".

Although the investigation found the Miami Dolphins to have followed existing protocols "as written", NFLPA president J.C. Tretter believes Tagovailoa's treatment was not a "meaningful application" of the rules.

The Dolphins came under heavy scrutiny for their decision to field Tagovailoa against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4, a game in which he sustained a concussion.

In Tagovailoa's previous outing against the Bills, he appeared unsteady on his feet after his head slammed against the turf following a heavy collision. 

The NFL and NFLPA launched an investigation into the handling of that injury after he returned to the field shortly thereafter, with head coach Mike McDaniel saying he suffered a back injury.

A joint NFL-NFLPA statement released on Saturday read: "The parties have completed their joint review of the application of the NFL's concussion protocol following the injury to Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa during their game on September 25, 2022.

"While the investigation determined that the team medical staff and unaffiliated medical professionals followed the steps of the protocol as written, the NFL and NFLPA agree that the outcome in this case is not what was intended when the protocols were drafted.

"As such, as has been done in previous cases, based on the advice of the parties' respective medical experts, the protocol will be modified to enhance the safety of the players.

"Specifically, the term 'ataxia' has been added to the mandatory 'no-go' symptoms. If a player is diagnosed with 'ataxia' by any club or neutral physician involved in the application of the concussion protocol, he will be prohibited from returning to the game.

"The parties remain committed to continuing to evaluate our protocol to ensure it reflects the intended conservative approach to evaluating player-patients for potential head injuries."

Tretter, however, has since taken to social media to criticise the Dolphins' handling of the incident, tweeting: "We do not believe this was a meaningful application of the protocols. 

"Nobody, including the NFL, believes he should have been put back in the game. It is problematic that he was cleared for a back injury for which the lead doctors never took the time to examine."

Tagovailoa has been ruled out of the Dolphins' Week 5 fixture against the New York Jets on Sunday.

London could be home to two NFL teams if a European division of American football's premier league gets off the ground.

The NFL first started playing international games in 2007 with the goal of turning the league into a truly worldwide brand. Fifteen years later, commissioner Roger Goodell continues to field questions about the final goal of that effort.  

Could the NFL become a trans-Atlantic league with franchises in Europe? It appears the answer is that yes, it could, if not quite yet.

Speaking to fans on a panel with former players Osi Umenyiora, Victor Cruz and Maurice Jones-Drew, Goodell spoke positively about the possibility of an NFL franchise – or two – calling the UK home.

"I think there's no question that London could support not just one franchise, I think two franchises, I really believe that," Goodell said. "That's from a fan perspective, a commercial standpoint, from a media standpoint, I think you [the UK fans] have all proven that."

The Green Bay Packers will become the last of the NFL teams to have played a game in the UK when they face the New York Giants on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the second of three games this year in London.

On October 30, the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars will play at Wembley Stadium.

The NFL will also play its first ever game in Germany next month when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Seattle Seahawks at Allianz Arena in Munich.

The panel's host, Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports, joked that the NFL should have an entire division based in Europe, an idea well received by Goodell.

"That's part of what we're doing, right?" Goodell said. "We're trying to see 'could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise?', because it would be easier as a division."

Despite the success of the NFL's International Series, the primary concern with its expansion remains competitive balance.

"The question I think is going to come down to, not so much the logistics about travel, that's clearly a challenge, it really comes down to whether you can do it competitively, where the team here or the teams in the States coming over can continue to be competitive, and that was the challenge when we did the regular-season games," Goodell said.

"There was a lot of concern with ownership when we first introduced it, and frankly it took the guts of the Giants and Dolphins that came out here the first time, they had to prove we could do it competitively.

"This is where it turned around [for the 2007 Giants] and they went and won the Super Bowl that year. That sent a message to everybody in the league – it's not going to damage your ability to make it to the postseason. Competitiveness is the key."

The Los Angeles Rams did not give Sean McVay much reason to be confident they can find their Super Bowl-winning form during their Monday defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.

San Francisco rode a dominant defensive performance to knock off the Rams 24-9, extending the 49ers' regular-season winning streak against their NFC West rivals to seven games.

Matthew Stafford failed to throw a touchdown pass having also drawn a blank in the Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. It marked the fourth time in his career that Stafford had gone without a scoring throw in successive games.

Yet even with their offense misfiring, the Rams and head coach McVay have reason for hope heading into Sunday's clash with the Dallas Cowboys.

Since McVay took over in 2017, the Rams have gone 3-1 against the Cowboys, including a win in the Divisional Round of the playoffs at the end of the 2018 season.

Los Angeles' average margin of victory in those successes has been 16 points and, going against a backup quarterback in Cooper Rush, the Rams would appear to be a strong bet for a two-touchdown win in this matchup.

Yet Rush is proving himself a top-tier backup as Dak Prescott recovers from a thumb injury.

He has helped the Cowboys to three successive victories after they lost the season opener to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Having won his first start against the Minnesota Vikings last year, Rush is the first quarterback in Cowboys history to win his first four starts. The only other NFL players to do so since 2005 are Kyle Allen (5), Patrick Mahomes (6), Jimmy Garoppolo (7) and Trevor Siemian (4).

And Rush and the Cowboys may have a formula for making it five wins for their number two signal-caller.

The Rams' nine-point effort against the 49ers marked the second time they had failed to score more than 10 this season. They were held to 10 by the Buffalo Bills in the season curtain-raiser.

Los Angeles had only failed to surpass 10 points seven times in McVay's first five seasons as head coach and have not done so more than twice in one season since doing so nine times in 2016, the Rams' first year back in their Southern California home following the return from St. Louis.

In the Cowboys, however, the Rams are facing a defense that has the talent to match the destruction the 49ers produced against a banged-up offensive line that allowed Stafford to be sacked seven times and pressured on 21 dropbacks.

Heading into Week 5, the Cowboys ranked second in pass rush win rate and boast three pass rushers in Micah Parsons (4), Demarcus Lawrence (4) and Dorance Armstrong (3) who have combined for 10 sacks so far this season.

With the Rams proving incapable of protecting Stafford as they fell to 2-2 on the season in the loss to San Francisco, that trio has a chance to consistently disrupt the Rams' passing game and allow a Dallas offense that has committed just two giveaways this season to control the ball and the clock.

Should that happen at SoFi Stadium, the Cowboys will be in an excellent position to reduce the Rams' reasons for positivity by dealing another blow to their hopes of retaining the Lombardi Trophy.

The Green Bay Packers have been one of the most consistent teams in the NFL under the leadership of Matt LaFleur.

As a head coach, LaFleur has compiled a 42-11 regular-season record, winning three NFC North titles and guiding the Packers to the NFC Championship Game in two of his three campaigns in charges.

Yet the failure that has contributed to their inability to get to the Super Bowl during LaFleur's tenure has also been consistent.

In the NFC Championship Game at the end of the 2019 season, the Packers were gashed on the ground by Raheem Mostert and the San Francisco 49ers in a 37-20 blowout.

Mostert racked up 220 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a remarkable display, and a year later as the Packers hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lambeau Field at the same stage, they suffered a similar if less statistically dramatic downfall.

Leonard Fournette only had 55 yards rushing in the Buccaneers' 31-26 win, but he had a 20-yard score in the second quarter that gave Tampa Bay a lead they never relinquished, and he averaged four yards after contact, again illustrating the Packers' struggles to stop the run.

The offense and special teams were more at fault last season as the 49ers beat the Packers at Lambeau in the Divisional Round, but a nine-yard run from Deebo Samuel gave the Niners a key third-down conversion on their game-winning drive.

When the Packers have needed to stop the run in critical games, they have come up short, and the signs of that problem being fixed in 2022 are not good.

The Packers are allowing at least four yards on 57.8 per cent of carries by their opponents, the highest rate in the NFL, and giving up 4.91 yards per rush on first down. Green Bay's rush average allowed of 4.97 yards per carry is the 11th-worst in the NFL.

Three of the Packers' first four games have seen them surrender over 100 yards rushing, conceding 167 in allowing a poor New England Patriots team to take them to overtime.

Green Bay's issue is not getting into the backfield, as the Packers rank eighth in run disruption rate, according to Stats Perform data.

So why are the Packers still having issues stopping the run? The short answer is tackling.

Their tackle success rate of 73.6 per cent is tied for the fifth-worst in the NFL, with their problems coming chiefly on the left side of their defense. Left inside linebacker De'Vondre Campbell has missed four tackles and seen a further two broken, while edge rusher Preston Smith – listed as the starting outside backer on the left side – has also had a pair of tackles broken.

It is certainly not fair to pin all the Packers' run defense struggles on Campbell, but it is clear they are not doing enough as a collective to bring ball-carriers down if they evade the disruption Green Bay creates in the backfield.

This week the Packers face the New York Giants in London and meet a running back in Saquon Barkley who is doing an excellent job of racking up yardage on plays where the defense generates a run disruption.

Indeed, Barkley, the NFL's rushing leader through four weeks, is averaging 3.54 yards per carry when faced with a run disruption, above the average of 3.02.

However, his yards after contact per attempt average of 1.96 yards is below the average of 2.01. So while he might be able to evade defenders who get behind the line of scrimmage, tackle-breaking runs from the 2018 second overall pick should be at a premium.

In that sense, he is something of a test case for the Packers. Green Bay has poured plenty of resources into the problems stopping the run but, if Barkley enjoys significant success fighting through contact at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it could be a sign that run defense and, more specifically, tackling is an issue that could doom a Super Bowl-ready team once more and require more targeted attention next offseason.

The Washington Commanders are set to hand rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. his first reps against the Tennessee Titans, completing a remarkable recovery.

The third-rounder was shot twice in an attempted robbery in Washington, D.C. on August 28, where he was fortunate as the bullets passed clean through his lower body.

Robinson has undergone his first week in training after being activated from the team's non-football injury list and will immediately be elevated into the team, Ian Rapoport states.

The rookie will play back-up to starter Antonio Gibson and the plan is for Robinson to receive about 20 snaps in the Week 5 contest.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner has been impressed by Robinson's displays and said the team is excited for him to take to the field.

"He looked great at practice. He's not going to come in and just carry the ball 30 times," Turner told reporters.

"It's his first time ever playing in the NFL too. He's a rookie, so there's going to be a period of kind of getting him going. But I think we're all excited.

"He's going to give us some juice and that physical presence and just a good all-around back."

The Commanders hold a 1-3 record in 2022 and stand as the only side in the NFC East without a winning record.