One player to blame on every NFL team that lost in Week 5

The NFL schedule in Week 5 seemed to leave a lot to be desired, with several notable teams on a bye and without a ton of marquee matchups in their place. But boy, we had no idea how bad things were about to get: The early slate on Sunday featured not one, not two, but three games decided by three scores or more, and even some of the contests that were actually competitive featured players doing their best Keystone Kops impersonations.

There are quite a few fan bases who aren't feeling so hot right now, is what we're saying, and there's more than enough blame to go around for teams that found themselves on the losing end in Week 5. Just who is most at fault? We've identified one player from each team that took an L this week, from star quarterbacks to rookie defenders and everything in between.

Los Angeles Rams: RB Kyren Williams

Williams isn't the only reason the Rams let one slip away against the undermanned San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night. Then again, he was the one who literally let the ball slip away as he was going in for what would have been the game-sealing touchdown late in the fourth quarter. L.A.'s linebackers were exposed badly in coverage, and Blake Corum had a fumble of his own in the first half; but none of that matters if Williams holds onto the ball and scores, on top of the multiple gaffes he had in pass protection.

Cleveland Browns: WR Jerry Jeudy

Dillon Gabriel played gamely in his first NFL start against the Minnesota Vikings, getting rid of the ball on time and keeping it out of harm's way. But despite controlling the line of scrimmage for much of the day in London, the limitations of this offense became all too clear down the stretch — specifically, a lack of literally any contributions from a wide receiver.

Of Gabriel's 19 completions, just five went to wideouts for a grand total of 66 yards. With Cedric Tillman hurt, the onus fell on Jeudy to pick up the slack. Instead, he let balls repeatedly clank off his hands, unable to help out his rookie quarterback on the rare occasions when he was willing and able to push the ball to the outside. As a result, the Browns' offense stalled out late, allowing Minnesota to rally for a 21-17 win.

New York Jets: DE Micheal Clemons

Really, it's a shame that we have to limit ourselves to just one here, because the Jets were so bad on Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Cowboys that pretty much everybody not named Sauce Gardner should come in for recrimination.

The offense was a penalty-strewn mess just about all day, with Justin Fields unable (or unwilling) to push the ball downfield despite facing a porous Dallas secondary. But we're going to focus on the defense here, because Aaron Glenn's unit once again offered absolutely zero resistance against Dak Prescott and Co. The lack of pass rush was particularly galling; Dak could just sit back and wait for a man to come open all day long, with former fourth-rounder Clemons a complete no-show filling in for Jermaine Johnson.

Las Vegas Raiders: LB Devin White

I could simply toss Geno Smith in here, as the NFL's leader in interceptions somehow threw two more in a thoroughly uncompetitive loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But it doesn't matter how well you're taking care of the ball if your defense is giving up 40+ points, as Las Vegas did to Daniel Jones and Co. on Sunday.

White, in particular, looks completely cooked at this point. Shane Steichen and this Colts offense had a field day going after Raiders linebackers with both the run and the pass, with Josh Downs and tight end Tyler Warren combining for 10 catches for 98 yards and a score. At this point, White simply no longer has the athleticism to hang at this level.

Baltimore Ravens: EDGE Mike Green

Again, when you lose by 30+ points — at home, no less — it's hard to identify just one area for concern. But we expected the Ravens' offense to struggle in the absence of Lamar Jackson. We also expected the secondary to get torn up by C.J. Stroud and the Texans, given just how many players Baltimore was missing on Sunday.

The pass rush, however, has no excuses for being this bad. Stroud was completely unbothered for really the first time all season, while Green, whom the team just sunk a first-round pick into this spring, was nowhere to be found. The Ravens desperately need him to step up, but so far he looks like a massive bust.

Philadelphia Eagles: CB Quinyon Mitchell

Mitchell is an extremely promising player, and there are far better days to come. But the fact remains that he got absolutely torched by Courtland Sutton in the second half on Sunday, as the Eagles watched a 17-3 lead entering the fourth quarter turn into a 21-17 loss at home to the Broncos.

The offense did its fair share to cough up that advantage, to be sure, and there were crippling penalties all over the place that likely swayed the outcome. But Denver was looking DOA until they found some momentum in the passing game by picking on Mitchell, and Philly never found an answer.

New York Giants: WR Darius Slayton

The Giants literally coughed this game away, with three baffling fumbles as part of a five-turnover day overall en route to an embarrassing loss to the previously winless Saints. Slayton, though, had a particularly brutal outing: When he wasn't outright dropping the ball, he was fumbling to short-circuit potential scoring drives for New York.

Malik Nabers' injury has thrust Slayton into the de-facto WR1 role, something he's long clamored for in New York. Based on how he played on Sunday, though, he's not ready for prime time.

Miami Dolphins: DT Zach Sieler

Bryce Young did his absolute best to hand this game to the Dolphins, and yet Miami's continually porous defense just wouldn't take the gift. There are plenty of places to point the finger, from a non-existent pass rush to corners like Rasul Douglas. But when you let Rico Dowdle rush for more than 200 yards, it's safe to say that the interior didn't quite get the job done. Sieler certainly had help in that department, but he was a complete non-factor on Sunday while Carolina ran wild.