SEVEN QUESTIONS I HAVE FOR NFL WEEK 5

WILL DREW BREES TAKE PEYTON MANNING'S CAREER PASSING RECORD?

The 2018 calendar is sure to provide October surprises ... I'm talking about the NFL, naturally, after a September full of the unexpected.

As the season begins its second quarter, here are seven big questions entering Week 5

1. ARE THE FALCONS OR STEELERS GETTING OFF LIFE SUPPORT?

ANSWER: Popular preseason Super Bowl picks, Atlanta's or Pittsburgh's title aspirations will likely be euthanized Sunday at Heinz Field. The Steelers (1-2-1) are losing ground to Baltimore and Cincinnati and apparently still a month away from getting Le'Veon Bell on the field ... as if there wasn't enough internal drama already. Meanwhile, the Falcons (1-3) have rolled up 73 points and 902 yards the past two weeks ... and don't have a win to show for it thanks to a decimated defense. This should be a track meet as two highly capable passing attacks take aim at virtually defenseless defenses. Let's hope Julio Jones and Antonio Brown engage in a battle of one-upmanship in a rare showdown of the league's top wideouts.

2. WILL DREW BREES CLAIM RECORD FOR CAREER PASSING YARDS?

ANSWER: Almost certainly. One of the NFL's more underappreciated stars needs 201 yards to overtake Brett Favre (71,838) and Peyton Manning (71,940) as the most prolific passer in the league's 99-year history. Brees — seriously, does he get nearly the same level of attention as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or even Patrick Mahomes? — could conceivably give this record the Jerry Rice treatment, pushing it well beyond 80K before he's finished. Since the start of the 2011 season, he's failed to crack 200 yards in the Superdome just once, though that occurred in 2017. Washington packs a third-ranked passing defense, so the 39-year-old will have to earn his latest legacy moment.

2A: HOW WILL MARK INGRAM REINTEGRATE INTO NEW ORLEANS' OFFENSE?

ANSWER: The former Heisman Trophy winner is among more than a dozen players reinstated from suspensions this week. Good news / bad news for Ingram, who has fresh legs as he begins showcasing his talents in a walk year ... though it's likely he'll fail to reach the 200-touch threshold for the first time since 2013 given how well sidekick Alvin Kamara (league-best 611 yards from scrimmage, 6 TDs) has adapted to the starting role. "We'll figure out the balance with the Redskins game and going forward each game," said Saints coach Sean Payton. "I know it'll be good for us offensively to have (Ingram) back."

3. WHAT'S NEXT FOR STEAMROLLING RAMS?

ANSWER: After sitting virtually every key player in preseason, the NFC's last unbeaten has steadily knocked off the rust — dust, really — piling up more points and yards with each successive week on the way to becoming the NFL's top-ranked offense. The last time the Rams played in Seattle (Dec. 17), they left with a 42-7 win ... and the Seahawks' Earl Thomas played that day. L.A. is currently churning out 468.5 yards per week, an unprecedented pace. The Rams can become the third team to crank out 500 yards in three straight games. With 30 points, they'll become the fifth club to score 30-plus in its first five games (three of the other four reached the Super Bowl).

4. WHO WINS PATRICK MAHOMES-JALEN RAMSEY MATCHUP?

ANSWER: The Chiefs' new superstar was among the few quarterbacks spared the offseason, uh, opinions of the Jags' loquacious corner. No matter, this game hardly needs added juice with Kansas City's offense (NFL-high 145 points) squaring off against Jacksonville's top-ranked D (allowing NFL-low 14 points per game). The Jaguars have been especially stingy through the air, permitting three TD passes — a half's work for Mahomes, who has 14. This should be fun, including an appetizer featuring K.C.'s league-worst defense against Blake Bortles, who outgunned Mahomes in Week 4 with a career-best 388 passing yards

5. ARE THESE REALLY THE VIKINGS AND EAGLES?

ANSWER: Wasn't Minnesota supposed to feature an elite defense after finishing atop the rankings in 2017? Beginning with last season's NFC title game blowout in Philadelphia — the Vikings return to the scene of the crime Sunday — they're allowing 29.6 points and 396 yards per game. Mike Zimmer's crew has looked especially vulnerable against run-pass options ... a specialty of the Eagles. Yet Philly, trying to weather its own defensive issues (especially in coverage), hardly resembles its 2017 Lombardi version, either. The Eagles have yet to score 24 points in a game, a benchmark they surpassed in 14 of 19 contests last season. Something's got to give ... presumably.

6. CAN AARON RODGERS AND MIKE MCCARTHY PULL IN THE SAME DIRECTION?

ANSWER: Despite that new $134 million contract, it seems Rodgers has been stewing ever since buddy Jordy Nelson was kicked to the curb. Last Sunday, Rodgers took not-so-thinly-veiled shots at his coach's offense despite a 22-0 shutout of the Bills. Fair? With Rodgers in the lineup, Green Bay is averaging 5.5 yards per play (19th among 32 NFL teams) — certainly better than last year's 4.9 (mostly minus Rodgers), yet similar to 2016 (5.7) and better than 2015 (5.1). In McCarthy's defense, Rodgers hasn't truly resembles his diamond cutter self since suffering that Week 1 knee injury against Chicago. Facing the Lions might be the appropriate time to R-E-L-A-X given Rodgers' 13-3 career record and 109.4 passer rating against Detroit — though that could mean handing off more for the two-time league MVP while facing the league's worst run defense.

7. WHAT LEVEL WILL OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS REACH?

ANSWER: This may be a watershed season as the league's safeguards against touching quarterbacks and continued evolution of offensive design continue translating into epic numbers. Points (3,030) are coming at a record clip through four weeks, and that includes touchdowns (344) and TD passes (228). There have already been 12 400-yard passing efforts, a record at this point (as were the five 400-yard days in Week 4). No season has produced four 5,000-yard passers — only Brees has reached that plateau multiple times (5) — yet there are currently eight on the path to 5,000 ... including Joe Flacco and Ryan Fitzpatrick, though the latter will obviously fall off the pace. Ben Roethlisberger, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr are all ahead of Manning's 2013 record pace (5,477 yards).