CHARLOTTE — After the Panthers defeated the Lions in Week 4, but before the team broke for their bye week, coach Dave Canales said that when you win going into the bye, you're a winner for two weeks.

That was going to feel true regardless of what happened in Week 5. But when all was said and done, Carolina got yet another win during their time off, with two teams in the division losing, including the club nipping at their heels in the standings. With Carolina on a bye, only one NFC South team notched a win in Week 5, while two others were left with injury questions around their respective quarterbacks.

NFC South standings after Week 5:

1. Carolina Panthers: 2-2, 1-0
2. Atlanta Falcons: 2-3, 1-1
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 1-4, 0-0
4. New Orleans Saints: 1-4, 0-1

*The Bucs are ahead of the Saints by proxy of having not lost a divisional game (they have not yet played a divisional game)

From prime time shakeups to a three-game streak in New Orleans, here's what happened across the rest of the NFC South in Week 5.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4, 0-0): Jalon Daniels and Bucky Irving spark Tampa's first win

Jalon Daniels couldn't stop smiling after the Bucs' 24-16 win over the Cowboys on Thursday night. When he called his mom up on stage to join him for the Thursday Night Football postgame show, the smile grew even wider as the two soaked in a moment they'd dreamed of for years. It was hard not to smile with him.

The undrafted rookie, who beat out veteran Jake Browning in camp to become Baker Mayfield's backup, was thrust into the starting spotlight after Mayfield dislocated his thumb in Week 3, led Tampa Bay to its first win of the season and Daniels to his first win in the NFL.

"It means everything," said Daniels of the victory. "Six months ago, if you would've told me that my first win would've been on a Thursday night, prime (time) football game, I don't know what I would've told you. So obviously take it all in, like I keep saying, through all the highs and lows, the bad and the good. Go through every single emotion because, at the end of the day, it makes you better and prepares you for any situation that comes down the line."

The rookie — who started last week against the Packers in a close loss — went 19-of-25 for 189 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. He also rushed seven times for 34 yards and took one sack.

Daniels is the first undrafted rookie ever to start at quarterback for the Buccaneers, and the first rookie quarterback (drafted or otherwise) to start in the NFL this season. His poise showed through on the big stage, never seeming flustered, even when things came down to the wire.

A quarterback's best friend, especially a young passer, is a strong running game, and the Bucs gave Daniels just that. Bucky Irving thrashed the Cowboys, who entered Week 5 as the league's second-worst rushing defense. He finished with 21 carries for 165 yards and a rushing touchdown, plus two receptions for 10 yards and a receiving touchdown.

Two runs made the biggest impact, though. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Irving broke multiple tackles to get to the edge and scamper for 72 yards. One play later, Emeka Egbuka took an end-around for a 14-yard touchdown.

Irving forced 10 missed tackles, gaining 122 rushing yards after missed tackles, both the most in a game in his career. He also gained 102 of his 165 rushing yards before contact, his career-high.

"It was a plan to attack, not from a Dallas standpoint, from our standpoint," said coach Todd Bowles. "When you've got a young quarterback, you've got to lean on the ground game a little bit more. I thought the offensive line took it upon themselves, as well as Bucky making some great cuts and some great plays to make that happen. And that made the game easier for Jalon, which was good to see."

On the next possession, after a Dak Prescott interception, Daniels hit Tez Johnson for a 64-yard explosive play that set up an Irving rushing touchdown. On the Bucs first possession of the fourth quarter, Bowles and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson elected to go for it on fourth down from the Cowboys' 1-yard line. They were kept out of the end zone, and Prescott took his crew 99 yards for a score.

On the ensuing Cowboys possession, though, a tipped pass careened high, and veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone took off to catch it on the way down. After taking back over, Irving posted one more explosive run on the night, a 23-yarder, to give Tampa Bay a first down and a victory formation.

Tampa Bay will use its mini-bye to prepare for the Steelers before traveling to Charlotte for its first division game of the season in Week 7. Initial reports indicated Mayfield — who had his stitches removed last week — could return by Week 7 at the earliest. But NFL Network's James Palmer recently reported Mayfield is pushing to be ready for the Week 6 Steelers game.

Regardless of who is under center, the Bucs know they have a long way to go to match Thursday night.

"We started the second quarter [of the season] tonight," Bowles said Thursday night. "We got one win, and we've got to get three more to go to try to even this thing up. It's a long way to climb out, but at the same time we're upbeat and if we play this hard and play this effective we'll be okay."

Next Game: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) in Tampa

Atlanta Falcons (3-2, 1-1): Running back showdown ends with questions at QB, again

The Falcons finished their three-game prime time slate at home with a 30-23 overtime nail-biter that leaves the Falcons with quarterback concerns once again.

QB Michael Penix Jr. was sacked late in the fourth quarter while trying to drive for a game-winning field goal. He exited for one play, which brought Tua Tagovailoa out, before Penix jogged back out for the final play on the drive.

But when Atlanta was forced into overtime (more on that below), Tagovailoa was at quarterback as Penix sat on the bench with a towel on his head, clearly emotional.

After the game, Coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters they would know more about Penix's rib injury after imaging. Stefanski also added that Penix was working to get comfortable enough to return but couldn't do so in time.

"It's a tough sport, physical sport," said Penix. "I got hit pretty good and just trying to get back out there. I did take some throws not on the sideline just to see how I felt, and I did not feel like I was going to be able to give our team what we needed to help us win that football game because of the pain I was feeling."

Coming into the night, this game was billed, understandably, as a running back showdown: Bijan Robinson versus Derrick Henry. But in the first half, it was all about defense on both sides.

The Ravens held Bijan Robinson to 28 rushing yards through the first half, and Atlanta kept Derrick Henry to 57 rushing yards in the same span, both conservative outputs for those two backs. Robinson eventually exploded in the third quarter, while Henry took over in overtime, and both did their part to keep the game close.

The Falcons defense kept Tyler Huntley — starting in place of the injured Lamar Jackson — under pressure all night, posting four sacks and eight hurries.

Without Jackson, it was no secret the Ravens would rely on Henry and the short game. The Falcons took advantage and loaded their front, keeping Baltimore out of the end zone on their first drive, despite Henry getting the ball to the 1-yard line. On the subsequent Ravens drive, the Falcons swarmed again on a short pass, forcing a fumble on veteran Mark Andrews.

Jessie Bates III returned it 36 yards for a touchdown, the only touchdown that either team scored until the end of the second quarter. Bates is the only active player in the NFL to have scored a defensive touchdown in each of the last four seasons.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first half, the Falcons offense found a spurt. Two big throws from Penix, one to Drake London and another to Jahan Dotson, put the Falcons inside the 10-yard line. From there, a dart to Kyle Pitts ended up being the Falcons' only offensive touchdown of the day. Paired with three field goals, it seemed like that would be all they needed.

But the Ravens drove back downfield in a two-minute drill that included a huge play to Zay Flowers. When Falcons corner Mike Hughes was injured on a long play to Rashod Bateman, the Falcons — with AJ Terrell still on Injured Reserve and CJ Henderson having exited the game earlier with a groin injury — had to turn to Mike Ford, who had played one defensive snap all season to that point.

Unsurprisingly, the Ravens went there immediately. It worked, as Charlotte native Tez Walker pulled in the touchdown that, when all was said and done, helped his hometown team stay in first place in the division. Baltimore needed a two-point conversion to tie, and Derrick Henry took the direct snap, bowling in for the conversion, his first in five years.

The Falcons attempted to get back downfield for a game-winning field goal. But after Penix took a hard sack that brought in Tua Tagovailoa for a play, Atlanta was too far back and had to settle for overtime.

"Honestly, it shouldn't have gotten to overtime," preached Bates. "You got an eight-point lead. As a defense, the defense that we have, that's when you want to close out those types of teams, and we didn't do it.

"When you got a good team in your stadium, you got to put them away, and we didn't do it."

In the extra period, Henry punished the Falcons' defense on a long, grinding drive. Coming into Week 5, Atlanta was the best rushing defense in the NFL, having held teams to 48.3 yards per game on the ground, and allowed a total of 193 rushing yards across all four games. In Week 5, Baltimore finished, as a team, with 208 yards on the ground.

"Give credit to Baltimore, but run defense is about doing our job, getting off blocks, tackling, and we just didn't do that well enough tonight," said Stefanski. "But there are things we can certainly do better from a player's perspective and a coach's perspective."

Penix returned for the Falcons' final offensive play of regulation, but the Ravens won the toss and got the ball first in overtime, bleeding more than seven minutes off the clock. Penix said that made a difference in his availability.

"I was trying to get out there," said the quarterback. "I feel like if we'd had the ball first in overtime, I probably would'vebeen out there. But as we were sitting, what I was going through, it started getting worse and worse as we were sitting there, I was getting cold."

By the time Huntley drove the pile into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown in overtime, it was Tua grabbing his helmet to finish the game.

Tua hit London for a big play to start their drive, but when Atlanta went back to London on the other side of the field for the next play, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton was ready. He jumped Tua's pass for a game-winning interception.

Now, the Falcons find themselves in familiar territory they hoped never to see again: waiting for answers about Penix's health.

On defense, Terrell must remain on IR for at least one more game. Stefanski said they would know more about Henderson's groin injury after imaging. The Falcons' first injury report of the week had not yet been shared at the time of publishing.

"Knowing me, I'm going to be ready to go next week," said Penix after the game. "I sat out enough in my career. But I'mgoing to do everything I can in the training room, make sure I get back to where I want to be. But obviously my health is very, very serious. That's always going to come first. But I will work my tail off to make sure I'm back out there on the field."

Early reports following the MRI indicate Penix could be ready for Sunday's Week 6 game.

Next game: vs. Chicago Bears (3-2) in Atlanta

New Orleans Saints (1-4, 0-1): Vikings smother Shough as Saints lose on Brees big day

For the second week in a row, the Saints held a celebration during a home game, this time honoring Drew Brees as the Hall of Fame quarterback was inducted into New Orleans' ring of honor.

And for the second straight week, that off-the-field momentoff-the-field moment was one of the few bright spots for a team that lost its third straight, this time a 23-13 loss to the (still) undefeated Minnesota Vikings.

"Obviously disappointing game for us," admitted coach Kellen Moore. "I thought our defense created a couple of turnovers, which were big in this game. Ultimately, we had three of our own doing and weren't able to play efficient enough football to give ourselves a chance to win that game.

"Not enough stability on offense to move the ball. That's a good defense, but we didn't do our part in sustaining drives…they played better than us, coached better than us. For our guys, it's about getting back to work, and that's the best path we have to focus on."

The Vikings defense under coordinator Brian Flores is relentless. They overwhelm opposing quarterbacks with pressure, and did so again Sunday against Shough and the Saints. Coming into the game, the Saints' interior offensive line had allowed only a 4.0 percent pressure rate this season, the second-lowest in the NFL. Flores and the Vikings changed that quickly.

In the first half, Minnesota blitzed on 90.9 percent of Shough's drop backs. In the second half, they backed off, dropping that number to 40 percent, but that strategy also worked: Shough took advantage and held on to the ball longer, allowing Minnesota to still pressure 60 percent of his second-half passes even without a blitz.

Shough averaged 3.8 yards per attempt and a 34.6 percent passing success rate, both the lowest marks in his career as a starting quarterback. Minnesota also picked him off twice, the second turnover coming with less than three minutes left. The Vikings ran out the clock from there.

"I feel like that's something that obviously was unique," Shough said of the Vikings' pressure at the line. "That's essentially what they're good at, causing a lot of communication. We had to communicate at the line. Have some stuff there we have to clean up. And I have to be able to distribute it a little bit quicker in some of those moments. That's something we can learn from.

"More than anything, there's a huge emphasis on those early details of communication."

Shough's left hand was wrapped for Sunday's game. When asked afterward if it was broken, he said he wasn't sure he could answer. The Saints' first injury report of the week will be released Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm not even sure I can answer that," Shough said, "but it was kind of banged up a little bit this week. But it didn't really affect me."

The Saints defense landed two sacks on Kyler Murray and forced a fumble that was returned 87-yards for a touchdown.

But with the defensive performance the Vikings were pitching, their offense didn't have to do much against the Saints defense, yet Kyler Murray and Aaron Jones still had a day.

Murray hit 10 different receivers and picked apart the Saints from the pocket and with his legs, finishing with 280 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. That score (possible because of a Saints fumble) went to Justin Jefferson in triple coverage, and the receiver, back in his hometown, still came down with the ball.

Aaron Jones ran for 113 yards and a score against a Saints defense that entered Sunday as the third-worst in the league (allowing 147.8 yards per game on the ground).

The three straight losses have all come at home. Now, the Saints get a chance to regroup on the road in Week 6.

"There's 12 opportunities left," edge rusher Cameron Jordan said. "Dudes got to show exactly who they are in times of adversity. Last week we got punched in the mouth? Cool, how do you respond? There's guys that have made business decisions; there's guys that fought through. As a team, we're not disciplined enough at the end of the day.

"I think, from last week (a loss to the Falcons), we learned there's ups and downs of the game. This week, everybody was locked in; everybody was focused on how to get this win. We got up going into halftime; you can't come out and give that ball back. You've got to be a disciplined team. You've got to be able to overcome."

The Saints 1-4 start led to owner Gayle Benson making a rare public statement this week on the state of her club, voicing the disappointment in the start.

Next game: at New York Giants (3-1-1)