Five Wide: 2025 Week Four

By Thomas Willoughby

In week one, I pleaded to the very fine people of EA Sports for a download code for Madden 26 for Switch 2. I’m sorry to report that my DM’s are untouched by them as an organisation, and by members of their staff. I will start week four by repeating that plea! I’m going to be up and down the country over the next couple of months, and I think it’d be nice to be leading the Falcons (what a team, by the way, never doubted them we’re all the way back baby let’s go) to glory while on the move. EA! PLEASE! I’M NOT JOKING! THIS IS NOT A BIT! I WILL SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT ME TO SAY ABOUT IT I DO NOT HAVE SHAME!

FOUR WEEKS we’ve played, thus far. We’re positively flying through the schedule. Next week, we’ve got bye weeks! Where does the time go, eh? It was another really good week in the NFL, and where better to start than the centre of the football universe this week; Dublin.

Main Character Syndrome

For 10 months of the year, I feel pretty normal towards the NFLs’ European excursions. Then, about a week before they start, I begin to get a bit envious. A bit jealous. I want to be there. I want to be at all the things. That just isn’t financially feasible in 2025, unfortunately. Equally unfortunate is that, thanks to a game being played in a pretty accessible city, I get to experience that envy a week earlier than normal. God, I wanted to be in Dublin this weekend.

And, apparently, I wasn’t the only one. In a weekend showcasing the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who should decide to insert themselves into the narrative? The Kansas City Chiefs.

You just can’t accept anyone else enjoy some attention, can you, Chiefs? This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to pull this sort of stunt, either. In the afterglow of the first ever Munich game in 2022, between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City decided to make it all about them as fans headed to the airport. Never before have we seen a thirst for the spotlight at this level. It’s INSUFFERABLE.

Kansas City might well be heading over to Deublin in 2026. We discussed how they were publicly offering themselves to the market in week one. And they were awarded marketing rights to Ireland and the UK earlier this year, which suggests they’ll be hosting a game at Croke Park in 2026. But talk about it when you can talk about it! Let everyone else have their moment! Learn to share!

The Good, The Bad, and The Rabbit

One thing I’ve noticed, speaking about the NFL with friends and family who do not watch the sport, is how much of a big deal the Super Bowl half time show is. For the past 3 months, the speculation has been a constant source of conversation between my sister and I, and she has the most limited knowledge of the sport possible. It’s a great unifier, in that sense.

Over Sunday night, we got confirmation of our Super Bowl LX half time show headliner. While Taylor Swift is (naturally) a name that’s been popping up when discussing the set, I never really felt that’d be in the realms of possibility just yet. Both Miley Cyrus and Jay Z were pretty constant rumours, from what I’d seen, and I was bang up for some Hannah Montana bangers at 2am. All a ruse! A smokescreen! Topping the bill: Bad Bunny!

Now, if you’re like me, your first question will be “who?”. Turns out you and I are ignorant to the ever evolving popular music scene. Mr Bunny is huge. He boasts over 77 million streams a month of Spotify (other streaming platforms are available), he wrestled in the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble(?!?), and is set to play two nights at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next summer. Like, that’s massive. No amount of “Bad Bunny? I’d rather watch Bugs Bunny!” tweets will change that.

Interestingly, Bad Bunny, from Puerto Rico, sings and raps all his tunes in Spanish. I respect that, and know for a FACT its going to annoy a large portion of the American population. More importantly, however, he’s previously stated he won’t be playing the US as part of that world tour due to concerns ICE will conduct raids at his shows. So, those who belly ache over politics and sport crossing over will no doubt flip a lid when they learn about that. And I, as one of the world’s foremost wind up enjoyers, look forward to seeing all of that play out online over the coming months. Good pick! I’ll listen to some of your music later on!

Kitwatch 2025

We love a new jersey here on Five Wide. I’ve been gagging for the Falcons to shake up their threads for a while so I can harp on about them here every week for a year. Shame. Anyway, Nike, have introduced a new project. It’s called “Rivalries”. Effectively, it’s a new jersey, that’ll be used in one game (against an in-division rival), and then remain in the team’s rotation for three seasons thereafter. The idea is the design is supposed to nod to the teams culture, fanbase, location; basically find a way to connect what the team is, and reflect that in its design. Think the ill-fated “Color Rush”, but more jazzy. 

Instead of going all in, Nike have opted for a staggered release, with two divisions a season getting their new jersey a season between now and 2028. AFC East and NFC West are the two divisions enjoying the scheme this season. And, this week, we had our first look at them. The Arizona Cardinals hosted the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, and were beaten. I don’t think they’re very good. But we’re not here for how they played. It’s how they looked playing that matters. And they looked awful

Ross D. Franklin – AP Photo

I’m sure the colour scheme it’s likely a nod to the deserts in Arizona, but it’s a tortilla wrap, isn’t it. They’ve scanned a tortilla wrap into photoshop, pulled it over a jersey outline, and called it a day. We’re off to a very poor start. 1/5. Luckily, the Miami Dolphins played host to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Again, the game doesn’t matter. But this is much better

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Nike calls it “Dark Waters”, presumably a reference to the (ALLEGED) horrid practices at the famous aquatic life theme park down the road from Miami. But it’s much more palatable to look at. I’m a sucker for black jersey anyway, but the orange detailing I’m on board with. It does feel quite “generic uniforms for a relocated Madden franchise”, but I don’t hate it. 3/5.

We’ll track these as they make their debut over the next few weeks. For now, it’s a so-so start. The good news is there are some genuinely decent efforts coming up. Don’t spoil it for yourselves, key it glued here.

Come on, man

I’m increasingly noticing bozo’s in the NFL. Stupid moments from possibly stupid players. Trevor Lawrence, for example. I’ve talked about him before. Throwing a checkdown against the 49ers while in field goal range with like 5 seconds left of the first half? Stupid decision. Bozo. He’ll escape my ire this week. I’ll save that for London. The biggest moment of clownery this week came from Adonai Mitchell, who completely forgot how long an NFL field is.

You can tell the exact moment he remembered the ramifications of him not taking one extra step before dropping the ball, too. He did so well, too. Had Mitchell completed his run, the Colts would have put them up 17-13. Instead, the Rams got the ball back up 13-10 themselves. And it did ultimately come back to bite them. Los Angeles would beat Indianapolis 27-20, snapping their 3-0 start to the season. Was it all Mitchell’s fault? Not really. Indiana Jones didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on Sunday. But it wouldn’t have hurt to have those points, would it? Bozo move, Adonai. Be smarter.

Jaxs Attaxs

We’re ending this week with a shout out to the first rookie quarterback from the 2025 class to lead their team to a win. Jaxson Dart, take a bow young man. That was lovely. And against a legit outfit, too!

He wasn’t perfect, though you certainly don’t expect rookies to be. His numbers aren’t overly exciting, either. 13/20, 111 passing yards, 1 TD. But he did put in a shift on the ground, picking up 54 yards from 10 rush attempts, and even ran one in for a TD by himself. And, most impressively, against a team going into the game 3-0, with a pretty good defense. That’s impressive! He kinda got thrown in the deep end, and he didn’t drown.

Malik Nabers getting hurt sucks so much, not only for him, but for Dart and the Giants. You’d love to see how that relationship can develop, and now that’s gone. New York play the Saints this weekend, before a three game stretch of Eagles, Broncos, and Eagles. That’ll be where the make up of Dart is truly tested. For now, I’ve got nothing but good stuff to say about Dart this week. Congratulations to him. Really pleased.

Features Image Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Thomas Willoughby

NFL ANALYST

THOMAS IS A WRITER, AND REGULAR GUEST ON THE TOUCHDOWN REVIEW SHOW PODCAST, FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU CAN FIND HIM @WILLO290592 ON TWITTER

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