3 NFL Storylines to Watch in Week 5

Cam Newton in the Lion's Den

After seeing his game resurrected against a dreadful New England Patriots defense, Cam Newton was going to be a storyline to watch this week no matter what. Last week in Foxborough, Newton threw for three touchdowns and ran for another score.

Prior to this game, Newton's most recent performance in which he passed for more than two touchdowns came over a year ago. It was Week 2 of 2016, to be exact. Over the 16 games in between, Newton complied 3,528 passing yards while completing fewer than 54 percent of his passes for only 16 touchdowns to even out the 16 interceptions.

If that already wasn't enough, there will be extra eyes on him after a controversial press conference as his Carolina Panthers hit the road against the Detroit Lions in a battle between two teams with a 3-1 record.

Facing Detroit is, perhaps, a far more challenging matchup than most assumed it to be. The Lions were 14th in passing yards allowed per game in 2016, but this year's squad is currently ranked as the third-best pass defense per our metrics, trailing only the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.

In their two home games thus far, Detroit limited both Carson Palmer and Matt Ryan to under 280 passing yards while intercepting each quarterback three times.

Should Newton stumble in this showdown in Motown, he'll have a great opportunity see another strong bounce back when he faces the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night in Week 6. Over the last two weeks, the injury-ravaged Eagles secondary has allowed 713 passing yards and 5 touchdowns to Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.