Continuing a series that debuted last season, UGASports highlights the top NFL performances by former Georgia players for the week entering the Monday night game. With our most outstanding performer for the week—or the Top Dawg—revealed towards the end, we spotlight the top NFL performances by Bulldogs for October 3 through October 6 and preview those participating in tonight’s Monday night game.

In Green Bay’s 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams on the road, three of the Packers’ top five tacklers were former Georgia players in a fine defensive showing. Starting linebacker Quay Walker totaled nine tackles, including one for loss; starting cornerback Eric Stokes had seven tackles; and safety Javon Bullard totaled seven tackles, including one made on special teams. The trio of Bulldogs helped spearhead a defense that limited a potent Rams offense and former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford. Notably, Green Bay’s fourth defensive Bulldog player, tackle Devonte Wyatt, was “not active” for the game.

Although resulting in a 34-18 loss to Denver on the road, Bowers continued to prove yesterday that he is already—just five games into his pro career—one of the top tight ends in the league. Against the Broncos, he was targeted 12 times, making a game-high eight receptions for 97 yards. Included was a fantastic catch-and-run on the first possession of the game resulting in a 57-yard touchdown, Bowers’ first score of his NFL career. Through five games this season, he leads all the league’s tight ends with 28 catches for 313 yards.

After a slow start to the season and seemingly everyone had written him off, Swift had his second consecutive offensive outburst on Sunday. Chicago’s primary back, who averaged just 1.8 yards per rush through his first three games of the season, gained 73 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown in a 36-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. He also caught two passes for 47 yards while nearly scoring a second time. In the Bears’ last two games, both victories, Swift rushed for 166 yards (4.5 average), caught nine passes for 119 yards, and scored two touchdowns.

Our Top Dawg for Week 5 is Jacksonville’s Walker, who had his career game yesterday in a 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars’ first win of the season. Starting at defensive end and playing for 52 snaps, he totaled five tackles, including four solo, a career-high three sacks for a loss of 31 yards, one pass defended, and one forced fumble. Entering the game, the most sacks the former No. 1 overall pick had in a single game had been two on two different occasions, including in Week 1 of this season. According to our Dave McMahon, Walker’s three sacks are tied for the sixth most among former Georgia players for most sacks in a single NFL game. In just over two seasons in the league (37 games), he now has 18.5 sacks for his NFL career.

Certainly worthy of note is Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith, who had a game-high 15 tackles in a 41-38 win over Cleveland in overtime. Although resulting in 24-23 loss to Arizona, San Francisco’s Leonard Floyd had five tackles, including a sack. Also coming in a loss—a 36-30 overtime setback to Atlanta on Thursday night—rookie Tykee Smith had a game-high 11 tackles, one pass defended, and a forced fumble.

Making an appearance yesterday for Buffalo in the Bills’ 23-20, final-play loss to Houston was defensive end Zion Logue, who had been a sixth-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the latest draft. After being a member of Atlanta’s practice squad this season, Buffalo signed Logue last week when Von Miller was suspended for four games. Coming off the bench and playing for 20 of the defense’s 68 snaps against the Texans, Logue made two tackles, both solo.

Finally, in the same Houston-Buffalo game, there were opposing notable performances by former Georgia players. For the Bills, running back James Cook rushed for 82 yards on 20 carries, caught two passes for 17 yards, and scored a touchdown. For the Texans, Kamari Lassiter, a rookie starting cornerback, made three tackles, all solo, including one for loss, and defended on one pass. Lassiter’s tackle behind the line of scrimmage was a Dawg-on-Dawg moment, you could say, as he dropped his teammate at Georgia (for the 2021 national title season) for a one-yard loss.

Kicking off at 8:15 pm ET, the lone Monday night game tonight pits the 2-2 New Orleans Saints at the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs, where the home team is a 5.5-point favorite. The Chiefs feature Mecole Hardman, the team’s No. 1 kickoff returner, No. 2 punt returner, and a third-string wide receiver, and No. 2 defensive end Malik Herring.