Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester Citys failure to maintain an interest in the title race was down to a number of factors and not solely on the imminent arrival of Pep Guardiola. In February, Pellegrini himself made public the fact Bayern Munich coach Guardiola would be replacing him at the Etihad Stadium at the end of his three-year stint at the Allianz Arena.Citys form dipped almost immediately, losing three successive matches and falling well behind Leicester and Tottenham in the battle for Premier League supremacy. After Saturdays 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the Chilean claimed the early news of his departure had had a detrimental effect on the form of the players.But speaking ahead of Tuesdays match against relegation-threatened Newcastle, he clarified his remarks, saying: The mathematical reason we are not challenging for the title is because we lost three games in a row at the start of February. Pep Guardiola taking over from Pellegrini at City in the summer We lost to Leicester and Tottenham at home and Liverpool away and three defeats in a row like that is not normal in this team.When you are in charge of teams, when you are involved in the season, you are in charge of the group then I dont think it is right to try and find different reasons. There is a lot of reasons but the reality is at the moment that we are in third position, not fighting for the title but also that we continue with our winning mentality and try to win. City, who are now unbeaten in five matches and face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, lie 13 points behind leaders Leicester with five matches of the season remaining. Also See: Newcastle v Man City preview Kompany, Sterling boost for City Blake Griffin Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. 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Carson Wentz finally threw an interception, and the Eagles finally lost! Hes not a machine -- hes a man!Yeah, Rocky Balboa might be the most tired Philadelphia sports cliché, but until Darius Slay ripped his final pass of the day out of the air Sunday afternoon, Wentz was looking straight Ivan Drago. (From an unstoppability standpoint, of course. Not from a menacing, steroid-addled, deadly Red Scare one.)You could say we learned Sunday that Wentz isnt going to go his entire career without making a mistake or losing a game, but Id like to think we already knew that. Fans get too excited, and skeptics get too nasty. But if I can change ... and you can change ... everybody can change!Or, at least, we can take a look at what we think Week 5 of the NFL season taught us.The Dallas Cowboys might be able to pull this offNo pass rush? Bah. With DeMarcus Lawrence back, Dallas had four sacks in Sundays victory over the Bengals. The division-rival Giants have four sacks all season. The Cowboys defense doesnt need to be great -- just OK -- because the offense flat-out works. Ezekiel Elliott is running through holes big enough to be designated national parks. Dak Prescott is doing everything the Cowboys are?asking him to do. I continue to think they should give the job back to Tony Romo when hes healthy, but Im starting to waver. My rationale is theyll be able to use a lot more of the playbook with Romo than theyre using with Prescott. But I waver because, having watched them the past four weeks, I wonder whether they need to.Jack Del Rio is going to be huge in VegasRemember when Del Rios Raiders were down seven and scored a touchdown in the waning seconds of Week 1s game in New Orleans, and he went for two and got it? Sure, you do. You dont forget a thing like that. But that wasnt a one-off. Del Rio had a fourth-and-3 on the Chargers 21 down three points in the second half Sunday, and he dialed up a touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Michael Crabtree. Then he went for two because thats what Jack Del Rio does. Sure, opposing teams are just taking turns ripping out the Chargers hearts these days. But cant you see a future in which the well-coiffed coach of the Las Vegas Raiders is at some high-rollers table at Caesars, hitting on 16 with the dealer showing 4, and the whole table is like, What are you do ... YES!!The Giants are asking a lot of a small group of playersSundays game was the first all season in which Jason Pierre-Paul played fewer?than 95 percent of the Giants defensive snaps. On the season, he has played 96 percent, and fellow starting defensive end Olivier Vernon has played 93 percent. They are great players and well-paid for their efforts, but a defensive line is at its best when it has enough pieces to rotate in and out and keep its stars fresh for the fourth quarter. The Giants couldnt get near Aaron Rodgers in the second half Sunday, and it cost them, as Green Bay held the ball for 36:38 of the game.dddddddddddd Janoris Jenkins is playing great, and Odell Beckham Jr. will be just fine. But not enough Giants are performing at a high level, and the team is asking too much of the few who are.The Colts cannot expect Andrew Luck to endure thisHow did those contract negotiations go, by the way? Andrew, yeah, well give you whatever you want, but youre going to have to be OK?with spending the season on your back. Luck was sacked five times in Sundays win over the Bears, and he has been sacked 20 times this season. If he plays all 16 games, itll be a miracle. The Colts need to figure out a way to protect their franchise player, or their franchise isnt going to accomplish very much during his career.The 49ers will start at least two quarterbacks -- probably three -- before the end of the seasonIm serious, people. Christian Ponder will start a game before this season ends. You heard it here first. Or maybe you didnt, but still. Heck, I wouldnt be surprised if Ponder started this week. I also wouldnt be surprised if the 49ers went to Colin Kaepernick or if they stayed with Blaine Gabbert. Chip Kelly knows the stew hes cooking tastes terrible, but all three bottles in the spice rack are filled with dust. You can yell yourself hoarse that Kaepernick couldnt possibly be worse, but the fact is he could, and the Niners dont have a good answer for all that ails them.The Steelers could run away with the leagues best divisionPittsburgh looked terrible in Philly but has looked unstoppable everywhere else. The Ravens are turning back into a pumpkin. And it appears the Marquis de Sade made the Bengals first-half schedule. (Honestly, next week is their fourth road game, and its in New England!) Theres no reason the Steelers shouldnt be able to run away and hide, even from the other good teams in the division.Miami Hurricanes never dieAndre Johnson, who entered the NFL in 2003, scored a touchdown for the Titans on Sunday. Frank Gore, who entered the NFL in 2005, ran for 75 yards and passed JIM BROWN on the all-time rushing yards list. Weve heard a lot about how great those Hurricanes teams were back then, but the fact that these guys are still delivering at their age just underlines it.Joey Bosa played!And he had two sacks in his debut! Good to see you, big guy! I mean, its probably too late after the holdout and the injury and the three blown fourth-quarter leads while you were out, but the Chargers sure are happy to have their first-round pick in uniform and looking good. San Diego hasnt had much go its way so far this season, and losing top defensive back Jason Verrett last week was the latest kick in the gut. Maybe Bosas arrival gives them a kick somewhere more helpful. 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