*some information courtesy of espn.com
Week 6 has wrapped with a flurry of great games and a few questionable ones at best. Let’s dive in!
Commanders @ Bears
Thursday Night Football has a big problem. It’s one bad matchup after the other so far. The latest in line of horrible primetime games was the Commanders @ Bears. Final score 12-7, Commanders. Not much more to say other than I regret wasting yet another three hours with this game. Can we get a decent game on Thursday? Please? Sincerely- every football fan.
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49ers @ Falcons
Marcus Mariota turned back the clock and had himself a GAME. The Falcons’ quarterback had a near perfect game, throwing 13 of 14 completions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Mariota had an impressive day to say the least. Jimmy Garoppolo struggled in this one. He threw two touchdowns but also tossed two interceptions on the day. Deebo Samuel did his best to be the X-factor, but he had a pedestrian outing; only 79 yards on seven receptions off ten targets. The Niners have to iron out their issues because their 2-3 record could spiral out of control if they aren’t careful.
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Patriots @ Browns
Contrary to popular belief, I expected this game to be an exciting matchup. The hype was worth it. Of course, that’s my opinion. But the game backs my statement up. The Patriots got the win 38-10. The backup quarterback, rookie Bailey Zappe, is making the most of his opportunity in the spotlight. He threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Cleveland running back Nick Chubb, who entered the game leading the NFL in rushing, didn’t have a double-digit gain until late in the third quarter. Chubb finished with 12 carries for 56 yards, both season lows. I can’t lie and act like offense wasn’t an issue but I had hoped the Browns defensive unit would have stepped up to the plate better. Both teams have things they can build off from this game.
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Jets @ Packers
Breece Hall, Quinnen Williams and the young New York Jets are making a convincing statement to the rest of the NFL. They aren’t the same old Jets who haven’t reached the playoffs since the 2010 season, the league’s longest active drought. These young Jets are soaring to new and promising heights. Hall ran for 116 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown, and Williams had two of New York’s four sacks against Aaron Rodgers as the Jets won their third straight, 27-10 over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The Jets (4-2) are off to their best six-game start since 2015, when they also were 4-2 before finishing with a 10-6 record. The Packers are 3-3 on the year and are playing really rough right now. Green Bay (3-3) has lost consecutive regular-season games within the same season for the first time since coach Matt LaFleur’s arrival in 2019. The Packers fell 27-22 to the New York Giants in London last week. Green Bay has major lapses to address if they are to salvage their season.
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Jaguars @ Colts
Well, the Colts beat the Jaguars.Indy finally got the monkey off of their back with their win over Jacksonville, 34-27. Even though they got the win; this game was a little bit too close. Matt Ryan delivered a few heroics to end the game and lift the Colts to victory. Ryan was 42 of 58 for 389 yards with three touchdowns, no sacks and no turnovers. He broke the franchise’s single game record for completions and moved into seventh on the NFL’s career passing list. Dan Marino has 61,361 yards. Ryan now has 61,499 yards and 45 career game-winning drives. He’s also fifth all-time with 30 career games of 350 or more yards passing. But Ryan also knew what mattered most. Indy (3-2-1) snapped a two-game skid against its AFC South rival and improved to 1-2-1 in division play. Plus, Indy ended a touchdown drought that stretched to Week 4 and topped the 20-point mark for the first time in eight games. Jacksonville (2-4) has lost three straight despite gashing Indy’s usually stout rushing defense for 243 yards and big play after big play. The Jags led the entire first half, extended the margin to 21-13 just five plays into the second half and responded with a 10-minute, 18-play drive after Indy had finally taken a 26-21 lead on Ryan’s TD pass to Jelani Woods early in the fourth quarter. Trevor Lawrence responded with a 4-yard scoring pass to Christian Kirk for 27-26 lead with 2:44 to go. A 2-point conversion pass failed. Lawrence was 20 of 22 with 163 yards and one score while running for two TDs. But the Jags left too much time for the Colts, who had already moved into field-goal position and were facing third-and-3 when Ryan took a shot on Pierce.
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Vikings @ Dolphins
The Dolphins have fallen on hard times. They are down to their 3rd string quarterback at this point. it’s a struggle out in the 305. The injury bug has absolutely decimated the Dolphins season; not to mention that the injuries were never properly handled. Going into this game against the Vikings, the Dolphins were looking to re-establish the spark that lit an early fire in the beginning of the season. The quarterback duo of Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson Put up 385 yd combined. The Vikings defense had a field day with a very weak and limited Dolphins offense. Final score 27-16, Vikings.
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Bengals @ Saints
The New Orleans Saints offense crumbled at the end of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Final score 30-26, Bengals. Dalton moved the Saints to the Cincinnati 41 in the final minute before throwing three incompletions and getting sacked on third down. His final attempt — deep down the sideline for Marquez Calloway on fourth-and-17 — was not close. If Andy Dalton cannot play up to par as a starting quarterback; the Saints better pray that Jameis Winston gets healthy or it can get nasty quick. Jamarr Chase and Joe Burrow put the dynamic duo into affect the entire game. Joe Burrow threw for three touchdowns in 300 yards. jamarr Chase caught two touchdowns on ten targets for 132 yards. While they’re not as dominant as last season’s Super Bowl runner up squad, they still can be dangerous in the AFC; if they play their cards right.
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Ravens @ Giants
The Ravens choked away another game. The Ravens seemed to have a stranglehold on the game when Jackson had a third-down sneak to the Baltimore 46 for an apparent first down. An illegal formation nullified the play and a premature shotgun snap on third-and-5 went past Jackson. He picked up the ball deep behind the line of scrimmage, and his desperation pass was intercepted by Love and returned to the 13. “It’s frustrating because we’re losing these games,” said Jackson, who threw for 210 yards and had 77 of the Ravens’ 211 yards rushing. “It happened. It’s over with. We have to move on to the Browns. We just can’t keep beating ourselves up because that’s what it is. It’s not our opponent.”
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Buccaneers @ Steelers
The Steelers are in a weird spot. The quarterback back and forth between Trubisky and Pickett is confusing most NFL fans. Let’s be clear, Pickett is the future of Steeler football, but for one quarter Mitch Trubisky played like the quarterback we all thought he could be. Pittsburgh (2-4) snapped a four-game losing streak behind 144 yards passing from Trubisky — who filled in after Pickett went into the concussion protocol late in the third quarter — and a largely anonymous defense that somehow found a way to beat Brady, a task far more star-studded versions of the Steelers have failed to do through the years. Tampa struggled in this game. Brady completed 25 of 40 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown but also saw drives bog down consistently in the red zone. Four times Tampa Bay drove inside the Pittsburgh 20. Three times the drive ended with Ryan Succop kicking a field goal instead of an extra-point attempt. “We didn’t earn the win,” Brady said after his team lost for the third time in four weeks. “It’s a game of earning it and it’s a game of playing well and performing well and we’re just not doing a good job of that. I don’t think we’ve done it for six weeks. I think we’re all playing less than what we’re capable of.” Tampa definitely wants a re-do with this game.
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Panthers @ Rams
The Panthers are still dysfunctional but now they’ve decided to put star running back Christian McCaffery on the trade block. It’s rebuilding time in Carolina, again. Did I mention that wide receiver Robby Anderson got kicked off the team mid-game? I don’t think the dumpster fire could be any bigger. All that said, the Rams actually trailed in this game for a while. Eventually, they buckled down and finished off Carolina. Matthew Stafford passed for 253 yards, Darrell Henderson and receiver Ben Skowronek rushed for touchdowns in the second half, and the Rams snapped their two-game skid with a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
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Cardinals @ Seahawks
Kenneth Walker III wanted to honor mentor Rashaad Penny in his first start. The Seattle rookie did just that, rushing for 97 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to lead the Seahawks to a 19-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.The Seahawks (3-3) jumped into a share of the lead in the NFC West with San Francisco, which lost earlier Sunday at Atlanta. And they did it with an unproven feature back in Walker, who took over after Penny broke his left leg last week. The good news for Arizona is that superstar wide-out, Deandre Hopkins, came back from a six-game suspension.
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Bills @ Chiefs
This was my game of the week if I had to choose one. The much anticipated rematch of last season’s amazing AFC Championship lived up to the hype. We all know how the game ended last year, the controversy with the coin toss, and subsequent rule change that followed because of it. The Bills quarterback was masterful again on Sunday. This time, it was in a winning effort. Allen threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead toss to Dawson Knox with 1:04 left, and the Bills held on for a 24-20 victory to exact a measure of revenge for their epic overtime loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in last year’s playoffs. “Nothing we did last year translates to what we’re doing this year,” Allen said. “What happened in the past, that’s where it is. All we can do is focus on the next one. Today was the next one.” For a moment, it looked as if it could be the next heartbreak. The Chiefs got the ball back after Knox’s touchdown with plenty of time left. But after Mahomes misfired on first down, Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson jumped his pass to Skyy Moore and picked him off with 51 seconds left. The Bills ran out the clock from there.
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Cowboys @ Eagles
I never thought I would ever care about the Cowboys and Eagles matchup, but with both teams being really good, (Philly is way better than “good”) it was super entertaining. Jalen Hurts threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns, C.J. Gardner-Johnson had two of Philadelphia’s three interceptions of Cooper Rush, and the Eagles stayed undefeated with a 26-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The Eagles held on after their 20-0 lead shrank to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, improving to 6-0 for the first time since 2004 — when they won their first seven games and went to the Super Bowl. Rush had led Dallas to four straight victories in place of the injured Dak Prescott but was overmatched under the lights in front of a rowdy crowd — and an Eagles defense that ranks second in the NFL in points off turnovers. Rush threw two interceptions in the first half that led to 10 points for the Eagles and the ineffective QB finished the half with a 1.0 rating. Final score 26-17, Eagles.
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Broncos @ Chargers
Lackluster games plague the NFL primetime slots as of recently. Monday’s game was no exception. This game was decided in overtime, but even the way that ended wasn’t entertaining. Justin Herbert didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 27 games. For once, it didn’t matter, thanks to the Los Angeles Chargers’ special teams. Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals, including a 39-yarder with 2:38 remaining in overtime, and the Chargers rallied for a 19-16 victory over the Denver Broncos. Hopkins, who injured a hamstring during the first half, grimaced as he kicked the ball and fell to the ground before being picked up by teammates. The ninth-year kicker was inactive for last week’s game against Cleveland due to a quadriceps injury. Hopkins’ heroics were set up when Deane Leonard recovered a muffed punt at the Denver 28-yard line. The Chargers have won three straight to improve to 4-2. They are tied with Kansas City atop the AFC West. It is the first time in franchise history they have rallied from a double-digit deficit at the end of the first quarter to win. Russell Wilson was 15 of 28 for 188 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos (2-4), who dropped a game in overtime for the second straight week. Wilson said after the game that he injured his hamstring during the fourth quarter. Another collapse for Denver, if the reg flags weren’t flying last week; they need to be hoisted immediately.
