The NFL Week 6 Recap highlights a league that has hit its stride. It’s a little later than it usually is, but we saw good teams play well, poor teams struggle, and teams somewhere in the middle actually duke it out in back-and-forth affairs.
That doesn’t mean we didn’t get upsets; storylines and dramatic turnarounds were rich in Week 6. We don’t get games like the New York Jets upset over the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers upset over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without some level of surprise and intrigue, but we still don’t have the unmoored feeling of thinking the results of one week don’t matter because they could be completely upended the next week.
This week, we saw the next stages of an emerging rivalry, some hope for an underperforming team, an underlooked first-overall pick, and the suspension of an MVP campaign — along with some other news and notes from around the league.
The Bills and Chiefs Are the Next Great AFC Rivalry
The Buffalo Bills’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs proved two things: that the Bills are the most complete team in the NFL — or at least the AFC — and that these two teams aren’t that far apart in total team quality.
It came down to a last-minute drive, one that the Bills famously conceded against the Chiefs with only thirteen seconds remaining in the playoffs, and the difference was a combination of luck and Buffalo’s concerted effort to improve the defense.
Not only were they able to benefit from 2018 fourth-round pick Taron Johnson securing the final interception, the fact that it was made possible at all is because of the Bills’ decision to pursue Von Miller in free agency, who created the pressure on that play. Last year, Buffalo’s pressure numbers were good, but their front four — already a heavy investment through the draft — was unimpressive outside of Ed Oliver and now-Texan Jerry Hughes.
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Now, the only area of weakness seems to be the offensive line, though that is mitigated in a big way by Josh Allen. The Chiefs were aware of this problem for the Bills and stressed that line with a heavy blitz rate, with 34.1% of Bills dropbacks seeing at least one extra rusher.
They were able to get past the line, but Allen either could weather the pressure or got rid of the ball before it arrived, leaving the Bills with just a modest 25% pressure rate allowed. That won’t be a magic solution, but it’s a good start.
Kansas City knows the value of an offensive line despite having one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL at avoiding sacks. After their Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers, the Chiefs invested heavily in that offensive line, and the results have generally been good.
We’ll see if the Bills fall prey to the same fate, but it’s encouraging that a defensive line with Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and George Karlaftis couldn’t unleash the same punishment against Buffalo that Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Ndamukong Suh unleashed against Patrick Mahomes.
This would be a phenomenal rematch to see in the playoffs. Hopefully, we’ll track this rivalry like we did the Patriots-Colts rivalry in the Brady-Manning era.
The Falcons Are Nearly There
The Atlanta Falcons are both tantalizingly close and a gaping chasm away from being a legitimately good football team. There are a lot of people that don’t like head coach Arthur Smith, but he’s been excellent at the offensive design aspect of the job.
They proved it once again, this time playing against a high-level defense in San Francisco, putting up 14 offensive points in the first half and supplementing that with an end-zone fumble recovery and an opening drive touchdown to begin the second half.
The Falcons finished with that 28-point total in a 28-14 win against the 49ers, who ended up in the unusual position of being forced to throw the ball often, sometimes pushing deep. Jimmy Garoppolo, not known for his deep throws, tried five attempts over 20 yards in the air.
Two of them were intercepted, and another was deflected. The final two were drops — not Garoppolo’s fault, but perhaps a sign that the offense wasn’t built around those kinds of desperation throws.
Atlanta’s defense has some players, though they need more. Grady Jarrett and A.J. Terrell are a good core to build around, with good performances from Abdullah Anderson and Richie Grant helping out tremendously. We also saw quite a bit from Rashaan Evans against the 49ers, and we may begin to see some nice work from Troy Andersen, a second-round rookie from Montana State.
But it’s the offense that really lets them shine, and with players like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and — hopefully — Calvin Ridley, the Falcons might be able to do something next year with a quarterback they’re fully invested in, whether that becomes Desmond Ridder or a quarterback that they draft.
Trevor Lawrence Deserves Your Consideration
It was weird to see a lot of people writing Trevor Lawrence off after last week’s game, where he threw a few (extremely) bad passes. But he had a very strong start to the season, and most of that game featured a high-level quarterback playing excellently. He followed that up with an excellent game against the Colts, even in a loss.
There were very few “wasted” completions in a game where he went 20 of 22. Lawrence never put the ball at risk, all while demonstrating his deep accuracy and athleticism. He played with very few negatives. That, along with some remarkable plays from Travis Etienne Jr., tells us that the Jacksonville Jaguars are on the verge of something genuinely meaningful.
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But the Jaguars’ defense — a problem at all three levels and in both phases — couldn’t give the offense the win it deserved. There’s a lot of talent to unlock, from first-round pick Travon Walker to free agent acquisition Shaq Griffin. Right now, one of the few bright spots is Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate and fellow first-round pick Devin Lloyd, who has been playing lights out at linebacker.
In the meantime, Jaguars fans should take solace in the fact that Lawrence looks like the real deal, and they’re beginning to put some pieces around him.
Lamar Jackson’s MVP Campaign on Hold
I’m shutting down my Lamar Jackson MVP campaign until our country can figure out what is going on. The Baltimore Ravens have now given up three double-digit leads for losses in a six-game season, and though they are largely not his fault, it’s tough to argue that an MVP-level QB can’t score some more points to keep the foot on the gas pedal.
In this case, of course, they were. The final two Ravens drives were punctuated by Jackson turnovers. It’s excusable for a high-level quarterback to begin pressing when down two scores late in the game or deep in one’s own territory down one score on the final, game-winning drive. It’s not quite as excusable when protecting a lead late in the game.
Jackson’s interception to a double-covered Patrick Ricard was a child of multiple parents: an errant snap from rookie center Tyler Linderbaum, a well-timed blitz from safety Xavier McKinney, the unfortunate but understandable decision of running back Kenyan Drake to chase a potential fumble instead of blocking McKinney, and Jackson’s decision, after recovering the fumble, to force the ball to Ricard on the run. It was third down, but it would have been smarter to throw the ball away and punt.
The sack-fumble from Kayvon Thibodeaux was more a product of the offensive line situation than it was an issue with Jackson’s performance. Still, elite quarterbacks are expected to feel pressure and find ways away from it.
Jackson was eventually left with Demarcus Robinson and three tight ends to throw to in the passing game. That’s regrettable and should be accounted for when evaluating his performance, but that’s also not too different than what Daniel Jones has been dealing with. And though Jones is not playing nearly as well as Jackson in similar circumstances, it does cut short the effectiveness of that excuse.
For now, it’s Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, or bust.
NFL Week 6 Recap Notes
- I’m genuinely curious about how distracted Tom Brady might be. That’s not a moral judgment — I wouldn’t be able to do my job during a public divorce scandal, but he also seemed fairly uncommitted otherwise. He waffled pretty severely on his retirement decision before deciding to play this year, and while I’m normally not one to criticize players for taking time off for life events, it’s extremely unusual for Brady to miss time during the season for someone else’s wedding.
- Kyler Murray is a talented quarterback, and it looks like Kliff Kingsbury is ruining Murray’s chances of stringing together the wins his talent deserves. That Cardinals team generally has much more talent than wins.
- Conversely, Tariq Woolen, a fourth-round pick for the Seahawks and one of the most impressive athletes in this year’s draft, is looking like an incredible find. He added an interception and fumble recovery to his stat sheet, bringing his interception streak to four. There’s a lot to clean up — he ranks 29th of 89 cornerbacks in yards allowed per coverage snap — but he seems to be the real deal.
- The second half of the Bengals-Saints game showed us exactly how good Cincinnati can be when things are chugging. The Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase connection was electric, enough for the Bengals to pull off the comeback. The downside is that the Bengals should be blowing out a Saints team missing its starting quarterback and top three receivers. That it was close — and Vegas expected it to be close — is as damning of Cincinnati as the comeback was inspiring.