Week Six has ended, and what a week it was. The Cowboys shocked the Seahawks in Seattle, the Browns destroyed the Steelers, we finally got our first competitive Thursday Night Football game of the season, Aaron Rodgers threw a game winning touchdown pass, Tom Brady has come back to life, Peyton Manning is close to breaking Brett Favre’s touchdown record, and Joe Flacco threw five touchdowns in the first half.
So with all these amazing events happening, it’s not easy to award the best from week six. But as the guy that writes up these weekly award lists for lastwordonsports.com, it’s my duty. To quote Lord Farquaad from the first Shrek movie: “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
Enough movie talk. Let’s get to the awards.
Best QB: Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens)
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has quietly been having a good season, throwing for 1,596 yards, 12 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and a 97.8 passer rating to go along with a 73.9 Total QBR.
Of course, a chunk of his 12 touchdowns came against Tampa Bay on Sunday, where he put on quite possibly his greatest performance ever (yes, better than his historic 2012 postseason run where he threw 11 touchdowns and not a single pick).
Flacco set the NFL record for quickest to five touchdowns in a game (16 minutes and three seconds), and threw FOUR TOUCHDOWNS IN THE FIRST QUARTER. Should this be downgraded because it was against the lowly Buccaneers? Of course not. Throwing five touchdowns in a half is incredible regardless of who you play against.
All five of Flacco’s touchdown throws were great, but perhaps the best was his last; a 56-yard bomb to Steve Smith Sr that led the 35-year old receiver perfectly. In general, Flacco advanced the ball exceptionally, being accurate on most of his passes and maintaining his cool under pressure.
Flacco went on to complete 21 of his 29 passes (with a few dropped balls) for 306 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 146.0 and a QBR of 99.7. Now that’s what Ravens fans call an elite performance.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Colin Kaepernick, Andrew Luck
Best RB: Arian Foster (Houston Texans)
Despite the loss, Arian Foster had the best rushing performance of Week Six. Continuing as one of the best running backs of 2014, Foster looked poised, sharp on his runs, and provided exceptional evasiveness on the field. He provided the offensive spark and rallying power for the Texans, who nearly pulled off a comeback victory in a 33-28 loss despite trailing 24-0 in the second quarter.
Foster ran for 109 yards, two touchdowns, and 5.5 yards per carry, including a long of 34 yards on the night. Quite the day for a guy known to despise Thursday Night Football.
Honorable Mentions: Giovanni Bernard, LeSean McCoy, DeMarco Murray, Justin Forsett
Best WR: T.Y. Hilton (Indianapolis Colts)
While we can credit Andrew Luck’s performance for the Colts win, it was T.Y. Hilton that helped make it possible.
Gradually, Hilton is becoming more and more of a threat, transforming into Luck’s number one guy on the field last Thursday. The way Hilton was able to outrun his defenders and time his routes was incredible, and with supreme accuracy from Luck when targeting him in addition.
With nine receptions for 223 yards and a touchdown for 24.8 yards per reception, Hilton is the best wide receiver of Week Six.
Honorable Mentions: DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Andre Holmes, Malcolm Floyd
Best TE: Jordan Cameron (Cleveland Browns)
After a quiet first three games of the season, Cameron finally made his presence felt on Sunday against the Steelers. Brian Hoyer only completed eight of his passes, but he didn’t need anything bigger, as he flinged a 51-yard touchdown bomb to Jordan Cameron in the second quarter (which looked a little behind Cameron in addition).
Cameron only caught three of his five targets, but he made sure those catches counted, as he averaged an incredible 34.0 yards per catch, as he helped the Browns destroy the Steelers 31-10 in Cleveland. The Browns move to 3-2 for the second straight year thanks to guys like Cameron.
Honorable Mentions: Julius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski, Scott Chandlier, Clay Harbor
Defensive Player Of The Week: J.J. Watt (Houston Texans)
I have officially confirmed that if this happens again, I’m going to retire J.J. Watt from this list.
On Thursday, Watt played near flawlessly, at times appearing to carry the Texans defense. With seven tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, three deflected passes, four quarterback hits, and a fumble return for a touchdown, Watt is continuing yet another masterpiece of a season, even if the Texans lost this one 33-28.
Wattever.
Best Kicker: Dan Bailey (Dallas Cowboys)
More on this game later.
Kicker Dan Bailey was certainly an important factor in the shocking Cowboys victory over the Seattle Seahawks, converting all three of his kicks, including a long of 56 yards, and three extra points in addition.
Not bad for being in the cauldron that is CenturyLink Field.
Biggest Upset: Dallas Cowboys
Doesn’t get anymore obvious than this.
Nobody in a million years would have guessed that any team, let alone the Dallas Cowboys, would defeat the defending champion Seattle Seahawks on their home turf.
Before this game, Seattle only lost once at home since 2012 (Arizona Cardinals in December 2013) and have usually dominated at CenturyLink Field.
That all changed on Sunday.
What was expected to be an easy Seahawks victory turned into a tightly contested match up which was eventually won by the Cowboys, as they moved to 5-1 on the season behind some late game heroics from Tony Romo, who incredibly avoided pressure on a third and 20 in the fourth quarter down 23-20 to throw a first down completion to Terrence Williams. It was Ben Roethlisberger meets Eli Manning, only this was in the regular season, not the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys defense was the real surprise though (to me at least, as Romo is the most underrated quarterback in the NFL today), and made Russell Wilson pay for his mistakes. Wilson, the offensive line and the offense in general could not find a rhythm, and it should’ve been a 30-16 Cowboys victory had it not been for a special teams fumble in the second half.
No one, not even I, gave the Cowboys a chance in this game. This was supposed to be a wake up call for Dallas, that their 4-1 start was because they were playing bad teams, because they were flukes. They weren’t supposed to hold Wilson to 122 yards passing, Marshawn Lynch to 61 yards rushing. The defense wasn’t supposed to deflect nine passes, or hit Wilson five times. Tony Romo wasn’t supposed to throw for 250 yards, two touchdowns, and 0 interceptions against the best defense in the toughest road stadium with the loudest fans (with apologies to Arrowhead Stadium) in the country.
Bottom-line, the Cowboys weren’t supposed to win. They did, and not only that, but they exposed the Seahawks. Richard Sherman continued to struggle (in comparison to previous seasons) on defending the receivers, the defense in general looked gassed, and more than anything, the Cowboys proved they can win anywhere.
No moral victories this time around.
Best Team: Philidelphia Eagles
Speaking of 5-1 teams, the Eagles are another NFC East team off to a hot start record wise.
Sunday Night’s game against the Giants was all Philadelphia, and at the half, Boyz II Men. The offense did its job, with Nick Foles throwing two touchdowns for 248 yards (before absolutely sucking for the rest of the night with two bad interceptions). LeSean McCoy rose from the dead for 149 yards and 6.8 yards per carry in his first relevant game of the year, and Darren Sproles continued to make Saints fans miss him, with 57 yards on punt returns, and a rushing touchdown.
But it was the defense that really caused the 27-0 shutout victory (duh). With eight sacks on Eli Manning, ten tackles for loss, one deflected pass, and seven quarterback hits, the Eagles gave New York zero room for breathing. This was mostly led by linebacker Connor Barwin, who was Eli’s worst enemy of the night, sacking him three times and hitting him twice, while getting two tackles for loss, and earning a total of five tackles.
The Eagles ensured that, for some reason, the Thursday Night game was more entertaining than the Sunday Night game.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LastWordKinsley.
Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
