Welp, the NFL continues to have an issue with its officiating as we learned in Week 6 on Monday Night Football after the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions game — adding to our growing list of takeaways from the NFL on a weekly basis. ESPN analyst Booger McFarland took issue with making subjective calls reviewable in the future. Given the current state of review with pass interference … it won’t work the way people would want it to.
Nevertheless, there was still a full slate of NFL games that happened over the weekend. Did you want to see upsets? You got it. Did you want close games? Of course. Did you want monster fantasy performances? Absolutely.
There was a lot to unpack from Week 6 and looks like the NFL is going to be even more unpredictable moving forward.
The New England Patriots remained perfect on the season behind another stellar defensive performance against the New York Giants. The Houston Texans wouldn’t hand the Kansas City Chiefs another loss on the season, would they? Surely, everyone watched the Washington Redskins–Miami Dolphins game, right? … Right?
Week 6 NFL Takeaways
5. You Like That?
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been under a lot of scrutinies for his inability to sling the ball to his playmakers — namely Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. However, when you match up against a Philadelphia Eagles team that is ranked in the lower halves in team defense, then usually good things tend to happen.
Cousins hit Diggs for three touchdowns on Sunday to silence his critics for now and improve on his abysmal record against teams with winning records. This is the quarterback play the Vikings have been looking for since Case Keenum‘s fantastic final season with the team and as far back as when Brett Favre was there. Cousins needs to keep this up if he’s going to get them into the playoffs. If not, then it’ll be two years into a three-year contract where he’s failed to do so.
4. Sam Darnold Overcomes Mono, Dallas Cowboys
The New York Jets found themselves in a poor position when quarterback Sam Darnold was diagnosed with mono a few weeks ago. They were winless and hopeless … until Darnold returned to the team. Make no mistake about it, they are obviously better when he’s under center — and the Dallas Cowboys learned that lesson the hard way.
When Darnold hit Robby Anderson for a 92-yard touchdown pass, you could sense that the Jets would not be stopped on this day. The Cowboys have been an enigma since they jumped out to a 3-0 record on the season, but on Sunday, they let Darnold and the Jets run any play they wanted … and to great success. Perhaps, the second-year signal-caller can right the ship, sorry, Jet, after winning their first game of the season.
3. Not Quite the Steel Curtain
It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers have been hit with the injury bug this season — as they were forced to start their third-string quarterback Devlin Hodges after losing Mason Rudolph to a concussion last week. However, when you struggle on offense as they did on Sunday, then you hope your defense can bail you out.
The Steelers on defense did exactly that. The Steelers intercepted Philip Rivers twice and recovered a fumble against him for a touchdown to blank the Los Angeles Chargers until the waning moments of the game. Their short field allowed Hodges to get the ball to running back James Conner for most of the game and not let their inexperienced quarterback lose the game, instead. Whether it’s Rudolph or Hodges back there, if this defense can continue to take over a game, then maybe the Steelers’ season isn’t over.
2. Watson Outduels Mahomes
In a battle of premier young quarterbacks — especially one we’re going to see for years and years to come — Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson got the best of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Or more specifically, their defenses, since they don’t actually play each other. Nevertheless, the two battled all day until finally, the Texans were able to put their foot on the throat of the Chiefs, which hasn’t happened often to Mahomes and Co. and emerge victoriously.
Arrowhead Stadium has been something of a nightmare for anyone not named Tom Brady in recent memory, but for Watson, on the road, to go in and put up a big-time performance, that would’ve been better if Will Fuller doesn’t drop a number of passes, is nothing short of incredible. This is a statement win that has again for the second consecutive week given the blueprint of how to handle the explosive Chiefs and move on their defense.
1. San Francisco has Struck Gold
Not that long ago … the San Francisco 49ers were not a good team and the bottom of the barrel in the NFC West. They had no quarterback, playmakers, or studs on defense. Enter Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Bosa and head coach Kyle Shanahan, and this 49ers team has finally begun to strike gold in the NFL. They’re the lone unbeaten team in the NFC and they’ve proven they can go toe-to-toe with any of the league’s best.
These Niners have started to look like the Niners of yesteryear when legends like Joe Montana and Bill Walsh led them to multiple Super Bowl championships. While we can pump the breaks on if they’re on that level, it can be said that this is a team in the NFL that has fully arrived. They can beat you a lot of different ways, and their defense is shutting opposing offenses out — just ask the Los Angeles Rams. They’ll have some tough games coming up, but the respect for the Niners should be, and is, real.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
