NFL’s Week 6 winners, losers
Week 6 in the NFL, frankly, was rather underwhelming.
It was marked by blowouts and a lack of drama, but there were still plenty of takeaways to be gleaned. And perhaps no one has more to celebrate than the Arizona Cardinals, who took down the Cleveland Browns and remained the lone NFL's unblemished team at 6-0.
But the Dallas Cowboys also have plenty to be happy about, too, after they beat the New England Patriots for the first time since 1996 and continued to roll on offense. They have star power all throughout their team, but franchise quarterback Dak Prescott is the catalyst that has the Cowboys looking like a Super Bowl contender.
Here are the winners and losers of Week 6.
Winners
Dak Prescott as an MVP candidate: Perhaps more so than any recent season, the early battle for the MVP race seems to be filled with several contenders.
From Kyler Murray of the Cardinals, Josh Allen of the Bills, Tom Brady of the Buccaneers, Matthew Stafford of the Rams, to Lamar Jackson of the Ravens the list is full of passers with different skill sets. After the Cowboys battled the Patriots to overtime and then prevailed, 35-29, add Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to that list. Prescott has completed 73.1% of his passes (which ranks second in the NFL) for 1,813 yards (fifth), with 16 touchdowns (tied for third), with a QB rating of 115 (fourth).
The Bengals offense with Ja’Marr Chase: These are not the same Cincinnati Bengals that we had seen over the last half decade. This young team took another step in a dominant 34-11 victory against the Lions.
Second-year passer Joe Burrow has been excellent, but it's his former LSU teammate and rookie No. 5 overall pick Ja'Marr Chase who has electrified this offense. Chase now has 553 yards and five touchdowns on 27 catches so far this year. His receiving yards are second most in NFL history for a player through his first six games.
Carson Wentz: The opponent – the lowly Houston Texans – have to be considered here, but this was far and away Carson Wentz's best game with the Colts. In a 31-3 victory, Wentz exploited Houston's suspect secondary with deep passes.
Wentz threw touchdowns of 51 yards (to receiver Parris Campbell) and 28 yards (tight end Mo Alie-Cox) and also had a 52-yard completion to receiver T.Y. Hilton in the second quarter that set up a field goal. He also benefitted from a boost in the rushing game, with Jonathan Taylor having an ultra-efficient (14 carries, 145 yards, two touchdowns) game.
Wentz has now, quietly, strung together three solid games. Over that span, he has thrown for 853 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions.
Losers
The entire Week 6 slate: As far as parity and entertainment goes, Week 6 was a dud. Only one of the 1 p.m. ET games was a one-score game with any drama, that was between the Panthers and the Vikings. Even then, it only became that way late in the game.
The best game of the week, far and away, was the one between the Patriots and the Cowboys in the afternoon window. Other than that, the only other one-score games Sunday were between the Dolphins and the Jaguarsin London, which took place in the morning, and the Steelers-Seahawks matchup in primetime.
The average margin of victory in Sunday's games was 15.4 points.
Kansas City ball security: The second half of the Chiefs' 31-13 victory against the Washington Football Team showed just how dangerous this team can be when its offense is clicking.
The Chiefs scored 21 unanswered points after halftime to run away with the game. But ball security issues are a major problem for the reigning AFC champions. And if the problem persists, it threatens their chances of making another deep run in the postseason.
With three more giveaways against Washington, the Chiefs now rank dead last in the NFL with 14.
Chargers’ run defense: The Chargers were a surprise upstart in the NFL this season, and still are, but their 34-6 loss against the Ravens revealed their most concerning flaw.
A rushing defense that came into Week 6 ranked last in the entire league (157.6 yards allowed per game) was mastered by Baltimore. To be clear, the Ravens' rushing outfit would cause fits for any defense. But Baltimore used six different ball carriers to total 187 rushing yards. In L.A.'s only other loss of the season, a Week 2 game against the Cowboys, Dallas rushed for 198 yards, meaning that in the Chargers' losses, they gave up an average of 192.5 yards per game.