Week 6 NFL Surprises and Disappointments
By AJ Olona
SURPRISES
Indianapolis Colts - QB Phillip Rivers
The NFL is a week-to-week game, and that was most apparent with Phillip Rivers and the Colts in Week 6. When the Colts lost to the Browns in Week 5, it was in large part due to Phillip Rivers and his decision making. Rivers threw two late-game interceptions in that game, including one that was brought back for a touchdown. Rivers was the main reason that the Colts lost. However, in Week 6, the Colts were able to win because of Phillip Rivers. The Colts quickly found themselves down 21-0 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Rivers then turned it on and completed the comeback. Rivers was the best player on the field in Week 6, throwing the ball all over the field. There were four different players for the Colts to have over 50 receiving yards. Rivers threw for 371 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day and was able to connect on multiple deep passes throughout this game. Rivers has been very up and down so far this season, but if he can continue to play like this coming out of the Colts’ bye week, they are going to be trouble in the AFC.
Detroit Lions - RB De’Andre Swift
All season long, the Lions have been relying on the legs of 35-year old running back Adrian Peterson to carry the load. Despite having two young backs in De’Andre Swift and Kerryon Johnson, Peterson is constantly the teams leading rusher. However, the Lions were finally able to get the rookie from Georgia involved in their Week 6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and he did not disappoint. Swift was able to carry the ball 14 times for 116 yards. While Peterson continues to receive more carries than any other back in Detroit, Swift proved that he is much more explosive and is much more what the Lions need in their offense. Swift proved he can be the guy in the backfield moving forward and much more than proved that he deserves the bulk of the carries going forward for the Lions.
Atlanta Falcons - RB Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan was able to turn in a performance in Week 6 that we have not seen in a while from the Falcons. While Ryan has been far and away from the issue for the Falcons this season, it feels like it has been a while since he has played this well and that it has resulted in a win for the Falcons. In Week 1, Ryan was able to throw for 450 yards against the Seahawks but still lost. However, he was able to put it all together in Week 6, throwing for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns, all the while guiding the Falcons to their first win of the season. While there are rumors that the Falcons could blow up their entire team heading into the trade deadline, it is nice to see that Matt Ryan still has the tools to be a top quarterback in the NFL, despite his team’s awful record.
Philadelphia Eagles - QB Carson Wentz
Week 6 finally marked the first time all season the Carson Wentz was able to play an entire game without throwing an interception. Wentz has been awful this season and it has lead to many around the NFL calling for second-round rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts to step in and take over. While the Eagles as a whole were not able to pull out a victory in Week 6, Carson Wentz was nearly able to put together a comeback attempt. In the game, Wentz threw for 213 and 2 touchdowns while also rushing for another. Again, these numbers are far from stellar, but it was important to see Wentz finally go a game without throwing an interception. Week 6 is the first time all season that we have seen some fight from Wentz and although the Eagles lost, they showed some fight in them. With the NFC East still being up for grabs, it is good to Wentz show some sort of fight in him going forward.
Tennessee Titans - TE Anthony Firkser
In Week 6, the Titans were able to force overtime against the Houston Texans and were eventually able to pull out the victory. While the entire team ran through Derrick Henry out of the backfield, it was not surprising. Henry has been so good over the last two seasons and is a serious contender for the 2020 MVP. It is not even surprising at this point to see Henry put up 212 rushing yards at this point. What was surprising was that Ryan Tannehill had 363 passing yards and 4 touchdowns and his leading receiver on the day was backup tight end Anthony Firkser. Firkser led all Titans players with 8 catches and 113 yards. Firkser was also able to find the end zone and was Tannehill’s favorite target on the entire day. While the Titans starting tight end Jonu Smith has played well in 2020, Firkser definitely made a case to receive more playing time going forward. If he can keep it up, the Titans offense will only be that much harder to stop.
Denver Broncos - RB Phillip Lindsay
Heading into the Week 6 matchup against the New England Patriots, the Broncos were going to be without Melvin Gordon. Gordon missed this game due to injury but had also recently been arrested for a DUI during the week leading up to the game. It was Phillip Lindsay who stepped in and took over as the lead running back in this offense. The result was Lindsay rushing for 101 yards on 23 carries. Lindsay was the mainstay of the Broncos offense against the Patriots and was one of the main reasons they were able to pull out a win (and kicker Brandon McManus). Lindsay is coming off of back to back 1,000 yard rushing seasons for the Broncos after being signed as an undrafted free agent. Many were surprised to see the Broncos sign Melvin Gordon in the offseason, seeing as how successful Lindsay had been so far in his career. It was nice to see Lindsay once again be the main rusher for the Denver offense, and successfully do so. The Broncos need to keep Lindsay heavily involved in the offense when Gordon makes his return to the lineup.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Green Bay Packers - QB Aaron Rodgers
Through the first month of the season, no team was hotter than the Green Bay Packers. They were 4-0 and they were being led by Aaron Rodgers, who was having one of the best starts to a season by any quarterback ever. Rodgers was shredding any defense he played against and had failed to turn the ball over even once. The Packers had their bye week in Week5 and came out of it playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Surprisingly, after a fast start to the game, the Packers crumbled. Rodgers threw his first interception of the season and it was taken back for a touchdown. Not too long after, Rodgers threw another interception that was returned all the way inside the 5-yard line and the Packers failed to score another point for the rest of the game. They lost 38-10 to the Bucs and many were left disappointed with how the Packers performed out of their bye. It was surprising, to say the least, but everyone expects that the Packers, and more specifically Aaron Rodgers, will bounce back from this loss in a big way.
Minnesota Vikings - QB Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins and the Vikings continue to slide on the season. After 3 interceptions this week against the winless Falcons, the Vikings fell to 1-5 on the season. This marks the second time this season that Cousins has thrown 3 interceptions in a game, and he now leads the entire NFL with 10 picks. The Vikings season is essentially over at this point and Cousins has been one of the main reasons for the slide. He is simply trying to do too much for his offense that he is simply not capable of. Vikings fans must start wondering when enough is enough and when it will eventually be time to move on from the struggling quarterback.
Houston Texans - The Run Defense
So far in 2020, we have seen that the Houston Texans have had one of the worst defenses in the entire league, particularly in the run game. That was no more apparent than in their Week 6 matchup against Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans. So far in the season, the Texans have been the bottom 3 in terms of total defense and dead last in terms of rushing yards, allowing 177 rushing yards per game. In Week 6, the Texans allowed Derrick Henry to run for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns while averaging 9.6 yards per carry, including a 94-yard touchdown run. While Derrick Henry very well may be the best back in the NFL, it is alarming anytime a team allows a running back to run all over them like that. While it’s not surprising coming from a 1-5 team, it is disappointing nonetheless.
New York Jets - The New York Jets
The New York Jets have already locked up the number one overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and there are still 10 weeks to go on the season. No team in the NFL is worse than the Jets at the moment. While there are still other teams that are winless along with the Jets, it is clear after Week 6 which team is the worst. The Jets entered Week 6 missing their starting quarterback due to injury, and they had just released their best player on offense in Le’Veon Bell. The result of their tumultuous week was the first shutout of the 2020 season as the Dolphins beat the Jets 24-0. It is all but a matter of time until the Jets cut ties with head coach Adam Gase for the season, but until they do so, they will continue being the bottom dwellers in all of the NFL.
Philadelphia Eagles - The Pass Protection
No team in the NFL has had more injuries to their offensive line than the Philadelphia Eagles, and it showed very much so in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens. While Carson Wentz was finally able to put together a decent game for the first time in 2020, he barely had a chance to breathe. Carson Wentz was sacked 6 times in the game, and pressure many more than that. When the Eagles were attempting their comeback, it came down to a two-point conversion attempt where we saw Carson Wentz take the snap, and then immediately run for his life before eventually being brought down. While it is understandable given the injuries to the Eagles line, it is still disappointing to see a quarterback under as much stress as Wentz was in Week 6.
New England Patriots - The Offense
After being forced into an early bye week due to multiple COVID-19 cases on the team, the Patriots were back on for the matchup against the Denver Broncos in Week 6. After a rough few weeks for the team where they were forced to miss several practices due to the coronavirus complications, and whether or not they were going to have to miss another week, the team came out and played their worst game of the 2020 season. Quarterback Cam Newton returned to the lineup after overcoming a COVID-19 diagnosis himself and was noticeably off. Cam Newton himself threw two interceptions on the day and only had 157 passing yards and failed to reach the endzone. While Newton found success on the ground (76 yards on 10 carries), none of the New England running backs averaged more than 3.2 yards per carry. Outside of Newton, the Patriots only managed 41 rushing yards on 15 carries. The entire team looked off coming out of their early bye. They need to regather themselves quickly, as they currently sit in third place in the AFC East behind the Dolphins and Bills.
Follow AJ on Twitter @age_lona
