NFL Week 6 serves up a showdown in the AFC South, a survival game in the NFC North and a potential revenge game for a former cult hero.
NFL Week 6 kicks off Thursday night when the Denver Broncos visit the Kansas City Chiefs and concludes with the just-humbled Dallas Cowboys going to SoFi Stadium, everyone’s home away from home, to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night.
The Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the aforementioned Chargers return from byes in Week 5 while the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers get Week 6 off to bask in the glow of a big win over a division rival and try to fix what went wrong in a prime-time loss, respectively.
The standings are a jumble, injuries are beginning to pile up for some teams and there are a couple of marquee matchups from unexpected places. Here are the top five storylines for Week 6.
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5. The Gardner Minshew revenge game
The Indianapolis Colts lost rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson to a shoulder injury last week. He was placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss four to eight weeks. The Colts added quarterback Kellen Mond to their practice squad and moved into their showdown for the AFC South lead with Gardner Minshew as the new QB1.
Minshew was efficient in relief of Richardson in Indianapolis’ 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans last week, completing 11 of 14 for 155 yards and he piloted the Colts to an overtime win at Baltimore in Week 3 when Richardson was in concussion protocols.
A sixth-round pick in 2019 out of Washington State by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minshew burst onto the scene as a rookie, starting 12 games and throwing for 21 touchdowns. Signed by Indianapolis in March, Minshew returns to Jacksonville for the first time to face the Jaguars in a battle for the AFC North lead.
Both teams are 3-2, with the Jags owning the tiebreaker with their 31-21 win at Indy in Week 1. Indianapolis used Jonathan Taylor for 16 snaps last week and can be expected to ramp up the All-Pro running back’s workload this week.
4. The Philadelphia Eagles are the NFL’s biggest pain in the butt
No play is talked about more right now than the Philadelphia Eagles’ infamous “tush push.” The Eagles ran the play six times last week, with quarterback Jalen Hurts taking the snap with teammates lined up behind him to push him forward.
For the season, Philadelphia has converted 13 of 16 pushes into first downs or touchdowns in short-yardage situations.
For its part, the NFL competition committee reviewed the play last spring amid concerns from some that the unusual blocking/pushing techniques causes injuries. Given the furor, it’s almost inevitable the committee will revisit the issue before the 2024 season.
Since football derived much of its foundation from rugby, using a scrum as an offensive weapon feels like a throwback to the old times. But there are competitive and ethical questions about propelling a ball carrier with outside help.
The discussion isn’t going away and proponents for the play are likely to be pushy in their support of it.
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3. The Washington Commanders’ ship is listing to port
The Washington Commanders opened the post-Daniel Snyder era with consecutive victories to start the season. Since then, the glow has been replaced by torpedo impacts on the hull of Ron Rivera’s ship. Washington has been blown out two of the last three weeks and is 2-3 heading into Sunday’s game at Atlanta against the 3-2 Falcons.
The Commanders were sliced, diced and skewered by Justin Fields and D.J. Moore last Thursday night in a 40-20 loss at FedEx Field. Washington is opening a stretch of four road games in a five-game span.
Quarterback Sam Howell is still a project, completing a solid 68.6% of his throws. But he also has six interceptions, tied for second-most in the NFL behind Las Vegas’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Commander defense has been victimized for 10 touchdown passes and ranks 31st in scoring defense and 25th in total defense. Of course, the offense’s 10 turnovers have put Washington in some unenviable field position situations.
But when you’re 21st in passing yards allowed and 24th in rushing yards allowed, opposing offenses are creating plenty of favorable field-position opportunities on their own.
Washington is 31st in points-per-drive allowed at 2.75 and opponents are scoring on 56.6% of their possessions. The young quarterback situation doesn’t help, but the Commanders’ problems are on the other side of the ball.
That doesn’t bode well against rookie sensation Bijan Robinson, who averages more than 100 yards from scrimmage per game.
2. Minnesota Vikings hamstrung by Justin Jefferson injury
The Minnesota Vikings (1-4) have already matched last season’s loss total when they won 11 one-possession games. Minnesota is 1-4 in such games, showing that fate can be fickle. Of course, the remarkable aspect of Minnesota’s start is they are 1-4 despite 12 turnovers in five games.
The Kirk Cousins trade rumors are flying once again and Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson went to injured reserve after injuring his hamstring in last week’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Jefferson has 36 catches on 53 targets for 571 yards and three scores and his absence takes away Cousins’ security blanket.
The Vikings go to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday, with the loser falling into the NFC North cellar. Minnesota is already three games behind the Detroit Lions in the division and host the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.
The Bears showed signs of life in a 40-20 romp at Washington last week. They were turnover-free for the first time this season and amassed 451 yards of offense, their second straight game topping the 450-yard mark.
Minnesota’s waning playoff chances, however, hinge on Sunday’s game. This doesn’t feel like a season in which an NFC team can recover from a 1-5 start.
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1. Kansas City Chiefs on upset alert against the Denver Broncos
OK, that seems like an absurd claim on the surface. But these longtime AFC West rivals own a history pockmarked with big upsets and the Kansas City Chiefs’ receiving corps has been shaky at times this season.
The lone loss Kansas City took this season was when star tight end Travis Kelce was out with an injury on the opening Thursday night of the season. The rest of the Chiefs receivers had a collective case of the dropsies.
Kelce was limited in Tuesday’s practice before the Thursday night game with an ankle injury. He hurt it in the second quarter at Minnesota but returned in the second half, finishing with 10 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets.
He is Patrick Mahomes’ safety valve and his 37 targets in four games far exceeds the total of wide receiver Rashee Rice’s 24 targets in five games.
Denver lost at home to the New York Jets last week. Russell Wilson served up a horrific fumble on a sack and Sean Payton looks to be firmly in the post-genius stage of his coaching career.
The Broncos are dead last in the NFL in both scoring and total yardage defensively (giving up 70 points and 762 total yards in a game will do that). So all is not bleak for the Chiefs. But if Kelce can’t go, the other receivers have to figure out how to do the whole receiving thing.
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