Getty Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen hurdles a Chiefs defender in Week 6.
In Week 6, Josh Allen returned to the arena that ended his 2021 campaign in heartbreaking fashion and out-dueled Patrick Mahomes in a game for the ages as the Buffalo Bills cemented their status as the AFC’s team to beat, and maybe the NFL’s best.
Sunday afternoon, Allen was a magician, he was prolific, and he was the catalyst of the Bills’ thrilling 24-20 victory over the Kansas Chiefs inside the most hostile of environments, a full-throated Arrowhead.
It would have been forgivable if all of Bills Mafia held their collective breath and revisited the demons of January when Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense took over with 1:20 remaining in Week 6.
However, this time, unlike the 2022 AFC Championship Game inside the same stadium that saw Mahomes steal the Bills’ heart in the final 13 seconds, there were no Mahomes heroics. Sunday’s game effectively ended when Taron Johnson intercepted Mahomes with 51 seconds remaining.
A rare mistake from Mahomes, with Von Miller beating a double team and forcing Mahomes into an uncharacteristic and costly error. The play underscored how dominant, talented, and deeply star-studded this Bills team is.
But, the Bills’ dominance starts with Allen.
In a game that was tied after each of the first three quarters, Allen authored a 98-yard touchdown drive in the waning moments of the first half. Later, it was an Allen 76-yard march down the field that saw him complete all 9 his passes — the final being the 14-yard game-winning touchdown to Dawson Knox to cap his ninth career fourth-quarter comeback.
Allen is at the helm of the most complete and gifted roster in the NFL, and is by the week strengthening his MVP candidacy.
In what may go down as the game of the season, Allen completed 27-of-40 passes for 329 yards with 3 touchdowns, while adding 32 rushing yards.
The Bills’ victory not only improved Buffalo to 5-1 but also tucked away a potential tiebreaker for home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, setting the stage for a possible rematch with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake.
This time, after Sunday, a Bills-Chiefs rematch for the Lamar Hunt Trophy would be contested on the banks of Lake Erie in the dead of January.
Here are 10 other takeaways from Sunday’s action in Week 6 of the NFL season.
Myles Garrett Makes History
Bailey Zappe will have a place in Cleveland Browns lore.
On Sunday, October 16, Zappe was Myles Garrett’s latest victim as the All-Pro pass-rusher set the franchise record for sacks.
Sunday afternoon, Garrett used a swim move off the edge, flying into the pocket to strip-sack Zappe with 51 seconds remaining in the first quarter for sack number 62.5 of his career, surpassing Clay Matthews for the franchise mark.
“Myles is the complete package athletically,” an AFC South scouting director told Heavy, when asked on Sunday what has made Garrett elite throughout his career. “He has the ideal size, strength, length, and on top of all that the balance and body control to play small, but he’s really big and strong.
“Anytime you pop on the film, his speed and get-off are what pops. He’s the ideal speed-to-power rusher.”
To the scouting director’s point, Garrett’s get-off is among the most explosive in the NFL this season.
Myles Garrett has generated a league-high 12 QB pressures through Week 2.
A key to Garrett’s success has been his burst off the line of scrimmage — his pass rush get-off is 0.63 seconds, a tenth of a second quicker than any other defender this season.
After a 2.0-sack outburst Sunday, Garrett is in the midst of another dominant season, with 5.0 sacks, on pace for double-digit sacks for the fifth consecutive season.
At age 26, Garrett has plenty of football ahead of him to climb the all-time rankings, in a scheme that emphasizes front-four pressure that will serve him well for the rest of his career.
Chase Claypool Reintroduces Himself
There has been this notion that in the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ loaded receiving corps, Chase Claypool is somehow the forgotten man.
After Sunday, forgotten no more.
Claypool issued a strong reminder of his value in the Steelers’ passing game against the Buccaneers, catching all 7 of his targets for 96 yards and the eventual game-winning touchdown to lift Pittsburgh 20-18.
The Steelers manufactured a win, with Mitchell Trubisky returning to action after Kenny Pickett was knocked from the game. Claypool played a starring role.
Robert Saleh Was Right: These Ain’t the Same Old Jets
The New York Jets went into Lambeau Field and dominated the Green Bay Packers, running them out of their own building, in a completely dominant performance.
Back on September 13, Jets head coach Robert Saleh claimed he would be “keeping receipts” of critics who mocked critics of New York’s rebuild. Saleh was resoundingly mocked for the comments, but on Sunday afternoon got to have the last laugh.
Here is a look at the Jets’ 27-10 shellacking of the Packers by the numbers:
- Sacks: 4 to 2, advantage Jets
- Quarterback hits: 9 to 2, advantage Jets
- Yards per play: 5.2 to 4.0, advantage Jets
This was a complete effort, with the tone set by defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, linebacker Quincy Williams and the front seven.
But, Zach Wilson out-dueled future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, and the Jets’ special teams blocked a Packers field goal attempt, blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown.
Following a dominant performance against the Miami Dolphins in Week 5, when a Jets front office official told Heavy that Breece Hall is the most talented player on the roster, Hall took over the game to salt out the win in the second half.
Hall finished Sunday’s contest in Green Bay rushing for 116 yards and 1 touchdown while averaging a whopping 5.8 yards per carry.
These Jets are young, with an average age of 26 years and four months. These Jets a talented. And these Jets are all-in on Saleh’s culture.
This is a team on the rise, and after knocking off the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and now the Packers, they suddenly have arrived.
Perhaps Saleh should stage a dramatic reading of all those receipts.
The Packers Offense Is Broken
The recipients of the Broadway Beatdown in Broad Daylight on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers boast a fundamentally flawed offense.
Aaron Rodgers’ growing pains with rookie receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson were as profound as they have been all season.
But, perhaps what’s more alarming in TitleTown is the fact that the Packers’ offensive line was completely bullied up front by the Jets.
“I’m not sure what’s broken there,” an NFC personnel executive told Heavy by text message. “But, [the Packers] offense is as ugly as I’ve ever seen it.”
This is now two weeks in a row that Rodgers and the offense lacked any semblance of an identity.
After being shut out in the second half of a 27-22 loss in London in Week 5, Green Bay managed just 278 yards of total offense against the Jets. Rodgers was battered and rattled all game, averaging only 6.0 yards per attempt with 1 touchdown. And he was sacked 4 times.
Green Bay is a broken team at the moment, and things could be about to get significantly worse if Rodgers misses any significant time due to an injury that knocked him from Sunday’s game, and had been lingering since London.
Cardinals’ Dramatic Regression Should Sound Alarms
The Arizona Cardinals may be broken beyond repair.
Following Sunday’s listless 19-9 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle, the Cardinals have now lost three of their last four games, dropping to 2-4 on the season.
“That quarterback is exciting,” a league source told Heavy, of the Cardinals’ struggles. “But he doesn’t see the field well, and he misses way too many wide-open throws.”
In Sunday’s loss against the division rival Seattle Seahawks, Kyler Murray lost a fumble and tossed an interception while passing for 214 yards. It was the kind of performance that casts a pall over the Cardinals’ future after this offseason’s long-term commitments to Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
After the Cardinals committed four years and $22 million to Kingsbury through 2024 and guaranteed $189 million to Murray in a deal with the first reasonable out not coming until 2028, there are significantly more questions than answers in the desert.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this team seems to be regressing.
“The Cardinals are struggling to run the ball,” Randy Mueller, the 2000 NFL Executive of The Year and Heavy contributor told me Sunday. “They’re struggling to protect the quarterback and get any flow or identity.
“Those huge investments in the coach and quarterback seem problematic at this point. I think questions are deserving if they don’t turn it around quickly. History shows this has not been a good second half of the season team.”
Perhaps what is most alarming for the Cardinals is that they seem to be regressing. Since starting the 2021 season 7-0, as the last of the NFL’s unbeaten, Arizona has now lost 10 of its last 15. Is there any reason to believe Kingsbury, Murray and the Cardinals turn this around?
The Cardinals’ track record certainly doesn’t suggest it, and while the hope in Arizona is DeAndre Hopkins’ return turns the tide, the eye test makes that hard to believe.
The Bengals’ Lack of Balance Is Going to Catch Up to Them
The Cincinnati Bengals made the 2022 Super Bowl by playing complementary football, particularly in the postseason.
Quarterback Joe Burrow emerged as one of the NFL’s most clutch performers down the stretch, and a high-flying Bengals attack featuring receivers Ja’marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and running back Joe Mixon was buttressed by a defense that held opponents to just 20.5 points per game during the playoffs, fifth-fewest in the league.
That brand of complementary football has been missing from Cincinnati’s lackluster start to the season, and Sunday in New Orleans, the levees broke.
In the first half alone, the Bengals’ defense surrendered 244 yards of offense, trailing 20-14 at the break.
Cincinnati survived, in large part because Burrow and Chase took the game over in the fourth quarter. In the final frame, Burrow passed for 116 yards and a touchdown, including 75 yards to Chase.
Despite Sunday’s victory, it hardly feels sustainable for the Bengals to win the games they are going to have to win to repeat as AFC champions with a defense that allowed 399 yards in New Orleans, including getting absolutely gashed in the first half.
If the Bengals are going to turn a corner this season and legitimately compete in the AFC North and beyond, it is going to take significant adjustments from defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
Brian Daboll May Run Away With NFL Coach of the Year
Much like the Jets, the New York Giants are now unequivocally back.
The Giants’ resurgence is due in large part to the brilliant performance from head coach Brian Daboll and his coaching staff.
The Giants are 5-1 after knocking off the Green Bay Packers and Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens the past two weeks in furious comeback fashion, because Daboll, defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale and the coaching staff have this team believing it can win, especially late in the game’s biggest moments.
Martindale’s defense entered Sunday ranked No. 7 in the NFL in red zone efficiency, allowing touchdowns on just 41% of opponents’ trips inside the 20. In Week 6, the Ravens converted just one-of-three trips into touchdowns.
Moreover, the defense intercepted Lamar Jackson with 2:50 remaining, and the offense converted the turnover into a touchdown to pull ahead 24-20.
Then, on Baltimore’s ensuing possession, a Giants fumble recovery sealed the victory, and would have led to another touchdown, but for running back Saquon Barkley smartly sliding down at the 2-yard line to effectively end the game with 1:24 remaining.
Smart football. In clutch moments.
Daboll is building a culture, and putting together the strongest Giants season since 2016.
Given the comparative lack of talent and depth on the roster, Daboll and the Giants’ staff is in the midst of one of the more impressive coaching performances in recent NFL memory. As a result, the Giants are a real factor in the NFC East, and Daboll has the chance to run away with the NFL Coach of the Year award.
Matthew Stafford: The Ultimate Boom or Bust Quarterback
Entering this season, Matthew Stafford finished with three or more interceptions returned for a touchdown 5 times in his career. Sunday afternoon, when Carolina Panthers cornerback Donte Johnson took Stafford’s latest interception 30 yards to the house, he now already has two through this season’s first six weeks.
Sunday’s game was a microcosm of sorts of Stafford’s career.
In the first quarter, Stafford hit Allen Robinson on a beautifully thrown back-shoulder throw in the corner of the end-zone for a five-yard touchdown, but there was also the horribly thrown pass that Johnson made him pay for.
The Los Angeles Rams offense has been a wildly inconsistent series of fits and starts so far this season, and Stafford has been no different.
Panthers May Have Real Issues to Deal With
The Carolina Panthers’ sideline was a mess in Week 6, after a tumultuous week inside the locker room after Matt Rhule was relieved of his duties after two seasons and five games.
Multiple Panthers players expressed to Heavy leading into Sunday that Rhule had a close relationship with several players who struggled to come to grips with the decision, after just five games this season.
Sunday in Los Angeles, tempers reached a fever pitch.
Panthers wide receiver Robbie Anderson was seen by the FOX cameras in multiple heated exchanges with his position coach, Joe Dailey, culminating with interim head coach Steve Wilks tossing Anderson from the game.
Wilks just sent Robby Anderson to the locker room.
The Panthers are now 1-5, but wins and losses aside, Wilks’ toughest task may be keeping this locker room together and invested over the final 11 weeks. Sunday wasn’t exactly an auspicious start.
Cardiac Colts Author Matt Ryan Redemption Story
It’s been a brutal 10 days for Matt Ryan.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback has been subject to the criticism and calls that his career is finished, after a lackluster 251-yard and 2-interception dud against the Denver Broncos in front of a national audience on Thursday Night Football in Week 5.
But, Ryan answered the bell, in a got-to-have-it game against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars, leading his 37th fourth-quarter comeback to topple the Jags 34-27.
Ryan’s latest end-of-game sojourn covered 66 yards in 11 plays, culminating with a 32-yard touchdown pass to rookie Alec Pierce with just 23 seconds remaining. Ball game.
There’s still a long way to go, but after leading the Colts back, Indianapolis sits 3-2-1 in a very winnable AFC South. In some ways, the Colts’ season hung in the balance. A second loss to the Jaguars and a 2-3-1 hole to dig out of may have proven insurmountable. But, Ryan’s latest comeback keeps hope alive in Indy.
Week 6 MVP: New York Jets DL Quinnen Williams
Quinnen Williams had the look of a player whose goal was to break Aaron Rodgers, in the first half of Sunday’s game, and he very well may have. Williams had a career day at Lambeau, finishing with 5 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, 2 tackles for loss and 1 forced fumble, as a driving force of a dominant showing from the Jets’ front seven.
Whether Wiliams was simply bull-rushing up the middle, or being sent on a game up front off the edge, the Packers couldn’t block Williams all afternoon.
Williams’ relentless pressure up the middle was consistently disruptive to Rodgers and the Packers’ passing game. If Williams and the rest of the Jets’ front seven can build on Sunday’s success, this team is going to play its way into the upper echelon of the AFC playoff picture.
Week 6 Breakout Star: Buffalo Bills CB Kaiir Elam
Patrick Mahomes scrambled toward the sideline with 3:19 on 3rd down and goal before trying to slingshot a pass into double-coverage to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the corner of the end zone, but rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam made Mahomes pay with his second career interception.
The Buffalo Bills wound up converting Elam’s interception into a field goal.
“He’s a really good player,” an AFC personnel director told Heavy on Sunday evening. “He has all the physical tools, even though he never made that many plays at Florida, he has all the traits. He just hadn’t put it all together yet. Looks like he’s starting to.”
Elam, chosen No. 23 overall by the Bills in the 2022 NFL draft, finished Sunday with 4 tackles, 1 pass breakup and a key interception that played a vital role in the outcome of the game.