NFL Week 6 Recap: Clash of the Titans

As a football fan, I do enjoy weeks that contain what I love to call, "a double main event." By this, I mean not one, but two marquee games taking place in the the same week of NFL action. Obviously, one of the main event games is played on the Sunday Night Football slot, but another usually airs in the late afternoon slot, either sharing regional coverage with one other game, or actually airing nationally. In the case of the big battle between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, it was the latter.

This game was circled by many football fans, but it was especially circled by Bills fans. The reason is simple: they had to watch their Bills lose in January to the Chiefs on two occasions, with last year's Divisional Playoff being a heartbreaker. The game emanated from Arrowhead once again, and it was quiet until the second half, with the Bills taking the lead late with a clutch touchdown. However, they did leave time left for Patrick Mahomes, but his attempt at a game-winning drive ended with a surprise interception, which was his second of the game. The Bills won 24-20, and that was a huge difference maker, as it could mean that the next time these teams face each other, it could take place in Buffalo.

Something had to give in this primetime matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Either the Eagles would remain undefeated, or the Cowboys would get a huge road win under Cooper Rush, which would create one hell of a quarterback controversy in Dallas. Don't worry, that was prevented...barely. The Eagles coasted to a 20-0 lead, but Dallas chipped away, even managing to whittle their deficit down to three points. Unfortunately for Dallas, that's as close as they came. A clutch TD from Devonta Smith ended up sealing it, and the Eagles are now 6-0 to start the season. The last time the Eagles had this exact start was 2004, and that year, they reached Super Bowl XXXIX. As for the Cowboys, Rush received his first loss of this regular season, and Dak Prescott is close to returning.

Everyone's taking about Philadelphia's sports teams, but what about New York? There is a big boom going on in NY sports right now. The Yankees are playing for the pennant, the Rangers are back in action and coming off nearly reaching the Stanley Cup Final, and the Jets and Giants are both good. The Giants came back from a double digit deficit to defeat the Baltimore Ravens, while the Jets managed to get a huge win at Lambeau Field. The Giants are 5-1, right behind the Eagles, while the Jets stand at 4-2, right behind the Bills. The last time the Giants reached the playoffs was 2016, but for the Jets, 2010 was their last trip to the postseason. The last time both NY teams made it in the same season? 2006. It definitely looks like both teams are playoff bound, and could possibly win their respective divisions. The rest of the season will tell the tale, but right now, the Jets and Giants definitely look like forces to be dealt with.

Week 6 opened with yet another low scoring Thursday game that saw the Washington Commanders defeat the Chicago Bears, 12-7, though Carson Wentz ended up injured in the process. The Minnesota Vikings won over the Miami Dolphins to increase their lead in the NFC North following the Packers' loss, though the Dolphins could get Tua Tagovailoa back on the following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Speaking of the Steelers, are they back in the race? The Steelers managed to eke out a close, but huge, win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 20-18, with the win coming after Mitch Trubisky had to enter in place of Kenny Pickett, who was injured during the game. It may have been a big ugly, but it was a statement win that could mark the beginning of a huge climb for the Steelers.

The San Francisco 49ers fell short against the Atlanta Falcons, but it was not because of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who had the best game of the season so far. Aiyuk caught both of Jimmy Garoppolo's touchdown passes, and had his share of receiving yards as well. His performance managed to increase the faith of his fantasy owners, as the previous few weeks have seen Aiyuk underperform due to a lack of targets, which is a common thing with Deebo Samuel and George Kittle on the team. How did Aiyuk perform fantasy-wise? Let's go to the numbers.

Wide receiver scoring goes like this: a point per 10 receiving yards, touchdowns are 6 points each, and PPR rules definitely apply. Regarding Aiyuk, he had eight receptions (8 points), 83 yards (8.3 points), and two touchdowns (12 points), which totals 28.3 points. That's more than his last three weeks combined. I can't see him repeating that performance, but those numbers could have Aiyuk's fantasy owners contemplating starting him more often.

While Week 5's Monday game featured the competent half of the AFC West, Week 6's Monday matchup featured the lower half of the division, which was filled with so much ugliness and way too many coaching mistakes. It was basically Hackett vs Staley in a battle to see which coach would bungle it worse, and without question, it was Hackett who ended up the bigger loser. The centerpiece of Hackett's ineptitude was his lack of use of Melvin Gordon III, which upset this fantasy owner, as my game was in jeopardy. The game ended up going to OT because, well, just because, and Denver managed to bungle it with a botched punt that ended up resulting in LA recovering the ball in field goal range. After a few runs, the Chargers ended up winning with a clutch FG, and as for the Broncos, well, I don't know what to say about them.

We are now one-third through the 2022 season, and it's a doozy. The Buffalo Bills have established themselves as the class of the AFC, but the South and North divisions appear to be quite mediocre. The Indianapolis Colts are on a winning tear--winning three of their last four, so that's a good thing. The Eagles remain the class of the NFC, but while the East has returned to prominence, the West is back to being mediocre. Everyone is tied at 3-3 except for the Arizona Cardinals, who stand at 2-4. The middle third of the season (Weeks 7-12) should be very interesting, and will weed out the pretenders and the contenders.

Week 7 begins with the New Orleans Saints and the Arizona Cardinals facing off on Thursday Night Football. On Sunday Night Football, the Miami Dolphins will host the Pittsburgh Steelers, and on Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears will face off against the New England Patriots.

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