No matter how much weird stuff happens in the NFL, nothing feels quite as strange as typing first place in the same sentence as Cleveland Browns. Week 6 saw the Browns take advantage of Lamar Jackson's injury absence to win a slugfest with the Baltimore Ravens to improve to 4-2 on the year, seizing first place in the AFC North on the strength of head-to-head wins over both Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Things didn't go quite so well in New York as the Giants suffered a brutal home loss that could portend bad things to come in a week that skewed more towards the land of missed opportunity. Let's take a deep dive around the NFL as we catch up on the Winners and Losers of Week 6, beginning in Cleveland with the first place Browns.
Biggest Winners of NFL Week 6
Cleveland Browns
Sunday's 13-10 win over the Ravens was not aesthetically pleasing but it did the job for the Browns, who are now 2-0 in the AFC North with head-to-head victories over two of their biggest rivals. Both offenses struggled massively but Cleveland made just enough plays at the end to set up Andre Smzyt to kick the game-winning 37-yard field goal as time expired.
Expectations weren't high for the Browns after they traded Myles Garrett away in the spring, but they can't be ignored now based on their fast start and important divisional wins. Home cooking has been a key for the Browns, who are 3-0 in front of the Dawg Pound so far, making Sunday's trip to Tennessee a fascinating test to see how Cleveland handles prosperity.
Robert Saleh
The heat was starting to rise in Tennessee as the Titans looked like one of the NFL's worst teams after an 0-5 start. Scoring a road divisional win over the Indianapolis Colts was a big stress reliever for Robert Saleh, who saw the Titans snap an 11-game AFC South losing streak with the victory.
Cam Ward wasn't spectacular for the Titans but Saleh's defense made a lot of big plays to help the cause. Tennessee racked up six sacks and forced three turnovers on the afternoon, short-circuiting a lot of Indianapolis drives to pick up their first victory of the year.
Caleb Williams
A hamstring injury cost Williams three games and the Bears' luck with backup quarterbacks finally ran out in Week 5. Ben Johnson was thrilled to get Williams back in Week 6 and he made a huge impact in Atlanta, completing 30-of-36 for 305 yards with a touchdown in Chicago's eight-point win over the Falcons.
The Bears' offense operated much more efficiently with Williams under center, which is important as the schedule is about to get tougher for Chicago. With the two Super Bowl participants on deck, including a short-week matchup against New England on Thursday, Williams' performance was a necessary positive development for the Bears.
Tyler Shough
Saints fans were getting restless after Shough appeared to be going through a back slide with a rough stretch of games over the past two weeks. Things weren't perfect for Shough in East Rutherford on Sunday but he was a major positive as New Orleans snapped a three-game losing streak with a road victory against the NFC East-leading Giants.
Even though Shough only threw for 144 yards in the win, he racked up three touchdown passes and ran for another score for good measure. The NFC South remains up for grabs with Carolina leading the division at just 3-2, meaning Shough's resurgence is important for New Orleans' chances of remaining a threat in a soft division.
Biggest Losers of NFL Week 6
New York Giants
It feels like the Giants have been teetering on the brink of disaster since Jaxson Dart got hurt and Sunday was a near-perfect storm to raise serious doubts about their season. The defense imploded again, giving up 34 unanswered points to dig a massive hole against the Saints, while Jameis Winston was quite miserable as a passer before giving way to J.J. McCarthy late in the contest.
John Harbaugh, who also mothballed Cam Skattebo after his costly fumble last week, declined to comment on who his starter would be ahead of a trip to Houston in Week 7. Either way, the Giants have been playing quite sloppily for a while and it finally burned them here.
Philadelphia Eagles Offense
It turns out that Jalen Hurts' blood clot, which landed him on IR Saturday, may be the straw that breaks the Eagles' offense. Philadelphia looked completely inept in a 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, with Tanner McKee averaging just 4.8 yards per attempt on 46 passes.
Getting DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert back wasn't enough to spark the Eagles, who were also down Saquon Barkley again and had to start Texans' cast-off Dameon Pierce in the backfield. Three straight NFC East games await Philadelphia, all of which will come without Hurts, so there's a chance this could spiral out of control and lead to an Eagles' fire sale by the trade deadline.
Indianapolis Colts
Any positive momentum the Colts were building entering Week 6 completely evaporated with a dreadful loss to Tennessee. Falling at home to one of the worst teams in the NFL is a no-fly for a potential playoff team, and the Colts' investment in Daniel Jones continued to age poorly.
Jones was a disaster against a bad Titans' team, completing just 22-of-42 passes for 264 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions while taking six sacks. Special teams also let the Colts down as the game swung on a blocked punt that Tennessee returned for a touchdown, dropping them to 2-4 in a year where they don't have a first-round pick after sending it to the Jets in the Sauce Gardner trade.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Getting walked off by Houston in a hard-fought game is nothing to be ashamed of but we have to put the Jaguars in this space for a couple of key reasons. The first is due to a significant defensive regression, which saw them get gashed for over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns from an inconsistent C.J. Stroud while a running game down to its backups averaged 4.6 yards per carry against the Jacksonville front.
Liam Coen also made a curious call to settle for a 60-yard field goal attempt from Cam Little with 1:55 left and facing a 4th-and-4 on the Houston 42, giving the Texans plenty of time to mount a game-winning drive against a defense that hadn't stopped them all day. A win here could have buried the Texans completely, but Jacksonville now has to look in the rear-view mirror at a Houston team gaining confidence in a hurry.
A.J. Brown
The return of A.J. Brown was supposed to unlock the Patriots' offense but it sure looks as if New England rushed him back from a high-ankle sprain. Brown was not in sync with Drake Maye at all, catching just 3-of-10 targets for 27 yards, notably letting a potential long touchdown go right through his fingers as one of several drops on the afternoon.
Things almost became a complete disaster for Brown in the final minute, when he was placed on the hands team for a Jets' onside kick attempt and failed to secure a ball that bounced right to him. DeMario Douglas was quick to recover Brown's muff, securing the Patriots' victory, but New England needs more out of him after Romeo Doubs left the contest early with a shoulder injury ahead of a short-week trip to Chicago.
Los Angeles Rams
We are reaching five-alarm fire territory with the Rams, whose super team looks like a super flop at this point. Los Angeles was favored by nearly two touchdowns on Sunday but lost outright at home to Arizona, falling 18-16 in a game where their offense didn't finish nearly enough drives, which was a problem when they lost kicker Blake Grupe to a knee injury early in the contest.
The only two wins that the Rams have this season have come against the hapless NFC East, which is not a good way to live when they only have two games left against that division for the rest of the year. There is too much talent on the Rams' roster to be as bad as they've been, making next week's game with the Raiders a must-win if they want to avoid digging too deep a hole in the NFC playoff picture.
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