NFL Week 6: The last of the unbeatens
We take a closer look at the three teams that are still perfect. Plus, cool kicker stories, Romeo Crennel's hotly debated decision, and the Browns get a reality check.
The Packers looked like a safe bet to be the last undefeated team standing in 2020. Instead, they saw a 10-0 lead disintegrate into a 38-10 loss in a Week 6 bedwetting. That leaves only three teams as the final candidates to keep Mercury Morris and the rest of the 1972 Dolphins from popping some champagne and being generally insufferable.
The Seahawks, Titans, and Steelers all stand unstained above the fray and with the opportunity to forge their own paths to Super Bowl 55. That’ll be a major advantage en route to a postseason where each conference gets only a single bye through the Wild Card Round. Though it’s unlikely any of them finish the season 16-0 — in fact, Tennessee and Pittsburgh will face off next Sunday — each of these teams have at least a 93 percent shot at making the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight.
Not all unbeaten teams are created equal. All three have varying strengths and flaws that will ultimately decide how their seasons end. But six weeks into the season (and six days before that Titans-Steelers showdown) seems like a proper place to stack up their Super Bowl hopes. Here’s how I rank them through five games apiece.
3. Tennessee Titans
Barring a collapse, Tennessee will escape the 9-7 inertia that has haunted the franchise each of the past four seasons. The Titans are 5-0 and have won games with efficient aerial attacks, a brutal run game, a pair of dominant defense performances and, as seen once again in Week 6, some epic comebacks.
Mike Vrabel’s team escaped a trap game against the 1-5 Texans, battling back after Houston took a 36-29 lead with 1:50 to play. That win showcased everything Tennessee can do so well. Ryan Tannehill, without Corey Davis for the entirety of Sunday’s game and missing breakout tight end Jonnu Smith for most of the contest due to injury, still threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns. That included this perfect game-tying corner route to A.J. Brown:
Derrick Henry did extremely Derrick Henry things, running for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 22 carries. That included 94 on a lead-taking, wildfire, fourth-quarter touchdown jaunt:
And Vrabel got to look incredibly smart while taking a “12 men on the field” penalty, which is not a thing I thought could ever happen. This was great game management!
The win also showcased the team’s biggest vulnerability: a middling defense that can be rattled by a pressure-breaking mobile quarterback. Tennessee made Josh Allen look like the unevolved version of himself in Week 5. In Week 6, that defense allowed Deshaun Watson to throw for 335 yards. He threw touchdown passes to four different targets, gashing a secondary that gave up three passing TDs to a broken Kirk Cousins three weeks earlier. A limited pass rush has only seven sacks through five games (a 3.2 percent sack rate, third-worst in the NFL entering Week 6), and while its 28 quarterback hits suggests that number will rise, it still rates out in the lower half of all NFL defenses.
There’s enough talent to plug those holes and carry the team to its first AFC South title since 2008, especially if former stars like Jadeveon Clowney and Malcolm Butler can play up to their potential. And, like in 2019, Tennessee has some weird outside talking points pushing it to prosperity.
Last year it was Vrabel telling the world a Super Bowl win was worth manually detaching his genitalia. This year, the Titans are riding some extreme “no one believes in us!” energy, which they’ve somehow gleaned from the “we nearly caused a league-wide health crisis!” criticism that followed the wave of questionable decisions and positive COVID-19 tests the past two-plus weeks. That’s not ideal — and it’s leading to entirely too many Taylor Lewan quotes — but hey, whatever works.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers dismantled the Browns to improve to 5-0 and maintain their spot atop the AFC North, but it’s tough to know just how much that undefeated record reflects their 2020 postseason chances. Take away a flawed Cleveland team and the combined record of the opponents Pittsburgh has beaten is just 5-17-1. Per Football Outsiders, the only team they’ve played with a top 15 defense was the Broncos.
That leaves Ben Roethlisberger with plenty to prove in his age-38 season. Last week we talked about how he’s brought the Steelers offense back to prominence through shorter, lower-risk passes and a diverse array of routes from offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. This week, the team proved Chase Claypool’s breakout was sustainable; he had four catches for 74 yards and a rushing touchdown on a day when Roethlisberger only needed to throw 22 passes for an offense that put up 31 points.
Pittsburgh is built to win even if that group fizzles. T.J. Watt and company put on a pass rushing clinic Sunday, battering Baker Mayfield to the point Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski raised a white flag and inserted Case Keenum into the lineup.
The Steelers finished the day with four sacks, six tackles for loss, and seven quarterback hits. A passing game led by Odell Beckham Jr. and an increasingly frustrated Jarvis Landry averaged only 5.9 yards per dropback. Mayfield matched his season high in interceptions while setting season lows in both QB and passer rating.
No team in the league has allowed fewer points than Pittsburgh, which is a familiar feeling for fans who’ve hung around since the Steel Curtain era. The Steelers look like a championship team through six weeks. Games against the Titans and Ravens the next two weeks will show whether they’re truly elite or if their dominant start is merely a function of a soft schedule.
1. Seattle Seahawks
This segment could just be RUSSELL WILSON in size 40 font and that would effectively get the point across. The veteran quarterback is barrelling toward his first NFL MVP — or, at least, his first MVP votes — behind strong connections with veteran wideout Tyler Lockett and second-year charge D.K. Metcalf.
Wilson has been very good for more than eight seasons as a pro, so it’s extremely meaningful that he’s setting career highs — by a significant margin — in completion rate (72.8 percent), touchdown rate (11.2), yards per pass (8.9), yards per game (300), and passer rating (129.8, which would set a single-season NFL record by more than seven points if it stands). When targeting Lockett he’s averaged nine yards per play and a 139.3 rating. When he switches over to Metcalf those numbers flip to 12.7 (!!!) and 130.8.
Every time Wilson targets Metcalf, the Seahawks gain about 13 yards, on average. Good god.
These are all otherworldly statistics, and they don’t tell the whole story of just how Wilson has stepped up to take advantage of big opportunities with even bigger throws. While the competition through the first third of the season hasn’t been great, the Seahawks have risen to every challenge thrown their way so far.
Weaknesses exist. The Seattle defense has problems. Much like Tennessee, it was also victimized in a near-loss to the 1-5 Vikings. The Seahawks haven’t generated much of a pass rush — despite blitzing on more than 40 percent of their downs, that unit has only created pressure on 21.4 percent of its plays — and have given up 7.5 net yards per play, which is fifth-worst in the league. No team gives up more passing yards than Seattle’s 370 per game, and it isn’t even close; the Falcons are second-worst at 335.
Still, the Seahawks have championship experience and a quarterback in the midst of a leap from “great” to “legendary.” That’s why they’re the last undefeated team standing in the NFC — and why they’re the top team in the NFL. — CD
Week 6 results, in five words or fewer
Falcons 40, Vikings 23
Broncos 18, Patriots 12
Pats could’ve used more practice
Giants 20, Washington 19
Bears 23, Panthers 16
Steelers 38, Browns 7
Lions 34, Jaguars 16
Colts 31, Bengals 27
Ravens 30, Eagles 28
Titans 42, Texans 36 (OT)
Texans couldn’t stop Derrick Henry
Dolphins 24, Jets 0
Jets’ season highlight? Butt pick
Buccaneers 38, Packers 10
49ers 24, Rams 16
That’s the kicker
Kickers usually only find themselves in the spotlight for two reasons: when they make a game-winning kick or when they miss one.
Not so this week. We wanted to shout out two kickers for something a little different.
The first is Broncos kicker Brandon McManus, who set a franchise record with six field goals Sunday. He accounted for all of Denver’s points in a 18-12 upset over the Patriots. Congrats to McManus and especially, congrats to his fantasy football owners:
The second is Jon Brown. Not Bills wide receiver John Brown. Not abolitionist John Brown, as played by a wonderfully maniacal Ethan Hawke in the current limited series The Good Lord Bird. No, we’re talking the Jaguars’ Jon Brown, who made his first field goal ever in a real football game:
Brown was a former college soccer star who transferred from Kentucky to Louisville to walk on the football team. He handled some kickoff duties but never attempted a field goal with the Cardinals. Although he saw a little preseason action with the Bengals a few years ago, Brown had never played in a regular season NFL game until the Jaguars brought him up from the practice squad.
Despite missing his second attempt, Brown’s FG percentage still ranks third among the Jaguars’ five kickers this season. Hopefully he sticks around until Josh Lambo returns from IR. Right now, Brown gives us one reason to pay even a little attention to the Jags. — SH
Song of the day
The networks have been killing it with bumper music this season. In the past week or so, they’ve played us into commercial breaks with TikTok’s favorite song (Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”), a few Van Halen hits (RIP, Eddie), and The Replacements’ “Alex Chilton” (always a go-to choice, along with Prince, when the Vikings are in primetime).
CBS might’ve topped them all with this ballad to ol’ crazy eyes:
I’m not a fan of piling on people unnecessarily, but Adam Gase absolutely deserves it:
— SH
The Week 6 Pain Index
Here’s a twist: The Falcons didn’t make it into our pain index this week. In fact, they were the *highlight* of Atlanta sports this weekend. While the Braves were blowing a 3-1 lead in the NLCS, Georgia Tech was being pantsed by Clemson, and Georgia was losing to Alabama yet again, it was the Falcons who came through for the beleaguered sports city. Well … maybe. Even though the Falcons won their first game of the season, it might’ve cost them in the long run:
The Falcons avoided any immediate heartbreak in Week 6, but a number of other teams weren’t so lucky. It was actually hard to narrow the list to three. So let’s give out a few honorable mentions to:
The Bengals, once up 21-0, lost their 17th straight road game.
The Jets, stumbling toward 0-16, turned Frank Gore into a Scorcese character.
Washington, which let Daniel Jones rush for 74 yards, dropped to 1-5 after a failed two-point conversion.
The Patriots, who are below .500 in October for the first time since 2002.
Now on to the real Week 6 pain index:
3. Vikings
You can’t throw three interceptions against a pass defense that was nonexistent a week ago and expect to hang onto your starting job, something that Kirk Cousins himself acknowledged after an ugly 40-23 loss to the Falcons.
Of course, Kirk Cousins isn’t the ONLY problem for this team — the secondary and the interior offensive line are big problems too — but he’s the one they’re kind of stuck with thanks to a two-year, $66 million offseason extension. They could have forced him to play for a new deal this year, but that was a cap problem. The extension just moved the cap problem into 2021, making it impossible to do anything other than hang onto him. Cousins is the kind of quarterback that has to have a good team around him, and with that contract, it’s just not an option.
This might be the new normal in Minnesota for a while. — RVB
2. Texans
Derrick Henry was pretty much guaranteed to have a big game against the Texans. Coming into Sunday, he averaged more rushing yards per game than everyone but Dalvin Cook, while Houston’s defense was giving up more yards on the ground than every team but the Lions.
Henry indeed had a monster game, but it almost didn’t matter. After falling into a 14-0 hole in the first half, the Texans were just opportunistic enough on defense (two forced turnovers) to let Deshaun Watson take over (335 passing yards, four TDs). The best example came immediately after Henry’s 94-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Watson only needed two plays to give the Texans a 30-29 lead, which they extended to 36-29 following a 15-play, 69-yard (nice) drive that ate up more than six minutes of game clock.
During that last drive, interim coach Romeo Crennel trusted his offense enough to go for it on fourth down twice. It worked out both times, and once more earlier in the game. But those aren’t the decisions everyone is talking about. That would be Crennel’s choice to go for the two-point conversion with a seven-point lead and less than two minutes left in the game — something no NFL team had ever done.
The Texans’ win probability was basically the same whether they had kicked the extra point or gone for two, but Crennel wanted to try to win the game right there. If you read between the lines, that’s because he believed his offense could convert the two-point play more than he believed in his defense stopping the Titans in a similar situation. It’s not terrible logic, even if it didn’t work out.
Watson couldn’t convert, and the Titans marched down the field for the game-tying score (that maybe shouldn’t have counted because Brown might not have had both feet down):
And because the NFL’s overtime rules are trash, the Texans were done as soon as they lost the coin toss, which Watson knew immediately:
Watson’s reaction sums up everything: The Texans had a golden opportunity to hand a division rival their first loss of the season and give a boost to their own playoff hopes. But a gutsy two-point try didn’t pay off, the defense couldn’t hang on, and Watson never got to touch the ball again. — SH
1. Browns
The Browns have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL over the past month, and it seemed like they had taken the next step last week when they beat an opponent with a pulse (the Colts). We were starting to believe. Cautiously, but still.
Their test this week was the one that really mattered, though. The Browns had turned themselves into an AFC North contender, but they now needed to prove they could compete against the big boys. Instead, their game against the Steelers looked eerily like their other loss of the season, which came in Week 1 to the Ravens:
Baker Mayfield, who was nursing a rib injury, couldn’t handle the relentless Steelers defense. He threw a pick-six on Cleveland’s first drive and then returned to his panicky ways against Pittsburgh’s blitz (2 of 6, one interception, three sacks). Eventually, Case Keenum came in to replace him.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Steelers also brought in their backup quarterback when the game was all but over. And that backup is Mason Rudolph, someone the Browns have a bit of history with, as I’m sure you’re aware. Speaking of history, the Steelers have now won 17 straight home games against the Browns, a streak that dates back to 2003.
While the Browns couldn’t get over their hump, the Steelers got what they needed. They put together their most complete game of the season, thanks to a smothering defense and an offense that spread the ball around.
After the game, Mike Tomlin praised his own team, saying they played “varsity” ball on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Browns showed they’re still at JV level. — SH