NFL Week 6 Takeaways

Injury Roundup

QB Justin Fields - Chicago Bears

Shoulder: Not likely to miss time.

QB Kenny Pickett - Pittsburgh Steelers

Concussion: Will have to go through the concussion protocol to return, likely to miss one week. TBD after.

QB Carson Wentz - Washington Commanders

Finger: Meeting with a specialist on Monday but expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Taylor Heinicke is expected to start in Wentz’s stead.

RB J.K. Dobbins - Baltimore Ravens

Knee: Not expected to miss additional time but did sit for the second half of this week’s game.

WR Marquise Brown - Arizona Cardinals

Foot: The Cardinals fear that Brown may have suffered a season ending lisfranc injury. More tests will be done. An IR stint seems highly likely, at the very least. Update: Brown is now expected to miss 6 weeks.

WR Randall Cobb - Green Bay Packers

High-ankle sprain: Expected to miss multiple weeks.

WR Kendrick Bourne - New England Patriots

Turf Toe: Not expected to miss time but likely to be limited if active.

TE Cameron Brate - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Head: Carted off the field after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Likely to miss multiple weeks after already missing Week 5 with a concussion.

Game Recaps

Ravens @ Giants

A Perfect Representation of their Seasons

The Baltimore Ravens are gaining a bad reputation for blowing games. The Ravens have led by multiple scores in the 3rd or 4th quarter in all three of their losses. Lamar Jackson’s stats in the past 3 games have also dwindled. Jackson is averaging just 176 passing yards, 1 passing TD and over 1 INT per game in this span despite minimal change to his passing attempts.

The Giants, on the other hand, are now 5-1 and rolling after back to back unlikely comeback wins. The G-Men have trailed in the 2nd half in all but one of their wins this season. New York faces the Jaguars and Seahawks on the road before a much needed bye. Following the bye, they are home against the Texans and Lions. It is looking like smooth sailing for a team that can barely find a healthy group of WRs to start.

This game personified the mind-boggling difference in seasons that the Ravens and Giants have had.

Jaguars @ Colts

Who Runs the Jaguars Backfield?

Travis Etienne and James Robinson were expected to compete for control of the backfield after both RBs returned from season-ending injuries in 2022.

Robinson got hurt near the end of the 2021 season and was considered to be a longshot to be healthy for Week 1, however, he immediately saw the bulk of the carries at the start of this season. He led the team in rushing attempts in each of their first three games and was leaned on heavily. That soon changed, however, as Etienne began to see just as many carries as Robinson plus more pass catchign work.

Etienne has led the backfield in WOPR (weighted opportunity rating) in almost every game this year and the rushing split is now heading in his favor. Both of these RBs can be started as low-end RB2s even if there isn’t a clear indication of who will get most of the carries.

Robinson is still getting the bulk of the red zone and goal-line work while Etienne dominates the RBs in the receiving game. JaMycal Hasty scored a 61-yard TD in the loss but shouldn’t be considered in most leagues as he only has 4 carries for 63 yards on the season.

Patriots @ Browns

Brownie the Elf Gets Zapped

It is a good year to be a rookie. Bailey Zappe was drafted in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL Draft and was not expected to make an appearance this year. Like most great QB stories, though, it all started with a slew of untimely injuries. Mac Jones got hurt on the last play of the game in Week 3. Journeyman Brian Hoyer started in Week 4 but left the game early with a concussion. Enter Bailey Zappe.

Bailey Zappe came in to the Week 4 game and kept it close but ultimately lost. With time to prepare as the starting QB, however, Zappe has flourished. After a 29-0 takedown of the Lions in Week 5, the Patriots headed to Cleveland as underdogs. Zappe threw for 309 yards and 2 TDs en route to a 38-15 win. While the Patriots defense deserves immense credit in both of these wins, Zappe deserves a ton of credit as well as he is elevating this offense.

From weeks 1-3, the Patriots were 22nd in the league in dropback EPA and 8th in rushing EPA. Since, they have improved in both facets, rising to 15th and 4th, respectively. Playing suspect defenses like the Lions and Browns has contributed to his efficiency stats but nobody can deny that he is winning games and looking like a pro.

Cleveland’s Run Defense is an Issue

The Browns 32nd ranked run defense only allowed 98 rushing yards to the Patriots in Week 6 but that is far from a win. The Patriots were letting Bailey Zappe throw out of his mind and and Cleveland still finished 18th out of 26 teams in rushing EPA allowed.

Like the Lions, this is a matchup you need to target every single week for fantasy purposes. The Chargers and Falcons combined for over 200 rushing yards each against Cleveland as well. Leonard Fournette, Dameon Pierce, Joe Mixon, Lamar Jackson and the entire Ravens backfield are licking their lips as they wait to run all over the Browns in the upcoming weeks. Cleveland’s only wins have come against the Panthers and Steelers, two teams with some of the worst run games in the league.

Deshaun Watson isn’t set to return until the middle of November. The Browns playoff hopes may be gone well before then. This is a major issue that can end their season on its own.

Jets @ Packers

The Stinky Cheese Man

What’s that smell? The Green Bay Packers managed a measly 10 points at home against the New York Jets. The week before they blew a big lead to the Giants in London. Any chance of winning the division now relies on the Minnesota Vikings imploding. This is not the start Green Bay wanted or expected.

Rodgers is still posting a decent QB stat line but he has posted his lowest yards per game total since back in 2007, a season where he was still a backup and played in just two partial games.

The lack of an elite WR can no longer be an excuse for Rodgers when Romeo Doubs and Allen Lazard are playing well and the Packers went into the season knowing the personnel that they signed up for. Rodgers needs to step up and be the hero for this team. You cannot win consecutive MVP awards and think these kinds of awful performances are acceptable.

The Packers are on the road for 5 of their next 7 games before finally getting a bye week, including games against the Bills, Eagles, and Cowboys. They have to turn things around or Rodgers may be on the couch come playoff time.

Panthers @ Rams

A Nonexistent Run Game

The Rams won on Sunday with 29 rushing attempts for 111 yards and 2 TDs. That sounds like a successful rushing week but no single Rams player finished with more than 43 rushing yards. Darrell Henderson Jr. led the team with 12 rushing attempts and managed to score, while Malcolm Brown carried the ball 7 times for 15 yards. This was a pathetic performance from an offense that has looked downright laughable since winning the Super Bowl in February.

Per Football Outsiders, the Rams were netting -0.34 points per drive heading into this game, 24th in the league. They have gone up a bit after beating arguably the worst team in the league, the Carolina Panthers, but that does not call for any added optimism.

The Rams get a well-timed bye week before facing a gauntlet that includes heading to Tampa, New Orleans, Kansas City and Green Bay. The Rams need to fix things if they want to convincingly beat any of these teams or look anything like the dominant super bowl winning team just one year ago.

Cards @ Hawks

Hopkins Can’t Return Soon Enough

The Arizona Cardinals offense was supposed to explode on Sunday. This game had a point total over 50 and the Seahawks have one of the worst overall defenses in the league.

Well, Kyler Murray led this team to a whopping 9 points.

The Cardinals now rank 24th in EPA per drop back, only besting terrible offenses like the Steelers, Bears, Commanders and Panthers. The rushing offense is nonexistent outside of Murray himself. Help is desperately needed somewhere and DeAndre Hopkins should hopefully be the solution. While sophomore WR Rondale Moore has been sneakily solid since returning from injury, the passing game just isn’t working. Hopkins is set to return for this upcoming Thursday Night Football after serving a suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.

With Hollywood Brown now out for an extended period of time, if not the season, Hopkins needs to play like a star to get this Arizona offense rolling.

Bills @ Chiefs

The Passing of the Torch

Buffalo News

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are the best QBs in the NFL and that is unlikely change anytime soon. NFL fans have been lucky to watch both of them duke it out in exhilarating matches for the past few couple season and Sunday was no different. Despite some slow starts and red zone struggles, it was an entertaining game and both teams proved that they can score no matter how much time is left on the clock.

This is the greatest QB rivalry in the league and the best since Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. As long as we get to see a healthy Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen for another decade, this is set to end as one of the greatest QB rivalries in the history of the game.

The Fantasy Football by Broto app is now live on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store! Download it today for a “Start/Sit” tool, player cards, advanced and exclusive statistics, usage, rankings, interactive tools, coaching tendencies, and much, much more. FREE for a limited time.

Check out patreon.com/BRotofantasy to access extra episodes, join our community, win prizes, and help keep the app free.

By Themi Michalakis