2024 NFL Season, Week 6: What We Learned from Sunday's games

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• RE-WATCH: Jaguars-Bears on NFL+
• READ: No. 1 pick Williams throws four TDs in international debut

Jeremy Bergman's takeaways:

1. Caleb making his own OROY case. Caleb Williams' second national-window game went much better than his first. Four weeks removed from an "SNF" stinker in Houston, Williams lit up London with one of the most special performances in Bears QB history. The No. 1 overall pick continued his hot run of play through the air and on the ground, throwing four touchdowns to Keenan Allen and part-time long snapper Cole Kmet (two apiece) in leading Chicago to its third straight win. Williams played headstrong in and out of structure, showing confidence on tight-window throws and creativity out of the pocket. In addition to his 226 passing yards, Williams moved the chains with 56 yards on four scrambles, displaying a veteran's knack for knowing when to seek and avoid contact. He proved resilient, too, bouncing back from an awful interception with an 85-yard TD drive. Bears fans have not seen this before -- through six weeks, Williams already has the most TD passes of any Chicago rookie QB (9, tied with Jim McMahon) -- but they better get used to it. Williams is for real and making a run at the leading candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year -- and the Bears' next opponent in Week 8 -- Commanders QB Jayden Daniels.
2. Jags left in limbo in London. Mere hours after Jacksonville owner Shad Khan gave his latest vote of confidence to Doug Pederson and Co., they betrayed it with another listless letdown. Look at the box score, and you might be encouraged by the Jags' offensive performance; Evan Engram and Gabe Davis returned to the fold with a vengeance, and Trevor Lawrence was relatively efficient. But the tape tells a different story. Jacksonville continues to blow opportunities -- it started Sunday with an opening-possession FG after an eight-minute march and continued with drive-killing drops and turnovers. The run game, paced in Week 5 by Tank Bigsby, was D.O.A. away from Duval and lost Travis Etienne midway to a hamstring injury. The pass rush that broke out with Travon Walker last week was nowhere to be found against the elusive Williams, letting the Bears run free and extend drives. Worst of all, the Jaguars will have to sort through their fifth loss of the year away from home; Jacksonville is staying in London for another week ahead of its clash with New England at Wembley Stadium. That likely means no major personnel changes for at least another game. But best believe, if the Jags fall to one of the AFC's worst in Week 7, heads will roll in England.
3. Another beatdown for Bears defense. A slow start gave way to another solid showing from these modern Monsters of the Midway. Chicago entered Week 6 averaging 17.0 PPG allowed, its best mark since its Super Bowl season in 2006. After holding Jacksonville to a mere 16 overseas, the Bears proved again that they are to be feared by upcoming offenses. Disregard the state of their opponents for a moment -- Chicago's four wins are against teams with a combined 4-16 record. After years of wallowing in mediocrity, the Bears are laying waste to weaker sides, with sacks (five players with at least 0.5 vs. Jacksonville), passes defensed (six players with at least one) and takeaways playing a big factor. Chicago added two turnovers on Sunday, the most critical a T.J. Edwards forced fumble of Engram on the very first play of the second half. The punch-out immediately nullified a long completion and led directly to a TD that put Chicago up by 18. The Bears boast 13 takeaways on the season, with only the division rival Packers (14) and Vikings (13) in their ballpark. The NFC North is no joke this season, and after back-to-back laughers, the Bears defense has Chicago right in the thick of it.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Jaguars-Bears (via NFL Pro): Jaylon Johnson allowed just one reception for 5 yards on two targets across 38 coverage snaps against the Jags. The Bears CB has allowed fewer than half of his targets to be completed this season, translating into a league-leading 20.8 passer rating allowed in coverage (min. 15 targets).

NFL Research: Caleb Williams is the first player in NFL history with at least three passing touchdowns and 50 rushing yards in an international game.

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• RE-WATCH: Commanders-Ravens on NFL+
• READ: Lamar runs past Cam for second all time in QB rushing yards

Kevin Patra's takeaways:

1. Lamar, Ravens' offense continues to roll. There isn't an offense in the NFL that is more dangerous than that of the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore band. The Ravens can torture defenses in every way imaginable. Sunday it was Zay Flowers dominating Washington on short and intermediate passes. The wideout generated nine catches for 132 yards in the first half. He didn't see a target for the rest of the game, and the Ravens still rolled. Jackson and Co. gobbled up 484 yards and 28 first downs. A wide ball that was tipped and picked off and a three-and-out in the first quarter were the only things that slowed Baltimore. Its final six possessions went touchdown, TD, field goal, TD, FG, iced game. The Ravens can pummel you with the ground game or pick you apart through the air. Derrick Henry was slowed early between the 20s, but hammered home two TDs and ground down Washington late. The 2024 Ravens are the first team since John Madden's 1971 Raiders with 150-plus rushing yards and at least one rushing TD in each of their first six games of the season. They gobbled up 176 rushing yards on a day in which the reigning MVP threw for 323 yards. When Jackson is right, this is the truest pick-your-poison offense in the NFL. 
2. Daniels still shining but can't keep pace with Jackson. Jayden Daniels played well against a defense that can discombobulate young signal-callers. The rookie QB continued to show excellent anticipation, calm pocket movement and picture-perfect accuracy. On a day when the ground game was absent, Daniels' arm kept the Commanders in the contest. He threw beautiful timing routes and hit Terry McLaurin on two perfect TD balls, including a fourth-quarter fourth down that kept Washington in the game. In a battle of heavyweights, Daniels proved he has the mettle to keep pace. The Commanders sorely missed Brian Robinson's presence on Sunday. Washington generated 52 total rushing yards, with just 30 from running backs, and struggled in short-yardage situations where Robinson usually dominates.
3. Ravens D gets back on track. Questions about the Ravens defense early in the season prompted coordinator Zach Orr to bring in Dean Pees as an advisor, but Baltimore looked more like the stingy group we'd come to expect. Daniels still connected on some plays, but the Ravens rarely gave up anything easy. The Baltimore front did a brilliant job not giving Daniels clear lanes to escape on scrambles and generated three sacks. Additionally, the Ravens controlled the line of scrimmage, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry. The defensive backfield made some big hits, and rookie corner Nate Wiggins made some nice plays on the ball to break up plays.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Commanders-Ravens (via NFL Pro): Zay Flowers reeled in all nine of his targets for 132 yards, generating a career-high plus-41 yards after catch over expected. Flowers' plus-72 receiving yards over expected is the fourth-most generated by any wide receiver this season.

NFL Research: This was Derrick Henry's 20th career game with 100-plus rushing yards and multiple rushing TDs -- joining HOFer Jim Brown (25), HOFer LaDainian Tomlinson (25) and HOFer Emmitt Smith (20) as the only players since 1950 with 20 or more such games in their careers

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• RE-WATCH: Cardinals-Packers on NFL+

Eric Edholm's takeaways:

1. Love flying again for the Packers in strong showing. Jordan Love returned from his knee injury to throw three interceptions against the Vikings, but he’s shown since then that there’s no question he’s back to health after Sunday. Love threw for four TDs and diced up the Cardinals’ secondary, hitting nine different receivers along the way to an easy victory. Two of those TDs went to Romeo Doubs following his suspension and one went to the reemerging Christian Watson, which added a few cherries on top of the win. Love was cooking early, throwing for 194 yards and three scores in the first half. Even his second-quarter interception probably can be blamed on Bo Melton slipping on the route after rain drizzled early in the game. Love’s patience was on display as he routinely took what Arizona gave him, but his trademark off-script skill couldn’t be completely contained all game. After the Cardinals had crept back into the game, Love dropped back amid heavy pressure and connected with Doubs on a wild lob for a score. 
2. Cardinals shot themselves in the foot with turnovers, penalties. The Cardinals punted on their first four offensive possessions. On defense, they allowed three scoring drives in their first four series, fueled by four defensive penalties. They added two more in that span on special teams, including one that wiped out a fumble Arizona recovered on a punt return. Before they knew it they were down 24-0. The Cardinals seemed to turn the tide a bit late in the first half, with a TD drive and an interception, but that’s when the offensive miscues kicked in – including a lot of pre-snap penalties. A false start on Kelvin Beachum killed any chance of making it a 24-14 game at the half. They committed two more offensive flags on the field-goal drive that made it 24-13, but the Cardinals finished the game with three straight lost fumbles on their final three possessions of the game. By that point, Arizona’s defense had been gashed enough to have not mattered, and the team lost Bilal Nichols, Kyzir White and Marvin Harrison Jr. to injury in the game, further hurting their chances to come back. But it was undoubtedly a sloppy performance all around and a big step back after last week’s dramatic comeback against the 49ers. 
3. Packers defense turning opponents over at terrific rate. In the 2023 season, the Packers forced 18 turnovers – seven interceptions and 11 fumbles. Through six games this season, the Packers have nearly matched that number. Their takeaway total sits at 17 now, thanks to three fumbles forced in the second half to close down the Cardinals. You could argue that a few of those came in garbage time, and that’s fine. Green Bay was up 34-13 when Karl Brooks forced the first one on Kyler Murray, but the point stands because two of them came deep in Packers territory. The second fumble came when one of the most underrated contributors to this year’s team, Evan Williams, punched the ball out from Greg Dortch at the Green Bay 22-yard line, and the third fumble – Kenny Clark knocking it loose from Murray’s grasp – also came at the 22. The Packers sought to be more of a big-play defense under coordinator Jeff Hafley, and it appears they’ve done just that. The Packers now have multiple takeaways in each of the first six games, which the team hasn’t done since the 2002 season, per NFL Research. 

Next Gen Stats Insight for Cardinals-Packers (via NFL Pro): Jordan Love was most productive as a passer on dropbacks over 2.5 seconds finishing 11-of-17 for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns (+2.0% CPOE) in a 34-13 win over the Cardinals. Love was not sacked on any of his 12 pressures. He was successful on 60.0% of his dropbacks and generated 19.3 EPA on dropbacks, his highest success rate and most dropback EPA in a game of his career. Three of Love’s four touchdowns targeted a receiver outside the numbers to the right side of the field.

NFL Research: Jordan Love has multiple passing touchdowns in 10 consecutive games played, including playoffs, joining Aaron Rodgers (14) and Brett Favre (11) as the only Packers QBs since at least 1970 to have 10 or more consecutive games with multiple passing TDs. He is the 10th NFL QB since 1970 to have multiple passing scores in 10 straight games, including playoffs. It’s tied for the longest such streak since Tom Brady (13 straight games in 2020-2021).

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• RE-WATCH: Texans-Patriots on NFL+

Eric Edholm's takeaways:

1. Mixon’s return spurs Texans to big road win. With a healthy Joe Mixon in Week 1, the Texans rolled to 213 rushing yards as a team, with Mixon supplying 159 of those. In the four games since then, all of them with Mixon out with injury, Houston averaged only 77 yards on the ground per game. His return Sunday at New England showed how much he adds to this offense. Mixon ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, adding a TD reception as well. His first eight rushing attempts all went for 4 yards or fewer, but Mixon busted out a 59-yarder that showed he’s doing pretty well on the ankle. He later had a run and a catch of 20 yards apiece. On a day when Nico Collins was out, the Texans needed all the other offensive sources to step up. Tank Dell did just that with his best game of the season, and Dameon Pierce spelled Mixon late with a 54-yard TD to put the game away. But Mixon was the early engine to get this run game back on track and keep the offense humming.
2. Maye did some good things in first start, but turnovers, pass protection were a problem. Drake Maye didn’t solve the Patriots’ offensive issues completely, but he at least offered some hope of improvement Sunday in his first NFL start, throwing for 243 yards and three TDs – even with some obvious missteps. He stepped into a tough spot, throwing one pass before the Patriots found themselves down 14-zip, and Maye didn’t help his chances with an overthrown interception on his second drive. He rallied from the slow start to lead an impressive 84-yard TD drive just before halftime, hitting Kayshon Boutte on a pretty 40-yard score for each of their first career NFL touchdowns. But the second half started similarly to how the game did, with Houston pressure. Maye took a blindside sack and lost a fumble, which led to another Texans TD and a 21-7 lead. A Patriots offensive line that has started six different groups in six games had little chance of slowing down the Texans’ rush. New England started a center, Ben Brown, who arrived via the Raiders’ practice squad a few days ago, and they had to make a change at left tackle mid-game, with Zach Thomas replacing Vederian Lowe after he’d been knocked out with an ankle injury on the Patriots’ sixth offensive play. But the Patriots had two TDs in five games entering Sunday and failed to cross the 20-point mark. At least Maye gave them a spark, even if the turnovers and sacks hurt the Patriots’ chances of losing.
3. Bullock coming on for Texans. The Texans have boasted one of the statistically best pass defenses in the NFL this season, and they’ve relied quite a bit on two rookies. The first is cornerback Kamari Lassiter, who started the first five games but missed Sunday with a scapula injury. The second is safety Calen Bullock, who has seen his role increase each week, starting the past three games. Bullock intercepted his second pass of the season Sunday on a Drake Maye overthrow in Patriots territory and later added a fumble recovery early in the third quarter that led to a Houston touchdown. The Texans had some hiccups in coverage against Maye that were covered up by a relentless pass rush that overwhelmed the rookie QB, led by Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter . But that shouldn’t downplay the role Bullock played in a shorthanded secondary, helping the Texans take care of business with an easy road victory. They were minus-three in turnover differential entering the game but plus-three on Sunday.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Texans-Patriots (via NFL Pro): Drake Maye's first career touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte (40-yard TD) traveled 51.7 yards in the air, the longest completion by a Patriots quarterback over the last three seasons. The last Patriots quarterback to throw a longer completion was Mac Jones to Kendrick Bourne in Week 7, 2021 against the Jets (52.2 air distance).

NFL Research: Of the previous 2024 first-round rookie QBs to debut this season -- CHI"s Caleb Williams, WAS's Jayden Daniels and DEN's Bo Nix -- none of them had a touchdown pass in their first start. NE's Drake Maye had three. The Patriots' previous starting QB this season, Jacoby Brissett, had just two TD passes in five starts.

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Analysis to come from Nick Shook

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• RE-WATCH: Browns-Eagles on NFL+

Analysis to come from Nick Shook

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• RE-WATCH: Colts-Titans on NFL+

Analysis to come from Kevin Patra

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Analysis to come from Kevin Patra

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Analysis to come from Nick Shook

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Analysis to come from Coral Smith

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Analysis to come from Eric Edholm

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Analysis to come from Grant Gordon