Week 6 is in the books and it provided just enough chaos to make you forget it was the start of bye weeks. From tantrums to upsets and rookie trying to give Bill Belichick a present, it’s all covered in this edition of the Sunday Sprint.
New York Giants 24- Baltimore Ravens 20
Large leads continue to clip the Ravens wings this season with another blown game late this week. But full credit goes to what Brian Dabboll and the Giants have grown into with this win showing there really isn’t much that’ll phase the Big Blue this year. Sure, Saquon’s slide to seal it at the end probably gave fantasy owners a few extra gray hairs but I’m sure all will be forgiven next week when the star back is set free to steamroll the Seahawks defense. As for the Ravens, they’ll look to get, and see out, a lead over their division rival Browns.
Indianapolis Colts 34- Jacksonville Jaguars 27
Matt Ryan turned back the clock on Sunday; clear set on rinsing the taste of a shutout out of his mouth that’s lingered since the last time these teams met. Matty Ice was well insulated in the pocket with his offensive line keeping the Jaguars’ claws off of him, allowing him to complete 42 of 58 passes totalling a whopping 389 yards with three touchdowns and no picks. The only thing that could have made this a more vintage Ryan performance would have been a blown 25 point lead but I digress…
New England Patriots 38- Cleveland Browns 15
Bailey Zappe was almost the story of this game until Brenden Schooler tried to gift his head coach with the ball he recovered on the previous special teams play. You can imagine how the sequence between an excited rookie and the ever-stoic Belichick played out (hint: the Patriots special teams coach escorted his player away from the big boss, presumably for his own safety). Back to Zappe though, the rookie racked up an impressive 309 yards through the air alongside two touchdowns. On top of lighting up the stat line, Zappe lit up question marks within Cleveland’s defense and the abilities of defensive coordinator Joe Woods
Cincinnati Bengals 30- New Orleans Saints 26
The Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase connection looked a little too easy in the Big Easy for the game winning touchdown back in Chase’s hometown. The Bengals have seemingly re-found their Super Bowl stripes after a shaky start while the Saints seem to slip further and further away from anything resembling a threatening team. Injuries continue to plague the boys in the Bayou but even when fully healthy this team is becoming hard to predict.
Pittsburgh Steelers 20- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18
Nothing says the “Florida Experience” quite like having some old man take his divorce out on you by screaming while you’re trying to mind your business, right? Brady has escalated from throwing tablets to tantrums when his play fails to stack up to par, and if we’re at that point in Week 6 then heaven help us for the next evolution of Tommy Tantrums when the Bucs miss the playoffs this season. Credit to the Steelers, however, as they managed to completely frustrate the Bucs, and did so with a QB combo of Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky.
Atlanta Falcons 28- San Francisco 49ers 14
Atlanta attempted half as many passes as they had points…so thank you to the 49ers defense for losing me my fantasy matchup when all you had to do was the bare minimum.
New York Jets 24- Green Bay Packers 10
There isn’t much that’s more satisfying than watching Ayahuasca Aaron implode after his multiple hissy-fits over lack of help (and then pricing himself out of being able to afford help). I’m also sure it’s nice to see the Jets succeeding for everyone who doesn’t cheer for a team that’s desperately trying to stay out of last in the AFC East and was banking on the Jets’ continued incompetence to accomplish that fact (read: me).
Minnesota Vikings 24- Miami Dolphins 16
The quarterback injury carousel doesn’t seem to have an off-switch down in Miami with backup to the backup, Skylar Thompson, being forced to leave this contest early due to an injured thumb on his throwing hand. Teddy Bridgewater was back on the sideline so the journeyman QB stepped in for Thompson, but to no avail. The Dolphins’ three game losing streak should absolutely make Fins fans appreciate Tua more, but it really has been Miami’s porous defense that has let them down in the star quarterback’s absence. As for the Vikings, they have quietly moved to 5-1, with the loss coming against the undefeated Eagles. Sure, the wins haven’t exactly come against great teams, but in this league a win is a win and Minnesota is banking them while they can.
Los Angeles Rams 24- Carolina Panthers 10
It’s one thing when the reigning second place team gets off to a slow start, but when the reigning champs are at risk of going 2-4? The alarm sirens were loud in LA. The Rams trailed the Panthers at the half but managed to pull it together, and thank goodness because falling below .500 would have been one form of pain but to lose to a team who essentially cut their best receiver mid-game? That would have been more than a disaster.
Seattle Seahawks 19- Arizona Cardinals 9
On the brightside for Arizona is the fact that DeAndre Hopkins comes back next week. The darkside? Your problems run so much deeper than a single wideout. It was the classic case of beating themselves for the Cards, ending 4 trips to the red zone with nothing to show for it and their special teams scored their only touchdown. Yes, Seattle played well but the Seahawks defense would not have stood up to even a mediocre offense. Thankfully for Pete Carroll, he seems to be squeezing the last bit of juice out of Geno “I Didn’t Write Back” Smith and it just remains to be seen just how far that can take them.
Buffalo Bills 24- Kansas City Chiefs 20
By now we all know that Tony Romo predicted the score of this game before it even started, which means we all have one more thing to add to the list of things he’s better at than playing quarterback. But once we’re done marveling at Romo we can appreciate that the matchup of Allen and Mahomes is one of epic proportions that, presuming their coaches can maintain the team around them even in the slightest, will dominate the NFL schedule as “game of the week” for the next 10 years. It was Buffalo with the edge this time, setting the stage for what many (including Romo) will predict as a rematch of this one up in Orchard Park as the AFC Championship game, which if it is the case promises to be better than the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia Eagles 26- Dallas Cowboys 17
If the Eagles don’t lose soon the world will implode. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
That’s all for this week! Week 7 will see the long awaited return of familiar faces and even more opportunities for the veteran figure heads of the league to prove that they’re getting too old for this.
Unbenched Sports 