After Week 6, the Buffalo Bills are still regarded as the best team in the NFL, but it’s clear they aren’t the only power in the AFC.
Their game against the Kansas City Chiefs went right down to the wire again. And we still think of the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens as pretty good too, even if flawed. The Cincinnati Bengals are also hanging around.
In the NFC, the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles are the unquestioned favorites after knocking off the Dallas Cowboys. After them, there’s just a bunch of question marks.
My buddy Christian D’Andrea wrote about the “old” problem the NFC has at quarterback. That points right to three teams who were thought to be the conference’s best going into the season, the Bucs, Packers and Rams. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford have looked anything but elite — Brady and Rodgers suffered terrible upsets Sunday — and that’s opening the door for some dark-horse contenders to come out of the NFC.
The Eagles obviously lead the pack at +200 odds at Tipico Sportsbook, but there’s still outstanding value on teams like the Vikings (+700), 49ers (+750), Cowboys (+1000) and Giants (+2000). That is if you believe in any of them.
Here are a few more takeaways from Week 6.
Maybe the Falcons record ATS isn't so fluke
OK, I’m buying in. Last week, I wrote about how I wouldn’t blame anyone for riding Atlanta and its undefeated record against the spread, but I wasn’t personally sold. But after the Falcons beat the Niners outright Sunday to move to 6-0 ATS, I’m in. Of course, that probably means they won’t cover next week. But this team competes, and they’re 3-3 despite playing a bunch of teams we all thought of as good coming into the year.
Jets have both top rookie of the year candidates
After their stunning win over the Packers in Lambeau, the New York Jets are winners of three straight and have improved to a surprising 4-2 record on the season. This is in no small part thanks to a couple rookies who have good chances to win their respective rookie of the year awards. Running back Breece Hall is the consensus favorite to win the offensive award through six weeks, and cornerback Sauce Gardner is the consensus favorite on defense.
Even if the Jets fail to continue winning as the season goes on, Hall and Gardner should remain top candidates based on how sensational they’ve been. But if Gardner is going to continue celebrating like this, it’d be nice to see the Jets continue winning while they do it.
Close calls
- With a clear path to the end zone and the Ravens-Giants total one point from the over, Saquon Barkley went down inside the five to milk the clock instead of scoring the touchdown.
- The Colts drove 66 yards in the final two minutes to steal a win and a cover from Jacksonville on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Alec Pierce with 17 seconds left.
- Panthers backup quarterback Jacob Eason was intercepted in the end zone with two minutes left and a chance to cut into a 14-point lead and cover an 11-point spread.
- Down nine points, Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed a 59-yard field goal with a minute left against the Eagles and a chance to cover a 6.5-point spread.
