NFL Week Six was pretty hectic. There were some great games, and some huge upsets. Here are some games that will carry momentum into next week.
Five Big Impact Games from NFL Week Six
5. New Orleans Saints 52, Detroit Lions 38
If you look at the current records of these two teams, you wouldn’t think this was a big impact game. By record, they seem very evenly matched. However if you watched the game, for the first half the Lions seemed quite out matched. The unevenness was to the point that the Saints seemed to relax and decide this game was over. That was when the Lions roared back to life and showed us something that no team should ever forget.
In this sport, there is no such thing as a safe lead as long as there are two teams battling it out on the field. Even though the Saints were able to hold onto the 52-38 lead they had to get back into focus and stop a Lions team that seemed ready to pull out a victory. All in all, it was an entertaining game to watch and had some great highlight moments. This game should serve as a solid reminder to all teams. Stay focused no matter who you are playing and remember, the game is four quarters long.
4. Chicago Bears 27, Baltimore Ravens 24 (OT)
Why is this big? Well for one, the Bears have only two wins, both of which have come against teams statistically much better than them. Another reason is that this win builds momentum. Rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubinsky has played well and has sparked some life into this offense since taking over as the starter. Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen are running a muck all over opposing defenses. If the Bears can build off this momentum and confidence, they can end up surprising a lot of people.
Right now their division is still close, Chicago is only one game behind the Lions and two behind the Packers and Vikings. With plenty of football left to be played, there is no counting anyone out right now.
3. Minnesota Vikings 23, Green Bay Packers 10
Remember when I mentioned these two teams were tied in the last section? Yeah well that may not last very long. This division may be all changed from one tackle that didn’t look as hard as many others Aaron Rodgers has taken with no problem. Just like that, Rogers was sitting on the cart and was being brought to the locker room. He was angry because he knew as someone who had a broken collarbone before exactly what it felt like. Since, he has undergone surgery and will return next year.
Now, the two teams who have been fighting it out both have to refocus, regroup, and move on and see who can come out ahead while holding off possible surges from the Lions or Bears. Backup quarterback Brett Hundley will now have a trial by fire trying to replace one of the best in the league. This week, they will be home against the high scoring New Orleans Saints. It will also be on their defense to back their new quarterback up, or the Packers will start to lose ground.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 19, Kansas City Chiefs 13
The whole week leading up to this game was very one sided. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a bad game in Week Five and was questioning what he has left. However, they had to put the loss behind them quickly as the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs were coming to town. None of the experts were giving Pittsburgh a chance at pulling off this upset. Well someone forgot to tell that to the Steelers.
In the first half, the Steelers defense dominated. They held a team that has been running over opposing defenses to less than ten yards in the entire first half. Critics say the Steelers offense still wasn’t as good as it should be and sure there could have been some improvement, but you only need to be ahead by one point to win.
The big impact of this Steelers upset win is momentum. Pittsburgh is going back to their home field to take on the division rival Cincinnati Bengals full of confidence. If the defense comes at the Bengals like they did the Chiefs, watch out! The Chiefs however, are now going to Oakland to play the Raiders. Will their confidence now be shaken? It will be telling to see how each team reacts in this follow up game to week six.
1. New England Patriots 24, New York Jets 17
The Patriots are not averse to being in controversial games. Amazingly though, we can go with the assumption that they aren’t the ones who orchestrated this. The Jets were actually holding their own in this game, as it was close all the way through. This is a story onto itself. The Patriots, usually a high scoring team only led the Jets by ten in the fourth quarter. New York seemed to cut that lead with a touchdown, however a questionable reversal of the call resulted in a touchback, taking the points off the board and giving the Patriots the ball.
That called back touchdown obviously meant a lot as the final score was 24-17 New England. There will surely be a ton of debate and questioning of how to handle that call in the future. Bottom line, no matter who says the call was wrong the day after, the win/loss will always stay the same. In a division where all four teams are within one game of each other, this game will surely factor in at the end of the season if only one division win makes the decision going into the playoffs.
On we go to week seven!
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