Tag: NFL Week 6

The Morning After…Patriots offense looks improved, but it’s far too late

The Patriots showed an offensive pulse against the Raiders, but it could be too late.

The New England Patriots fell to 1-5 after a 21-17 loss at the hands of Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Coming off two disgusting losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints by a tally of 72-3, the Patriots offense finally got into the end zone against the Raiders—not once but twice.

The two touchdowns came on the legs of both running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott.

The Patriots offense looked better, but it had some self-inflicted wounds, like an interception thrown by Mac Jones earlier in the game and the 10 team penalties throughout. They also gave up a sack for a safety to close out the game.

Although the game felt better than the last two weeks offensively, the team might be finding offensive success too late, as they are now 1-5 on the season. Only three teams have come back from a 1-5 start, and this team doesn’t have the talent to overcome that.

Let’s get into some leftover notes from Sunday’s game.

Texans WR Nico Collins says C.J. Stroud did not allow interception rattle him

Houston Texans receiver Nico Collins says rookie C.J. Stroud had a poise following his first career interception that showed all would be right.

HOUSTON — For 10 seconds on Sunday, Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud experienced a feeling that had eluded him during the first five games of his NFL career. He threw his first interception after going 191 pass attempts without one. The second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft had broken Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s record of 176, entering into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints with 186.

On the Texans’ second offensive drive of the game, Stroud dropped back and saw his tight end Dalton Schultz in what he thought was open space until Saints linebacker Zack Braun came from the left side of the field and intercepted the pass. As he tried to make his way up the field, Braun had the ball punched out from behind by wide receiver Nico Collins, and offensive lineman Tytus Howard recovered it.

That was the roughest ten seconds Stroud would experience all game as he would lead his team on a six-play, 59-yard scoring drive capped off by a Schultz 1-yard touchdown pass after the interception on their way to a 20-13 defeat of the Saints to improve Houston’s record to 3-3 heading into the bye week.

“That just shows you what type of dude he is,” said Collins. “He is calm and collected, and that bad play is over with. We got the ball back and time to go score and put some points on the board, and that is what we did. We executed, and it is only going to get better for him, and we are going to continue to have his back and keep growing as a unit.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has been preaching about Stroud’s resiliency since training camp, and he was not surprised that his rookie quarterback shook off the turnover and proceeded with the game plan set by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. His execution after the interception that even some of the players forgot it happened.

 “I don’t know what interception you are talking about, we seen Nico knock the ball out, and we kept possession,” said a smiling Robert Woods, who caught a touchdown pass from Stroud against the Saints. “He is a resilient quarterback, just playing football. We were able to stay on the field, fortunately. He is a poised quarterback, always driving the ball downfield, and he didn’t change his demeanor after throwing one. He stayed attacking and pushing their defense.”

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5 big takeaways from Patriots’ 21-17 loss at Las Vegas

Here are 5 big takeaways from the Patriots-Raiders game

For the first time in three weeks, the New England Patriots scored a touchdown on Sunday afternoon. It only took over two hours of game clock and two agonizing blowouts to accomplish the feat.

The touchdown came against a Las Vegas Raiders team coached by former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Ultimately, like most of Bill Belichick’s former assistants coaching against him, McDaniels emerged from the game victorious. His Raiders won the matchup 21-17 in front of an energetic Las Vegas crowd.

The matchup gave Las Vegas their third win of the season while dropping New England to 1-5 on the year.

Here are five big takeaways from the game.

Twitter reacts to Bills edging Giants 14-9 on Sunday Night Football

The Buffalo Bills held their ground and staved off a New York Giants comeback on Sunday Night Football. Here are the best takes from Twitter.

Sunday Night Football may have been a rematch of two teams from Super Bowl XXV, but the paucity of points suggested anything other than two struggling teams looking for momentum.

The Buffalo Bills beat the New York Giants 14-9 at Highmark Stadium. For the Bills, the win improves their record to 4-2 as they keep pace with the 5-1 Miami Dolphins. The loss send New York to 1-5 and hoping their future isn’t all used up.

Josh Allen went 19-of-30 for 169 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and rushed twice for 11 yards. Cris Collinsworth thought he played a great game, but Twitter thought otherwise.

Here are some of the best comments to emerge from social media throughout the game.

DeVante Parker’s explanation for dropped pass made Patriots fans even angrier

DeVante Parker’s explanation for the fourth-quarter drop against the Raiders isn’t sitting well with Patriots fans.

New England Patriots receiver DeVante Parker had a group of reporters surrounding his locker with questions regarding the fourth-quarter drop he had in the team’s 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

According to Parker, the throw from quarterback Mac Jones was on his fingertips.

“I got my fingertips [on it], I think. But I didn’t get a full grasp of it. I think [that’s a ball I can catch]. But fingertips, though, I don’t know,” Parker said.

The throw from Jones looked like one of the best balls the third-year quarterback has thrown all season. It was an absolute dime that split two defenders and landed perfectly in Parker’s hands.

Keep in mind, Parker might not have seen the replay, and given the emotions from another tough loss, it might have been tough to recall everything that happened in the immediate aftermath of the play.

When looking at the replay, it’s clear that Jones threw a catchable ball that ended up being dropped by Parker. It’s a disappointing ending to another frustrating game from the veteran receiver, who only caught one pass for seven yards.

Patriots fans weren’t buying Parker’s explanation, and many took to Twitter to share their own thoughts on what happened on the play.

Studs and duds from Patriots’ crushing 21-17 loss to Raiders

Who were the studs and duds from the Patriots’ Week 6 loss to the Raiders?

An easier opponent didn’t make much of a difference for the New England Patriots, who fell in defeat for a third straight time on Sunday afternoon.

After suffering back-to-back blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, the Patriots fell victim to a heartbreaking 21-17 road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6.

The offense was clearly still sluggish, but they did manage to move the ball better than they have in previous weeks. They even scored two touchdowns after failing to score one in their last two games.

But overall, it was still a disappointing showing from a team that looks like one of the worst in the league. The Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and even New York Jets look like far superior teams than the Patriots right now.

With a 1-5 record and a schedule loaded with a murderer’s row slate of opponents, there may be no changing that narrative for the Patriots this season.

Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game:

NFL Week 6 Awards: 49ers’ lethargic loss to P.J. Walker’s Browns shows they aren’t perfect team

Losing to an awful backup QB is just one sign the 49ers are more flawed than we thought.

They were likely never going to go 17-0, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who thought the San Francisco 49ers would lose to the Cleveland Browns Sunday. If there was even a singular person who actually believed in Cleveland’s chances, they seemed delusional about it once it was clear that a horrible backup like P.J. Walker would start against the 49ers’ ferocious defense.

And yet, there the Browns were, upsetting the 49ers 19-17 in easily the most shocking individual result of this still-young NFL season. What happened? Why did the 49ers drop the ball after looking like an absolutely perfect buzzsaw en route to a 5-0 start?

As always, it’s never so simple to blame just one person.

For one, Brock Purdy had one of his worst games as the 49ers’ starting quarterback, completing just 12-of-27 passes for 125 yards while throwing one touchdown and his first interception of the season. The Browns’ defense deserves a ton of credit for rattling Purdy. But there were more than a few throws Purdy left on the field, potentially reigniting the questions about whether he is actually good enough to elevate the 49ers’ stacked offense against equally good defenses.

Injuries played a part, too.

San Francisco’s do-it-all offensive Swiss Army Knife Deebo Samuel would leave the game with a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, after suffering an ankle injury, left tackle Trent Williams tried to battle, even though it was clear he wasn’t 100 percent. None of this absolves the defense, either. The 49ers should’ve feasted on a woefully mismatched quarterback like Walker. It’s inexcusable that they let his one genuine safety valve — receiver Amari Cooper — carry the Browns’ offense.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t highlight Jake Moody, San Francisco’s highly-drafted rookie kicker, for missing the game-winning chip-shot attempt in the final moments:

The 49ers are probably going to be fine. By no means does one loss define what remains one of the NFL’s true Super Bowl contenders. But we thought this team was an unmitigated juggernaut headed toward a historic season.

As it turns out, they’re a bit more fallible and flawed than we believe. Even the “best” team in the league can still fall short on any Sunday. That’s something evergreen to keep in mind later this winter.

Alas, the rest of Week 6’s NFL Awards here at For The Win is a doozy. We’ve got backup running backs creating touchdowns with monster blocks. We’ve got an announcer intentionally avoiding an announcer jinx. We’ve got a superstar receiver ready on a moment’s notice for a creative touchdown celebration.

Heck, who am I kidding? We’ve got everything. Let’s dive in.

C.J. Stroud says Texans expressed confidence in his play following interception

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud relayed his teammates’ confidence after he threw his first career interception in Week 6.

Not many people experience their first interception the way C.J. Stroud did.

Chiefly no one gets to pass attempt 196 on their career — which is where Stroud was when he chucked the turnover with 6:05 to go in the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints Sunday at NRG Stadium.

Secondly no gets an immediate do-over and keep the drive alive. Thanks to receiver Nico Collins’ strip of linebacker Zack Baun, the Texans were able to keep possession as left guard Tytus Howard dove on the loose ball at the Houston 41-yard line.

Stroud attributed the giveaway to part of the “ups and downs” of the sport. On the sidelines and in the huddle shortly thereafter, Stroud found encouragement from the staff and teammates.

“My teammates were like, ‘You’ve got this, let’s go,'” Stroud said. “I looked back, and [coach] DeMeco (Ryans) was like, ‘You’ve got it.’ I could see it in his eyes, that he cared about how I was going to respond. For me, that meant a lot just for them to have trust and faith in me. And, I’m going to have trust and faith in myself too.”

The No. 2 overall pick was able to learn immediately from his mistake within the drive rather than going to the bench and watching a replay on his tablet. Stroud was able to make the necessary corrections to keep Houston’s drive going. Six plays later, Stroud connected with tight end Dalton Schultz for a 1-yard touchdown to give Houston a 7-0 lead with 3:45 to go in the first.

“Excited that we went down and scored,” said Stroud. “I thought that was really big. A lot of other things I can clean up, like some things I probably did worse than the interception that wasn’t really highlighted. So, for me just getting better.”

Stroud finished the game going 13-of-27 for 199 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and posted an 82.2 passer rating.

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DeMeco Ryans emphasized to Texans the importance of starting bye week with win

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans underscored the importance of starting the bye week off with a victory.

DeMeco Ryans understands how importance the bye week is.

As a former player, the week off represents a chance to heal the body. As a coach, the open date offers a chance to renew the mind.

There would be no better accelerator for the Houston Texans than to get a win going into their Week 7 bye, which is what Ryans emphasized all week leading up to their encounter with the New Orleans Saints Sunday at NRG Stadium.

“It’s something we talked about all week is just finishing, finishing this week 3-3,” Ryans said. “We know our team is continuing to improve, continuing to get better, but it was very important for us to finish with a win this week before heading into our bye week.”

The Texans can fly the mission accomplished banner as they vanquished the Saints 20-13 thanks to C.J. Stroud’s two touchdown passes and an impressive 0-3 red zone denial rate from Houston’s defense. The Saints had to settle for four Blake Grupe field goals, two of which he missed.

Houston hasn’t been at least .500 since 2019. The last time the club was technically 3-3 was in 2018. The only players still on the roster from the 2018 team are long snapper Jon Weeks and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn.

The rest of the roster didn’t have to suffer as long as they did, even the first six weeks of the 2023 campaign was enough. With Houston straddling the fence going into their bye week, the mood is eligible to shift on Kirby Drive.

“You can enjoy your bye week a little bit better off of a win,” said Ryans. “Definitely still things to clean up and we understand that. On all three phases there are a lot of things we can clean up. But it’s a lot easier to clean things up with a win.”

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The Lions are tied atop the NFL standings after Week 6

The Lions are tied atop the NFL standings after Week 6 with their 5-1 record

Through the first six weeks of the 2023 season, no team has been better than the Detroit Lions. After Sunday’s 20-6 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions are now 5-1.

The two remaining unbeaten teams entering the weekend, the 49ers and Eagles, both lost on Sunday. They’re also 5-1, as are the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC. Detroit beat the Chiefs in Kansas City in Week 1.

The Lions are technically still in third in the NFC because of the tie-breaker rules. San Francisco and Philadelphia lost to AFC teams (Cleveland and the New York Jets, respectively), while Detroit’s loss came in the conference in Week 2 to Seattle. Detroit does have the highest strength of schedule of any of the five 5-1 teams.