By As leaves turn to brown and clocks go back, the importance of NFL football increases. And Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season is no different with playoff hopes slipping away and jobs on the line.
The week opened with the San Francisco 49ers’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.
Sunday’s action will begin with London’s de facto team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, returning to the United Kingdom for the first time this year to play their first of two games, opening against the Chicago Bears.
With a full slate of football from morning to night, here are the three games you don’t want to miss.
The best photos from the 2024 NFL season
Washington Commanders (4-1) @ Baltimore Ravens (3-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
It’s been a long while since the “Battle of the Beltway” has held such significance.
For the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens – whose stadiums sit just 32 miles apart – Sunday’s game comes at crucial points in the season.
The Ravens are currently riding a three-game winning streak as they rebuild from a stuttering start, while the Commanders are looking to continue their ascension from upstart to serious playoff contender.
The match-up will feature a showdown between two of the NFL’s most exciting quarterbacks; on one sideline is reigning MVP Lamar Jackson, and on the other is rookie Jayden Daniels.
Jackson is ranked as the No. 1 quarterback through five weeks of the season by NFL.com, while Daniels is sixth having made a historic start to his rookie campaign.
Jackson displayed all facets of his skillset in the Ravens’ dramatic overtime victory over the Bengals in Week 5, accurate with his throwing and elusive with his running. This was highlighted none more so than when he dropped snap and was able to twice fend off Cincinnati defender Sam Hubbard before finding tight end Isaiah Likely in the endzone in one of the best plays of the season.
Daniels, on the other hand, is breaking records seemingly every week for his accuracy throwing the ball and his ability to run it.
The last time there has been this much excitement around a Washington quarterback was in 2012 with Robert Griffin III’s Offensive Rookie of the Year season.
And although Baltimore are the much more experienced team, head coach John Harbaugh was quick to praise Washington and Daniels.
“I can tell you that Jayden is playing at a high, high level,” Harbaugh told reporters on Wednesday. “He has his team; they built it around him. (Commanders offensive coordinator) Kliff (Kingsbury)’s done a great job there in terms of building the offense around Jayden.
“They have skill players; they have a really good running back, a veteran offensive line. They’ve been doing a great job – you see it on tape … There’s all kind of space out there that they’ve created with all of that chemistry together that they have. We have our hands full. It definitely starts with Jayden, but it’s the whole offense, and we have to be on point.”
Cleveland Browns (1-4) @ Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
The Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles were two teams who began the season with high hopes. But they have both flattered to deceive.
The Browns have had poor quarterback play from Deshaun Watson as the team has slumped to a 1-4 opening with negativity and question marks surrounding the franchise.
NFL.com has Watson ranked as the worst quarterback in the league through five weeks, with writer Nick Shook saying: “He’s no longer a starting-caliber quarterback, and until the Browns decide to make a change, they’re going to continue to struggle mightily. It’s time to bench him, plain and simple.”
However, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanksi has resisted calls to sit Watson, saying as long as he’s healthy, the eight-year veteran will be the team’s starter.
The Eagles also enter Week 6 with clouds hanging over them. Following a disappointing end to last season, head coach Nick Sirianni needed a fast start to win over his doubters.
Although they won their season-opener in Brazil against the Packers, Philadelphia lost on a last-minute drive at home to the Atlanta Falcons, while in Week 4, they suffered a convincing loss on the road to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They are coming back off their bye week which gave their two star receivers – A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith – the chance to get healthy after missing the past few outings.
Without his top two targets, QB Jalen Hurts has struggled with seven turnovers in his four games. And Sirianni said on Thursday that addressing the turnover battle is something the team looked at during their week off.
“I think, generally speaking, it’s our turnover differential that we have some different ways that we’re going to coach a couple things, some tackling things, how we’re going to coach a couple things and drill a couple things,” he told reporters.
Both teams could really use a victory on Sunday to get their seasons back on track.
Sunday offers both the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys the chance to pick up their fourth wins of the season and the opportunity to cement their playoff aspirations.
The Lions’ start to the season has been impressive so far, having last played in Week 4 with their 13-point victory against the Seattle Seahawks before going on bye.
Head coach Dan Campbell’s team is rounding into shape nicely as time goes by, with quarterback Jared Goff not missing a pass against Seattle. The two-headed running attack of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery also keeps opposing defenses on their toes and the array of pass-catching talent is a threat on every snap.
Conversely, the Cowboys have spluttered to their 3-2 start. QB Dak Prescott has been accurate but ‘America’s Team’ have struggled at home, losing their two games at AT&T Stadium in convincing fashion so far.
One issue for the team has been getting star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb involved in the second half of games. Lamb has just four catches for 25 yards in 10 quarters of second-half action across the first five weeks of the season.
But Prescott sees the defense focusing on Lamb as an opportunity to get the rest of his offensive weapons involved.
“I mean, it’s the NFL,” Prescott told reporters. “They’re not going to allow you to come in and beat you with their fastball early and late if that’s what you’re trying to go to; they’re going to make you change it up and that’s credit to those guys, not only the coordinators to the defense understanding that we want to get the guy the ball.”
The Cowboys will likely be without star pass rusher Micah Parsons through injury for Sunday’s game in Arlington, Texas, but ending their poor home record will be vital if they hold any hopes of making a deep playoff run.
And with pressure mounting on head coach Mike McCarthy’s shoulders after two successive under-par postseason defeats, that is the expectation for Dallas.
Away vs. home
Chicago Bears (3-2) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) – 9:30 a.m. ET
Washington Commanders (4-1) @ Baltimore Ravens (3-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals (2-3) @ Green Bay Packers (3-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Houston Texans (4-1) @ New England Patriots (1-4) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) @ New Orleans Saints (2-3) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Cleveland Browns (1-4) @ Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts (2-3) @ Tennessee Titans (1-3) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) @ Denver Broncos (3-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) @ Las Vegas Raiders (2-3) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Atlanta Falcons (3-2) @ Carolina Panthers (1-4) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions (3-1) @ Dallas Cowboys (3-2) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) @ New York Giants (2-3) – 8:20 p.m. ET
