By Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season wasn’t rife with close endings to games, but there was still plenty of drama to keep fans gripped.
Sunday’s action began with the Chicago Bears continuing their recent revival by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Here are the main storylines from Sunday’s action:
The best photos from the 2024 NFL season
Playing the Dallas Cowboys in their stadium used to be a nightmare for squads around the NFL. But now, ‘America’s Team’ is struggling to buy a win at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas suffered its fourth straight home loss on Sunday, this time in historic fashion, as the Cowboys lost 47-9 to the Detroit Lions.
The defeat was the worst home loss during Jerry Jones’ ownership of the team which dates back to 1989; not quite the birthday celebration Jones had in mind as he turned 82 on Sunday.
“This was very concerning and it was very humbling,” Jones said afterwards, per the NFL. “This was a shocker.”
Dallas was outplayed in every aspect from the jump against the Lions, with Detroit piling up 492 total yards on offense while the Cowboys could only muster 251.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff continued his hot streak – after not missing a pass in the team’s Week 4 victory – throwing 18-of-25 for 315 yards and three touchdowns before being pulled in the fourth quarter to protect him from injury.
Goff was helped by a dynamic running game too, with the two-headed attack of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs doing damage all game. The Lions had 184 rushing yards, with Montgomery rushing for 80 and two touchdowns and Gibbs running for 63 yards.
It’s the eighth straight game in which Montgomery has rushed for a touchdown, setting a new Lions franchise record. Afterwards, the running back spoke about how the team has jelled in recent weeks.
“There was a period at the beginning of the season where we were trying to figure out our identity,” Montgomery said, per the Lions website. “Now, we are starting to execute a lot more. The funny thing is we’re all not even on the same page. There’s small things here or there that we can clean up. The sky is really the limit for us.”
The only negative for Detroit on a largely positive afternoon in Texas was the serious leg injury star defensive player Aidan Hutchinson suffered midway through the third quarter.
Hutchinson had to be carted off and head coach Dan Campbell confirmed after the game that the 24-year-old had suffered a broken tibia.
For Dallas, the defeat continued the team’s rocky start to the season, with three home losses and three road wins.
Quarterback Dak Prescott – who signed a contract ahead of the season to become the highest paid player in the league – threw two interceptions and the team rushed for just 53 yards.
The rout is the second home loss of the season where the margin of defeat has been more than 25 points for Dallas, tying the franchise record for the most in a single season during the Super Bowl era.
But despite the mounting pressure on head coach Mike McCarthy – who is in the final year of his contract with the team – Jones says he’s not considering making changes.
“Just so you’re clear. I’m not considering that. I wouldn’t be in a hypothetical in that matter – do you think I’m an idiot? Do you?” Jones told reporters. “OK, well, I’m not going to be hypothetical with you about when I’d consider a coaching change in light of the timing we’re sitting here with. I’m not. At all.”
Lamar Jackson hits historic mark in win over high-flying Commanders
It was the game of the week heading into Sunday’s slate – and it didn’t disappoint.
The Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens were two of the hottest teams through five weeks of the season, and this edition of the ‘Battle of the Beltway’ was must-see TV, in particular, because of the quarterback battle between Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels.
In the end, though, it was the veteran Jackson who came out on top, with Baltimore beating Washington 30-23.
Baltimore’s offense did the damage at M&T Bank Stadium, with the unit totaling 484 yards and 28 first downs – compared to the Commanders’ 305 yards and 18 first downs.
Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP, threw 20-of-26 for 323 yards and one touchdown, along with one interception and 40 yards on the ground.
A 10-yard scamper for Jackson midway through the first quarter held extra significance though, as he passed 2015 MVP Cam Newton for the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL history.
Jackson passed Newton’s mark of 5,628 yards, finishing the game on 5,661. He is now only behind Michael Vick, who had 6,109 rushing yards in his storied career.
The 27-year-old called passing Newton “dope.”
“Not just because it’s Mike Vick (at) No. 1, but it’s all the great guys who I’m in great company with – Cam Newton, stuff like that, Steve McNair – like all those great guys who (were) before me,” the quarterback told reporters. “It’s just great to be in discussion with those guys.”
Running back Derrick Henry continued his brilliant start to the season, racking up 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, while wide receiver Zay Flowers had nine receptions and 132 receiving yards.
A seven-yard touchdown from Henry at the end of the third quarter gave the Ravens a 14-point lead as they looked like they might run away with the game.
But Washington hung around through rookie sensation Jayden Daniels. A six-yard TD toss to Terry McLaurin at the start of the fourth quarter gave the Commanders hope, but it proved to be in vain as Baltimore improved to 4-2 and the Commanders fell to 4-2.
For Jackson, though, he still believes there are areas to improve on in Baltimore’s offense.
“(We’re) just proving we can win games. (We’re) just playing Raven football right now. I don’t think that really proved anything like we the best offense,” he told reporters.
“There’s always room for improvement. It’s only like our sixth game. There’s always room for improvement though, because (there) was still (mental errors) happening out there. We still had drives where we should’ve put points on the board – that interception, stuff like that.”
Week 6 saw the first NFL start for Drake Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 Draft.
Although there were flashes of promise, Maye and the New England Patriots were thoroughly handled at home 41-21 by the Houston Texans.
The return of Joe Mixon was the catalyst for Houston after he had been out since Week 1 with an ankle injury. The running back ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 30 yards and a score through the air.
For Maye, despite signs of his inexperience, there were also moments that showed why he was such a highly-considered prospect during the draft process.
The 22-year-old’s third pass attempt of the game was intercepted by the Texans, but just before halftime, he produced a perfect 40-yard throw to connect with Kayshon Boutte for a long TD.
Maye threw two more touchdowns, including another long one to Demario Douglas, to give New England hope moving forward despite suffering a fifth straight defeat.
Maye did make history on Sunday, though, as he became the first quarterback since at least 1950 to throw three-plus touchdowns and lead his team in rushing in his first career start, per the NFL.
Afterwards, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said he expects Maye to improve as the season continues, while stressing the importance of the rest of the team stepping up to help the rookie quarterback.
“I thought he showed a lot of poise,” Mayo told reporters. “I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and, once again, made some plays. It’s definitely encouraging.
“From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game and I feel like I let him down. I’m sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down and we just got to be better.”
Maye’s next chance to take to the field will come in London as New England travels to face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in Week 7.
Away @ home (winners in bold)
Jacksonville Jaguars 16-35 Chicago Bears
Washington Commanders 23-30 Baltimore Ravens
Arizona Cardinals 13-34 Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans 41-21 New England Patriots
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 51-27 New Orleans Saints
Cleveland Browns 16-20 Philadelphia Eagles
Indianapolis Colts 20-17 Tennessee Titans
Los Angeles Chargers 23-16 Denver Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers 32-13 Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons 38-20 Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions 47-9 Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals 17-7 New York Giants
