What We Learned From Week 6

Added on Oct 16, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

And then there was one. After six weeks of football only the Atlanta Falcons have a shot at perfection. And the Cleveland Browns avoided a dreaded 0-16 season by notching a win over the Bengals. The other 30 teams fall into categories of bad, good and frustratingly unpredictable. There’s still a lot of football left to be played, but Week 6 solved a few mysteries that needed clearing up. Here’s what we learned.

Black and gold blues – The Steelers have been anything but consistent in 2012. They are 0-3 on the road and barely beat an equally schizophrenic Eagles roster in Week 5. The defense is mortal and the running game is still weak. This team will go as far as Big Ben’s right arm can take them, which probably won’t be anywhere special.

Stingy Fins – Toss out the opening week 30-10 blowout loss in Houston and the Dolphins have been extremely competitive. Three wins and two losses by a combined six points. Rookie head coach Joe Philbin has his boys balling and rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been serviceable. A bye week will be followed by matchups with the Jets, Colts, Titans and Bills. 6-4 is a realistic possibility.

Lions pride – With about six minutes left to play on Sunday, the Lions were staring at a 1-4 start. Three Matthew Stafford drives later and the team was 2-3. Calvin Johnson caught everything thrown his way. The defense forced timely three-and-outs. 42-year-old footie Jason Hanson nailed his kicks. It was the truest definition of playing until the whistle blows.

Down goes Kolb – Just when it looked like maligned Cardinals signal-caller Kevin Kolb was turning a corner, he went and got his ribs crunched. The bad news is he might be out a week or two. The good news (for him) is John Skelton looked terrible in relief. Needless to say, the honeymoon in the desert is over. Arizona’s next four opponents are Minnesota, San Francisco, Green Bay and Atlanta. Good luck with that.

12th Man magic – Seattle has now knocked off Dallas, Green Bay and New England in the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field. They still don’t possess a potent passing attack, but as long as Marshawn Lynch keeps pounding the rock and the stout defense keeps dropping the hammer, these Hawks will remain a tough out.

Niners get owned – Just as they did in last season’s NFC title game, the Giants once again forced Alex Smith to beat them and once again Smith failed to get the job done. If the Niners can’t control the clock on the ground and don’t force turnovers, they are an average team at best.

Aaron Rodgers is fine – Apparently a certain Packers quarterback didn’t take kindly to being blamed for his team’s 2-3 start. Rodgers shredded a really good Texans defense as if they were still in high school. 338 yards and six touchdowns should ease concerns that the reigning MVP is in trouble. At least for one week, anyway.

Philip Rivers misses Vinnie – Four interceptions and two lost fumbles? Ugh. Rivers was dreadful on Monday night, especially after the Broncos adjusted to take away Antonio Gates. Malcolm Floyd, Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal ain’t scaring anyone. Meanwhile, Vinnie Jackson is feeling a-okay after snagging a pair of touchdowns in disposing of the Chiefs. Send all complaints to GM A.J. Smith.