It was a Sunday of high scoring in week six of the NFL as Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson beat out Washington Commanders’ young pretender Jayden Daniels in the feature game of the day.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hung 51 points on the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions stuck 47 on a demoralised Dallas Cowboys outfit who got humiliated at home yet again.
CJ Stroud’s Houston Texans are rolling along at 5-1 after a third straight win, while Jordan Love’s Green Bay Packers are also warming up nicely on both sides of the ball.
The Atlanta Falcons moved to 4-2 alongside the Pittsburgh Steelers as both took advantage of playing the struggling Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders respectively.
Jackson wins Daniels showdown
Washington’s rookie superstar Daniels has been likened to Jackson, but it was the two-time MVP who came out on top as the Ravens beat the Commanders 30-23 in Baltimore.
Jackson had 323 yards passing and a touchdown, while Daniels threw for a season’s best 269 yards and two scores, and they both made plays with their legs in an even contest as Daniels more than held his own.
But Washington had no answer to Derrick Henry, who proved to be the difference with 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns as Baltimore became the first side in 1971 with 150-plus yards and a rushing touchdown in their first six games of the season.
After an 0-2 start the Ravens have reeled off four straight wins to look more like the Super Bowl challengers many predicted, and certainly among the best attacks in the game.
On this showing, though, Daniels also looks like the real deal.
Dominant Detroit destroy Dallas
The Lions continued their rediscovered scoring form in style as they handed out an embarrassing 47-9 beatdown on the Cowboys in front of their own fans in Texas.
Jared Goff was not perfect like the last game, but he was close as Detroit piled up 486 yards and five towndowns in a dominant display that was tarnished only by a serious injury to defensive star Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and was set for surgery in Dallas.
Dallas were missing players through injury but had no excuse for falling to their worst home defeat since 1988 and their fourth in a row, including last season’s play-off loss to Green Bay.
They have lost those four by a combined 82 points and, at 3-3 for the season, quarterback Dak Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy will have plenty of questions to answer over their bye week before a huge week-eight trip to the San Francisco 49ers.
Big-scoring Bucs win one for the fans
Buccaneers players dedicated their 51-27 win in New Orleans to fans at home in Tampa Bay after the city was ravaged by Hurricane Milton.
In a game with huge plays and even bigger momentum swings, the Bucs blew a 17-0 lead by allowing the Saints to score 27 points in the second quarter, before then shutting them out in the second half to power away to victory.
Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes as well as three interceptions as the Bucs amassed a team record 594 yards of offence to move this entertaining team to 4-2 for the season.
Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler showed some nice touches on his Saints debut but it was not enough for this topsy-turvy side, who scored 91 points when winning their first two games but have dropped four since – with this game the most points they have conceded since 2012.
Love on a roll and Texans spoil Maye debut
Love looks well over his knee injury as the threw four touchdowns – two of them to returning receiver Romeo Doubs – to help the Packers beat the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field.
It was Love’s 10th straight game with multiple touchdown passes. The Packers look a serious side at 4-2, especially if their defence continue to generate turnovers – another three moved them to 17 this season, one less than they managed in the 2023 campaign.
Green Bay next face the 5-1 Houston Texans, who claimed a first win in New England in style with CJ Stroud throwing three touchdowns and the returning Will Anderson grabbing three sacks in a 41-21 success.
Rookie Drake Maye gave the previously lifeless Patriots offence a spark with 243 yards and three touchdowns passes.
First-round picks Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix all failed to throw a touchdown in their first starts this season.
As the Patriots jet off to Wembley to play the Jacksonville Jaguars next week, they will at least hold some hope of better things to come.
Harbaugh worry and quarterbacks in the hot seat
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh briefly left the field because of a heart arrhythmia during his team’s win, but returned to watch his defence dominate the Broncos and threaten a first home shutout in Denver – until the hosts made a game of it in the fourth quarter.
Having AJ Brown back gave the Philadelphia Eagles a big spark on offence but, even with his 116 receiving yards and a touchdown, they could have been in trouble had Deshaun Watson not underwhelmed again for the Cleveland Browns.
Tennessee’s Will Levis also underwhelmed with only 95 passing yards against the injury-hit Indianapolis Colts and the league’s most porous defence, leaving the Titans with a decision to make at quarterback.
Despite Justin Fields running in two more touchdowns as the Steelers beat the Raiders in front of plenty of Pittsburgh fans in Las Vegas, with his throwing still inconsistent there could also be another quarterback change with Russell Wilson waiting in the wings.
Joe Burrow produced a career-long 47-yard touchdown run and saw his defence finally show up as the Cincinnati Bengals salvaged their season with a 17-7 win at the New York Giants.
Kirk Cousins passed for more than 500 yards last week, but the run game powered the Atlanta Falcons this time around as they rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns to see off the Panthers.
NFL scores – week six
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Jacksonville Jaguars 16-35 Chicago Bears
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Washington Commanders 23-30 Baltimore Ravens
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Arizona Cardinals 13-34 Green Bay Packers
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Indianapolis Colts 20-17 Tennessee Titans
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Houston Texans 41-21 New England Patriots
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers 51-27 New Orleans Saints
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Los Angeles Chargers 23-16 Denver Broncos
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Pittsburgh Steelers 32-13 Las Vegas Raiders
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Detroit Lions 47-9 Dallas Cowboys
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Atlanta Falcons 38-20 Carolina Panthers
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Cleveland Browns 16-20 Philadelphia Eagles
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Cincinnati Bengals 17-7 New York Giants
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San Francisco 49ers 36-24 Seattle Seahawks