NFL Reactions: Week 6

-Russell Wilson continued his convincing campaign for MVP by completing 23-of-33 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns while adding 31 yards and a touchdown in Seattle's 32-28 win over Cleveland. Chris Carson held onto the ball and ran brilliantly otherwise, turning 24 carries into 124 yards and a score while catching all four of his targets for 35 yards. Jaron Brown scored two touchdowns Sunday but his per-target efficiency drags hideously behind that of Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, or David Moore, so it's probably not production worth chasing. Will Dissly cruelly suffered an Achilles' tendon injury that may prove severe. Combined with his 2018 patella tendon tear, his early-career injury history is uniquely disheartening, especially given how well he was playing in both of his first two seasons.

-Baker Mayfield picked up some sort of lower body tweak against the Seahawks and struggled to hit his receivers in stride, but he wasn't as bad as his three interceptions implied. Ricky Seals-Jones may prove a worthwhile pickup in some leagues if his snap counts build, and Sunday he was second on the team with 47 yards (plus a touchdown) on six targets.

-Deshaun Watson (30-of-42 for 280 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions) would have been helped out a bit if Will Fuller hadn't dropped three potential touchdown passes at various points against the Chiefs, but 42 yards and two touchdowns rushing was a fine consolation prize. It was another missed opportunity for DeAndre Hopkins (nine catches for 55 yards on 12 targets), whose owners might struggle to make the fantasy playoffs this year. Carlos Hyde (26 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown) didn't appear to me as good as his numbers, but maybe that's just from the contrast with Duke Johnson, who ran for 34 yards on five carries and turned four targets into 20 yards and a touchdown on two catches. More importantly than whatever I think, Bill O'Brien is clearly deeply attached to Hyde. Whether he'll be able to defend his use of the company credit card after this year is a separate question irrelevant to fantasy considerations.

-Patrick Mahomes played through an ankle aggravation to finish with 19-of-35 passes for 273 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, but the script wasn't helpful and neither was Kansas City's highly imbalanced offense (53 yards rushing on 11 attempts). LeSean McCoy, Damien Williams, and Darrel Williams seemed to pretty evenly split snaps, with McCoy doing more of the rushing work (eight carries) while the Williamses perhaps did more in passing functions. Tyreek Hill (five catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 10 targets) was instantly great upon his return, while Mecole Hardman showed more of an underneath skill set (four catches for 45 yards on four targets) after entering the game averaging over 20 yards per catch.

-Xavien Howard (knee) was out, but Terry McLaurin was still highly impressive in his second week back from his hamstring injury, totaling four catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets. He did so on a day where the other Washington pass catchers struggled, with Trey Quinn and Paul Richardson combining for two catches for eight yards on eight targets. Unfortunately for all of them, Case Keenum's struggles (13-of-25 for 166 yards and two touchdowns) portend potentially lean days ahead. The meaningless victory might lead interim coach Bill Callahan to incorrectly attribute his good initial fortune to Adrian Peterson running for 118 yards on 23 carries, compounding Keenum's dubious play with meager play volume.

-It's pretty much disgraceful how Brian Flores is running the Dolphins, but suffice to say it would be a near miracle if they win a game this year.

-Carson Wentz can probably take credit for however many games Philadelphia wins this year, while their losses will likely prove not much or not at all his fault. It's not easy to produce against the Vikings defense in Minnesota, especially with a bunch of butterfinger wide receivers, so 26-of-40 for 306 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception is a solid showing. Miles Sanders provided explosive pass-catching production (three catches for 86 yards and one touchdown on three targets) and Alshon Jeffery was a poor man's Michael Thomas (10 catches for 76 yards and one touchdown on 12 targets), but Zach Ertz was shut down (four catches for 54 yards on nine targets).

-Kirk Cousins' contract will likely prove an error for the Vikings, but sometimes the criticism of him gets a bit out of hand. Even if the Philadelphia pass defense is bad (it is), going 22-of-29 for 333 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception against a top conference opponent is a solid result. Stefon Diggs made up for lost time by catching seven of 11 targets for 167 yards and three touchdowns, while Adam Thielen worked through tighter coverage for 57 yards and a touchdown on six catches and eight targets.

-Teddy Bridgewater struggled a bit against Jacksonville, even with Jalen Ramsey still out. It probably didn't help that Alvin Kamara seemed legitimately limited by his ankle issue, getting outran by Latavius Murray (44 yards on eight carries to 31 yards on 11 carries). Michael Thomas caught eight of 12 targets for 89 yards, which is actually a weak showing by his standards. He might set some kind of record for fantasy wideout floor.

-Sean Payton mentioned that the Saints wanted to keep Gardner Minshew in the pocket, trying to make him work within his reads rather than allowing him to scramble and create the opportunity for improvised routes. It seemed to work Sunday, as Minshew was held to 14-of-29 attempts for 163 yards and one interception, running for just one yard on two carries. Considering struggle of that scale, Dede Westbrook (three catches for 53 yards on eight targets), Leonard Fournette (six catches for 46 yards on six targets), and D.J. Chark (three catches for 43 yards on seven targets) did reasonably well with their pass-catching opportunities.

-Zac Taylor's coaching career may have peaked with Cincinnati's near upset of Seattle in Week 1, when they lost 21-20 in Seattle. The Ravens defense has not done well this year, yet Andy Dalton averaged just 6.0 yards per pass at a 53.9 percent completion rate, and Joe Mixon ran for just 10 yards on eight carries. Dalton's struggles are becoming a concern for Tyler Boyd, who finished with three catches for 10 yards on seven targets and struggled for most of Week 5's game against Arizona despite a big fourth quarter. Auden Tate was more productive Sunday (five catches for 91 yards on 12 targets) but still wasn't efficient.

-Lamar Jackson was off to a fast start against Cincinnati, including as a passer, but seemed to lose a bit of steam over the course of the game. It was still a strong showing, though, completing 21-of-33 passes for 236 yards while running for 152 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Perhaps Jackson's modest returns as a passer in this contest can be attributed to the absence of Marquise Brown (ankle). Mark Andrews led the way with sixcatches for 99 yards on eight targets, but the second-leading receiver was rookie third-round pick Miles Boykin with two catches for 28 yards on three targets. Unless Boykin makes rapid improvement, the Baltimore pass catches will lack firepower even if Brown can get back soon.

-Although Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't great against the Rams (24-of-33 for 243 yards and one interception), he was without both of his starting tackles and managed some heat (five hits). Tevin Coleman saw 18 carries (45 yards and one touchdown) to Matt Breida's 13 (36 yards), but San Francisco's lopsided scores the last two weeks leave open the chance that Coleman is merely the 1B runner San Francisco uses when they want first downs, whereas Breida might be the 1A they turn to when they truly need one. If George Kittle was actually hurt, then his eight catches for 103 yards on eight targets certainly makes the evidence less credible.

-The 49ers defense is good or great, but Jared Goff is certainly neither. Even if the opponent is tough, 13-of-24 for 78 yards is the kind of poor production that can only be rationalized by hurricane-like conditions. Bad contract. Malcolm Brown was off to a good start Sunday, running for 40 yards on the first drive, but he saw three more carries all game and finished with just 40 yards somehow. Darrell Henderson (six carries for 39 yards) was more explosive.

-More great fantasy production for Matt Ryan, more meaningless real-life results, this time against the lowly Cardinals. Dan Quinn might get fired in the next couple days. Hopefully it won't screw anything up for Ryan's owners, because 30-of-36 for 356 yards and four touchdowns is easy to get used to. Devonta Freeman is quietly building momentum otherwise, taking 19 carries for 88 yards while catching all three targets for 30 yards and two scores. Austin Hooper caught all eight targets for 117 yards and a touchdown, leaving him 42-of-50 on the year for 480 yards and three touchdowns in six games. He has a real chance to finish the year as the TE1 in fantasy, especially in PPR.

-Perhaps the Falcons defense can take most of the credit, but Kyler Murray had his best pro game yet Sunday, completing 27-of-37 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns, adding 32 more rushing yards. That was with Christian Kirk (ankle) out of the lineup. Murray has been a rollercoaster so far, yet through six games he's on pace for 4,437 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, with 635 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. That rushing production might prove difficult to sustain, but if Murray turns a corner as a passer then there is a chance for improvement there to offset potential rushing losses.

-Another interesting on-pace stat to consider is David Johnson's box score to this point. He ran for 34 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries Sunday, adding six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. That leaves him on pace for just 795 yards and five touchdowns rushing, but also 840 yards and eight touchdowns receiving. Chase Edmonds might have a place in the offense even when Johnson gets over his back injury, though, as the second-year back ran for 34 yards on five carries while turning two targets into two catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.

-Perhaps Ryan Tannehill will prove an upgrade over Marcus Mariota – he was as much Sunday, completing 13-of-16 for 144 yards and an interception to Mariota's 7-of-18 for 63 yards and two interceptions. With that said, Adam Humphries finishing with six catches for 47 yards on six targets sounds like a defense that didn't mind giving up the checkdown.

-Dak Prescott will get more criticism after going 28-of-40 for 277 yards in Dallas' loss to the Jets, but it's quite simply nonsense to blame him given the injuries around him and Dallas' poor coaching. Dallas made it to the red zone with ease yet couldn't find the end zone, including one example where they went for it on 4th and two and called a Prescott carry to the left, right into the teeth of a defense that knew the playcall ahead of time. Tony Romo all but accused Jason Garrett of taking the playcalling away from Kellen Moore on the TV broadcast, and it adds up. Beyond that, Amari Cooper (quad) left the game very early and Michael Gallup had two bad drops (and a justifiable third).

-Rather than blaming Prescott, it would be more fair to give credit to Sam Darnold, who demonstrated his major upside with a number of impressive plays. Robby Anderson's 92-yard touchdown was a highlight, though Chidobe Awuzie simply fell in coverage. Darnold made strong throws in the first half in particular to not just Anderson, but also Jamison Crowder (six catches for 98 yards) and Demaryius Thomas (four catches for 62 yards). Crowder looked great, as did Anderson, and even Thomas might really have something left. This offense could maintain its momentum with Darnold back.