Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.
Smash the panic button
Folks, the Packers might be cooked.
With all due respect to the Jets, who certainly deserve credit for the improvements made year-over-year, Sunday's loss at Lambeau has to be one of the lowest points of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay.
This wasn't just a matter of coming up short in a sure-fire get-right spot. This was getting embarrassed, at home, against the Jets, in a way that only confirms all the issues we'd seen early in the season but overlooked in an effort to avoid jumping to conclusions. It's no longer an overreaction.
This team is holding an absolute master class on wasting what remains of a Hall of Fame quarterback's career. Rodgers shares some of the blame here, to be sure, but the crux of the issue is that the Packers seem to have entered this season with the mindset that, if they were finally going to dish out the contract that would solve some long-standing issues between player and team, the quarterback's value would have to show in masking problems elsewhere.
Elevating the play of those around you is a reasonable expectation for a player of Rodgers' caliber, and it's certainly something he's done in his career. But not to this extent.
There's only so much you can ask of your quarterback when pass protection - once a strength of this team - is suddenly nonexistent, and his young receiver group struggles this much to create separation. Play-calling was also a particularly noteworthy issue on this day, as Aaron Jones - Green Bay's most talented skill player, who entered this week averaging 6.4 yards per carry - somehow had only four touches at halftime of a 3-3 game.
Factor in a defense that is once again failing to play up to its talent level and the occasional special teams blunder, and you've got yourselves a full-blown mess with no easy answers to getting things turned around.
If you want to hold out hope for the Packers on account of some potential Rodgers heroics, fair enough. But if he couldn't get to a Super Bowl with the teams he had over the last three years and with the NFC playoffs going through Green Bay, don't count on him getting even close with this group.
It may not be long before we're talking about whether we'll even be seeing the Packers in the postseason at all.
Giants impress again
Who doesn't love a good underdog story?
Just in case the Packers being exposed as a bad football team had anyone putting a little less stock in a big win in London last week, the Giants followed it up with a statement game against the Ravens. Make that 5-1 for a New York team that nobody would have been surprised to see with a top-five pick next April.
The roster itself remains wildly difficult to believe in. There are some major shortcomings at key positions on both sides of the ball, and Daniel Jones isn't the type of quarterback to elevate the play of those around him. To that, the Giants say: Who cares?
As valid as any of those concerns may be, at this point, all they serve to do is further bolster the case of Brian Daboll for NFL Coach of the Year. Six games into the season, nobody is even a close second.
The defense led the charge this week, doing just enough to bottle up Lamar Jackson and keep the Ravens from breaking the game open in the second half. Back-to-back turnovers in Baltimore territory with less than four minutes to play allowed the Giants to take the lead, erasing what remained of a 10-point deficit, and then effectively close things out.
And so continues a theme of the Giants rising to the occasion and outperforming one opponent after another in the biggest moments of the game. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better example of a mediocre team so consistently getting results that nobody expects. Maybe we ought to stop being so surprised.
Bills-Chiefs lives up to the hype
The most anticipated regular-season matchup of 2022 is now in the rearview mirror, and it provided just about everything we could have wanted in terms of entertainment.
For the Bills, the win back at Arrowhead, the scene of last year's playoff heartbreaker, represents a small step toward getting revenge. It won't make them feel any better about missing out on an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, given how that all-time classic ended, but it is confirmation that the Chiefs aren't some unbeatable opponent for the Bills. And in reality, nobody is.
More important than any made-up narrative for Buffalo, though, is that the win gives them a tiebreaker over the Chiefs when it comes to playoff seeding. As these two teams battle it out for home-field advantage in the postseason, having a leg up in ensuring that AFC contenders have to come through Buffalo is massive. Nobody wants to deal with the Orchard Park weather in late January. And if you thought Bills Mafia was crazy now, just wait until you see them with an AFC title game at home.
JuJu Smith-Schuster's breakout as the Chiefs' leading receiver stands as a major positive for the home side, as does the continued dominance of Travis Kelce. But two turnovers from Patrick Mahomes were the difference in the end, and although you certainly can't fault putting the ball in his hands as much as possible, this felt like another instance where Andy Reid was too quick to give up on a rushing attack that has proven capable of moving the ball consistently.
The Chiefs finding the right balance between letting Mahomes work his magic and running the ball enough to make defenses adjust could be their key to postseason success - especially if that involves a trip to snowy Buffalo.
Overall, this game was just further evidence that we are witnessing the early stages of what may become one of the great rivalries in football. The modern Brady-Manning, but with freak athleticism, if you will. Sign us up for two of those every year.
Brady missing Gronk?
It's tough to figure out exactly what is wrong with the Bucs' offense right now. As easy (and fun?) as it might be to point the finger at Tom Brady, he still looks every bit the All-Pro player he's somehow continued to be well into his 40s. And it's not like he doesn't still have a ton of skill-position talent around him.
But as we saw throughout Sunday's inexcusable loss to the Steelers, something is missing. And given the noticeable dropoff both over the middle of the field and in the red zone, not to mention the extra help blocking on the edge, the logical answer is that Brady is missing his old buddy Rob Gronkowski.
Nobody seems to know for sure whether Gronk would seriously entertain a return, no matter how desperate Brady and the Bucs get. All indications are that the future Hall of Fame tight end, who recently rejoined FOX Sports as a studio analyst, is enjoying his second retirement. But you can bet Brady is at least trying.
Even if Gronk turns down the opportunity, the Bucs should be in the market for an upgrade at tight end as we approach the Nov. 1 trade deadline - especially after Cameron Brate exited Sunday's game on a stretcher with a neck injury.
The question is whether any player who could provide a Gronk-like boost up the seams and around the goal line will even be available, with so few teams in a position to sell. Mike Gesicki may well be the ideal target, given the offseason talk about the Dolphins potentially parting ways, but Miami subtracting from its offense midseason feels unlikely. Here are two other names to consider:
Zach Ertz, Cardinals
Foster Moreau, Raiders
Ertz signed a three-year contract extension in the offseason, meaning the Cardinals would take a sizeable dead-money hit by trading him. If they drop to 2-6 with two more losses before the deadline, though, wouldn't you have to at least consider a mid-round pick for a 32-year-old tight end?
Moreau, who is in the last year of his rookie contract, could be a sneaky great option to fill Gronk's role in the Bucs' offense. The 1-4 Raiders are still likely holding out hope that they can save their season, but trading away impending free agents would have to become an option if not.
Either way, look for the Bucs to be aggressive on the trade market over the next two weeks. This may be Brady's last season, and Tampa Bay has already come this far going all in on his final run. Either convincing Gronk to come back or finding someone to fill his all-important role feels like a must to give this team a shot.
Philly does it on defense, too
Much of the focus amid the Eagles' perfect start has been on the offense, and for good reason. The development of Jalen Hurts as a passer has given Philly the perfect complement to what was already an outstanding run game. There isn't a more balanced attack in the NFL right now.
But let's not forget about the defense. Sunday night's game against the Cowboys was the Eagles' biggest test yet, and with the offense not quite lighting it up as we've come to expect, it was the defense's turn to carry the load. And that they did.
Philly limited Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush to 18-of-38 for 181 yards on the night while coming away with three huge interceptions. The 17-point output was the Cowboys' lowest since Week 1 against the Bucs, their last loss before running off four straight wins with Rush under center.
So, to recap, we've seen the Eagles win by airing it out with Hurts, by running it down their opponent's throats, and now, by way of the defense dominating from start to finish. There are certainly teams who do one of those things better than Philly, but at the moment, nobody comes close to putting together such a complete, complementary operation across the board.
With the Eagles now heading into the bye 6-0, it's probably about time we start entertaining the pursuit of an undefeated season. I know, it's early - anything can happen with 11 games still to play. And nobody is suggesting that this team is even remotely close to, say, the 2007 Patriots. But just look at their cakewalk of a schedule and try to rule out the possibility. You can't, not when a roster this stacked with talent plays such sound football in all phases of the game.
The Eagles are extremely back.
Quick slants
Arthur Smith dialing up the run
The Falcons are suddenly 3-3 on the back of what may be the peskiest offense in football. At a time when the rest of the league is throwing it all over the yard, forcing defenses to adjust accordingly, Smith is leaning on Marcus Mariota and a committee of unknown running backs in deploying an expertly schemed run game. And opponents, including the No. 1-ranked 49ers defense, just have no idea what to do about it. It's an unspectacular brand of football, particularly without a superstar runner to turn shot gains into home runs, but Atlanta is perfectly content to grind it out and frustrate the hell out of you.
Walker a budding star
Speaking of the run game, keep an eye on Kenneth Walker as one of the NFL's breakout superstars. The second-round rookie has been flying under the radar after a core injury forced him to miss the first two games of the season, and upon making his return, he was brought along slowly behind lead back Rashaad Penny. But with Penny out for the season, the job is now his. Walker ran for 97 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries in his first start Sunday, leading the way in a win over the Cardinals. His ability to create yards for himself behind a Seattle offensive line that's already dominating in the run game is a dangerous prospect for opposing defenses.
Saleh's defense balling
Now that we got the Packers slander out of the way, it's time to give the Jets their flowers. They've got their work cut out for them in a stacked AFC playoff picture, but after countless attempts, we are finally beginning to see a rebuild yield positive results. And it all starts on defense. Having had the time to add the necessary players both up front and in the secondary, Robert Saleh's vision is quickly coming together. New York entered this week ranked top 10 in yards allowed before locking down Rodgers and Co. at Lambeau. This defense is legit, and it's only going to get better from here.
A-Rob showing flashes
There's the Allen Robinson we were hoping to see. The Rams' offense didn't exactly quiet all concerns in their win over the Panthers, but the veteran wideout finally getting in on the action to the tune of five catches, 63 yards, and one touchdown was a welcome development. Even more important than the raw production was the rapport he and Matthew Stafford appeared to have on back-shoulder balls. Taking advantage of Robinson's contested catch ability on the outside and in the red zone could be the key to producing some of the big plays this offense has been missing.
Burrow, Chase own Superdome
For much of Sunday's game in New Orleans, the Bengals appeared to be struggling with many of the same issues that have plagued them throughout a puzzling Super Bowl hangover. That is until Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase took over. Much like they did in the LSU national title game that cemented both players as elite prospects, the young duo was unstoppable in big moments in their return to the Superdome. Chase's game-winning 60-yard touchdown with less than two minutes to play gave him two scores and a season-high 132 yards on the day. Might we look back on this as the game where Cincinnati's offense finally began to click?
Don't let the record fool you
Falling to the Vikings gave the Dolphins a third straight loss, making them 3-3 on the season and likely something of an afterthought in Power Rankings around the football world this week. But what team isn't going on a bit of a slide when injuries force them to go three deep at the quarterback position? Tua Tagovailoa is on track to return next week, and Miami's next five opponents are the Steelers, Lions, Bears, Browns, and Texans. The Dolphins bouncing back with a long winning streak is very much on the table.
Colts no-huddle to perfection
Hell-bent on getting the passing game on track, and more than willing to abandon the running game in Jonathan Taylor's absence, the Colts had Matt Ryan drop back for 58(!) passes against the Jaguars. In previous games, Indy's protection issues would have made that game plan a disaster. It wasn't necessarily perfect on Sunday, but a no-huddle-heavy approach really seemed to help the offense find a rhythm. Ryan logged 42 completions for 389 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and, perhaps most importantly, zero sacks. The 34-27 win puts the Colts back above .500 and provides plenty of hope that, despite a pathetic start, this team can still compete with the right adjustments.
Zappe's job to lose?
Two starts, two wins for Bailey Zappe. While the Patriots' defense has been the driving force in back-to-back convincing victories, their fourth-round rookie quarterback looking extremely comfortable at the controls of the offense is a story worth monitoring. Is Mac Jones at risk of losing his starting job after he returns from a high ankle sprain? Probably not. But it should be noted that he wasn't playing particularly well before the injury. And with rumors circulating that the relationship between Jones and the Patriots isn't in a great place, it makes you wonder. If Zappe continues to play well, does Bill Belichick avoid rushing Jones back and eventually make him available for trade?