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The classic “any given Sunday” slogan had no place in the NFL in Week 6. In a league where most games are typically close and come down to the final minutes, there was Seven games decided by 14 or more points, and most of them were never tied at any point.
Seeing so many blowouts in one week is a surprise worth examining, especially as the season nears its halfway point and the playoff picture becomes clearer. Let’s take a quick look at what we learned and what we already knew from each blowout victory this week.
Packers 34, Cardinals 13
What we already knew
The Cardinals defense is still in the early stages of a major rebuild. Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has tried just about every defensive style imaginable and nothing really seems to work. According to TruMedia, the Cardinals allowed a success rate (50% of yards needed on first and second downs, 100% on third and fourth downs) of 55% this week, firmly in the Very, Very Bad level. This will be a long season for the Cardinals defense, but we knew it.
what we learned
This isn’t necessarily a “new” thing to learn from this game, but Jordan Love is playing some spectacular football right now. He has nearly cut his sack rate in half from last season and continues to be a source of big plays for the Packers’ offense. Their decision to give him a market-rate contract despite such a small sample size seems smarter every week: This guy is already a high-end quarterback.
Buccaneers 51, Saints 27
What we already knew
Oh. This game was so strange that it’s hard to even know what to make of it, but we saw a recurring trend of the Saints’ offensive line failing to open running lanes consistently as they struggled with health and depth up front. Alvin Kamara did the best he could under difficult circumstances, but it wasn’t necessarily surprising to see Vita Vea give them grief at times.
what we learned
OL. A lot of things happened here, and very few of them made sense. The Saints scored all 27 points in the second quarter. They also led 27-24 with about four minutes left in the game. third room. Thanks to some truly horrible tackling and terrible play from an offense that started with a rookie quarterback, they gave up FOUR touchdowns in the final 19 minutes of the game. Rookie running backs Bucky Irving (fourth round) and Sean Tucker (undrafted) combined for… 217 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries?
In the second half alone, the Saints allowed a 64.7% success rate according to TruMedia, which is basically the equivalent of a defensive apocalypse. What’s a little disconcerting here is that the Saints’ defense simply isn’t as bad as they showed in this game. Coming into this game, the Saints ranked 16th in defensive success rate (55.2%) and 12th in expected points allowed per play (0.07). This performance alone left them 24th in defensive success rate (52.4%) and 18th in expected points allowed per play (0.03). That was an unusual performance for their defense, or really any professional defense, but unfortunately they also showed that this is a possible outcome for them. It is important to keep this in mind while trying to get out of a 2-4 hole.
Spencer Rattler made his debut, which was unusually expected for a fifth-round rookie. At one point in his college career, Rattler was viewed as a potential number one overall pick. Things didn’t go as planned in that regard, but he still had a solid performance in his senior year at South Carolina. He had some mistakes, especially in the second half, but the ability to make tough throws and give the Saints a boost of athleticism at quarterback at least makes him intriguing going forward.
There probably isn’t much to say about the Buccaneers scoring 51 because in large part it’s because the Saints were spectacularly terrible. However, it is still a good offense and Liam Cohen has been excellent for this team in Year 1 as offensive coordinator.
Lions 47, Cowboys 9
What we already knew
The Cowboys run defense simply isn’t good enough to hold up against good run teams. They have been crushed by a healthy offense from the Saints, the Ravens and now the Lions. Especially without Micah Parsons, the Cowboys defense just can’t stay in the trenches right now. As expected, David Montgomery and the Detroit offensive line dished out a lot of penalties that the Cowboys couldn’t handle.
what we learned
Detroit had been wait for this game since they lost a close one due to procedural penalties against Dallas last season. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper was split 11 times in this game and they attempted to throw a hook and a ladder to PENEI SEWELL. Stomping on the Cowboys’ defense and playing as if they had 15 defenders on the field wasn’t enough; They clearly came into this game with a mission to embarrass the Cowboys, which they absolutely did.
This game also highlighted how far Dallas is from a roster perspective compared to the top teams in the NFC. They never had a chance in this game and clearly need to reorganize some parts of their roster during the offseason.
Bears 35, Jaguars 16
What we already knew
The Jaguars are really bad. Starting safety Andre Cisco claimed they folded against the Bears, so there’s no need to spend too much time on a 1-5 team that doesn’t seem to care.
what we learned
Caleb Williams is developing at a pretty rapid pace. Some people may dismiss this performance because he played against one of the worst defenses in the league, but Williams is clearly a player who has improved greatly since his Week 1 debacle against the Titans. His play in the pocket has improved each week and he is now giving himself the opportunity to display the playmaking and arm talent that has made him a coveted NFL prospect since he was a freshman at Oklahoma. These are the matchups that a quarterback of his talent level should take advantage of, and it’s been great to see everything starting to click for him.
Texans 41, Patriots 21
What we already knew
New England is bad. Houston is not bad. These were simply two teams at different stages of their roster growth. CJ Stroud is also very, very, very, very, very good.
what we learned
Drake Maye made his first career start and did something the Patriots haven’t seen all season: he made plays in the passing game. It wasn’t the cleanest game, which is fine for his first start, but he showed great skill that can manifest in a franchise quarterback with enough reps. The pass protection was still poor, but his athleticism gives the Patriots a different dynamic at quarterback that is useful for the current supporting cast.
Steelers 32, Raiders 13
What we already knew
The Raiders are COOKED. This is not a well-managed team right now and they just need to get to the end of the season so they can properly reset and go after a quarterback (and a head coach). Only 11 more games left, Raider Nation.
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what we learned
There’s not much to glean here, but it was fun to watch Justin Fields and this offense make some explosive plays on the ground. Their running game has been fine so far, but they were really able to take advantage of Christian Wilkins’ absence on the Raiders defense.
Falcons 38, Panthers 20
What we already knew
The Panthers just stink. The Falcons are not a great team by any means, but they can certainly beat a team that is in as bad shape as the Panthers. Maybe by 2026 they can look like a real football team again.
what we learned
As bad as the Panthers are, they’ve gotten a better look at some of their offensive pieces with Andy Dalton under center over the last few games. They have a more operational offense and players like Chuba Hubbard and Diontae Johnson had good games against Atlanta. The defense is so bad that they will lose almost every game they play, but at least they can evaluate the offensive supporting cast; that’s an incredibly important goal for them.
On the other hand, the Falcons showed that if they can open up the running lanes up front, they want to be a run-first team. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier bullied the Panthers for a combined 200 yards and three touchdowns on 33 attempts. That made life easier for Kirk Cousins, who had a clean, efficient game with a group of open players to throw to.
