Most NFL fans won't want to hear this, but the Kansas City Chiefs are still a problem.
After a shaky 2-3 start, there were legitimate questions about whether the Chiefs' glory days were behind them.
Sunday night was the perfect chance for the Chiefs to announce to the entire league that they are still a force to be reckoned with, and that's exactly what they did.
Hosting a red-hot Detroit Lions team that had won four games in a row, Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City to a convincing 30-17 victory.
Mahomes was in control all night and finished 22 of 32 for 257 yards and three touchdowns. With his first throw of the night in his 139th career game, Mahomes became the fastest QB in NFL history to catch 300 passes in a career (including the postseason).
What makes the Chiefs even scarier is that they have yet to add arguably their most potent wide receiver to their roster.
Third-year WR Rushey Rice will return from a six-game suspension next week, only adding to the arsenal that Andy Reid and Mahomes have at their disposal.
“We're getting better and better every week,” Mahomes told NBC after the victory. “The results weren't worth it, but it's nice to get a result like this at home and we'll try to carry that momentum into the next game.”
Unfortunately for all those NFL fans who want the Chiefs to fall, they once again look like a team that will be a real problem come playoff time.
Sunday's loss to the Chiefs shouldn't be taken as too much of a worrying sign for the Lions.
Going against a desperate Chiefs team at Arrowhead Stadium is a tall order, especially when the Lions are without nearly their entire secondary.
And despite all the injuries, the Lions went toe-to-toe with the Chiefs for most of the game.
Fortunately, unlike last season when major injuries depleted Detroit's defense, Dan Campbell said he expects most of his key players to return at some point.
The Lions have one of the best offenses in the league, and putting too much weight on Sunday's result would be a fool's errand.
The only thing troubling the Lions this week is defensive end Brian Branch, who sparked a fight after the final whistle by throwing a hit at Chiefs JuJu Smith-Schuster.
“I love Brian Branch, but it was unforgivable,” Campbell said after the game.
Mayfield seals MVP case
If QB Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasn't already at the top of most early-season MVP lists, he certainly will be this week.
Mayfield entered Sunday's game against the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers without wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan and starting running back Bucky Irving. He then lost star rookie Emeka Egbuka to a hamstring injury in the second half.
But no proven weapon, no problem for Mayfield as he led an unheralded group to a convincing 30-19 win over San Francisco on Sunday as Tampa Bay improved to an NFC-best 5-1.
Mayfield finished the game 17 of 23 for 256 yards and two touchdowns, but his most miraculous play of the game came on his feet.
With the Bucs leading 20-19 and facing a third-and-14, Mayfield jumped out of a secure sack, climbed out of the pocket, shoved one defender and then went for the key first.
Mayfield plays the game with all his heart and has endeared himself to the Buccaneers faithful.
The home crowd awarded him a chorus of “MVP!” hymns on Sunday.
But it's too early for Mayfield to worry about the award.
“This is Week 6, we have a big week next week,” Mayfield said looking forward to facing the Lions. “It's great to have support, don't get me wrong. But we're just getting started.”
Herbert puts the Chargers on his back
Like Mayfield, Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert has his sights set on a big win on Sunday.
After watching a 13-point fourth-quarter lead fade away against the Miami Dolphins, Herbert led the Chargers down the field with less than a minute left to make the game-winning field goal as time expired for a 29-27 victory.
Herbert's signature play of the day came on the top drive as he miraculously avoided a sack before finding Ladd McConkey for a 42-yard reception that set up the game-winning kick.
“This game will burn in my memory until I get pelted with dirt,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said.
Same thing, Jim. The same.
“Chargers going to Chargers” is a saying for a reason, as this was a game that many previous iterations of the team would have found a way to lose in disappointing fashion.
But Herbert, despite missing some key offensive pieces, has done his best to change the narrative around this team.
Injury bug hits 49ers hard… again.
It's getting hard to figure out what's going on with the 49ers.
Key injuries derailed a talented 49ers team last season as the team finished with a disappointing 6-11 record.
Things were supposed to get better this season, right?
The 49ers, who have already been hit with walking injuries this season, took another huge blow in Sunday's loss to the Buccaneers when All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner suffered a likely season-ending ankle injury.
Star punter Nick Bosa was already out for the season, and the 49ers offense was also without QB Brock Purdy, WR Ricky Pearsall and TE George Kittle.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has done an incredible job early in the season, and despite all the injuries, the 49ers are still 4-2 and in first place in the NFC West.
But now, without two leaders on defense for the rest of the season, Shanahan's job has become even tougher.
If the panic button hasn't already been pressed in Baltimore, it certainly has been pressed now.
A popular choice to win the Super Bowl this season, the Ravens fell to 1-5 on Sunday after an unimpressive 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
And if history is any indication, forget the Super Bowl performance: Baltimore will have a hard time even making the playoffs.
Since 1970, only four teams have made the playoffs with a 1–5 record. Luckily for the Ravens, the NFL added a seventh playoff berth in 2020. But even since that happened, only Washington in 2020 was able to make the playoffs after such a slow start.
The only thing that should give Ravens fans any hope is a timely Week 7 bye.
Injuries have been a major part of Baltimore's early-season struggles, none more so than Lamar Jackson's hamstring injury, which forced the franchise member to miss the last two games.
As we saw on Sunday against Los Angeles, when Baltimore managed just three points, backup QB Cooper Rush certainly won't be the one to lead the Ravens into the playoffs.
But with a bye next week, that should give Jackson and some of the other ailing Ravens plenty of time to recover and be ready for Week 8.
However, even with the two-time MVP back in the lineup, Baltimore has very little room for error moving forward.
“We can get what we want,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after the loss. “We can do it. We're the team that can do it.”
Cleveland House of Horrors
The Cleveland Browns must be having nightmares about playing in Pittsburgh.
Despite only playing there once a year, the Browns have not won a regular season game in Pittsburgh since 2003.
And that streak won't be broken this season as the Browns lost again in the Steel City on Sunday.
In a league where parity reigns, it's an incredible dominance for the Steelers, who are now 4-1 and atop the AFC North.
To make matters worse, the last time the Browns won a game in Pittsburgh was in 2021 in the AFC wild-card round, and their QB in that game was none other than Mayfield, who is now the front-runner for another organization's MVP.
Meanwhile, rookie Dillon Gabriel is now Cleveland's 41st unique starting quarterback since 1999.
The NFL may owe London an apology.
In the first game of the day at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium overseas, the Denver Broncos beat the New York Jets 13-11 in a very disappointing offensive performance.
But nothing is more frustrating than the Jets offense. Justin Fields was sacked nine times by the Broncos defense, and the Jets finished the game with 10 passing yards, the lowest in franchise history.
Now 0-6 and the only winless team in the league, it's getting harder and harder to find where the Jets will get their first win of the season.
