Alex's Six: The Midway Point Approaches

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Welcome to the fourth edition of Alex’s Six: A NFL Column! Before you enjoy Monday Night Football give this a read for some analysis on the biggest topics from NFL Sunday.

Week 6 of the NFL saw lots of lopsided scores but some interesting storylines emerging after the games, the MVP race is developing, QB futures are up in the air, and some teams have been written off by many followers on the league.

Meme of the day is going to be our first topic of Alex’s Six!

Best In the Nation

(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Athletes have some iconic quotes that will be talked about for ages, Scottie Pippen telling Karl Malone the mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays and Lebron saying “Cleveland this is for you” after beating the 73-9 Warriors in the NBA finals.

Jamal Adams, the highest-paid safety in the league, declared in the lineup intros of Sunday Night Football that he is the “best in the nation”.

Although I’m not a fan of PFF grades, he’s not even in the top 50 percent of safeties graded this season. With declarations like that, you need to play well and be a gamechanger on the field and show you can play like the best in the nation. The Seahawks were without Russel Wilson for the first time since 2012 and needed the defense to help back up QB Geno Smith.

It was surprisingly a good game in the second half and went to overtime. The Steelers would win this game due to T.J Watt playing like the best pass rusher in the nation with his strip-sack on Geno Smith that set up the game-winning field goal.

Adams had his chance to change the game with a pass headed straight in his direction but instead of trying to pick it off, it hit his helmet instead.

Seattle gave up two first-round picks for the LSU safety but so far it has looked like a bad move. The Jets have Seattle’s first-round pick and with Russel Wilson injured for some time, they could very well have a top 15 pick in the draft.

Miami continues to Disappoint

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Losing to the Jaguars is never a good look, especially if you’re Brian Flores. The offseason talk regarding the Miami Dolphins was that they were going to make the leap to become a playoff team and Tua Tagovailoa could show flashes of being the Dolphins franchise QB. Their defense last year kept them in games and looked like they still could still improve on the year.

This year the team took a step back and that has led to them having a 1-5 record. Tua getting hurt in the second game of the season was a huge step back and Jacoby Brissett struggled to move the chains during games. The defense has dealt with many injuries so far this season.

 The defense was without star corners Byron Jones and Xavien Howard against the Jaguars due to injury. Trevor Lawrence made some excellent throws and had 319 yards, one touchdown, and no pick on the day. Although it was a late-game kick that sealed the victory, the Jags had many opportunities to score more points in which they didn’t capitalize on.

Miami will use this bye week to set the tone that they need wins now and will put a fight on against the hot Buffalo Bills. It’s great that they will have a high draft pi…… oh wait. The Dolphins traded away their first-round pick to the Eagles in the offseason to move up in the draft and get WR Jaylen Waddle. It feels like the sky is going to come down falling in Miami but there is still 2/3rds of the season left to be played.

Burrow-Chase Connection

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

I was very skeptical of the Bengals getting Ja’Marr Chase over a top offensive lineman in the draft because Joe Burrow looked so vulnerable coming off that horrific knee injury. I still believe that Burrow isn’t protected well enough but the connection between the former LSU teammates in finding its grove in the NFL faster than I expected.

I will eat the humble pie and say that this pick was a good idea to get a reliable receiver and a deep threat down the field. I have stopped calling him Ja’Fraud Chase after seeing his struggles catching the ball disappear. He will become a top receiver in the league one day and is already one of the best deep threat wide receivers today.

Every week of the season there has been a deep catch by Chase that makes both Burrow and him look good. This is what the Bengals front office had envisioned, a young QB-WR duo that will help improve one another and a duo that will bring in more people to Paul Brown Stadium.

The Bengals still have issues to resolve to improve as a team and put the league on notice but it’s great to see a young duo looking like they will dominate for the next decade. Andy Dalton- A.J Green 2.0 if you will (but obviously much better).

From 3-0 to 3-2

Both the Panthers and Broncos looked to be set to make a playoff appearance earlier in the season with 3-0 starts, but things have gone south since. Two teams who have missed the playoffs the last couple of years have been rebuilding and trying to make some noise this year.

The Panthers saw Sam Darnold lead the team to 3-0 with convincing QB play that made him look like a different player than the one that spent the last 3 years in New York. Unfortunately, Darnold was back to inconsistent QB play against the Cowboys and Eagles in which he combined for three touchdowns and five interceptions on 478 yards passing.

This game against the hot and cold Vikings at home was a great opportunity to get the ship back on track. The secondary failed in Adam Thielen had over 100 yards receiving for the first time this year and Dalvin Cook ran rampant through the Panthers defensive line all game long. Darnold failed to move the chains for most of the game except on the final drive. Their next game against Atlanta is a must-win for them now.

Heading to the mile-high city, the Denver Broncos started the year playing some bad teams which inflated their record causing many to not fully be on board the belief that these Broncos were a good football team. Many who believe that soon saw their opinions become a fact.

Teddy Bridgewater in recent games has had trouble taking care of the football and the running game has been nonexistent for the team in that stretch as well. Von Miller has struggled to play as he used too and it doesn’t help that Bradley Chubb will miss most of the season.

The Raiders came to Denver after dealing with the mess of Jon Gruden’s email leaks leading to his resignation on Monday. It could be the perfect opportunity for Denver to beat a division rival going through a lot internally. Denver’s defense was cut to shreds by Derek Carr and company combined with the Raiders defense playing well and getting three interceptions on Bridgewater, it was a bad day for the organization. They looked ready to compete with the Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers during the start of the season but that is now behind as their main goal is to avoid a losing season at all costs. We may see Drew Lock get one final chance to prove has a future with this franchise.

Browns Woes Continue

(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

Injuries suck. Plain and simple. You hate to see a team season derailed by the injury bug and it looks more likely that team will be the Cleveland Browns.

Before the game, Nick Chubb was ruled out meaning that Kareem Hunt would be getting all the touches in the Browns running game. However, he has carted off the field during the game with a calf injury leaving the team without their two pro bowl running backs. Reports are saying he will miss multiple weeks of the season and may go on IR.

Baker Mayfield reaggravated a shoulder injury and left the game for a brief period. He would come back and play through it which is really unwise but hey that Baker Mayfield for you. In his presser after the game, he was in an arm sling, and when asked about how his shoulder felt he said, “feels like sh-t.”

On the defensive side of the ball, rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah sustained a ankle injury that will sideline him for a couple of weeks. Myles Garrett has had some injuries limiting him in practice with Jadeveon Clowney being in and out of games due to elbow issues. One positive of them is that Denzel Ward and rookie Greg Newsome both played after missing last week’s game against the Chargers.

Next man-up mentality will have to take place for the time being, but the Browns hope it’s not like this all season long. They have a short week as they play the Broncos on Thursday night.

Performer of the Week: Jonathan Taylor

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The second-year back had a huge game against the Texans putting up 145 on 14 carries with 2 touchdowns. That about 10 yards per carry, a new set of downs for each run.

He now holds the franchise record for the longest run in Colt’s history with an 83-yard run. Pretty impressive when you consider how long the team has been around and the quality running backs that have played for that franchise. The Colts needed a win if they want a shot to compete for the AFC South crown.