The Week 6 NFL schedule was certainly interesting. Blowouts were the norm as half of the games were decided by at least 19 points, and lopsided affairs like those provide for several statistical milestones and anomalies.
Meanwhile, one of the NFL divisions flexed its muscles with its performances, while a group of rookies did something that had never been seen before in NFL history.
Here are the most notable facts and figures from Week 6.
Jerry Jones’s Birthday Bummer
Sunday was Cowboys owner/CEO/General Manager Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday, so what do you get a man whose net worth is over $15 billion? Apparently, you gift him something he’s never had before, and that’s what the Cowboys did in their 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions. The 38-point defeat was the largest home loss by Dallas since Jones bought the team in 1989, and that result tells only part of the struggles of the Cowboys in Jerry World, also known as AT&T Stadium.Dating back to last year’s playoffs, the Cowboys have allowed the most points (167) in a span of four home games since the 1972-73 Houston Oilers. Additionally, Dallas is the second team in NFL history to trail by at least 15 points at halftime in four straight home games. What makes this disastrous four-game run by the Cowboys even more amazing is that, prior to it, the Cowboys had won 16 straight home games.
NFC North Rules
Along with Detroit’s 38-point victory over Dallas, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Arizona Cardinals by 21 points, and the Chicago Bears knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars, in London, by 19 points. The undefeated Minnesota Vikings were on a bye, but after Sunday’s games, the NFC North Division has a 17-5 record and a .773 win percentage. That’s the best record by any division through six weeks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, and it’s the only division with all four teams having at least four wins through Week 6.Furthermore, one statistic points to not only this being the best division, but these four squads being the four best in all of the NFL. Entering Monday Night Football, the Vikings (+63), Lions (+60), Bears (+47) and Packers (+41) own the four best point differentials in the entire league. Since the NFL expanded the playoffs to 14 teams, and seven per conference, in 2020, it is now possible for all four teams in a division to make the postseason. It hasn’t happened yet in the four seasons since, but the NFC North could make that history come January.
Rookie QBs Dazzle
Five rookie quarterbacks started in Week 6—Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Box Nix have started all year, while Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler got their first career starts. In Chicago’s London victory over the Jags, Williams became the fourth rookie QB in history with four passing touchdowns and 50 rushing yards in a game. But he wasn’t the only fledgling signal caller to light up the box score.In all, the five rookie quarterbacks combined for 12 touchdown passes, with Maye having three, Daniels and Nix having two apiece, and Rattler having one. That’s the most by rookies in a single week since the merger, even though only Williams’ effort came in a team victory.
Fireworks in The Big Easy
Rattler certainly picked a memorable game to make his starting debut as the New Orleans Saints’ 51-27 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bit of everything. It had Tampa scoring 17 first-quarter points before New Orleans then scored 27 second-quarter points, only for the Bucs to then score the last 27 points of the game. New Orleans became the ninth team in history to score 27-plus points in a single quarter and then be shut out for the rest of the game.
The Bucs racked up a franchise record of 594 total yards, while their 51 points were second-most in team history. The Buccaneers managed to pile up those numbers despite three turnovers—their most in a game this season—in addition to committing 12 penalties—the fifth-most by any team in any game this year. You wonder how much damage they could have done to the Superdome scoreboard had the Bucs not shot themselves in the foot so many times.
