Week 6 NFL Quick Hits

St. Louis @ Green Bay - When a winless team faces an undefeated team at this point in the season you can pretty much expect this outcome. The Rams were completely overmatched and nothing seemed to go right for him on Sunday afternoon. Aaron Rodgers continued his MVP level of play but the Rams defense did do him some favors. His touchdown to James Jones looked easy and the 93-yarder featured Jordy Nelson burning Al Harris. Steven Jackson had his best game of the year but had a vintage effort: nearly 100 yards and zero touchdowns. I would say that St. Louis has something to look forward to (besides the World Series) but even with the addition of Brandon Lloyd they may be without Sam Bradford, who is unofficially questionable for their matchup against Dallas.

Buffalo @ NY Giants - The Giants are impossible to gauge. Last week Eli Manning looked like he should be playing for Ole Miss against the Seahawks and on Sunday they beat one of the best team's in the league. Manning didn't turn the ball over and if that trend continues going forward then I don't see any reason the Giants can't win the NFC East. Ahmad Bradshaw had three touchdowns from a yard out and over 100 yards and really the whole offense looked to be chugging on all cylinders. Mario Manningham continued to avoid getting in the end zone and tortured his fantasy owners with a ball that came out as he hit the ground. Buffalo, even in the loss, looked impressive. Fred Jackson may not be the fastest runningback in the league but you wouldn't know it by his 80-yard score (though he did need some nice moves at the end). Ryan Fitzpatrick had arguably his worst game of the year (it's up there with the Cincinnati game) due to some untimely turnovers.

Indianapolis @ Cincinnati - I've heard a lot about Cincy's defense (second best in yards per game, behind the Steelers) but I hadn't seen them for myself. I won't put much stock into what they did to the hapless Colts but this is a team that does have staying power. I don't know if they'll make the playoffs, especially when they'd likely have to pass one of Pittsburgh or Baltimore, but I definitely underestimated the Bengals. A.J. Green's success isn't surprising but I'm still surprised to see week in and week out that Andy Dalton hasn't blown up. Jerome Simpson looks fantastic flanking Green on the other side and hopefully for his and this team's future success he stops with the massive amounts of marijuana. Then there's the Colts, who are at least trying I guess. Curtis Painter makes things interesting but it is an amazing dynamic to see how much one player changes a roster.

Carolina @ Atlanta - I'll be honest, I was looking forward to this one to see what kind of show Cam Newton would put on. After watching him tear through the SEC last year and as the quarterback in Carolina this had to be the single worst performance he's put up. Newton threw three interceptions and though he had 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground it was for naught. Even though Carolina led into the fourth it seemed inevitable that the Falcons would come back, especially at home. They were just hanging in there throughout the whole game and all of a sudden the Falcons just turned it on. Michael Turner had 139 yards and looked to reverse the clock for at least one week and without Julio Jones it was Harry Douglas who stepped up. I also want to welcome Jonathan Stewart to the 2011-12 season, he scored his first touchdown of the season from a yard out.

San Francisco @ Detroit - This was billed as the biggest game of the weekend and it didn't disappoint. Every star player seemed to do something at a crucial moment and even the coaches nearly got into a fist fight after the game. In the end, though, it was Frank Gore's hard-nosed running and Alex Smith's timely touchdown pass to Delanie Walker that sealed it for the Niners. Matt Stafford nearly got 300 yards but had to attempt 50 passes (while only completing 56% of them) to get there. The most surprising player of all may have been Michael Crabtree, who was in sync with Smith all day and made big catch after big catch. The Niners line solved Ndamukong Suh (who was held to just two assisted tackles and no sacks) and their defensive front kept the pressure on Stafford throughout the game. The Lions just couldn't do a thing to slow down Aldon Smith. The biggest news to come out of the game, though, is the concussion that Jahvid Best suffered. We're not talking about missing games now, we're talking about a career threatening injury because this is the second one of his season. I don't think it will come to that but it's something to monitor and hopefully we don't see a bright career snuffed out due to head injuries.

Philadelphia @ Washington - If I showed you this box score before the season I doubt anyone would scoff at the idea of the Eagles shutting down the Redskins. Yet with the teams' records and the Redskins in a position to take a stranglehold on the division it was a bit stunning to see. Rex Grossman had a typical "bad Rex" game but this time it was in spectacular fashion, as though he wanted to give the Eagles as many opportunities as possible to continue scoring. Michael Vick didn't light up the Skins like last year but LeSean McCoy practically did. Watching the game, it seemed like every cut and move that McCoy made gave him another 3-5 yards and the Redskins were unable to bring him down when they absolutely had to. John Beck came in and did an admirable job, and in fact he actually made things interesting in the second half. I still think the Redskins defense is quite good but Jim Haslett has to start doing something different. Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan are fantastic pass rushers but liabilities in coverage. LaRon Landry is amazing at stopping the run but also struggles when he's forced to play away from the line of scrimmage. DeAngelo Hall is a ballhawk and gets a fair share of interceptions but there's a reason that we see just as many games where he is lit up. I just don't know if Washington has the personnel to make it work this year.

Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh - The Jags kept this one close and made things interesting in the second half. The boxscore is a bit misleading because it was obvious to anyone watching that Rashard Mendenhall could have had four touchdowns if the Steelers needed it. Blaine Gabbert was under duress throughout the game and never got in a sync with anyone. I do have to give the Jags' secondary some credit, though, as they did well in coverage (Ben Roethlisberger only completed 52.2% of his passes). Mike Wallace got  a 28-yard touchdown but was held to only two catches in what may have been an audition by Rashean Mathis. Mathis was put on the trading block by the Jags earlier in the week and at the time of this post he hasn't been traded but we shall see what happens.

Cleveland @ Oakland - It was all hands on deck for the Raiders. Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone and Kyle Boller had to come in. Their one touchdown through the air actually came from Shane Lechler on a fake field goal on a 4th and 1. Darren McFadden kept rolling on the ground and the Raiders defense made the Browns one dimensional by taking out their running game. They were also aided by Peyton Hillis' hamstring injury, which could keep him out multiple weeks. Greg Little broke out a little bit with six catches and 72 yards. I'm willing to bet that if Colt McCoy starts looking his way more often that we'll see his stats start to uptick. The biggest thing to happen concerning this game was the fallout of the Campbell injury. The Raiders made a trade earlier today with the Bengals for Carson Palmer, which includes a first round pick this year and a conditional pick next year. The conditional pick is a second rounder that can become a first depending on how Palmer plays. Oh, and the Raiders are also picking up the tab and assume Palmer's entire salary. It's a terrible, awful, dreadful trade but it is an upgrade over Kyle Boller, I guess.

Houston @ Baltimore - Were we all wrong about Houston? I know, they were facing one of the league's best teams on the road without their best player, but still. They're 3-3 and next week's showdown against Tennessee could go a long way towards deciding that division. Baltimore, to their credit, flabbergasted Matt Schaub and it seemed like there was a Raven hanging off of him at every play. The ground game never got going and this one could have been 49-14 and I wouldn't have noticed much of a difference. Joe Flacco has rediscovered Anquan Boldin to great success and if he can do that to keep teams from stacking the box on Ray Rice then this team could very well win the AFC. They're the most complete team in the conference and they're playing at an incredibly high level.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay - Can we forget that I wanted to jump off of the Bucs wagon for this year? This is the team I envisioned before the season when I picked them to win the NFC in a major upset and they did it without LeGarrette Blount. Earnest Graham turned back the clock and reminded me of the year when he was a trendy pickup and the next year ended up being a top pick in fantasy football. Graham got 109 yards on the ground and also nabbed two passes for 22 yards. Josh Freeman was also fantastic and everything seemed to click for Tampa Bay. If they play at this level then they may actually have an outside shot to go deep into the playoffs. The Saints, on the other hand, have a lot of questions to answer. Drew Brees threw three picks and he already has eight this year. The running game is a huge question mark, though to be fair their stats are slanted because the team was playing from behind from the second quarter onward. Jimmy Graham looks to be the best tight end in football though he also did destroy Sean Payton, whose leg literally exploded.

Dallas @ New England - I hope you like draw plays. Dallas decided in the second half to go away from Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, instead taking the ball out of Tony Romo's hands and putting the load on DeMarco Murray. After Felix Jones went out with an injury in the second half it was Murray's responsibility but really, I don't understand it. Bryant looked downright invincible at times and one particular juke move caused two Patriot defenders to fall down on themselves. I understand that Romo's psyche is that of a four year old girl and whatever but I'm not blowing smoke about the Patriots' secondary. It is historically bad and literally one of the worst in the history of the NFL and yet Jason Garrett didn't want to exploit this. Even though the game started as a turnover fest you still have to have confidence in your quarterback to get the ball to Bryant, Austin, and Jason Witten against New England. Literally all you have to do is get the ball in their area and they will likely make a catch. Tom Brady looked mortal for the first 57 minutes of the game but at the end he marched his team down the field culminating in an Aaron Herndanez game winning touchdown. Rob Ryan gave Brady fits with his schemes and the Dallas defense executed well but I'll never, ever understand why Dallas went about things that way.

Minnesota @ Chicago - This is the Chicago Bears team that won the NFC North last year. They absolutely dominated the Vikings in every phase of this game. Jay Cutler was sacked only once and as we know, when they keep him upright good things will usually happen (DeAngelo Hall withstanding). Devin Hester must haunt Minnesota fans' dreams because I think he has something like a billion TDs against them. We got to see a sneak peak of the Christian Ponder experience and the results were sort of encouraging, I guess. He was better than Donovan McNabb, who I've railed on all year so I won't bother stating the obvious, but Ponder handled himself well and knows to get the ball to Percy Harvin. The Bears defense kept Adrian Peterson under wraps and when it looked like they would have a shot to get back into the game it was Hester who delivered the dagger. Neither of these teams are likely to make the playoffs but there is a Grand Canyon sized gap between the third and fourth placed teams in the NFC North.

Miami @ NY Jets - Whoever scheduled Monday Night Football this year should be shot. I'll be honest, I didn't watch a second of this game. I just couldn't bear the thought of watching Mark Sanchez vs. Matt Moore and instead I played with my new iPhone all night and went to bed. I felt much more productive than watching the fantastic "Ground and Pound" gameplan of the Jets racked up a whole 104 yards. "Bell Cow" Shonn Greene mustered 74 but he was nearly out gained by Reggie Bush. You know, the guy who isn't even really a runningback. Brandon Marshall made some catches but didn't get thrown out of the game and I'm sure that Santonio Holmes an Plaxico Burress hate Brian Schottenheimer even more. Darrelle Revis did a thing and Sanchez continued to be absolutely mediocre. The end. Screw this game.