We've got your Week 6 overreactions column, fresh out of the oven. Did you think the Texans' season was over? Did you think the Ravens would roll the Browns even without Lamar Jackson? Did you think the game against the Titans was a get-right spot for the Colts? Did you assume the Rams would take out all their early-season frustrations on the Cardinals?
You might have been overreacting.
Sunday started with a wild and important AFC South matchup in London. By the time the 1 p.m. ET window closed, the Panthers were seizing control in the NFC South, J.J. McCarthy had replaced Jameis Winston at quarterback for the Giants, and the AFC North had a combined winning percentage of .652.
I'm sorry, but we still don't know much about how this season is going to turn out. So, here's our Week 6 overreactions column, where we look at five potential takeaways from all the action and judge them as legitimate stances or irrational stretches. Plus, we hit a few fantasy football overreactions at the bottom.
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Patriots will regret trading for Brown?
Jones extension worst move of offseason?
Thomas next big-name WR on the move?
Rams bound to miss the playoffs
Bears are NFC North favorites with Williams?
Fantasy overreactions
The Patriots are going to regret the A.J. Brown trade
New England's prized offseason addition got injured in Week 1 and didn't play again until Sunday, when he had three catches for 27 yards on 10 targets and had the home crowd groaning repeatedly with a career-high three drops. To say Brown looked rusty is a massive understatement. Fortunately, the Patriots got enough from the DeMario Douglas/Hunter Henry/Romeo Doubs section of their roster to beat the Jets 26-19 on a day when head coach Mike Vrabel said they were "lucky to win."
New England saw three more offensive starters -- Doubs and a pair of offensive linemen -- leave the game because of injuries, but that's par for the course for the Patriots this season. But they're still 4-2 and hanging right with the Bills in the AFC East race. It's just that Brown was supposed to elevate the offense, and his rough day coincided with a day on which a lot of what the Patriots did looked difficult.
Verdict: OVERREACTION
The 10 targets showed that the Patriots believe Brown to be healthy and were willing to make him a major part of the offense in his first game back. That's a fantastic sign, and so is the fact that they were able to win despite the ball clanging off his massive hands over and over again. They're 4-2 while getting basically nothing at all out of their No. 1 receiver, and that tells you there's room for things to get a lot better.
They play again Thursday night in Chicago, and they're almost guaranteed to be shorthanded because of Sunday's fresh slate of injuries. But Brown is healthy, which means the Patriots are going to keep trying to lean on him. There's nothing in Brown's extensive history as a highly productive NFL wide receiver to indicate that the drops are going to be a problem going forward. Quarterback Drake Maye was clear after the game that he wasn't worried and even said it was really cool to see Brown in the huddle. This is not going to be the Patriots' biggest problem, I promise.
The Daniel Jones extension was the biggest mistake any team made this offseason
Jones and the Colts lost to the Titans on Sunday. That's something no other team has done this season. Jones in this game? Well, he was terrible. He was 22-for-42 with a touchdown, two interceptions and a QBR of 20.4. It's the fourth time in six games that his QBR has been under 35 (QBR is on a scale of 1 to 100, remember). It's not even his worst QBR of the season -- he somehow put up a 15.8 in a 30-13 Week 4 victory over the Commanders.
The Colts were so determined to keep Jones as their quarterback this offseason, even though he was coming off a season-ending Achilles tear, that they used the transition tag to keep him off the free agent market, then handed him a two-year, $88 million contract with nearly $50 million guaranteed. Through six weeks, the Colts are 2-4 and Jones is statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
Could it get better? Sure. Lots of things can happen. But how much better can we really expect things to get in Indy? The defense hasn't been very good. Jonathan Taylor isn't having a great season. Alec Pierce, another of their big offseason extensions, is on injured reserve. Star tight end Tyler Warren got hurt in practice late last week and missed Sunday's game.
It seems as if things are getting worse in Indianapolis instead of better. And if Jones doesn't make an incredible turnaround and get this team into the playoffs, a whole lot of seats are going to start feeling pretty darn hot out there.
Brian Thomas Jr. is going to be the next big-name WR traded ahead of the Nov. 10 deadline
Last week saw 2024 No. 4 pick Marvin Harrison Jr. traded from Arizona to Houston after he hired an agent to help him convince the Cardinals to deal him. A lot of eyes now turn to Jacksonville, where the No. 23 pick from that same draft, Thomas, is really struggling in an offense that seems to be leaving him behind. Thomas has fallen to third in the Jaguars' wide receiver pecking order behind Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers, and by the end of Sunday's loss to the Texans in London you could have argued he was fourth behind Washington, Meyers and CB/WR Travis Hunter.
Thomas had a pair of drops in the first half and didn't play an offensive snap in the second. He finished with zero catches, and he has a total of nine catches for 105 yards this season. He has played in all six of Jacksonville's games.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
The issue Thomas and other Jaguars receivers had with drops last season is one of the reasons Jacksonville felt the need to trade for the sure-handed Meyers and sign him to a long-term extension. The Jaguars talked extension with Washington this offseason and still could do one, though he's setting the price higher with every stellar week.
Thomas just might not fit in Jacksonville, and while the Jaguars have indicated they don't have interest in trading him, the Cardinals were saying the same thing about Harrison as recently as two weeks ago. There are a lot of people around the league who believe Thomas could have a new home by the trade deadline. It's a situation to monitor.
The Rams are going to miss the playoffs
It's been a really rough couple of weeks to be a Los Angeles superteam, am I right? While the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers were getting swept out of the MLB playoffs by the Milwaukee Brewers, the preseason Super Bowl favorite Rams lost Monday night to Buffalo and then dropped an inexplicable division home game Sunday to the Cardinals. The Rams scored 16 points against an Arizona team that allowed an average of 32.4 points per game over the first five weeks this season. The Rams showed little to no life on offense, and while they kept the Cardinals out of the end zone, they did let them march down the field to get into position for six Chad Ryland field goals, including the game winner as time ran out.
The Rams actually took the lead in the final minute but were flagged for a stupid personal foul penalty after a long Jacoby Brissett completion on the very next drive. That resulted in Arizona being in position to win it with a field goal, and that kick resulted in the Rams having the same 2-4 record as the Cardinals through six weeks. Not exactly the way they drew it up back in the preseason, is it?
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
I continue to believe that there's a very good team in there somewhere. I just figured we would have seen it by now. The Rams are not buried in the standings (though they run the risk of getting there if something doesn't change soon), and of course they have the theoretical ability to go on a run and pursue the Super Bowl for which they were such heavy favorites. But stuff is getting real at this point.
According to ESPN Research, the only other preseason Super Bowl favorite to start 2-4 in the past 20 years was the 2015 Seahawks, who recovered to finish 10-6 and lose in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Rams would sign up for 11-6 at this point (because the schedule is 17 games now) and hope it's enough to get them into the postseason field, where they can take their chances. The question isn't whether they have a mathematical chance to save their season, it's whether we were just wrong about the Rams being a great team to begin with. Frankly, right now, they don't even look like a good team, let alone a playoff one.
With Caleb Williams back healthy, the Bears are NFC North favorites
After going 2-1 with backup quarterbacks Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent during Williams' three-game injury absence, the Bears held off a furious Falcons comeback Sunday to win 31-23 and improve to 4-2.
Williams did not look rusty. He completed his first 12 passes and finished 30-for-36 for 305 passing yards and a touchdown pass. Chicago built a 31-7 fourth-quarter lead before Michael Penix Jr. and Kyle Pitts Sr. put a pair of late touchdowns on the board to make it look close. With 368 total yards and more than 40 minutes of possession, the Bears' offense looked a lot closer to its normal self with its starting QB back under center.
Verdict: OVERREACTION
I know the Vikings didn't play this week, but did we forget they're 5-0? Did we forget the Packers just beat the Bears last week and are right on their heels in the standings ahead of their Sunday night matchup against the Cowboys? The Lions are 3-2 and also off this week but still have that big-time offense and that cream cheese schedule.
Unless the Vikings are going to keep winning and winning and run away with things, this division looks like it should be a knockdown, drag-out fight to the finish. The Bears are a legitimate threat, but in no way have they separated themselves from the NFC North pack, even if you count only the games in which Williams has played. There's a long way to go here.
Quick-hitter fantasy overreactions
You can drop Bo Nix. OVERREACTION. I think Nix needs real-life fixing of some sort, but he has shown enough as a high-level fantasy quarterback that he's worth holding on to if you can while you wait for him to turn it around. The recommendation here is bench for now if you have other options.
You can drop Justin Herbert. NOT AN OVERREACTION. Dude ... you seriously still haven't dropped Justin Herbert?
Avoid the Giants' backfield altogether. NOT AN OVERREACTION. Will Cam Skattebo start again? Is Tyrone Tracy Jr. back? Wasn't Najee Harris supposed to be the guy? No thanks. Nothing but downside until we get any consistent week-to-week usage clues at this point.
Buy high on Carnell Tate before he REALLY starts going off. NOT AN OVERREACTION. I actually think you're too late, but if not, go get him. This isn't that hot a take. This is the fourth pick in the whole draft. Were they not going to use him?
Omar Cooper Jr. needs to be a priority waiver add this week: OVERREACTION. Adonai Mitchell will be back at some point, and I think there's still more Kenyon Sadiq to come. Cooper looks nice and maybe you need him in dynasty, but I don't think you desperately need the guys competing to be the second option in the Jets' passing game.