Week 6 Observations

This article is part of our NFL Observations series.

The most important thing is to survive in real life. After that it's Survivor. Check and check. The rest was a mixed bag. 

• I'm glad i watched the Sunday night punt-fest via the 40-minute edited version.
• The Steelers cannot run-block, and Ben Roethlisberger doesn't have it anymore. Diontae Johnson (13-9-71-0) will rival Davante Adams for usage, though, and Najee Harris (24-81-0, 7-6-46-1) is basically peak Le'Veon Bell if Bell had a bad offensive line.
• Alex Collins (20-101-1) is no worse than Chris Carson. One cannot say the same thing about Geno Smith/Russell Wilson.
• I probably didn't downgrade DK Metcalf enough, and Tyler Lockett is borderline unstartable with Smith.
• Pats +3.5 was a tough beat, but I had a bad feeling when they made the two-point conversion after Kendrick Bourne's TD to go up three. Overtime not only distorts ATS results, but CeeDee Lamb's winning TD no doubt turned a ton of DFS and fantasy matchups too.
• Mac Jones showed poise after giving up the pick six to throw a perfect ball to Bourne for the go-ahead TD.
• The Raiders +3.5 -- think the line moved up closer to game time -- were always the right side. When it feels most wrong, narrative-wise, it's usually right.
• I thought the Browns would show up, but the Cardinals defense is better than I thought, and Cleveland had a ton of injuries.
• DeAndre Hopkins (4-3-55-2) got his thanks to the TDs, but I did not foresee him being just one of the guys in a receiving corps where A.J. Green (6-5-79-1) can easily lead the team in yardage.
• Baker Mayfield had one of the more egregious fumbles you'll see, then stayed down on the turf, apparently re-injuring his shoulder. He returned shortly thereafter, but not before prompting this tweet:

• I naively took the Chargers and the points, but this was the converse of the above principle, namely, when it feels too easy, it's probably wrong. Amazed at how well the Ravens defense played, though.
• Justin Herbert's terrible day also brought down Lamar Jackson whose heroics weren't needed.
• With Le'Veon Bell, Devonta Freeman, Latavius Murray and Sammy Watkins, the Ravens have a ton of 2015 fantasy value.
• Sam Darnold is showing Adam Gase wasn't the only problem.
• The Vikings didn't exactly ease Dalvin Cook (29-140-1, 2-2-3-0) back from his ankle injury.
• The Football Team is a doormat, at least with Taylor Heinicke.
• The bad Danny Dimes showed up for the first time this year with three picks and a lost fumble.
• Kadarius Toney (3-3-36-0) looked like he was in for a monster day before aggravating his ankle on the opening drive.
• Cooper Kupp (12-9-130-2) seems to get open on every play.
• Davis Mills and the Texans can effectively dink and dunk, using all four downs, but even after they got behind three scores, that was their only mode. They were chewing up clock late in the third quarter as if they had a lead.
• Carson Wentz connected on a couple deep passes early, but it seemed like he got greedy, holding the ball too long and taking sacks instead of dumping it off to open checkdowns.
• Jonathan Taylor (14-145-2, 2-1-13-0) was ignored in the first half, but broke the game open in the second. He's still a top five-ish back.
• Michael Pittman (3-2-35-0) was the victim of game flow, but T.Y. Hilton's return was also a factor.
• The Lions were a strong 0-5, but now they're just an above-average 0-6.
• After running for a late TD, Aaron Rodgers said to Bears fans, "I own you." But that was less funny than this response from a Bears fan:

• Aaron Jones (13-76-0, 4-4-34-1) had a split with AJ Dillion (11-59-0) more in line with my preseason expectations.
• Khalil Herbert (19-97-1, 3-2-15-0), ran well, but he dropped a pass, and Damien Williams and eventually David Montgomery are coming back.
• The game-tying 54-yard kick by Mike Wright was an obvious shank until it hooked back in, a miracle on par with Moses parting the Red Sea.