National Football League

Chiefs, Cardinals, Ravens, Packers among teams that passed Week 6 NFL tests

Published Oct. 18, 2021 1:34 a.m. ET

By Geoff Schwartz
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

Week 6 of the NFL brought us heavyweight contests between potential playoff teams. After seeing the results, we can separate teams into true contenders and those who failed the test.

Let's start with the winners.

That sound you heard around 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday was the groan of the entire Chiefs Kingdom after Patrick Mahomes threw the most foolish interception of his career.

The ball is sitting at the Washington 21. Mahomes bobbles the exchange on a third-and-1. Instead of falling on the ball and sending out the field-goal team, Mahomes picks up the ball and attempts to throw it away. We think. But he gets hit. And the ball goes straight up into the air and is intercepted by the defense.

That capped off another turnover-plagued first half, with the Chiefs having another ball intercepted after traveling through Tyreek Hill’s hands and a Mecole Hardman fumble on an end around. The Chiefs were down 13-10 with 30 minutes left before a full panic in Kansas City.

What happened then was a second half in which the Chiefs dominated, scoring 21 points to the Football Team’s zero. The Chiefs won going away, and the second half reminded people of what the Chiefs should be on offense when they don’t turn it over. It was three touchdown drives — the first 10 plays, the second eight plays and the third 15 — methodical, physical and soul-crushing.

We knew the offense would get on track without turnovers, but the story was the defense. The defense forced a turnover, a rarity for the Chiefs. They allowed only 13 points and 4.8 yards per play. The Chiefs don’t need the 1985 Chicago Bears on defense. They just need something better than incompetent. Any defense makes them a dangerous team in the playoffs.

Who will be confident when Mahomes & Co. show up in their city for a playoff game? No one. The Chiefs got the win they needed on Sunday.

I’ll have to take the loss on the Arizona Cardinals through six weeks. I was out on them big-time heading into the season. In Kliff Kingsbury’s first two seasons running the show in the desert, I saw nothing that got me excited about the Cards' 2021 campaign. But they went into Cleveland and dominated the Browns from start to finish.

The Cardinals were without Kingsbury in this one because of a positive COVID test. Their starting center, a huge reason their offensive line has improved this season, was out. All-Pro pass-rusher Chandler Jones was not on the field. Their secondary was beaten up. Kyler Murray has a sore throwing shoulder.

None of that mattered. And what impressed me most Sunday was their defense. It played fast and physical and attacked the Browns, especially Baker Mayfield. The Cardinals easily passed the toughest test of their season. They are for real. I was wrong.

All the Baltimore Ravens do is win regular-season games, so it’s not that surprising that they are 5-1. What’s surprising is how they’ve done it and whom they have beaten.

The Ravens took down the Chiefs, then went to Denver to dominate a 3-0 Broncos team. They pulled off a stunning upset last Monday against the Indianapolis Colts and then, on short rest, completely dominated the Los Angeles Chargers 34-6 on Sunday. It was a complete performance. They nearly doubled the Chargers in first downs, held the ball for nearly a third of the game and shut down a red-hot offense.

The Chargers entered the contest seventh in offensive efficiency, while the Ravens' defense was 22nd. It did not matter Sunday, as the Ravens pestered Justin Herbert, slowed down the Chargers' rushing attack and dampened Herbert’s outstanding play on third down.

The Ravens' offense wasn’t as dynamic as other weekends, but it did enough. Lamar Jackson had just more than 200 all-purpose yards and threw for one touchdown. The Ravens' rushing attack took advantage of a poor Chargers run defense, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. The Ravens dominated the Chargers in a game many thought the Chargers would win. They passed this test with flying colors.

The Green Bay Packers won again in Chicago, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers putting away the Bears with a touchdown run that finished with him screaming, "I own you," at the Bears crowd. The Packers' performance wasn’t as dominant as the Ravens', Chiefs' or Cardinals', but it was a 10-point win against a division opponent.

The Packers have pieced together their offense for a few weeks without their best lineman and a rookie center, and they’ve dealt with injuries to defenders. It seems like the Packers are coasting under the radar at 5-1, but after they play Washington at home next weekend, they are at Arizona and Kansas City in back-to-back weeks. We'll know more about the Packers in three weeks.

They say "Ball don’t lie," and on Sunday in New England, that rang true. The Dallas Cowboys survived against the Patriots with an overtime victory on a CeeDee Lamb touchdown to win 35-29.

The game should not have been this close, as the Cowboys turned the ball over twice in the end zone and failed on an early fourth down that led to a Patriots touchdown. The Cowboys averaged nearly 7 yards per play while being flagged for holding on what felt like every play. Defensively, Randy Gregory continues to haunt the quarterback, and Trevon Diggs is an interception machine.

I’ll repeat it once again: The defense needs to be average while the offense is rolling for the Cowboys to win most games. Against the Patriots, that’s what happened. The Cowboys passed another test. They continue to live up to the hype.

There was a single major failure Sunday, and that came from the Browns, who have underwhelmed this season. I was high on this squad heading into 2021, but the Browns are 3-3. They’ve beaten three teams not making the playoffs. They’ve lost to all three playoff teams on their schedule to date. They were leading by double digits against the Chiefs and Chargers in the second half and ended up losing.

On Sunday, they again played like garbage against the Cardinals. Yes, the Browns have injuries. But so does every team. (The Cardinals, as noted above, were without important players as well.) Mayfield played meh again, as he has done all season. We praised the Browns' depth in the offseason, but where is it now? Where are the big-time performances in these big moments? Come on, Browns.

As for the Chargers, they were riding high after wins against the Chiefs, Raiders and Browns … and it all came crashing down Sunday against Baltimore. The Chargers failed in their quest to stake their claim as favorites in the AFC.

However, I’m not worried about them. Sometimes you run into a buzz saw on the road, and the Chargers did just that. The question now is whether they can bounce back from the embarrassment — that’s the sign of an ascending team.

Can the Chargers humble themselves, learn from their errors on film and come out fired up after a bye against the Patriots? That's what I’ll be watching for.

Geoff Schwartz played eight seasons in the NFL for five teams. He started at right tackle for the University of Oregon for three seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection his senior year. He is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @GeoffSchwartz.