October 21, 2015
Week 6 of the NFL season is in the books, and a week after we killed off three more teams, we have no new obituaries this week. Here's this week's hierarchy/obituary:
The Buccaneers had their bye last week, and I would like to exercise my right not to write about them this week.
Last week : 12
Kirk Cousins has thrown eight interceptions, which is the fourth-most in the NFL. That's nothing new -- Cousins has the worst career INT percentage in the NFL among opening day starters this season. However, the trade-off with "gunslinger" types who are turnover prone should be that at least they're hitting on big plays down the field. With Cousins, the Redskins aren't even getting that, as he is 33rd in the league in yards per pass attempt. In other words, the Redskins are getting picked off a ton without reaping the rewards of some big plays here and there.
One thing the Redskins could kind of hang their hat on in the early part of this season was that their defense was performing well. And then... they got steamrolled by an unimpressive Jets offense to the tune of 474 yards (221 on the ground), and 34 points.
If the defense can't be great, the offense isn't good enough to win them games. Unless of course they're playing the Eagles, who somehow seem to bring out the best in them.
Last week: 9
10) Rams (2-3)Like the Bucs, the Rams had their bye, so we'll skip goofing on Nick Foles for a week.
Last week: 11
9) Cowboys (2-3)A season ago, the Cowboys were second in the NFL with 31 takeaways. So far this season:
| Team | Takeaway | Team | Takeaways |
| Broncos | 17 | Redskins | 9 |
| Eagles | 16 | Buccaneers | 8 |
| Jets | 15 | Saints | 8 |
| Cardinals | 13 | Browns | 8 |
| Giants | 12 | Patriots | 7 |
| Panthers | 11 | Dolphins | 7 |
| Falcons | 10 | Bears | 7 |
| Bills | 10 | Chargers | 7 |
| Packers | 10 | Titans | 7 |
| Lions | 10 | Chiefs | 6 |
| Vikings | 9 | Colts | 6 |
| Bengals | 9 | 49ers | 5 |
| Seahawks | 9 | Texans | 5 |
| Steelers | 9 | Ravens | 4 |
| Rams | 9 | Jaguars | 3 |
| Raiders | 9 | Cowboys | 3 |
The Cowboys come out of their bye to face the Giants. Tough call on who to root for in that one if you're an Eagles fan. I think last week the Giants showed that they are far too flawed a team to seriously compete for a playoff spot, so the further the Cowboys are buried, the better, even though the Cowboys have shown very little this season, with or without Tony Romo.
Last week: 9
8) Giants (3-3)I'm kind of stunned how bad the Giants looked Monday night. They couldn't run the ball, they couldn't pass the ball, they couldn't stop the run, and if it weren't for some hideous throws by Sam Bradford to open receivers, they wouldn't have stopped the pass.
The Giants have a myriad of issues, but the two things that are really holding them back are clear to me:
Last week: 6
7) Seahawks (2-4)During Seattle's loss to the Panthers last week, FOX showed a graphic on the screen that showed the Seahawks' point differential in each quarter this season. It looked something like this:
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q |
| +3 | +3 | +31 | -28 |
In all four of the Seahawks' losses this season, they have had fourth quarter leads:
• Week 1, they took a 31-24 lead with under five minutes to go, but the Rams tied it up with 53 seconds left, and then won in overtime.
• Week 2, they had a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter in Green Bay, but the Packers pulled away with 11 unanswered points.
• Week 5, the Seahawks entered the fourth quarter with a 24-7 lead over Cincinnati, before the Bengals stormed back to tie it in regulation, then win in OT.
• And finally, Week 6, they had a 23-14 lead over Carolina, then blew that lead as the Panthers scored two TDs and won by four.
The Seahawks are not finishing out games.
Last week: 5
6) Eagles (3-3)As we noted yesterday, the Eagles' defense is among the best in the NFL:
| Eagles defense | Stat | Rank |
| Yards per play | 5.0 | 4 |
| Interceptions | 8 | T-3 |
| Forced fumbles | 11 | T-4 |
| Fumble recoveries | 8 | T-1 |
| Turnovers forced | 16 | 2 |
| Yards per pass attempts allowed | 6.6 | 6 |
| Opposing QB Rating | 82.2 | 6 |
| Rushing yards per attempt | 3.5 | T-2 |
| % of runs resulting in 1st down | 14.4 | 1 |
| Points per game allowed | 18.3 | 6 |
| Points per drive allowed | 1.37 | 3 |
| Yards per drive allowed | 27.87 | 5 |
| Turnovers forced per drive | 0.213 | 2 |
Unfortunately, Sam Bradford isn't good.
Last week: 8
5) Vikings (3-2)Since 2013, the Vikings are 2-15-1 on the road. Their next two weeks they play a pair of awful division rivals (Lions and Bears) on the road. Let's see you take care of business away from Minny, Vikes.
Last week: 7
4) Falcons (5-1)The Falcons got handled by the Saints Thursday night. Meh. There are only two teams on the Falcons' 16-game schedule that have winning records -- the Panthers (x2) and the Vikings. They'll cruise to a playoff berth.
Last week: 3
3) Cardinals (4-2)The Cardinals were trying to get the ball back to win with just under two minutes to go last week, when this happened:
Last week: 2
2) Panthers (5-0)Here are the teams the Panthers have played this season:
| Opponent | Wins | Losses |
| Jaguars | 1 | 5 |
| Texans | 2 | 4 |
| Saints | 2 | 4 |
| Buccaneers | 2 | 3 |
| Seahawks | 2 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 9 | 20 |
Starting the season 5-0 is nothing to sneeze at no matter who you play, but the team that just had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft has the best record among the teams the Panthers have played.
Last week: 4
1) Packers (6-0)Last week the Chargers gave the Packers everything they had, and the Packers still won. It really just feels like there are no legitimate, complete teams in the NFC who are seriously going to stop Green Bay from rolling to the Super Bowl. Unless, you know, Aaron Rodgers get hurt.
Last week: 1
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