Week 6 of the NFL season began in London, where “lucky” fans saw New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields get sacked nine times and pass for a whopping -10 yards by the end of the game. Across the league, it was a strong week offensively, with nine games out of 15 producing 40 points or more. 

Bi-jan there, done that

It’s taken two seasons, but Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is being used correctly in the Falcons’ offensive scheme. Against the Buffalo Bills Oct. 13, Robinson rushed for 170 yards, which included an 81-yard rushing touchdown to wrestle momentum firmly into the Falcons’ hands (or wings). In addition to his 170 yards on the ground, Robinson had 68 yards in the air, serving as a double threat for sophomore quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Robinson is currently second in rushing yards in the entire NFL and is projected to rush for 1,646 yards this season. 

Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is utilizing Bijan Robinson more in the receiving game, as Bijan Robinson has 24 catches for 338 yards and is projected to catch 82 passes for 1,149 yards by the end of the season. Bijan Robinson is coming off a career game in terms of yardage with 170 rushing yards and 238 scrimmage yards, and will face a short-handed San Francisco 49ers defense that’s missing its two best players (defensive lineman Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner). Expect more fireworks from one of the most exciting running backs in the game. 

Unc’s still got it 

Aaron Rodgers isn’t finished yet. The 41-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback showed flashes of his vintage self against the Cleveland Browns Oct. 12, passing for 235 yards and two touchdowns. Rodgers’ performance turned the clock back to his past as one of the best arms in the NFL, completing five passes of at least 20 yards. Rodgers had a mixed start to his tenure in Pennsylvania, throwing for 1,021 yards and 10 touchdowns. Rodgers has also thrown three interceptions, but has not committed any turnovers in his past two games. 

Elsewhere, new Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco — one of just five above-40 active NFL players and the only other quarterback — impressed as well. In the Bengals’ Oct. 12 matchup with the Green Bay Packers, Flacco was coming up against the fifth-best defense in the league as part of a new and unfamiliar scheme. Flacco established a connection early with star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, connecting for 10 catches and 94 yards paired with one touchdown. Flacco threw an additional touchdown and finished with zero turnovers, a problem previous quarterback Jake Browning struggled with. 

Brawlin’ Branch

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Oct. 12 win over the Detroit Lions was overshadowed by a childish brawl between Brian Branch, a Lions defensive back, and Juju Smith-Schuster, a wide receiver from the Chiefs. Enmity between the two seemed to stem from a play where Schuster appeared to illegally block Branch in the back. Tensions heightened further when Smith-Schuster perceived Branch’s rejection of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ handshake as disrespect, leading to the brawl. Smith-Schuster took exception to the alleged disrespect and appeared to exchange words with Branch, who shoved him in the face, sending him to the ground. The benches cleared, leading to a scrum on the field and the dislodging of Schuster’s helmet.

Lions coach Dan Campbell was not a fan of the violence, however. He called Branch’s actions “inexcusable” and said he apologized to Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs and coach Andy Reid. Branch agreed with Campbell, calling his actions “childish.” As a result of his actions, Branch received a one-game suspension without pay for “unsportsmanlike conduct.” However, he plans to appeal the suspension and avoid missing a crucial game Oct. 20 against the NFC favorites, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McDaniel struck by a lightning bolt

Coach Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins nearly pulled off the upset. With 46 seconds to go, the Dolphins led the Los Angeles Chargers by one point, courtesy of a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darren Waller by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Everything was good in Miami — until it wasn’t. 

The Chargers had one timeout left and 44 seconds to score at least a field goal. A strong 40-yard kick return by returner Nyheim Miller-Hines set the Chargers up at their own 41-yard line. On second down, Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert evaded the pressure of Miami linebacker Jaelan Phillips, completing a pass to receiver Ladd McConkey who broke a tackle and carried the ball 42 yards to the Miami 17-yard line, rushing out of bounds with 23 seconds to go. The ensuing plays forced McDaniel and the Dolphins to exhaust all three timeouts before kicker Cameron Dicker converted a 33-yard kick to give the Chargers the lead. 

Hope was low for the Dolphins and eventually extinguished when Tagovailoa threw an interception to end the game and snap the Chargers’ two-game losing streak. The Dolphins sit at 1-5, and McDaniels’ seat has never been hotter. With star receiver Tyreek Hill out and the 27th-ranked offense in the league, it may be time for Dolphins management to start looking at other options for their head coaching job.

Sit/Start 

So far this season, the top scoring running backs are Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers), Jonathan Taylor (Indianapolis Colts), Bijan Robinson, De’Von Achane (Miami Dolphins) and Javonte Williams (Dallas Cowboys). This isn’t much of a surprise — all except for Williams were consensus first or second round picks, and Williams has been one of the best stories of this season. In fact, the only top running back taken who has been a certifiable bust thus far (injuries notwithstanding) has been Cincinnati’s Chase Brown  (which could be blamed on quarterback Joe Burrow’s foot). However, on the receiver side, the results get a little bit less predictable, as the top receivers thus far are Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seattle Seahawks), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions), George Pickens (Dallas Cowboys), Ja’Marr Chase, Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Garrett Wilson (New York Jets) and Deebo Samuel (Washington Commanders). Nacua, St. Brown and Chase were the only three who were consensus first round picks, with none of the other five having average draft positions, or ADPs, higher than 28. Fantasy football is fairly random, and all we can do is use the information available to us.

At this point last season, the top running back was the New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara and the top receiver was Chris Godwin of Tampa Bay. Do you know where they ended up? RB9 and WR53, respectively. This is all to say that fantasy football is hard to predict and prior results are by no means a guarantee of future performance. The fantasy season still hasn’t reached its halfway point, so unless you are 0-6, you still have a realistic chance of making the playoffs. That being said, here are the picks for this week on who you should start or sit in the hope of making a playoff run.

Start

Jared Goff (QB, DET) (vs. TB)

The Buccaneers are off to an incredible start as one of two 5-1 teams in the league,  and they hold the best record in the NFC. However, this strong start is almost entirely due to quarterback Baker Mayfield and the team’s offense. In fact, every game before the Week 6 win had come down to the final play. This suits the Lions and Jared Goff from a fantasy football standpoint. Yes, the Buccaneers win a lot, but these wins come almost entirely in shootouts, which bodes Goff’s outlook. The Bucs have given up 19 or more points to three separate quarterbacks this season, and while Goff has been disappointing as of late, he’s much better at home, having averaged 21 points over his last 19 games in Detroit. Goff still has some of the best weapons in the league, and the post-Ben Johnson adjustment seems to be going well, diminishing reason for fear. All in all, this seems to be a perfect opportunity for Goff to have an excellent fantasy football week. 

Quinshon Judkins (RB, CLE) (vs. MIA)

Yes, Quinshon Judkins had his worst game of the season in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, playing the Dolphins at home could be just what he needs to put up another strong week. Miami’s defense has been bad so far, especially against the run, having allowed five RBs to put up over 16 and four score over 20 fantasy points already this season. Judkins is a good player who clearly has talent, having scored double digits in all but one game, and with over 14.5 in three of five. In addition, the Dolphins are one of the few teams the Browns have a genuine chance of beating, meaning there’s a high chance the game script calls for a lot of touches for Judkins.

Courtland Sutton (WR, DEN) (vs. NYG)
Like Judkins, Sutton, too had an abysmal performance in Week 6. However, the game was played in London, so we can potentially chalk that dud up to the overseas play. However, Sutton will be back in Colorado to play a Giants team that has already allowed nine different receivers to score double-digit fantasy points against them, six of whom have scored over 17. In addition, the strength of the Giants defense comes from their front seven and pass rush, meaning quarterback Bo Nix will likely have to pass the ball quickly, and no one stands to benefit from that more than his top receiving option: Sutton. He has put up over 17.5 in four of the six games he’s played this season without being overly reliant on touchdowns, meaning there’s a strong chance he’s able to rebound and reward his fantasy owners again this week. 

Sit

Jaxson Dart (QB, NYG) (Away vs. DEN)

There’s no denying how much fun rookie Jaxson Dart has been so far this season, from both a fantasy standpoint (over 19 in two-thirds of games) and an actual football standpoint, leading the Giants to wins over both the Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles, both division leaders. That being said, this matchup at Mile High may not have a rosy outlook for Dart. The Denver Broncos defense has been incredibly strong this season, especially against quarterbacks. Out of six games, only two quarterbacks have scored over 15 points so far versus Denver, with them averaging 11.4 points away. More so, the Broncos did an incredible job of shutting down Justin Fields, one of the better running QBs in the league last week, holding him to 4.9 points (for comparison, Fields had put up over 25 three out of four times). Much of Dart’s fantasy value comes from his legs, something the Broncos have shown they are adept at stopping. Dart simply doesn’t have top-tier receiving weapons due to wide receiver Malik Nabers’ injury, making it difficult to see how he’ll be able to make a true defense this week.

Travis Etienne Jr. (RB, JAX) (vs. LAR in London)

There are a number of things going against Travis Etienne Jr. this week. First off, he’s playing in London, which often leads to unexpected results (see last week’s Broncos vs. New York Jets 13-11 final score). In addition, his production has been trending down, scoring 18.3 points total over the last two weeks and failing to break double-digits in Weeks 5 and 6, after doing so every time in Weeks 1 through 4. Moreover, he’s playing against an incredibly strong Los Angeles Rams defense — one that has only allowed 3.7 yards per carry and the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. This is unlikely to be a game in which the Jaguars get a big lead early and are able to just run the clock out, meaning the game script may not favor Etienne. 

A.J. Brown/DeVonta Smith (WRs, PHI) (Away vs. MIN)

While the Eagles’ start to the season hasn’t been too bad — they’re 4-2 and leading the NFC East — the same cannot be said about their star wideouts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Both Brown and Smith have drastically underperformed their ADPs so far. Brown was drafted as the 10th receiver taken and Smith was the 25th, yet neither are in the top 30 of WR scoring so far. They’ve both publicly expressed their frustration with their lack of production. It’s unlikely their fortunes will change against a Minnesota Vikings defense that has given up the least amount of fantasy points to wide receivers in all of the league, as well as the third-least to slot WRs (which would affect Smith). Additionally, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ scheme relies heavily on zone defense, something Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is known to struggle against with his passer rating dropping almost 30 points when facing man vs. zone coverage. If Hurts is having a rough game, it’s going to be hard for Brown or Smith to have strong ones, meaning their poor seasons could very well continue in Week 7.