Week 6 Results
Kansas City (vs LA Chargers) - 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT, 6 pts allowed
Poor Justin Herbert.
A Look Ahead: @SEA @DEN NYJ - Yes, we will start a good D/ST against Sam Darnold. And against Bo Nix.
LA Rams (vs Arizona) - 1 INT
Is this the bottom? The Rams have been smited by the football gods for their overconfidence.
A Look Ahead: @LV LAC @WAS - We'll come back to them against Herbert, but Kirk Cousins is playing like a quarterback who is six or seven years younger right now.
Pittsburgh (at Tampa Bay) - 5 sacks, 2 INT
Jalon Daniels fought hard, and the Steelers were down 16-3 going into the fourth quarter
A Look Ahead: @NO CLE BYE - Tyler Shough was much better against the Giants, as it appears his Week 5 was more about how vicious the Vikings defense is this season. We'll probably not use the Steelers in Paris, but will come back to them at home against Deshaun Watson in Week 8.
New England (vs NY Jets) - 3 sacks, 1 INT
Geno Smith threw his first interception of the season. The Patriots also got two big fourth-down stops in this game. As the great Josh Norris suggested, a fourth-down stop should count as a turnover in D/ST scoring. Maybe bring it up in the offseason if your league doesn't have it as a scoring setting. It was still a somewhat quiet week for the Patriots defense on the fantasy stat sheet in a hard-fought divisional win.
A Look Ahead: @CHI @MIA GB - We'll avoid the Bears, but come back to the Pats against Malik Willis in Week 8. Let's see how Willis performs against the Jets this week.
San Francisco (vs Washington) - 4 sacks
Jayden Daniels looks comfortable in a dink-and-dunk offense and didn't make any big mistakes in this one, even though the Commanders fell behind big early.
A Look Ahead: @ATL BYE LV - Maybe one more week, but after that, we may not come back to the 49ers D/ST until Week 15 against Justin Herbert.
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Tennessee (at Indianapolis) - 6 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 INT, 1 DEF TD
This is the kind of performance that gets a general manager fired. The Titans would not have been in this game without numerous Colts mistakes, including a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. Also, Jeffery Simmons is a bad, bad man.
New Orleans (at NY Giants) - 5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 3 INTs
The Giants were actually up 10-0 in this game, but a fumbled kickoff opened the door for a streak of 34 unanswered points by the Saints that got Jameis Winston benched for J.J. McCarthy, who threw for 243 yards in the fourth quarter and almost brought the Giants all the way back from a 24-point deficit.
Chicago (at Atlanta) - 5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries
Zachariah Branch fumbled away two return touches, and the Bears pass rush benefited from the return of nickel back Kyler Gordon, who notched three sacks and forced the other fumble. We'll consider the Bears when they face outgunned opponents as we go forward. Probably not this week against Drake Maye.
Week 7 Candidates
**Houston, Denver, and Kansas City are assumed to be rostered**