Cardinals top Rams while Eagles drop more games - key notes from NFL week six

ByBen Collins

BBC Sport journalist

Published

2 hours ago

Week six across the NFL featured several surprise contributors as the Arizona Cardinals delivered the season's biggest shock result.

Placekicker Chad Ryland accounted for every Arizona point in the win over the Los Angeles Rams, dropping the former Super Bowl contenders to the bottom of the NFC West.

The Philadelphia Eagles kept faltering but their old Super Bowl foes the Kansas City Chiefs stayed flawless.

The Cleveland Browns extended their unexpected run and the Houston Texans wrapped up this year's London games with a close victory at Wembley.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday's matches.

Rams must halt their slide

The Los Angeles Rams opened the year as the strongest Super Bowl picks in nearly a decade yet fell behind the San Francisco 49ers following their overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills last Monday.

They released kicker Harrison Mevis on Tuesday and added Blake Grupe from the New York Jets practice squad, and although Grupe's field goal gave them an early lead against Arizona, he hurt a knee while tackling on the kickoff.

The Rams regained the advantage with 47 seconds left when punter Ethan Evans handled kicking duties to convert the extra point after Colby Parkinson's score.

Arizona responded immediately and Chad Ryland's sixth field goal of the day, a personal best, sealed an 18-16 win at the final whistle.

Following only three victories last year, the Cardinals now sit at two wins this season, both earned at SoFi Stadium after also beating the Los Angeles Chargers in week one.

Arizona moved ahead of the Rams in a division that includes the unbeaten 49ers and defending champions the Seattle Seahawks.

"We need to sort this out and it begins with me," Rams head coach Sean McVay said.

Walker keeps leading the way

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes reached 100 regular-season wins in his 131st start, matching Tom Brady's mark.

After missing the play-offs last year, the Chiefs strengthened their lineup by adding Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 22-6 victory over the Chargers.

The running back tops the NFL with 665 rushing yards, a mark for any player's first five games with a new club, and the Chiefs travel to his old team Seattle next Sunday.

Kansas City and the Minnesota Vikings stand at 5-0 while San Francisco, the sole other unbeaten side after five wins, hosts Washington on Monday night.

The Buffalo Bills survived for a 33-30 win at the Las Vegas Raiders to reach 5-1 and Caleb Williams returned from a hamstring issue to lead the Chicago Bears to a 31-23 victory at the Atlanta Falcons.

Eagles start without Hurts by losing again

The Philadelphia Eagles already dealt with multiple injuries before last Sunday's defeat to Jacksonville at Tottenham.

They later confirmed quarterback Jalen Hurts had played through a superficial blood clot in his calf and a follow-up scan showed movement in the clot.

The 2025 Super Bowl champion was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least four weeks, with backup Tanner McKee starting his third NFL game at home against the Carolina Panthers.

Tight end Tommy Tremble recorded his first two touchdowns of the year as the Panthers won 25-14, leaving the Eagles with four straight losses for the first time since Nick Sirianni took over as head coach in 2021.

Offensive linemen Lane Johnson (retirement) and Cam Jurgens (traded to Baltimore) departed two weeks earlier and after the Eagles reached two of the past four Super Bowls, many Philadelphia supporters worry an era may be closing.

They meet all three division rivals in the next three weeks.

Hunter achieves uncommon double at Wembley

Following last week's dramatic win over the Eagles, the Jacksonville Jaguars stayed in London to meet the Houston Texans.

The division game produced the highest-scoring London contest since 2015, with Ka'imi Fairbairn's field goal giving Houston a 34-31 win, yet Jacksonville's Travis Hunter had a standout performance.

The second overall pick in the 2025 draft, Hunter arrived aiming to become the league's first full-time two-way player in 30 years and in his 13th NFL game he made a notable contribution on both sides for the first time.

The 23-year-old, who lines up at wide receiver and cornerback, became the first player to record a touchdown catch and an interception in one game since Brian Dawkins (Philadelphia Eagles) in 2002, and only the fourth since the 1970 merger.

Hunter made both plays in the fourth quarter, with his interception setting up a Cam Little field goal that tied the score at 31-31 before Fairbairn secured Houston's second win of the season while the Jags fell to 4-2.

Browns sit atop division unexpectedly

The Baltimore Ravens faced the Cleveland Browns in a division matchup and star running back Derrick Henry lost a key fumble in the fourth quarter.

That opened the door for Cleveland running back Audric Estime, who began the week on Minnesota's practice squad, to score a touchdown before Andre Szmyt's second game-winning field goal in three weeks lifted the Browns to a 13-10 win.

After drawing boos from Cleveland fans in pre-season, quarterback Deshaun Watson has guided the Browns to a 4-2 start and they lead the AFC North on a tie-breaker.

Baltimore and the Pittsburgh Steelers are also 4-2, with the Steelers rallying from 16-3 down in the fourth quarter to win 26-19 in overtime at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Cleveland next visits the Tennessee Titans, who rallied in the final quarter to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 26-20 for their first win of the season.

That leaves only the Miami Dolphins (0-5) and the Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) without a victory.

Rams must halt their slide

Walker keeps leading the way

Eagles start without Hurts by losing again

Hunter achieves uncommon double at Wembley

Browns sit atop division unexpectedly

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