Week 6 of the NFL regular season kicked off on a Thursday, and there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding the other games.
SportsGrid looks into some storylines worth following.
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1. Will the Cowboys or Chargers Emerge as Real Contenders?
Monday Night Football in Week 6 is set to feature two teams that are very much mirror images of one another. The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a blowout loss on the road to the San Francisco 49ers, while the Los Angeles Chargers had their bye week. There are a lot of similarities between these teams, even if they’re built differently. Expectations are high for both sides, but we’ve yet to see either side deliver. One of these teams will come out on top in this matchup and potentially make a statement. The Cowboys eventually need to bounce back here, but it will be a difficult ask for a team traveling to the West Coast that’s had extra time to prepare on a bye week. We’re giving the Chargers a slight edge in this matchup, even if Dallas is a 2.5-point road favorite. The Cowboys are in the spotlight in Week 6 again: Can they get back on track?
2. Are the Bengals Back?
It’s been a weird start to the season for the Cincinnati Bengals. First, star quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a calf injury in training camp. The former LSU Tiger still started in Week 1 but lacked mobility and didn’t look like the MVP candidate we’ve grown to know. Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals, Burrow showed glimpses of what he can do. Looking at this from an outside point of view, we still have concerns about his overall mobility, but he did lay some of those concerns to rest. It will be telling how Burrow and the Bengals perform on Sunday, facing a Seattle Seahawks team that’s won three straight games and is coming off a bye. If Burrow and the Bengals show up, we’ll be fully prepared to say they’re back and ready to compete in a winable AFC North.
3. Are the Buccaneers Pretenders?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have surged off to a 3-1 start to the regular season and are coming off a bye. They’re set to host the 4-1 Detroit Lions in Week 5, which will be their second-biggest test to this point. The Bucs already fell short against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Lions present a similar challenge. The Lions are listed as a field-goal road favorite entering this matchup. The oddsmakers are showing some respect to the Buccaneers, expecting them to keep this contest relatively close. The defense has been a strong suit for Tampa Bay, while Baker Mayfield has done a solid job managing this offense. At the same time, seeing how he fares against a Lions team that can put points on the board will be interesting. It will say much about the Bucs if they have to play catch-up in this contest and can put up points.
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