NFL week six review and results: Cleveland beat 49ers & Jets defeat Eagles to end unbeaten starts
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NFL 2023 regular season |
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Dates: 7 September 2023 - 7 January 2024 |
BBC coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website every Sunday. |
There are no unbeaten teams left in the NFL after the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles both fell to their first defeats of the season on a Sunday of shocks.
The Niners missed a last-gasp field goal to lose 19-17 in Cleveland, while a late Jalen Hurts interception helped the Jets shock the Eagles 20-14 in New York.
Those defeats left the previously unbeaten pair on 5-1 - joining the Miami Dolphins after they scored another bucket load of points and the surprising Detroit Lions, who are on their best run for 60 years.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made it three wins in a row by beating the Colts, the Cincinnati Bengals maintained their improvement but the New England Patriots continued their startling decline.
Niners lose more than just unbeaten record
Everything had gone right so far for the unbeaten 49ers this season, but everything went wrong on their trip to Cleveland as they lost their first game of the season and star players Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel to injury.
A pre-game scuffle between players in the warm-up showed the Browns and their top-ranked defence meant business, and they backed it up to hand quarterback Brock Purdy his first regular season loss.
Purdy almost pulled off the win when he drove his side into field goal range with just six seconds left, but rookie kicker Jake Moody missed his 41-yard try wide right.
Cleveland's shock win was even more impressive given they had PJ Walker playing quarterback, coming off the practice squad to replace injured starter Deshaun Watson, but it was their ferocious defence that won the day.
Jets overcome Hurts and sloppy Eagles
Bryce Hall and the Jets defence helped lead their upset win of the Eagles
The sight of Aaron Rodgers throwing footballs on the field in pre-game, just a month after Achilles surgery, may well have inspired the Jets before they pulled off a huge win in New York.
Hurts ran for a touchdown and also passed for one as the Eagles led throughout, but his third interception of the game inside the final two minutes cost the Eagles the win.
Breece Hall turned it into a touchdown just one play later as the Jets bagged a first win against the Eagles and levelled their record at 3-3, heading into their bye week in the best possible fashion.
Aaron Rodgers looks to be making a remarkably swift recovery from last month's Achilles surgery
Dolphins & Lions join 5-1 club
The Eagles will not have an easy bounce-back game against Miami next week as the Dolphins came from 14-0 down to hammer the winless Carolina Panthers 42-21.
Tua Tagovailoa threw another three touchdown passes with the league's top receiver Tyreek Hill catching one in another huge game - and celebrating by grabbing a mobile phone off someone on the sideline and filming himself doing a backflip celebration.
"Being able to create memories that I can look back on when I'm done playing is always something I think of each and every time I play this game," said Hill, who drew a penalty flag for his celebration.
"Every time I step on the field, I'm going to try to make it memorable."
The Detroit Lions are having a memorable season already and they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-6 to prove they are a genuine team to worry about this season.
After a strong finish to last season, Dan Campbell's side have won 13 of their past 16 games, which is their best run since the 1960s. Lions fans can already smell a play-off return as they lead the NFC North.
Tyreek Hill takes a celebratory video after another touchdown
Patriots pain continues
The New England Patriots were at least competitive this time as their 21-17 reverse at the Las Vegas Raiders made it three defeats in a row - but Bill Belichick remains in the toughest spot of his long career.
After two huge defeats, the Pats stopped a 79-point scoring run against them and found the end zone for the first time in 10 quarters, but still came away empty-handed as head coach Belichick lost to not one but two of his former QBs, with Brian Hoyer finishing the job Jimmy Garoppolo started before getting injured.
The Raiders being coached by Belichick's former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will not have helped the mood of the eight-time Super Bowl winner.
The Bengals are looking to become the first team to start 0-2 but still make the play-offs in successive seasons, and they are at least back to an even 3-3 after a strong defensive effort helped them beat the Seattle Seahawks 17-13 with quarterback Joe Burrow largely struggling.
Jaguars on a roll, Stroud shines for Texans
Fresh from two wins in London, the Jacksonville Jaguars made it three in a row back in Florida with their ninth straight home victory over divisional rivals the Indianapolis Colts, running out 37-20 winners.
Number two draft pick CJ Stroud threw his first NFL interception but still impressed as he rallied to help Houston to a 20-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints - as the Texans matched their three-win total from last season.
Last week Stroud set an NFL record for most pass attempts without an interception at the start of his career and that run ended at 191 this Sunday
In rookie QB Stroud, Houston seem to have drafted the real deal and you can almost feel the hope and confidence starting to flow around the entire team with every game he plays.
The Buffalo Bills seemed to be struggling with some London jet lag as they were scoreless until the fourth quarter, when two Josh Allen touchdown throws gave them a 14-9 victory over the New York Giants, who missed a chance to win the game with the clock at zero when Tyrod Taylor's pass to Darren Waller fell incomplete.
Cooper Kupp got his first touchdown of the season as the Los Angeles Rams ran away with a 26-9 win over Arizona, while the Minnesota Vikings edged out the Chicago Bears 19-13.
Falcons QB Desmond Ridder drew anger from his own fans with three second-half interceptions, helping Washington to end a three-game losing run with a 24-16 success in Atlanta.
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