The Houston Texans needed a 49-yard field goal on the final play to beat Jacksonville in London, which is a long way to travel for a heart attack. Meanwhile, the Rams, preseason Super Bowl favorites, lost to the Arizona Cardinals by two points. Here is the NFL Week 6 aftermath, and why the Texans are suddenly a team to watch.
NFL Week 6 Aftermath: Texans Win in London on a Last-Second Kick
Houston beat the Jaguars 34-31 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, according to the Jaguars’ own game report. Ka’imi Fairbairn won it with a 49-yard field goal as time expired, per Sports Illustrated.
C.J. Stroud went 24-of-34 for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scores went to tight end Foster Moreau in the red zone, the second with eight seconds left in the first half. Stroud also threw an interception, his first of the season.
Jacksonville did not go quietly. Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdown passes, and Travis Hunter had a touchdown catch and an interception.
Still, the Jaguars had been the only team holding every opponent to 20 points or fewer entering the week. Houston’s 34 was the most Jacksonville has allowed since Week 10 of last season.
The Texans also leaned hard on the big guys up front. They used six or more linemen on 35.6 percent of their plays, the highest rate by any team in a game this season, according to NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats.
Week 6 Results Make the Texans Matter Now
Here’s the thing: Houston is only 2-4. Jacksonville is 4-2, so the Texans still trail the AFC South leader by two games. But this is their second straight divisional win, following last week’s victory over the winless Titans in Nashville.
That keeps Houston in the division race at a point when a few more wins could change the picture. A quarterback putting up 300-plus yards and a line that bullies people is not a combination anybody wants to see in December. For more on how the rest of the slate was supposed to play out, check ESPN’s bold Week 6 picks.
Sunday NFL Fallout: The Rams Are in Trouble
Over in Los Angeles, the Rams had a nightmare. The Cardinals beat them 18-16 at SoFi Stadium. Arizona scored every point on field goals, six of them, and kicked the winner as time expired, even after the Rams took the lead with 47 seconds left, according to Sports Illustrated.
Both teams are now 2-4. The Rams sit last in the NFC West and are 0-2 in the division. For a team that entered the season as a heavy favorite, that is a steep fall.
The kicking situation made it worse. The Rams cut kicker Harrison Mevis after a miss in Week 5. His replacement, Blake Grupe, got hurt early Sunday trying to make a tackle, per NBC News.
With no healthy kicker, Los Angeles went for two after its first touchdown, and Matthew Stafford fumbled the attempt.
The offense did not help either. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combined for 92 rushing yards, and a fourth-quarter-style gamble on 4th-and-1 from the Arizona 27 in the third quarter ended with Davis Allen stuffed, according to Yahoo Sports. Stafford threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, and receiver Davante Adams left with a non-contact leg injury, per ClutchPoints.
Coach Sean McVay did not duck it. “We gotta be able to figure it out, and it starts with me,” he said. He also warned the team “won’t win a game unless we figure out how not to beat ourselves.”
Both of the Rams’ last two losses, to Buffalo and now Arizona, were decided by field goals. So is it time to panic? With no kicker, a banged-up star receiver and a last-place spot in the division, the question answers itself.
Around the League: More NFL Week 6 Takeaways
Elsewhere, Chicago beat Atlanta 31-23 in Caleb Williams’ return from a hamstring injury suffered in Week 2. Green Bay topped Dallas 23-13 on Sunday night. Kansas City improved to 5-0 with a 22-6 win over the Chargers, who fell to 0-6. Buffalo edged Las Vegas 33-30.
Fantasy managers sorting through the wreckage can also revisit our look at whether to cut or keep Chris Rodriguez Jr.
Next up, watch who the Rams sign at kicker, and whether Adams is back on the field. Houston just proved the AFC South is not over, and Los Angeles proved that even the best rosters can lose to a few missed details. That is the NFL Week 6 aftermath in a nutshell.
Now, who’s got a kicker’s phone number?
