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    • Caleb Williams, rookie QBs put to the test
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    Caleb Williams, rookie QBs put to the test

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    The 32 things we learned from Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season:

    0. The number of interim head coaches who have guided a team to the Super Bowl. Good luck to Jeff Ulbrich and the New York Jets, who will play their first game without pink scapegoat Robert Saleh on Monday evening.

    0. Home wins for the Dallas Cowboys in calendar year 2024, going back to their blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs. On Sunday, it was the Detroit Lions, the last team to lose at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 30 — and under questionable circumstances — who took on America’s Team in a 47-9 victory, Dallas’ biggest home loss since Jerry Jones bought the franchise. in 1989. The Cowboys are now 0-4 in “Jerry World” since January, losing by a combined 82 points. (And by the way, Sunday was Jones’ 82nd birthday.)

    1. The number of victorious rookie quarterbacks on Sunday, even though it started at a season high of five. That would be Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, the top pick in the 2024 draft, who threw a career-high four touchdown passes in a 35-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

    2. Williams became the first quarterback ever taken No. 1 overall, winning four of his first six NFL starts.

    3. The Bears have won nine in a row at home as they technically hosted Sunday’s match at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

    3a. Williams’ four TD passes were a record in that building.

    4. Elsewhere, New Orleans Saints rookie QB Spencer Rattler and New England Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye took the L in their first starts.

    5. Rattler took on fellow former Oklahoma Sooner Baker Mayfield in a game that turned into a good old Big 12 shootout, with Mayfield’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning 51-27 in a game that featured almost 900 yards of total offense.

    6. The Bucs’ offensive margin of 594 yards was the most ever in a single game for a franchise now in its 49th season. They became the fifth NFL team to pass for at least 300 yards and rush for 275 in the same game.

    7. A big chunk came from Tampa Bay’s virtually unknown third-string RB Sean Tucker, who racked up 255 all-purpose yards while finding the end zone twice.

    8. Rattler joined Ian Book as the only rookie quarterbacks to leave for New Orleans in the 21st century. Neither of them won.

    9. Do your statistics lie? According to NFL Media, Maye became the first quarterback since at least 1950 to throw for at least three TDs while leading his team in his first NFL start. He ran for 38 yards and his scoring throws were largely inconsequential in a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans. Nevertheless, perhaps a little renewed optimism for the tortured people of Foxborough.

    10. How much do your statistics lie? San Francisco 49ers DE Nick Bosa had an NFL-high pressure of 14 in Thursday night’s 36-24 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. A quick look at the box score shows that Bosa had zero sacks, which is hardly indicative of his impact on any given play.

    11. One of the beneficiaries of Maye’s home debut was Texans DE Will Anderson Jr., the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year who earned the 2024 No. 3 pick and had a career-best three times.

    12. Back to this year’s rookies: Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders saw their winning streaks, three and four respectively, end Sunday.

    13. Daniels accounted for a respectable 291 yards and two touchdowns (both passing), but Washington scored its fewest points (23) since Week 2 while losing to the rising Beltway team, the Baltimore Ravens.

    14. Overall, Sunday’s 12 combined TD passes were the most by any starting quarterback in a week in the Super Bowl era (since 1966), despite the 1987 strike season.

    15. Baltimore RB Derrick Henry rushed for 132 yards and two scores, taking over the league lead with 704 yards. He is now on pace for 1,995 over 17 games.

    16. The Ravens became the second team in the last 18 seasons to rush for a combined 1,200 yards in six games… joining the 2019 Ravens.

    17. The Ravens also became the second team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to rush for at least 150 yards and a TD in their first six games, joining the 1971 Oakland Raiders.

    18. As for Henry? He is the first player since Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 to run for a touchdown in his team’s first six games. LT finished that year with a record 31 TDs overall – plus a record 28 on the ground – and was named the league’s MVP. Just saying.

    18a. Henry now ranks fourth all-time after recording his 20th game with at least 100 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He follows three HOFers: Jim Brown (25 games), Tomlinson (25) and Emmitt Smith (21).

    19. It took six games for Packers S Xavier McKinney to fail to throw an interception for his new club.

    20. It didn’t matter much as Green Bay outplayed the Arizona Cardinals 34-13. And while McKinney hasn’t contributed any, the Pack have scored multiple points in every game this season – their total now stands at 20 in the league.

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    21. Is there any doubt that the NFC North has emerged as the league’s best division? It is the only one with all of its teams above .500 and – if the season were to end today – three would advance to the playoffs.

    22. According to OptaSTATS, the 17-5 (.773) record marks the first time in league history that a division had a winning percentage of at least .750 in Week 6 or later of a given season.

    23. Since the division realignment in 2002, the NFC North is the first to have all of its members have at least four wins through Week 6.

    23a. Although the undefeated Minnesota Vikings had a bye, the rest of the division cleaned up on Sunday, with the Bears, Lions and Packers winning by an average of 26 points. Things should get pretty heated once intra-division play picks up, as only the Pack and Vikes have met so far.

    24. And how good has Lions QB Jared Goff been? On Sunday, he became just the second signal-caller, joining Drew Brees, to post a passer rating above 150.0 in consecutive starts.

    25. Unfortunately, the NFC North will lose a lot of luster in the wake of the broken tibia of Detroit DE Aidan Hutchinson, who increased his league-leading sack total to 7½ during the game that will almost undoubtedly end his 2024 season… and perhaps dramatically end his Super Bowl hopes change his team.

    26. The more you can do… and look no further than Bears TE Cole Kmet. He grabbed a pair of TDs in Chicago’s win and deftly transitioned to long-term duties after Scott Daly suffered a knee injury. “Definitely not a position I envisioned ever playing in the NFL,” said Kmet, who only had to make five PATs and one field goal attempt, but no kicks. “My biggest concern going into the race.”

    27. Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson was sacked five more times in Sunday’s 20-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and now has a league-high 31 sacks.

    28. Watson is on track to be sacked 88 times, which would break the league single-season record (76 held by David Carr).

    29. And while Cleveland kept the score close, it should be noted that Watson did little to move an offense that produced just 244 yards — though that, astonishingly, is the team’s second-highest total of the season.

    30. The Browns’ lone touchdown Sunday came on a blocked field goal by superstar Myles Garrett, then returned 50 yards to pay dirt.

    31. It’s starting to look like the Atlanta Falcons have an all-weather offense. After QB Kirk Cousins’ team-record 509 yards and four TD indoors in Week 5, they rushed for 198 yards outdoors in Charlotte during Sunday’s 38-20 upset of the Carolina Panthers.

    32. Uniform Note of the Week: Desperate to return to the Super Bowl, the Jets on Monday will wear throwbacks in honor of the only team in franchise history to play on Super Sunday: Joe Namath’s legendary 1968 JETS. Perhaps Aaron Rodgers should have accepted the offer to borrow Namath’s retired No. 12 jersey.

    32a. Second uniform sheet of the week: There is certainly a group of enthusiasts – including JJ Watt – who believe the throwbacks the Seahawks broke out on Thursday night are the best in the league. But that didn’t help them avoid a three-game skid… perhaps because the 49ers were wearing their nifty retro gear, which was mostly associated with their final championship run in 1994.

    32b. Third uniform note of the week: Maye may not have won, but he can proudly commemorate his first NFL start.

    32c. Fourth uniform note of the week: Did you know that for the first time, the Panthers made a combination that prominently featured their “Process Blue”?

    ***

    Follow Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

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