Top 10 storylines for NFL Week 6

Week 6 of the NFL season promises to be filled with a ton of drama. There are multiple disappointing teams looking to avoid what would be devastating 1-5 records heading into Week 7.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills look to win their fourth consecutive game against a San Francisco 49ers team that has lost four consecutive and will be starting a familiar quarterback under center for the first time all season.

In an NFC only battle, two first-place teams take to the field in Seattle when the Atlanta Falcons travel to the Pacific Northwest to match wits against the Seahawks.

These are among the top-10 storylines heading into Week 6 of the NFL season.

1. Coaches on the hot seat

It starts Thursday night with the San Diego Chargers taking on the Denver Broncos. Should the Chargers find yet another way to lose, that might very well be the end of the line for head coach Mike McCoy (more on that here).

In fact, it could very well come before the entire slate of Week 6 NFL action is completed. That is to say, as early as Friday.

This is how bad things have gotten in San Diego over the first month-plus of the season. Coming off yet another on-score loss, the Chargers’ players need to do this for their coach. Should it not happen, McCoy will be the first shown the door this season.

There also has to be some talk about Gus Bradley in Jacksonville. He may have staved off potential termination by beating the Indianapolis Colts in London prior to the team’s Week 5 bye, but there’s still a lot to him being on the hot seat. A loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday would push the Jaguars to 1-4, furthering calls for the team to fire Bradley.

Remaining in the AFC South, a lot has been made about Chuck Pagano’s job status in Indy. Can he withstand what appears to be an inferno of a hot seat? What will happen should the Colts fall to Houston on Sunday evening? That would drop the team to three games out in the division through six weeks.

What we do know is that Colts general manager Ryan Grigson seems supportive of his head coach. That could potentially be a sign of Grigson knowing the two are tied at the hip and wanting to save face. Either way, a loss Sunday night would likely have apocalyptic consequences for the Colts’ season, and potentially Pagano’s tenure in Indy.

2. Colin Kaepernick returns as 49ers starter

Chip Kelly made it official on Tuesday. Kaepernick will start for the 49ers against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday (more on that here).

It was a move many expected, and a decision that seemed to be made a couple weeks too late. Now at 1-4 , San Francisco turns to Kaepernick to save its season. In turn, an embattled Kaepernick looks at this as his last opportunity to prove his worth as a starter in the NFL.

All this with the backdrop of the Kaepernick-led national anthem protest taking its road to Western New York. How fans in Orchard Park respond to the protest and the 49ers’ new starter will be a major story here.

Nearly four years after Kaepernick took over the starting job from Alex Smith, he’s now looking to catch lightning in a bottle. It’s going to definitely be interesting to see how he performed in Kelly’s system. Sunday’s game will give us the first glimpse.

3. Tom Brady faces a real NFL team

It sounds harsh. But if we were to call the Cleveland Browns an NFL team right now, that would represent a loose definition of the term.

It’s a sad reality in Cleveland. It also makes us wonder just how much stock to put in Brady’s performance in his first game back from a four-game suspension.

We know Brady tossed the rock for over 400 yards. He threw three touchdowns. He led the Pats to a score in the game’s very first possession. It was also against the Cleveland Browns.

Now, with what amounted to nothing more than a scrimmage under his belt, Brady takes on what should be an angry Cincinnati Bengals team. Marvin Lewis and Co. went into Dallas last week and failed to show up, falling down 28-0 early before ultimately losing by two touchdowns.

Make no mistake about it, Sunday’s game is absolutely huge for Cincinnati. It is two games behind the Pittsburh Steelers in the AFC North. It also knows that the Steelers are taking on a hapless Miami Dolphins team this weekend.

A loss here, and it’s likely Cincinnati will fall to three games back in the division. That’s some mighty motivation right there.

With the likes of Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins looking to get at him, Brady will face the first real test of his young season. Should he pass with flying colors, the rest of the NFL will be put on notice. Brady knows this. Bill Belichick knows this.

And in reality, it likely means New England’s offense will look to choke off the Bengals early and often.

4. Can the Cowboys young backfield handle Lambeau? 

Taking care of the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers in consecutive weeks is one thing. Even average teams should handle business there.

Absolutely laying the hammer down on the Bengals is a completely different monster. That’s exactly what Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys did last week.

Leading 21-0 at the half, Dallas put itself up by four scores after this absurd Elliott touchdown run (watch here). The rest was history, as Dallas handled its business for a fourth consecutive win.

Overall, Prescott and Elliott combined for over 400 yards and all four of the Cowboys’ touchdowns in the dismantling of a good Bengals defense.

It’s going to be a bit more difficult to go into Green Bay and come out with a win. This is a hostile environment these young Cowboys have yet to deal with. Lambeau Field is a completely different monster, something Prescott and Elliott will soon learn.

It’s also a game with tremendous playoff ramifications. Green Bay finds itself two games behind the Minnesota Vikings in the win column, while the Cowboys have a narrow lead over the Philadelphia Eagles back east.

As we mentioned earlier in the week, the biggest key here is going to be how Elliott handles the league’s best rush defense. Green Bay is yielding an average of two yards per run and has given up a total of 171 rushing yards in four games.

Should the Packers take Elliott out of his game, it might force Prescott into his first interception of the season. And that right there is something Dallas hasn’t had to deal with. This is to say, the Cowboys simply haven’t turned the ball over.

Should that change, this shocking early-season run could come crashing down quicker than a Cowboy wearing a cheesehead to a rodeo.

5. Battle of first-place teams in Seattle

There’s not one thing to dislike about this matchup between two first-place teams. Matt Ryan leads his red-hot Atlanta Falcons to the Pacific Northwest to take on the one-loss Seattle Seahawks Sunday afternoon.

The matchups are quite amazing here. Julio Jones taking on Richard Sherman. The underrated Doug Baldwin matching wits with Desmond Trufant. That’s where the game is likely going to be won. But there’s a lot more to like about what this game has to offer from an entertainment and analytical standpoint.

After putting up 23 sacks in their past 20 games, the Falcons got to Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch six times this past week. It was the most sacks this unit has compiled in a game since all the way back in 2011. It also helped pave the way for Atlanta to hand the defending champion Broncos their first loss of the season.

Now, set to take on a Seahawks offensive line that’s been among the worst in the NFL in pass protection, Sunday offers the Falcons an opportunity to continue dominating the trenches.

On the other side, Seattle had a much-needed bye this past week. We have no idea if Russell Wilson is a 100 percent, but his ability to take a week off surely helped the quarterback rebound from what was an injury-plagued first quarter of the season.

Much like last week was an opportunity for the Falcons to prove they belong in the conversation with the elite teams in the NFL, Sunday’s contest gives Seattle an ability to prove it is the class of the NFC with the Minnesota Vikings.

6. Raiders look to continue their winning ways

The last Oakland Raiders team to start 5-1 was the Jon Gruden-led 2011 squad — the year before Oakland made its last playoff appearance. In fact, the Raiders have won five of their first six games just twice since they were playing in Los Angeles back in 1990.

Needless to say, what head coach Jack Del Rio and Co. are doing this season has people in Northern California abuzz. A win against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and that will be taken to a whole new level.

Oakland’s 4-1 record doesn’t necessarily seem to be a fluke. It boasts one of the top quarterbacks i the NFL, an elite wide receiver tandem and an offensive line that’s performed at an elite level. Unfortunately, it’s the Raiders’ defense that’s lapsed at times this season.

This is only magnified by the fact that Kansas City is coming off a bye. Andy Reid-led squads are 11-2 over the past 13 seasons following a bye week. With extra time to prepare for the Raiders, this could very well make a major impact.

Equally as important, Alex Smith himself has dominated the Raiders in Oakland since becoming a member of the Chiefs.

If the Raiders are able to overcome these trends to move to 5-1 on the season, it will surely be time to take them seriously in the AFC. That’s most definitely a big if against what should be a game division rival on Sunday.

7. Buffalo Bills looking to win fourth consecutive

Most of the attention in Western New York on Sunday afternoon will surround Colin Kaepernick and the visiting 49ers. However, the home team has something quite rare to play for.

With a win this weekend, Buffalo would have accomplished something it hasn’t since the start of the 2008 season. A four-game winning streak.

This all came on the heels of the Bills firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman and head coach Rex Ryan finding himself on an increasingly hot seat himself.

For the Bills, their past three games have been nothing short of outstanding. They defeated the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots in consecutive weeks before taking out the Rams in Los Angeles this past weekend.

Overall, Buffalo has outscored its opponents by an average of two touchdowns during this mini steak.

Now set to take on an inferior team that just recently made a quarterback change, Buffalo has an opportunity to continue this recent excellent play. Unfortunately, history tells us that fans at Orchard Park can expect a let down Sunday. Let’s hope for Ryan and Co. this isn’t the case.

8. Will Brian Hoyer’s excellence lead to end of the Jay Cutler era? 

With the way Hoyer has been playing recently, it shouldn’t be considered a surprise that the Chicago Bears are looking into the potential of starting him for the remainder of the season.

It also shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Cutler may want out of the Windy City (more on that here).

Over the course of his first three starts in a Bears uniform, Hoyer has exceeded all previous expectations.

With Chicago remaining more competitive under Hoyer, the team would likely be better off in his hands moving forward on the year. This, despite the fact that the Bears are just over two years removed from handing Cutler a $127 million contract.

Hoyer’s next opportunity to prove his worth as the team’s starter comes Sunday at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars, another one-win team.

While there shouldn’t be any expectation that Chicago will find its way back into the playoff race, the team needs to see what it has in Hoyer.

Is he a one-year stopgap or could the veteran act as a fill-in until a young signal caller takes over? Should that happen, what does it mean for Cutler’s future in Chicago?

9. Two struggling teams meet up in the Meadowlands

Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants is about as important of a matchup as you can get in mid-October.

Both opened the season with identical 2-0 records. Since then, the wheels have pretty much come unhinged.

New York has lost three consecutive games, averaging just 17.7 points per outing during that span. For his part, Eli Manning has come unraveled during this three-game stretch.

He’s completing just 57 percent of his passes with two touchdowns, three interceptions and four total turnovers. In fact, Manning has thrown a grand total of two touchdowns in his past 13 quarters of play. That’s not going to get it done.

Now at 2-3 on the year, New York finds itself two games behind the Dallas Cowboys and in last place in the NFC East. A home loss against a beatable opponent could do long-lasting damage heading into the midway mark of the season.

The same can pretty much be said for Baltimore. After winning its first three games by a combined 13 points, John Harbaugh’s squad has lost its past two games by a combined seven points. Talk about playing most of the season under unbearable pressure.

That pressure came crashing down on the Ravens in what was a mistake-filled loss to the Washington Redskins. Whether it was C.J. Mosley failing to keep possession after what should have been a pick-six or Breshad Perriman not maintaining possession himself on a potential game winner, the Ravens have only themselves to blame for that loss.

Whoever drops this game will find itself behind the proverbial eight-ball heading into Week 7. It’s an eight-ball that won’t predict good things moving forward on the year. That right there is what makes this game so darn important.

10. Elimination game in the Bayou

The Carolina Panthers will be getting Cam Newton back in this game. That’s the good news for the defending NFC champs. The bad news? A loss here, and Carolina’s season is effectively over.

Only two teams since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966 have gone on to make the playoffs after starting 1-5. Coincidentally enough, the Kansas City Chiefs accomplished this feat last season.

Things are not necessarily as dire for the home-standing New Orleans Saints. Fresh off a bye and following their first win of the season, Drew Brees and Co. are looking to hand Carolina what might end up being a knockout blow on their season.

Though, a loss by the home team in this one would put New Orleans in the unenviable position of the NFC South’s cellar heading into the midway point of the season.

So there you have it. One team with Super Bowl expectations fighting for its playoff life in Octover. The other team, not necessarily ripe with high expectations, looking to deal them knockout blow. All within the confines of a divisional game.