![\"Baker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/b979c730-a7f4-11f0-9315-05b3c9a7499c.jpg\")
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\nImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n
Could Baker Mayfield (left) be the MVP? The Buccaneers fans think so<\/p>\n
ByPaul Higham<\/p>\n
BBC Sport Journalist<\/p>\n
With a third of the NFL season gone teams are starting to show their true colours, with some surprising names leading the pack.<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts became the first teams to reach five wins as they continued their impressive starts to the campaign.<\/p>\n
The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are emerging as contenders, while the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking comfortable in the AFC North. <\/p>\n
The season looks over already for one of the big pre-season Super Bowl favourites Baltimore, but things could just be getting going for the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n
Baker Mayfield gets MVP shouts<\/p>\n
Is Baker Mayfield an MVP candidate? That’s what Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans were chanting after another all-action display from their quarterback in a 30-19 win over the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old is the main reason the Buccaneers are 5-1 and he led from the front again, throwing two touchdowns and making all the big plays – including an incredible third down run when he barged through tackler after tackler to get a crucial first down.<\/p>\n
“He has a knack that you can’t teach or coach,” said head coach Todd Bowles. “It was an unbelievable play.”<\/p>\n
Mayfield’s clutch plays had led to all four previous wins coming in the final minute – the more decisive manner on Sunday only enhanced his growing MVP claims.<\/p>\n
Daniel Jones is a similar redemption story in Indianapolis after the Colts beat the Arizona Cardinals to go to 5-1 – their best start since 2009.<\/p>\n
Running back Jonathan Taylor is the other star of the Colts’ surprise start, but Jones makes big plays at the right time – recording two passing touchdowns and one rushing on Sunday.<\/p>\n
No Maye-be about it – the Pats are back<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0c690d10-a7f6-11f0-9315-05b3c9a7499c.jpg\")
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n
The Pats have already matched their four wins from each of the past two seasons<\/p>\n
Being a New England Patriots quarterback comes with a unique pressure thanks to Tom Brady, but in Drake Maye they could finally have their next face of the franchise.<\/p>\n
In just his second season, Maye looks poised in the pocket and is not scared to air the ball out – throwing touchdowns of 25, 29 and 53 yards and having a 61-yarder ruled out by a penalty in Sunday’s win at the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n
He’s just the fourth quarterback under 24 to record five straight games with 200-plus passing yards and a passer rating of 100 and above.<\/p>\n
The last two being a primetime win in Buffalo then, in the deafening noise of the Superdome, show why Pats fans are getting excited that – with new head coach Mike Vrabel – they could be back in business.<\/p>\n
The Seattle Seahawks joined the Patriots on 4-2 as they won their ninth straight away game – an impressive 20-12 victory at the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n
Sam Darnold is showing last year’s resurgence in Minnesota was no fluke and he has one of the best receivers in the game in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who made eight catches for 163 yards and a touchdown in Florida.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh’s play-off path opens up<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 4-1 with a 22nd consecutive home win over the Cleveland Browns in the regular season – and they look to have an open door to the play-offs now in a weakened AFC North.<\/p>\n
It’s usually one of the toughest divisions around but Aaron Rodgers’ 4-1 Steelers look in total control, with their rivals all flagging.<\/p>\n
The Browns have just one win and a continuously messy quarterback situation, while the Baltimore Ravens look done for after a 17-3 home defeat by the Los Angeles Rams dropped them to 1-5.<\/p>\n
Only four teams in NFL history have made the play-offs after a 1-5 start and, with Lamar Jackson leading an all-star injury list, Baltimore will not be adding to that stat.<\/p>\n
The Cincinnati Bengals lost 18-27 in Green Bay to drop to 2-4, with 40-year-old Joe Flacco not exactly a like-for-like replacement for Joe Burrow.<\/p>\n
Cincy’s fortunes were summed up when Evan McPherson booted an NFL record 67-yard field goal, only to see it called back as the Packers had called a time out.<\/p>\n
He missed the second attempt.<\/p>\n
Dowdle destroys Dallas in shootout<\/p>\n
![\"Rico](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/54402a10-a7f6-11f0-9315-05b3c9a7499c.jpg\")
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n
Rico Dowdle was unstoppable for the Panthers against his former team Dallas<\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys were in their customary weekly shootout – which comes with having a top offence and the worst defence, but they lost to a last-gasp field goal by the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n
Former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle did the damage, with another monster game of 234 total yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
After a similar outing last week he warned his former team-mates that they “better buckle up”, and he backed it up with his huge day.<\/p>\n
“They wasn’t buckled up,” was Dowdle’s post-game response.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Chargers were another team to leave it late, as they avoided a third straight loss by hitting a game-winning field goal as time expired against the Miami Dolphins to stay top of the AFC West.<\/p>\n
Feisty Chiefs show signs of life<\/p>\n
The Kansas City Chiefs trail both the Chargers and Denver Broncos in a division they’ve won nine years running – but things look to be heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdowns and ran in another for a rejuvenated Chiefs offence in a comprehensive 30-17 home win over the Detroit Lions.<\/p>\n
The 4-2 Lions had a depleted secondary, but the Chiefs looked balanced in attack and the defence stifled Jared Goff’s top-scoring offence.<\/p>\n
A punch-up after the final whistle showed just how big both sides felt the game was, as the Chiefs evened out their record at 3-3 but more importantly showed that they’re not ready for their dynasty to end just yet.<\/p>\n
The Las Vegas Raiders may be the also-rans of the division, but they were still good enough to beat the Tennessee Titans 20-10.<\/p>\n
NFL week six results & highlights<\/p>\n
Denver Broncos 13-11 New York Jets<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Rams 17-3 Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys 27-30 Carolina Panthers<\/p>\n
Arizona Cardinals 27-31 Indianapolis Colts<\/p>\n
Seattle Seahawks 20-12 Jacksonville Jaguars<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Chargers 29-27 Miami Dolphins<\/p>\n
New England Patriots 25-19 New Orleans Saints<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns 9-23 Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n
Tennessee Titans 10-20 Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Bengals 18-27 Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n
San Francisco 49ers 19-30 Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/p>\n
Detroit Lions 17-30 Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
Media caption, <\/p>\n
Rookie Dart helps Giants shock Eagles – best plays<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Could Baker Mayfield (left) be the MVP? The Buccaneers fans think so ByPaul…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-209337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}