Week 6 NFL losers: Eagles offense disappoints, Kyle Shanahan costs 49ers
With almost all of the Week 6 NFL games completed, it is time to take a look around the NFL at some of the biggest losers from this week's games.
Philadelphia Eagles offense. The expectation for the Eagles on Sunday was that they would be able to march into Metlife Stadium and feast on a New York Jets secondary that was missing four cornerbacks, including both of their starters (Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed).
That is not at all what happened. The Eagles offense played by far its worst game of the season and missed a huge opportunity in a stunning 20-14 loss to the Jets.
The game featured four Eagles turnovers, including a couple of brutal interceptions from quarterback Jalen Hurts in the fourth quarter. The last of which came with the Eagles leading late in the game, setting up the Jets' game-winning score.
The Eagles are still in a good spot with a 5-1 record, but this was a huge missed opportunity.
Kyle Shanahan, head coach, San Francisco 49ers. The other big upset on Sunday came when P.J. Walker and the Cleveland Browns put an end to the 49ers' regular season winning streak with a stunning 19-17 victory.
It was the worst game quarterback Brock Purdy played in his career, while the 49ers lost Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey to injury. All of those factors played a role in the loss, and so did some late-game blunders from head coach Kyle Shanahan.
His absolute refusal to try and run the ball late in the game and run out the clock bordered on arrogance, allowing the Browns an opportunity to save all three of their timeouts and have plenty of time to drive down the field for a go-ahead field goal late in the game.
Shanahan added to his mistakes on the 49ers' final drive when he left a timeout and 40 seconds on the field by refusing to try and gain more yards, forcing kicker Jake Moody to try a 41-yard field goal in bad weather conditions.
Jake Moody, kicker, San Francisco 49ers. It is tough to put all of the blame on the rookie kicker, but when you are a kicker and get drafted in the third round (No. 99 overall) you are not going to have much margin for error. Expectations will be enormous. Even though Moody's season has been off to a good start, he had a brutal game on Sunday by missing two field goals, including a potential game-winning kick with only eight seconds to play in regulation.
The weather conditions were not ideal, but you draft a kicker that high because they can kick through those conditions and in big moments.
Devante Parker, wide receiver, New England Patriots. The New England Patriots might be the worst team in the NFL and quarterback Mac Jones is having a dreadful season, but the problems with that team run so deep that even when Jones throws a beautiful ball to one of his top wide receivers in a big moment this is the sort of thing that happens.
Jones ended up taking a safety later in the drive to close out the game. Parker caught one pass for seven yards on three targets on Sunday.
Mike Vrabel, head coach, Tennessee Titans. This all comes from one big decision in the second half of the Titans' 24-16 loss to Baltimore. The Titans had all of the momentum in the game on their side, had the ball in Ravens territory and driving for a potential go-ahead score and facing a manageable third-and-one.
Instead of handing the ball to his superstar running back, Derrick Henry, he trusted Ryan Tannehill to throw a pass downfield.
The result was an interception that allowed Baltimore to march down the field for a touchdown to put the game away. At the time Tannehill had completed just 8-of-15 passes for 86 yards while Henry was averaging nine yards per carry.
Sometimes it is okay to just run the ball. If Henry can not get you one yard in that situation, you do not deserve to win.
Desmond Ridder, quarterback, Atlanta Falcons. It might be too early to completely give up on Desmond Ridder as the long-term quarterback answer for the Atlanta Falcons, but things are not looking good here.
He had a dreadful game in Sunday's loss to the Washington Commanders, throwing three interceptions including a couple of brutal turnovers late in the game with a chance to tie the score.
Sunday was the fourth time in six games this season he has finished with a passer rating under 80.0 in a game. With even competent quarterback play the Falcons would have probably won Sunday's game. They did not get that. They are now 3-3 through six games.
Geno Smith, quarterback, Seattle Seahawks. Geno Smith has been a wonderful story for the Seattle Seahawks since he became their starting quarterback, but Sunday was not one of his better days. Even though he threw for 323 yards, he did not have a touchdown pass and threw two very costly interceptions to take points off the board in what turned out to be a 17-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was a very winnable game for the Seahawks, but it is difficult to overcome turnovers. With the Seahawks down inside the Cincinnati 10-yard line with under a minute to play, Smith also took a bad sack when he ran into the pressure to push the Seahawks offense back even more.
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