NFL stat leaders for Week 6: Passing, rushing and receiving leaders for the week

Over the course of an NFL season, we see NFL stats generally find their level — the best players at each position produce like that. But as any fantasy football manager will tell you, the week-to-week proposition of stats can vary wildly. So it’s always a good time to dive into the NFL stats and the leaders in the major statistical categories to see who essentially won the week. And that’s what we’re going to do in a wacky Week 6.

For a Week 6 in which the Arizona Cardinals upset the Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders combined for 63 points, the Tennessee Titans got their first win of the season, and so much more craziness, these were the NFL’s statistical leaders in passing, rushing and receiving for the week. Moreover, if those performances mean anything, it’s time to talk about them.

NFL passing leaders in Week 6

Interestingly enough, two of the top three passing leaders in Week 6, Kirk Cousins and Trevor Lawrence, put up those numbers in losing efforts for those teams. Cousins and the Raiders lost a shootout with the Buffalo Bills — as teams tend to do in the regular season — while Lawrence was outdueled in London by C.J. Stroud, who sits one spot ahead of him on the leaderboard for the week.

Perhaps the most impactful performance among the top five, though, was Caleb Williams returning from his hamstring injury. Granted, the Chicago Bears defense nearly coughed up this game as the Atlanta Falcons tried to mount a late comeback, but Williams was back to his old form, even if his running backs took care of the bulk of the work in terms of punching the ball into the end zone.

The most surprising performance given the context this week was Cam Ward, though. Going into Sunday Night Football, he was last among all quarterbacks with 102 yards passing on the day. Yet, he helped guide the Titans to their first win of the season. Football’s funny like that, ya know.

NFL rushing leaders in Week 6

Everyone owes Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach a round of applause. Spending big in free agency on Kenneth Walker III hasn’t just added a terrific player and perhaps the best running back in the NFL this season to the team, but it’s rejuvenated the entirety of the offense. Even with the receiving corps down to the studs because of injuries, the Chiefs kept humming and Walker was the driving force behind that.

Chuba Hubbard, James Cook and Jonathan Taylor aren’t surprising additions to this list of rushing leaders on the week either. They have been among the most consistent runners in the league so far this season and, while Taylor’s effort came in a loss, they’re heavily relied upon on their respective teams to be a driving force of the offense.

Speaking of that, though, Bam Knight deserves a big shout. With the Arizona Cardinals not having rookie Jeremiyah Love active this week, many thought veteran Tyler Allgeier would get the bulk of the work. Instead, Knight was too good to keep off the field, and his efforts in the ground game were a big reason as to why the Cardinals were able to upend the Rams on Sunday. w

NFL receiving leaders in Week 6

The New York Giants were chucking it all around the yard as they played catch-up against the Saints on Sunday afternoon considering that both Nabers at receiver and Likely at tight end are among the five leading receivers for the day around the NFL. Unfortunately, you would like for those stats to have come in a win, but that’s an unfortunate theme for this group in Week 6.

Of the five players on this list, Jaylin Noel was the only player to do so in a winning effort. That’s a huge development for the Texans as their passing game is rounding out. Noel complementing Nico Collins and now being complemented himself by Marvin Harrison Jr. could ultimately be what takes the training wheels off this offense, and we saw that in London.

It was good to see Omar Cooper Jr. have a proverbial breakout performance. He was a beast at Indiana and should be a future cornerstone for the Jets offense if he can keep that up, especially alongside Garrett Wilson. And then there’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Honestly, that’s just JSN doing JSN things at this point.