Another week in the books, and there were not a ton of close ones. Through Sunday, we have only seen six one-score games, the lowest number to this point in the season. In the games that were close in score, there were a pair of game-winning field goals: one coming from Dicker the Kicker himself, lifting the Chargers over the Dolphins, and then Ryan Fitzgerald for the Panthers, dropping the Cowboys to 2-3-1 on the season. The poor Brits spent their hard-earned money to watch the Jets lose to the Broncos in an ugly game that was the lowest-scoring London game since the Saints beat the Dolphins 20-0 in 2017.
Baker Mayfield: A Tale of Two Halves
Baker Mayfield has established himself as an MVP candidate early in the season after an unbelievable start to the year, getting four wins on game-winning drives. But I won’t lie to you, it was the fantasy manager in me that noticed each week when I checked on him at halftime, I was always a little disappointed. The tale of two halves is a real thing for Baker. This comparison is pretty cool because Baker has almost the exact same pass attempts in each half through six weeks of the season: 99 attempts in the first half and 96 in the second.
Baker Mayfield 2025 passing stats by half through Week 6:
1st Half: 67/99 (67.7%), 627 Yards, 5 TD, 0 INT
2nd Half: 62/96 (64.6%), 912 Yards, 7 TD, 1 INT
(And if you want to take it a step further, Baker only has 1 TD pass in the first quarter this season and 1 TD in the second quarter outside of the final 3 minutes.)
On slightly less completions and attempts, Baker has almost 300 more passing yards, and it doesn’t stop at passing.
Baker Mayfield 2025 rushing stats by half through Week 6:
1st Half: 8 Rushes, 30 Yards
2nd Half: 14 Rushes, 128 Yards
Baker is on a tear in the second half and has earned himself the MVP chants that roared from the crowd on Sunday. So just know when watching the Bucs, if it doesn’t look bright in the first half, they have the right guy for the second.
Fans of the AFC North
Joe Flacco made his Bengals debut on Sunday, falling to the Packers 27-18 in what for a second looked like a comeback story waiting to be written. Flacco has now officially started for three AFC North teams, leaving some Ravens-Flacco supporters, just fans of the AFC North. Flacco became the first QB since Ryan Fitzpatrick to start a game for at least 3 teams in a single division. As cool as that is, it is still short of J.T. O’Sullivan who appears to be the only QB who managed to play for every single team in a single division, the NFC North (2004-2007).