Browns Lead NFL Contenders Who Received a Wake-Up Call in Week 6

The sixth Sunday of the 2020 NFL regular season was loaded with caution lights for teams that were previously on fast tracks, or at least clearly in contention. Five particular teams that entered the week with a combined total of just six losses either lost or were exposed for flaws and vulnerabilities Sunday. 

The highest-profile of those defeats occurred in Pittsburgh, where the streaking Cleveland Browns were embarrassed by the division-rival Steelers. But four other teams also have reason to panic.

Here's a rundown.

The Cleveland Browns Still Have a Lot to Prove

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The rebuilt Browns might still have too much talent and momentum to blow an uncharacteristically strong start to 2020, but that organization hasn't earned a lot of trust this century, and it's pretty concerning that Cleveland has now been outscored 76-13 in two blowout losses to the division-rival Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. 

Is that an indication the Browns will be relegated to the wild-card picture at best? The Steelers and Ravens appear to have their number, and their four wins thus far have come against opponents who are a combined 7-15-1 this season. 

Third-year Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield padded his numbers against defensively inept opponents in Weeks 2, 3 and 4 but has struggled mightily against Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the Indianapolis Colts' elite defenses. That could be a bad omen when you consider that three of their last five regular-season games come against the Ravens, Steelers and Tennessee Titans. 

Mayfield completed just 10 passes, was sacked four times and threw two interceptions, and the Cleveland defense hardly showed up for Sunday's 38-7 loss to Pittsburgh.

But again, the Browns are far from done. They're 4-2, and fans can hope that those ugly losses might help build character. Both at least came on the road, and it's worth noting that Mayfield has been battling a rib injury. He was benched after three quarters with head coach Kevin Stefanski saying after the game, per ESPN's Jim Trotter: "I didn't want to see him get hit one more time." 

The good news is the schedule eases up a fair bit over the course of the next six weeks. The bad news is that means it'll be tough for the Browns to prove they're the real deal before December. They blew their first two opportunities this year.

The Baltimore Ravens Nearly Slipped Up Again

Derik Hamilton/Associated Press

And yet, the Ravens received a wake-up call of their own Sunday.

Yes, they still came away with a 30-28 victory over the depleted but feisty Philadelphia Eagles, but it was a far-from-pristine performance from a team that won four of its first five games by no fewer than 14 points. 

They can't control who they play, but that 38-6 Week 1 win over Cleveland is the Ravens' only win against a team with a winning record this season. And while that was a strong performance, it's hard to read too deeply into blowout victories over teams that are a combined 3-14-1 this season. 

Ditto for a two-point win over the 1-4-1 Eagles, who didn't have Lane Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Jason Peters, Andre Dillard, Brandon Brooks, Jalen Reagor or Dallas Goedert and nearly came back from a 24-6 second-half deficit despite taking six sacks in another uninspired showing from struggling veteran quarterback Carson Wentz. 

Paired with a shockingly poor Week 3 performance in the national spotlight against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, it's troubling. 

Baltimore took 12 penalties, and reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson looked less crisp than usual in Sunday's win. The Ravens will need to get all of that fixed over the course of their Week 7 bye. Beyond that, they play the Steelers, Colts, New England Patriots, Titans and then the Steelers again in a five-week span. 

It Was Another Dud for the Indianapolis Colts

AJ Mast/Associated Press

The Colts have peaked quite high this year (they allowed just 29 total points in three consecutive victories), but they've also delivered some disturbingly flat performances. Two such efforts resulted in embarrassing losses to the Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars, but they were lucky enough to hang on for the W on Sunday against the Bengals. 

That doesn't mean they should be proud of their performance in a 31-27 victory. 

Quarterback Philip Rivers threw his third fourth-quarter interception of the young season, and the defense registered just two sacks against one of the worst pass-protection units in football as Indy scrambled to recover from a startling 21-0 deficit to edge an opponent that has just one win this season. 

While the Colts defense is still one of the highest-rated units in the league, it's struggled to get off the field on third down, especially without star linebacker Darius Leonard. They have to hope that Leonard recovers from a groin injury during their Week 7 bye because they haven't been able to control the pace without him, but the reality is the return of an off-ball linebacker won't single-handedly fix the Colts. 

They'll eventually need more from Rivers and more consistency from everyone. Otherwise, they'll never catch Tennessee in the AFC South.

The New England Patriots Are Digging a Hole

Steven Senne/Associated Press

The New England Patriots were merely 2-2 entering Sunday's matchup with the Denver Broncos, but their victories came in impressive fashion as they beat the Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders by double-digit margins, and they weren't favored to beat the Seattle Seahawks or Kansas City Chiefs on the road anyway. 

Prior to Week 6, they won the games they were generally supposed to win, lost the games they were widely expected to lose and put up a hell of a fight in that loss to the Seahawks. The good was outweighing the bad, especially because quarterback Cam Newton looked relatively rejuvenated in a new setting. 

But on Sunday, they lost a game they were supposed to win. What's more, they weren't even especially competitive in an 18-12 debacle at home against a Denver Broncos team that didn't have key players Melvin Gordon III, Noah Fant, KJ Hamler, Courtland Sutton, Von Miller, Ja'Wuan James and A.J. Bouye. 

Denver quarterback Drew Lock—who was less than 100 percent coming off a shoulder injury—completed just 10 of 24 passes and threw two interceptions, but his depleted team still defeated Bill Belichick's squad rather easily as Newton took four sacks and was also intercepted twice. 

It's an indication that the Patriots might have simply taken too many hits this past offseason. They're a shell of their former selves, and they're two games back of the surging Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. 

If the Pats don't take care of the San Francisco 49ers at home in Week 7 and then beat the Bills in Buffalo in Week 8, a 12-year reign on the AFC East throne will likely come to an end.

What Happened to the Green Bay Packers?

Jason Behnken/Associated Press

After scoring at least 30 points in four consecutive victories to start the season, the Green Bay Packers had two weeks to prepare and were healthier than they'd been in weeks ahead of Sunday's meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And when they led Tampa Bay 10-0 early, it looked like 5-0 was inevitable. 

But the Bucs proceeded to score 38 unanswered points in a shocking 38-10 victory, and now it's fair to wonder A) what suddenly happened to the Packers, and B) if it will become a problem. 

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw his first two interceptions of the season on back-to-back first-half series, a shorthanded Packers offensive line couldn't contain a Tampa pass-rushing group that was pure fire, and Davante Adams' return couldn't compensate for the fact that Aaron Jones could go nowhere against one of the sport's best run defenses. 

Meanwhile, Green Bay's pass rush couldn't get to Tom Brady while a run defense that was a weakness in 2019 struggled to slow down the Tampa Bay rushing attack. 

The Packers were outplayed in practically every aspect of the game, and it came out of bloody nowhere.

At the very least, it was Green Bay's wake-up call after one of the most impressive starts in recent franchise history, and Rodgers put it exactly that way after the game, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky:

"I felt like we needed a little bit of a wake-up call at some point this season, because things have been so good, and there's been so much talk maybe outside the building about the ease with which we're moving the ball on offense and scoring. I think we needed kind of a kick in the ass a little bit. There's a little bit of wake-up to stop feeling ourselves so much and get back to the things that got us to this position. I think this would be—unfortunately, but fortunately—something we can really grow from."

They'd better hope it was an anomaly as Rodgers suggested, because the 5-1 Chicago Bears are giving the Pack no margin for error in the NFC North.