Week 6 had a bunch of chaotic games, but if you're just looking at the win-loss column, there weren't too many surprises coming out of the weekend.

San Francisco held off Washington 23–17 on Monday night to move to 6–0. Kansas City's 5–0 after dismantling the Chargers, and Minnesota is also 5–0 after their bye. Those records are hard to ignore, but Week 7 isn’t just about keeping the perfect starts alive. It’s about seeing which teams can handle things when the game gets messy.

We’ve got four division matchups, a Super Bowl champion trying to stop a slide, and the NFL’s first game in Paris. Here’s what to know going in.

Chiefs at Seahawks: A Reunion Seattle Probably Isn’t Excited About

Sunday Night Football, 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock

Kenneth Walker III helped Seattle win the Super Bowl and then immediately left for Kansas City. Now he’s coming back Sunday night as the NFL’s leading rusher. He’s piled up 665 yards in five games with the Chiefs, including 128 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers last week. Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes, obviously. But now defenses have to worry about Walker, too, before they can even think about forcing Kansas City to throw.

Seattle’s problem isn’t talent. The defense held Denver to 168 yards on Thursday, and the Seahawks still lost 17–14 in overtime after turning the ball over three times. Sam Darnold’s interception set up the winning kick. Seattle has 10 turnovers in their three losses and just two in the three wins. Darnold’s also been sacked 10 times over the past two games. That’s a lot to clean up before taking on the AFC’s only unbeaten team.

Since this is an interconference game, it won’t settle a tiebreaker. But it could tell us something more important: Are the defending champions, now 3–3, just working through a messy stretch? Or are they becoming a team opponents know how to rattle? And, yes, watching Seattle try to tackle Walker is going to feel a little weird.

Packers at Lions: Minnesota's Ramped Up The Pressure

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One

The 5–0 Vikings spent Week 6 resting, while Green Bay used the week to beat Dallas 23–13 for their third straight win after starting 1–2. Detroit had their bye too, after dropping 45 points on Arizona. Now the 4–2 Packers head to Detroit to face the 3–2 Lions in Detroit’s first division game of the season.

Jordan Love and Green Bay’s passing game have started to find their groove, even if the running game is still a work in progress. Detroit should be the fresher team and could get safety Brian Branch and center Cade Mays back this week. The Lions host Minnesota next week, too, so this is the beginning of a two-game stretch where they can really shake up the NFC North.

With Minnesota still unbeaten, this feels like more than just another October measuring stick.

Bengals at Ravens: Everybody’s in This Race

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+

Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are all 4–2. Cincinnati's 3–2. So, yeah, there isn’t exactly a comfortable seat in the AFC North right now.

Baltimore’s 13–10 loss to Cleveland is going to sting for a while. The Ravens jumped out to a 10–0 lead, but didn’t score again. They finally gave up the lead after Derrick Henry fumbled in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati's coming out of their bye with a chance to pull even with Baltimore in the win column.

The quarterback situation only makes this harder to sort out. Lamar Jackson's missed two games with an ankle injury, and Ravens coach Jesse Minter called him day-to-day Monday. Baltimore should know more after Wednesday’s practice. If Tyler Huntley starts again, the Ravens have to finish drives against Joe Burrow’s Bengals in a way they couldn’t against Cleveland. If Jackson comes back, we’ll find out how much of himself he can bring with him.

Cowboys at Eagles: Someone Has to Stop the Bleeding

Monday Night Football on 8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN and ESPN+

Dallas and Philadelphia are both 2–4, but they’re still within striking distance of the 3–2–1 Giants. Washington dropped to 1–4–1 after losing to San Francisco and is now heading into their bye. Basically, nobody in this division is running away with anything.

The Cowboys got shut out in the first half at Green Bay and lost 23–13. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, and an offense that looked explosive earlier in the season has managed just 29 points over the past two games. Prescott said Dallas hasn’t been executing when defenses blitz. That seems like something they’d want to figure out before another nationally televised game, but hey, Monday works too.

Philadelphia's lost four straight, the first time that’s happened under Nick Sirianni. Jalen Hurts is out for the year because of blood clots, and Tanner McKee’s first meaningful start ended with 215 passing yards and a touchdown against Carolina. The Eagles ran for just 35 yards. DeVonta Smith gave McKee something to work with late, but one good quarter isn’t going to carry an offense by itself.

Buccaneers at Panthers: Is Carolina Ready to Take the South?

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One

I’ve liked what Carolina’s defense has been doing for a while, and Sunday’s 25–14 win in Philadelphia gave me another reason to keep buying in. The Panthers got after McKee, made an already banged-up Eagles offense look out of sync, and held Philadelphia to just 35 rushing yards.

Chuba Hubbard handled the heavy lifting on the other side. He finished with 28 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown, including 133 yards after contact. That number is ridiculous.

The Panthers are 3–2 and sitting on top of the NFC South. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is 1–5 after blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to Pittsburgh. Baker Mayfield's missed the last three games with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand, and Todd Bowles said the Buccaneers will see where he is at practice Wednesday. If Mayfield still can’t go, undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels would make his fourth straight start.

This is a pretty big chance for Carolina to create some separation from a division rival. For Tampa Bay, it’s a chance to keep the season from turning into a long, miserable slog before Halloween.

Patriots at Bears: Two 4–2 Teams With Something to Prove

Thursday Night Football, 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video

This might be my game of the week. Both teams have a lot to prove, and I think this one could tell us a whole lot about where they’re headed.

Drake Maye's thrown at least three touchdown passes in three straight games, and New England's won all three. The latest was a 26–19 win over the Jets, but it also came with a concern: multiple Patriots offensive linemen left the game with injuries. That’s a big deal on a short week, especially against a Chicago defense that just made life pretty miserable for Atlanta.

The Bears got Caleb Williams back Sunday and beat the Falcons 31–23. Williams missed three games with a hamstring injury, then came back and completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards. Chicago did enough without him to get to 4–2, but now we get to see how good this team can be with Williams back in charge of the offense.

This is a really good test for both teams. Can the Patriots keep Maye upright against a defense that’s playing with some confidence? Can Chicago keep the cleaner offensive play going against a winning team? Neither side needs this game to save their season, but both would love what a win would say about them.

49ers at Falcons: Monday’s Second Half Gets an Immediate Follow-Up

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One

San Francisco led Washington by 20 on Monday and held on for a 23–17 win. Christian McCaffrey scored twice, but they also managed just three points after halftime and let Jayden Daniels pull Washington back into the game. That doesn’t take anything away from six wins, but it does give Atlanta something real to dig into on a short week.

The Falcons are 2–4 and have dropped two straight at home. Against Chicago, Michael Penix Jr. was sacked five times, and Bijan Robinson got just nine carries. Atlanta can’t afford to spend another afternoon digging out of an early hole, especially against a San Francisco offense that’s built to keep the chains moving and the ball out of your hands.

I’ll be watching the 49ers’ defense just as closely as anything else in the early window.

Colts at Vikings: An Unbeaten Team Meets a Team in Upheaval

Sunday, 1:00 p.m ET on CBS and Paramount+

Indianapolis lost 26–20 to a previously winless Tennessee, even after outgaining the Titans by 213 yards. That pretty much sums up where things stand for the Colts right now. They’re 2–4, and on Monday they fired general manager Chris Ballard. Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon said the timing was intentional, and that the team’s goals for this season haven’t changed.

Now they head to Minnesota to face a rested Vikings team sitting at 5–0. Minnesota has played incredible defense all season, and their offense looked more settled before the bye. Running back Jordan Mason is also coming back to practice, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll play Sunday. It just gives the Vikings another option on a team that’s already found ways to win through injuries.

Paris, Houston and the Rest of the Board

Pittsburgh and New Orleans will play the NFL’s first regular-season game in France on Sunday morning. The 4–2 Steelers are coming off a wild one, rallying from 13 points down in the fourth quarter before beating Tampa Bay in overtime. The 2–4 Saints beat the Giants 34–27, but they almost let a 24-point lead slip away. So, yeah, neither of these teams can count on last week’s kind of finish happening again — especially Pittsburgh, they're already heading to Paris after playing an overtime game on Sunday.

Giants at Texans is worth a look, too. C.J. Stroud threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns in Houston’s win over Jacksonville, with Nico Collins back in the lineup and Marvin Harrison Jr. already making an impact. New York still hasn’t settled on a quarterback. J.J. McCarthy came in for Jameis Winston late against New Orleans and threw for 243 yards during a frantic comeback attempt. John Harbaugh hadn’t named a Week 7 starter as of Sunday night.

Buffalo, Jacksonville, the Chargers, and Washington have byes. They’ve all got their own reasons for wanting the week off.

All stats courtesy of Fantasy Points Data.

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