3) Baker Mayfield should lead the race for MVP. The Bucs leading the NFC South is not a surprise – they’ve won it the last four seasons in a row. But Mayfield has elevated his game and willed the Bucs to a 5-1 record, all without playing a single game with his full complement of wide receivers. Sunday was a Baker tour de force, even after he was down his top four receivers. In the third quarter, on third and 14, the 49ers appeared to be about to sack Mayfield for a big loss. Mayfield sprung loose, rambled to his left, pump-faked a few times, kept moving, somehow eluded a defender, absorbed a hit and then dove for the first down line. Two plays later, he threw a 45-yard dime for a touchdown to rookie Tez Johnson. He finished 17 of 23 for 256 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, but it was that third quarter sequence that should be on the MVP nomination reel. He has thrown 12 touchdowns and just one interception.
4) The Indianapolis Colts are one of the most complete teams. They entered Sunday’s win over the Cardinals with a top-three scoring offense and top-three scoring defense. They can run the ball (150 yards Sunday), throw the ball (Daniel Jones has eight touchdown passes and just three interceptions), they can protect (Jones has been sacked just five times), and they still have punted just 10 times this season. They don’t turn the ball over (just six turnovers total in six games), they win in blowouts and in nail-biters, like Sunday’s victory over a Cardinals team playing with Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback. All of this suggests that the Colts’ success is sustainable, because they have so many ways to win. They are the AFC’s only five-win team entering Monday’s Bills-Falcons game, and they have scored 194 points through six games (most by franchise in Super Bowl era).