Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’ll admit, I turned off the Saints-Giants game once New Orleans went up by 24 points to watch the end of Jets-Patriots instead. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I checked my phone a few minutes later. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🤠 Texans get back on track
🐏 Rams still a mess
🗽 Giants’ looming QB decision

Big wins for unlikely teams

Yesterday wasn’t quite as chaotic as Saturday’s spate of college football upsets, but the NFL gave us its fair share of surprises. 

Four teams that entered Sunday with one win or fewer pulled off surprise victories—all of them away from home. The Texans beat the Jaguars in London on a field goal as time expired, the Cardinals stunned the Rams on a walk-off field goal of their own, the Saints narrowly avoided an epic collapse against the Giants and the Titans picked up their first win of the season against the Colts. 

Houston’s offense had its best game of the season, posting a season-high 426 total yards. That’s the team’s highest yardage total since Week 8 last year. The Texans have now won two in a row after starting the season 0–4, and they can blame their bad start on their surprisingly porous defense. Last year’s defense was one of the best in the NFL —it ranked first in yards allowed and second in scoring—but they’ve now allowed at least 31 points in three of their six games. They rank 20th in scoring defense and 15th in yards allowed. 

The Rams also need to figure out what’s gone wrong with what had been the team’s strength last season. Los Angeles had the best offense in the league last year but ranks 21st in scoring this year. It managed just 286 total yards in yesterday’s loss to the Cardinals, the team’s lowest total since Week 11 last season. Arizona, meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak and is now 2–4 on the season. With the 49ers in first place in the NFC West at 5–0, it’s surely too late for the Cardinals to make a run at a division crown, and a wild-card berth is also unlikely, but a close win over a division rival is a positive sign for new coach Mike LaFleur. 

The Saints are very much in the mix in the NFC South despite their 2–4 record. They held on to beat the Giants yesterday, 34–27, thwarting a late comeback attempt spurred by New York backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy. New Orleans scored 34 unanswered points to take a 34–10 lead early in the fourth, at which point Giants coach John Harbaugh benched Jameis Winston in favor of McCarthy. The former Vikings QB threw for 243 yards in relief as the Giants scored 17 points to get back in the game. The Giants had a chance to force overtime with a fourth-down play in the red zone in the final seconds, but McCarthy was pressured and couldn’t find an open receiver. The win allowed the Saints to keep pace in the NFC South race, pulling them into a tie with the Falcons for second place. (Atlanta holds the tiebreaker for now after beating New Orleans in Week 4.) The Panthers are in first place at 3–2. Two wins in six games isn’t all that impressive, but it doesn’t take much to win that division. The NFC South champ hasn’t won more than 10 games since 2021. 

In the AFC South, Robert Saleh earned his first win as a head coach in more than two years when the Titans came from behind to beat the Colts. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. Tennessee managed just 186 total yards on offense, the second-fewest of any team this week. (The Broncos gained 168 yards in their win over the Seahawks on Thursday.) The Colts also dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for more than 38 minutes, but the Titans forced three turnovers and also returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. Their win leaves the Chargers and Dolphins as the only winless teams left in the NFL. 

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Chris Mannix: What Chet Holmgren Thinks About the Victor Wembanyama-Led Spurs—and How He Plans to Bounce Back
• Albert Breer: Why You Should Still Trust Howie Roseman and the Eagles
• Conor Orr: The Reason to Fire Mike McDaniel Goes Beyond the Chargers’ 0–6 Record
• Conor Orr: Why Keeping J.J. McCarthy on the Bench Is the Smart Long-Term Move for the Giants
• Matt Verderame: NFL Week 6 Good, Bad and Ugly: Don’t Count Out the Texans
• Matt Verderame: Packers’ Defense Is Clicking on all Cylinders at Just the Right Time
• Gilberto Manzano: NFL Week 6 Lessons: It’s Laughable to Say the Rams Were a Super Bowl Favorite
• Tom Verducci:  Four Big-Picture Lessons From the MLB Playoffs So Far
• Will Laws: Drew Rasmussen Is Challenging Everything We Know About the Rays
• Pat Forde: Forde-Yard Dash: The College Football Season Is Slipping Away for Texas, Alabama and Others
• Bryan Fischer: College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections After Week 7: Title Game Rematch on Tap
• Clare Brennan: Welcome to the Ballhalla Blast Powering the Valkyries Through the WNBA Finals
• Clare Brennan: WNBA Finals in the Stars: What Astrology Tells Us About Dream-Valkyries

The top five…

… things I saw yesterday:
5. A really strong tackle by Jets linebacker Demario Davis to stop the Patriots on third-and-1.
4. A great play by Aaron Donald to bring down the ballcarrier in the backfield. From watching that, you’d never believe he’d been retired just a few weeks ago. 
3. The dramatic finish to the Ravens-Browns game. Baltimore blocked a game-winning field goal attempt, but Cleveland got another try after the Ravens were flagged for offsides. 
2. Steven Kwan’s perfect throw to nail a runner at home, followed by another run-saving play later in the game.
1. Josh Allen’s preposterous backhanded touchdown pass.

📺 What we’re watching today …

NFL

Commanders at 49ers, 8:15 p.m. ET, ABC
San Francisco will look to win at home and start 6–0 for the fourth time in franchise history.

MLB

Guardians at Rays, 8 p.m. ET, TBS
Tampa Bay seeks to clinch its third trip to the World Series and its first appearance since 2020.

WNBA

Dream at Valkyries, 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
After Golden State shut out Atlanta in the final three minutes and eked out a close Game 1 victory, the Dream will aim to get back on track and even the series.