Five Wide: 2026 Week Six
By Thomas Willoughby
RIP the 2026 London games. We will never forget you. When they announced this slate of games earlier in the year, I was pretty confident that this was the best trio of games London had been given yet. And, you know what, coming away from them, I think I was right.
Not for the reasons I thought, though. My argument for Colts vs Commanders was “Jayden Daniels is electric, and that Colts team was unreal before Daniel Jones got hurt last season”. Instead, we got a young American-Greek boy launching the ball at Terry Maclaurin constantly while Daniel Jones failed to move on his gammy ankle. But that made the game interesting, right? Especially in that second half.
For Eagles vs Jaguars, I went with “Eagles are perennially good, and the Jaguars should be good again this season”. What we got was the best supported team in the city dragging an electric offense down to their level at an extremely high volume. But that ending was ridiculous!
Finally, this weekends Texans vs Jaguars, it was all about the divisional aspect, as two playoff calibre sides from the AFC South clashed. Not sure about playoff calibre, but I challenge you to find a better divisional clash that that this season. Unreal.
More on the London games in a bit. For now, the torch has been handed over to Paris, who have apparently launched it through a McDonald’s window. Look forward to writing about that next week! For now, here’s Five Wide.
Bozo Nix
I think it’s time we had a conversation about Bo Nix. The 2024 12th overall pick has enjoyed a pretty successful start to his NFL career, leading the Broncos to a 14-3 record last season, and a trip to the AFC Championship Game, which he was unable to play in after breaking his ankle the week before. 2026, however, has been a far cry from that level.
It’s not that the numbers haven’t been good. On the surface, everything looks fine, if a clear step back from last season. It’s when you actually watch what he’s doing to get there. On Thursday night, the Broncos beat the Seahawks 17-14. They did that in spite of Nix. Yes, the Seahawks defense is quite good. But, of his 17 completed passes, 7 were completed behind the line of scrimmage, and 10 were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Not a single pass attempt of 10 yards or more was completed. He ended the night with 106 total passing yards. And Ryan Fitzpatrick was not impressed.
Ryan Fitzpatrick gave his thoughts after the Broncos' overtime victory#TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/AQ5wuThFjc
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) October 16, 2026
Look, the most important stat is winning. Who cares how you’re getting there if you’re getting there, you know? But I thought the whole point of Bo Nix was that he had a big arm and could scramble. Through a third of the season, Nix is doing the game-manager stuff that has become almost a point of derision. Which is the opposite of what they drafted him for. More than that, it’s just gross to watch. If things don’t start to look better on Sunday vs the Cardinals, the tone of the questions around him might start to get harsher.
The Future Freaks Me Out
That Texans/Jaguars game was an absolute barnstormer, wasn’t it? I made the cardinal sin of declaring the Texans as the victors in a group chat well before time. Glad that didn’t come back to bite me. Both sides trading field goals, one for the tie, and one for the win, felt fitting. And didn’t CJ Stroud look good! We went over this a few weeks ago, but I think he’s really good. A team with loads of cap space and erratic QB play should make a move for him next season, I reckon.
The story coming out of that game, however, wasn’t so much what it was, but what it might be. Over the weekend, the news broke that the Jaguars had machinations to play their entire 2028 home slate in Jacksonville. That, obviously, would see their annual residence of Wembley Stadium come to an end. It was also reported that the Jaguars were unlikely to play the 3 2027 international games they’d negotiated as part of their own stadium renovations, referring to the leagues general international plans when discussing the future rather than the path they’d walked themselves in London.
It does, from where I’m sat, feel like the organisation are hinting at a dialled back approach to how they work in London. It was reported before the season that the Jaguars were planning to “totally reevaluate” their approach to London, and this just strengthens that.
I don’t think this is the end for Jacksonville in London, but I think the days of the annual Jaguars game are winding down. After a controversial run in London this year, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Wembley off the slate completely, and the league settling on a two-game run at Spurs exclusively. For Jacksonville specifically, it would feel like a bit of a betrayal for them to turn their backs on London the moment they get a new stadium. For 16 years, the UK has shown up for them when no one else would, and to reward that by ending that connection once the team actually gets good would be a slap in the face. I will predict right now, however, that the team will announce an agreement with Wembley Stadium itself to play a home game there every other season, on the year where they have 9 home games rather than 8. Please don’t take that as anything more than a prediction I don’t know anything.
Out of charge
My god, aren’t the Chargers awful? Just an awful football team. There is nothing redeemable there at all. From week one this season, they hit the ground face first and failed to get up without falling back down immediately. Someone call an ambulance, these guys need aid immediately.
This Sundays 22-6 defeat to Kansas City was the latest in an increasingly long line of utterly shameful offensive showings. Their defense, to give them credit, is ok. It’s not brilliant, but good for ranking middle of the pack against both the pass and the run. The offense is a disgrace, though. The Chargers installed Mike McDaniel as their OC this off-season, and it has not worked out in the slightest. The scored more than 20 points once all year, Justin Herbert is a shell of the player he’s been over the past few seasons, and their number one running back, Omarion Hampton, has less than 300 rushing yards through 6 games. As a comparison, the Bears have two running backs with more yards than him. That’s bad!
At 0-6, it’s clear that this season is as done as it possibly can be. It certainly sounds like change is on the cards, with Jim Harbaugh stating after their latest defeat that they “have to address everything“, making special mention of their offense. The days of McDaniel being an offensive guru seem to be long behind us. Might wanna make sure that CV is up to date, Mike.
Kicked while down
Life isn’t great for the Chargers’ stadium mates either, as the Rams fell to 2-4 this weekend following a brutal 18-16 defeat to their divisional neighbours, the Arizona Cardinals. A game that was, frankly, decided by the kicking game. Both in the literal and the general sense.
The Cardinals’ 18 points came solely from the right foot of Chad Ryland; a man with one of the smallest faces I have ever seen. You, a devoted reader of this beloved series, know that we value kickers properly here. There’s more to the role than just being able to boot it far, as impressive as that is. Consistency is the key, and Ryland was the epitome of consistent this weekend.
What isn’t a kickers job, however is to pretend they’re Kam Chancellor and throw themselves into tackles, like Blake Grupe did in this very game. The Rams previous kicker, Harrison Mevis, was cut the day after missing two kicks vs the Bills in week 5, leaving the wanna be contenders with a role to fill. The aforementioned Blake Grupe, came in to replace him, and, presumably in an attempt to make an impression, launched himself at Devin Duverney on a kick return, and knocked himself out of the game.
It has subsequently been reported that Grupe has torn his ACL, and has been placed in injured reserve. For the Rams, they could not kick field goals, which obviously did not help their stuttering offense as they turned the ball over on downs in the 3rd and 4th quarters. I don’t know who they’ll sign next, but I’d be shocked if Sean McVay doesn’t bring in a blanket ban on tackling for kickers and punters moving forward.
Kitwatch 2026: Part VI
The New Orleans Saints opted for their all-white 2nd alternate in their trip to the Giants this weekend, and I dare say, I don’t hate it. All white is clean, for surem and I think I prefer the gold numbering on this jersey to the black numbering on their main white jersey. The white helmet works as well. The whole ensemble reminds me of a white Kinder Bueno, which, as you’ll know, is a top tier chocolate bar. A rare W from a franchise embodiment of Ls.
The match up of the week took place on Thursday night, when the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos went into their respective walk-in wardrobes and came out wearing their threads from multiple decades ago. That’s right, Week 6 gave us a throwback-off, and in glorious technicolour, no less. There really isn’t anything about this that I dislike. Old school uniforms, old school field design, both teams playing like they’re back in the 70’s. The perfect throwback. They should give us the option to whack a CRT filter over the broadcast the next time they do a throwback-off, just to properly sell the whole charade.
Features Image Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Thomas Willoughby
NFL ANALYST
THOMAS IS A WRITER, AND REGULAR GUEST ON THE TOUCHDOWN REVIEW SHOW PODCAST, FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU CAN FIND HIM @WILLO290592 ON TWITTER
