The NFL regular season is a third of the way through.
While nothing has truly been proven yet, six weeks is enough time for contenders and pretenders to start to separate themselves and for developments around the league to shift the power balance.
There have already been consequential injuries, an intra-division quarterback trade and, on Monday, the season’s first head-coach firing with Tennessee’s Brian Callahan.
Plenty more will transpire between now and Week 18, but here are the biggest storylines of the NFL season so far.
RAVENS GROUNDED
Nobody could have predicted the Baltimore Ravens would match last season’s loss total by Week 6, but here we are.
The Ravens (1-5) are incredibly beat up, with quarterback Lamar Jackson (hamstring) sitting out of the last two games and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) out for the year.
Safety Kyle Hamilton (groin), cornerback Marlon Humphrey, linebacker Roquan Smith and left tackle Ronnie Stanley are among the others to miss time.
Their defense has struggled since Week 1, while the offense has completely cratered in two losses without Jackson.
Jackson is expected to return after the Week 7 bye, and the Ravens have one of the NFL’s easiest remaining schedules, so not all hope is lost.
But the Ravens are far enough behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) in the AFC North to wonder if the hole is too deep to climb out of.
CHIEFS CONUNDRUM
The Kansas City Chiefs’ downfall is far less dramatic, but at 3-3, they’ve already lost more games than they did last regular season before going to their third straight Super Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes and company have rebounded from an 0-2 start by winning three of their last four games, including a statement 30-17 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
While their defense has not matched last year’s lofty standard, the Chiefs’ offense has been more high-powered. Sunday’s game marked their third time scoring at least 28 points — a mark they reached only four times last year.
Mahomes ranks within the top 10 in passing yards (1,514) and touchdowns (11), and he’s well on his way to a career high in rushing yards.
The offense should be even better with wide receiver Rashee Rice set to return this week from a six-game suspension.
INDIANA JONES
No team has a better record than the Daniel Jones-led Indianapolis Colts (5-1).
Let that sink in.
Less than a year ago, Jones was released by the Giants during the second season of a four-year, $160 million contract.
Now, he’s the engine behind a Colts offense that entered Monday averaging an NFL-best 32.3 points per game.
Indy still has plenty to prove, as four of their five wins have come against teams with losing records.
But there’s no denying this is one of the NFL’s biggest surprises.
QB SWAP
In a vacuum, the Cincinnati Bengals acquiring Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns last week made plenty of sense.
The rebuilding Browns had already benched the 40-year-old quarterback in favor of rookie Dillion Gabriel, while the Bengals had fallen to 0-3 since Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury that’s expected to keep him out until mid-December.
What made the trade so surprising is that division rivals rarely trade with each other, especially when a quarterback is involved.
Among those stunned by the trade was Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who is set to face Flacco and the Bengals on Thursday.
“It doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area,” Tomlin said Monday. “But that’s just my personal feelings.”
INJURY ONSLAUGHT
Burrow is far from the only big name to sustain a significant injury this year.
The Giants’ Malik Nabers and the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill suffered season-ending knee injuries.
The San Francisco 49ers lost defensive standouts Nick Bosa (knee) and Fred Warner (ankle) for the year, too.
In Week 3, five of the 32 teams started a backup quarterback with Burrow, Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Brock Purdy and Justin Fields all out.
Jackson suffered his hamstring strain the following week.
The Los Angeles Chargers are down to their third-string running back with Omarion Hampton (ankle) on injured reserve and Najee Harris (Achilles) out for the season.
And after Emeka Egbuka left Sunday’s game with a hamstring strain, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were without their top four offensive weapons, as Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (fibula) and Bucky Irving (foot/shoulder) were already out.
EAGLES ANIMOSITY
The Philadelphia Eagles have played only six games since February’s Super Bowl victory, yet the vibes in Philly are seriously off.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are believed to be unhappy with their usage — neither ranks within the top 25 in receiving yards — while Saquon Barkley is on pace for only 920.8 rushing yards after eclipsing 2,000 last year.
The noise around quarterback Jalen Hurts and his Eagles offense has become amplified after back-to-back losses, including a 34-17 beatdown by the Jaxson Dart-led Giants last week.
The Eagles (4-2) still entered Monday atop the NFC East, but their -1 point differential ranked 18th in the NFL.
With the NFL’s sixth-hardest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon, the Eagles have much to fix for a run at another championship to remain realistic.
