{"numbering":"no_numbering","slides":[{"title":"Proving ground","video":"xbYi_MO3xkvS","thumbnail":{"uri":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/short_form_video/hero/101820_MAIOCCO_HIT_SITE.jpg","alt":"Matt Maiocco explains how 49ers bounced back with huge 24-16 win over Rams","title":"Matt Maiocco explains how 49ers bounced back with huge 24-16 win over Rams"},"credit":"Getty Images","published":1603072752,"caption":"

As the playoff race begins to fully take shape, Week 6 of the NFL season was full of opportunity.

Teams whose season was on the brink had a chance to keep postseason dreams alive.

The 49ers, left on the trash heap at 2-3 after last week's beatdown, kicked off their schedule gauntlet with a win over the Los Angeles Rams to get back to .500. Drew Lock and the Denver Broncos used six Brandon McManus field goals like a shot of adrenaline to keep their heart ticking.

The Minnesota Vikings rolled over. The Houston Texans gagged a chance to reinvigorate their season.

Teams we didn't fully believe in had a shot to silence their critics. The Rams and Cleveland Browns fell flat, while the Tennessee Titans continued rolling behind the walking bulldozer known as Derrick Henry.

And a few legitimate Super Bowl contenders were presented with the ability to establish a clear pecking order. Yeah, Tompa Bay is for real. So are the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers will have to get back to us at a later date.

Week 6 proved me right about some things and wrong about a lot.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from Sunday's action.

"},{"title":"1. Tompa Bay's Death Star is lethal when fully operational ","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Brady_T_Gronkowski_USATSI_15086109.jpg","credit":"USATSI","published":1603076254,"caption":"

Tom Brady and the Bucs have been hard to get a read on.

The Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints was understandable. They looked great during the three straight wins that followed. Then Brady had his senior moment in a Thursday night loss to the Chicago Bears with Mike Evans at about 50 percent and Chris Godwin out of action.

Rob Gronkowski has needed time to get back into football shape. He's not going to be a dominant force, but he can be better than the decoy he was during the first four weeks.

So, Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers was supposed to be a measuring stick. The Packers were 4-0 and looked like the class of the conference. Aaron Rodgers had been dicing up defenses with all the fury of a Hall of Famer wanting to prove he wasn't done yet.

The potential NFC title game preview opened with Rodgers pelvic thrusting his way to a 10-0 lead. It was all Bucs after that.

The Bucs' swarming defense pressured Rodgers 12 times. He went 2-for-7 for 10 yards and four sacks when pressured. They picked him off twice -- one was returned for a touchdown -- and held him to a 35.4 passer rating.

Todd Bowles' defense held Aaron Jones to 15 yards on 10 carries.

The Bucs' defense now is No. 1 in yards allowed, yards per play and run defense. It's No. 2 in sack percentage, No. 5 in pass defense and No. 7 in scoring. They are legit.

On the other side, Brady had all of his weapons. Evans was healthier, Godwin was back in the lineup and Gronkowski reemerged from his slumber, catching five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

With all the pieces in the fold, the Bucs romped. Brady was efficient and relatively crisp. Ronald Jones ran for 113 yards and two scores.

Brady gets the headlines, but it's a ferocious defense and a healthy supporting cast that has the Bucs looking like NFC favorites.

"},{"title":"2. Don't judge Patriots off Broncos loss","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Belichick_B_Getty_1280940041.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1603077221,"caption":"

Six field goals. That was all it took for Drew Lock to become the youngest quarterback to ever win at Gillette Stadium.

But the Broncos' 18-12 win over the Patriots was more about what the Patriots didn't, or rather couldn't do, in the time leading up to a game that was slated for last Sunday.

Since their Week 4 loss to the Chiefs 14 days ago, the Patriots practiced just twice, with their facility being shut down on and off due to COVID-19.

“We need more time together,” Belichick said after the loss. “We need to practice together. We need to execute and do everything better. No question about that. … It’s the same for everybody on the team. Nobody’s practiced. We all need to do more practice. We need to get our execution levels up a lot higher.”

The Patriots were sloppy. Their offensive line, which had been impressive in dealing with injuries early on, finally broke down as the Broncos sacked quarterback Cam Newton four times and hit him eight more.

New England is a better team than it showed Sunday. The true Patriots are closer to the team that took the Seahawks to the wire and trounced the Raiders than the one that stumbled all over itself against the Broncos.

More practice time should cure that. This loss was ugly, but don't count out Bill Belichick just yet. This defeat should be chalked up to an unprecedented two-week stretch that the Patriots couldn't overcome.

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The Raiders still are basking in the glow of their Week 5 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. They are 3-2 and, at the very least, will survive their tough early-season slate at .500.

With an extra playoff spot, Jon Gruden's club has to feel good about their chances of playing postseason football, especially after what they saw Sunday.

Let's assume the Bills, Chiefs, Titans and Steelers/Ravens win their division. That leaves the Raiders, Ravens/Steelers loser, Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and perhaps the Broncos or Los Angeles Chargers in the mix for three spots.

Pencil in the Ravens and Steelers to the postseason. Now we're down to two.

The Browns entered the day at 4-1, but were pasted by the Steelers. There's no reason to fear the Browns until they beat a legitimate playoff contender.

The Colts have defeated the Bears, Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets. It's a team with a good defense hoping Philip Rivers doesn't give the game away. Bad recipe there.

The Raiders control their destiny against the Broncos and Chargers. Beat those teams and you shouldn't have to worry about them taking your spot.

Gruden and the Raiders can't count their chickens before they hatch. With a defense that routinely gets carved up like Anton Yelchin's hand in "The Green Room," there are no guarantees.

But the competition shouldn't scare the Silver and Black. A postseason berth is well within their grasp.

"},{"title":"4. Will the real Packers please stand up?","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Rodgers_A_USA_.jpg","credit":"USATSI","published":1603080745,"caption":"

What a difference three quarters can make.

After the first quarter Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, it looked like we were well on our way to an Aaron Rodgers special, with the Packers announcing themselves as the NFC's best team while handily beating Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.

When the final horn had sounded, Rodgers and the Packers looked more like the 2019 version -- the one that constantly crumbled against more physical opponents -- than the one that swaggered into Tampa Bay at 4-0.

Rodgers was bad. His teammates weren't much better. Aaron Jones was shut down. Davante Adams was bottled up by Carlton Davis and the rest of the Packers' mediocre receiver corps made less noise than a church mouse.

Today was the first game you could point to and say the Packers whiffed when drafting a quarterback who could supplant Rodgers in three seasons and not a receiver who could help now.

The game can be summed up in two shots. The first was Rodgers, pelvic thrusting after he thought he scrambled in for a touchdown to put the Packers up 10-0. (They scored on the next play.) There he was, that bad man, the one who had torn apart the Packers' first four opponents while placing himself squarely in the MVP race.

The next shot came in the fourth quarter with Rodgers on the bench having been replaced by Tim Boyle to stop the Bucs from teeing off on him during garbage time.

"You don't ever want to lose like this," Rodgers said after the game. "I felt like we needed a little bit of a wake-up call at some point this season because things have been so good and there's been so much talk maybe outside the building about the ease with which we're moving the ball on offense and scoring. I think we needed kind of a kick in the ass a little bit. There's a little bit of wake-up to stop feeling ourselves so much and get back to the things that got us to this position."

The Packers showed up to Raymond James Stadium dressed to impress. But they flew back to Green Bay searching for answers after the Bucs exposed them as the same soft, front-running wannabe contenders they were last year.

"},{"title":"5. 49ers aren't dead yet","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/KIttle-G_McGlinchey_M_Getty_1280980981.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1603074580,"caption":"

After the curb-stomping the Miami Dolphins gave the 49ers last week it was easy to think the Rams would stroll into Levi's Stadium and deliver a knockout blow to the defending NFC champions, ending what was supposed to be a "Revenge Tour" following a Super Bowl defeat.

Not so fast.

The 49ers led wire to wire Sunday night, using a bruising running game and short, safe passes to earn a 24-16 win and move back to 3-3.

Jimmy Garoppolo was 23-for-33 for 238 yards and three touchdowns. George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel all found the end zone, and a banged-up 49ers' defense flustered Jared Goff enough to keep their heart barely beating.

The 49ers now will travel to Foxboro to face a desperate 2-3 Patriots team who is under .500 in this late in the season for the first time since 2002.

A win in Garoppolo's old stomping ground would put the 49ers at 4-3 and squarely back in the playoff picture ahead of their Week 8 clash with the Seattle Seahawks.

With their backs against the wall entering a brutal schedule stretch, the 49ers got off the mat and responded with a huge division win, letting the rest of the NFC know that while battered, bruised and gasping for air, the reigning conference champs still have some fight left in them.

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NFL Week 6 takeaways: 49ers keep season alive; Raiders' playoff path clear