Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

After just five weeks, we have our first firing of the NFL season and it happened in New York, where the Jets gave a pink slip to Robert Saleh, who apparently wasn’t expecting to lose his job on Tuesday morning. Saleh is now the third coach over the past 10 years to be fired after playing a game in London, joining Dennis Allen (fired by the Raiders in 2014) and Joe Philbin (fired by the Dolphins in 2015). At the rate we’re going, NFL coaches are going to refuse to coach in London. 

As you can probably guess, we’ll be covering Saleh’s firing today, plus we have Prisco’s Power Rankings and we’ll be looking at some deals that need to happen before the trade deadline. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends and neighbors to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. Jets shockingly fire Robert Saleh: Five things to know

If you had Robert Saleh as the first NFL coach to be fired this season, then please collect your money. The Jets decided to shockingly fire Saleh today in a move that came less than 48 hours after their loss to the Vikings in London. 

Here’s what you need to know: 

• NFL’s earliest midseason firing since 2020. There are midseason firings all the time, but five games in is pretty early. Saleh’s firing is the earliest by any team since 2020 when the Texans fired Bill O’Brien after just four games. With the Jets at 2-3, Saleh was fired with a winning percentage of .400 on the season, which is the highest winning percentage a coach has had in a midseason firing since Ron Rivera was let go by the Panthers in 2019 with a .417 percentage. 
• Saleh simply wasn’t successful with the Jets. Since his hiring in 2021, Saleh has gone 20-36 with the Jets, giving him a winning percentage of just .357. That’s the third-worst percentage in the NFL over that span, ahead of only the Panthers (.268) and Bears (.339). Saleh became just the second coach in Jets history to start his coaching career with three straight losing seasons. 
• Nothing got better this year. With Aaron Rodgers in the fold, the Jets were supposed to be improved this year, but 2024 is looking a lot like 2023 so far. Through five games with Zach Wilson last year, the Jets were 2-3 while averaging 18.6 points per game. Through five games with Rodgers, the Jets are 2-3 while averaging 18.6 points per game. That’s not to say that Wilson and Rodgers are comparable quarterbacks; it just means that nothing has gotten better and Woody Johnson apparently took notice of that. 
• Offense has been a dud. Over the course of his time with the Jets, the offense was an absolute disaster. Since Saleh’s hiring in 2021, the Jets have ranked 32nd overall in points per game and 31st overall in yards per game. The Jets used six quarterbacks under Saleh, including Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Mike White, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle. It’s not necessarily Saleh’s fault that the offense couldn’t make it work, but he’s the head coach and the buck stops with him. 
• Jets turning to interim coach. With Saleh out, the Jets will be giving the interim coaching job to Jeff Ulbrich, who’s currently the team’s defensive coordinator. Ulbrich has been an NFL assistant coach since 2015. He was the Falcons linebackers coach when they made the Super Bowl in 2016. He was hired by the Jets in 2021 as part of Saleh’s initial coaching staff. He also has plenty of playing experience: He spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a linebacker for the 49ers. 

You can see our full story on Saleh’s firing here. 

2. Chiefs top Saints: Grades and notes from Kansas City’s big win

There are only two undefeated teams left in the NFL. The Chiefs moved to 5-0 on Monday night with a 26-13 win over the Saints. They dominated this game from start to finish and although it was only a 13-point win, it felt like the Chiefs were in solid control for all four quarters. 

Here are our grades from last night’s game: 

SAINTS GRADE: C

The high-flying Saints offense that started 2-0 was nowhere to be found in this game. The Saints rushing attack was stopped cold with Alvin Kamara being held to just 26 yards. The passing game wasn’t much better with Derek Carr throwing for just 165 yards (and 43 of those came on one play with Carr throwing a TD to Rashid Shaheed). Defensively, the Saints did come up with a couple of big plays, but otherwise, this was a blood bath with the Chiefs piling up 463 yards of offense. The Saints’ season is officially in a tailspin with three straight losses.  

Saints notes

• Carr breaks down against the Chiefs. With the loss on Monday, Derek Carr’s all-time record against the Chiefs dropped to 3-15, which is the second-worst record ever for a QB with at least 15 starts against an opponent (Joe Ferguson went 3-21 against the Dolphins during his career). More importantly, Carr was forced to leave the game with an oblique injury, and right now, it’s looking like he could miss some time. “Not good, but we’ll get an MRI and that stuff tomorrow,” the Saints QB said when asked about his injury after the game. 

CHIEFS GRADE: A-

The Chiefs played their first full game without Rashee Rice, and somehow, their offense didn’t miss a beat. With their leading receiver out, JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped up and filled the void with seven catches for 130 yards. Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 331 yards, also got Travis Kelce involved on a night where the tight end caught a season-high nine passes for 70 yards. Without Rice, the Chiefs had arguably their best offensive performance of the season. The emergence of Kareem Hunt, who rushed for 102 yards, has been huge for the offense. If the Chiefs had been better in the red zone — they scored just two touchdowns on seven trips — this game might have been a total blowout. The Chiefs defense was just as impressive as the offense, holding the high-powered Saints to just 220 yards. After playing four straight one-score games to start the season, the Chiefs finally played their best all-around game of the year. This version of the Chiefs is definitely good enough to win a third straight Super Bowl. 

Chiefs notes

• Super start. At 5-0, the Chiefs are the first two-time defending Super Bowl champ in 35 years to win their first five games. Remember, no team has ever won three Super Bowls in a row and the Chiefs season is looking promising so far. The last two-time champ to start 5-0 was the 1990 49ers, who started 10-0 before losing their first game. 
• Mahomes is magic. With 331 yards passing, Patrick Mahomes has now thrown for at least 300 yards a total of 46 times in his career. That moves him past Matt Ryan for the NFL record of most 300-yard passing games through the first 10 seasons of a player’s career. With the win, Mahomes is also now 7-0 in his career against teams from the NFC South. 

You can check out our full takeaways from the game here. 

3. Prisco’s Week 6 Power Rankings: Falcons make biggest move, Ravens crack top five

I can’t say this for certain, but I’m starting to think that Pete Prisco is now jinxing teams with his Power Rankings. Through the first five weeks of the season, we’ve seen at least one team from Prisco’s top five go down each week. That streak stayed alive in Week 5 with his fourth-ranked Buccaneers losing to the Falcons. 

With the Buccaneers’ loss, they’re now out of the top five. So who has to worry about Prisco’s jinx this week? Let’s check out the top five teams heading into Week 6: 

1. Chiefs (Same as last week)
2. Vikings (Same as last week)
3. Texans (Same as last week)
4. Lions (Up one from last week)
5. Ravens (Up one from last week)

I’m not going to spoil the rest of the Power Rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here’s what has changed since Prisco’s last Power Rankings: 

• The biggest jump went to the Atlanta Falcons. After pulling off a wild win over the Buccaneers in Week 5, Prisco bumped the Falcons up five spots from 15th to 10th. That’s right: The Falcons are officially a top 10 team.   
• The biggest drop in the rankings went to Tampa Bay. Apparently, Pete wasn’t impressed with the way Tampa Bay blew things during the fourth quarter in the OT loss to Atlanta. Prisco dropped them nine spots from fourth all the way down to 13th. That’s harsh, Pete. 
• The biggest drop in the AFC went to the Steelers. Although they went toe-to-toe with the Cowboys in a 20-17 loss on Sunday night, Prisco still dropped them six spots from ninth down to 15th. I’m guessing that Pete isn’t a fan of Justin Fields.  
• Now, let’s talk about the worst team in the NFL, and I have some big news here: We’ve officially gone full circle at the bottom of the Power Rankings. The Jaguars were ranked 32nd overall, but after they beat the Colts on Sunday, Pete moved them up three spots to 29th. The new team at the bottom is the team that started the season at the bottom: the Carolina Panthers. Whatever spark Andy Dalton gave them has been extinguished. 

If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco’s Week 6 Power Rankings, be sure to click here. If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you can do that on Twitter by clicking here. I argue with him all the time about everything. 

4. One deal each NFL team needs to make before the trade deadline

It doesn’t seem possible but the NFL trade deadline is less than a month away. As matter of fact, it will be coming on a day that most people already have circled on their calendar: ELECTION DAY. That’s right, that deadline is on the first Tuesday of November this year. The NFL actually moved the trade deadline back one week for 2024. The deadline used to be the first Tuesday after Week 8, but this year, it’s the first Tuesday after Week 9. 

Anyway, with the deadline so close, Cody Benjamin got a little crazy today by coming up with one deal that each team needs to make before the Nov. 5. Cody came up with 32 trades and we’re going to look at five of them below. 

1. Bills: Acquire Amari Cooper from the Browns. “Maybe the Browns would eat some of Cooper’s remaining contract to appease the seemingly disinterested pass catcher. Josh Allen would surely sign off if it meant getting a bona fide No. 1 out wide.”
2. Cowboys: Acquire Miles Sanders from the Panthers. “Jerry Jones didn’t want to pay for Derrick Henry, so he might require Carolina to eat some of Sanders’ deal. But the former Eagles standout would at least give Dak Prescott more proven run support.”
3. Chiefs: Acquire DeAndre Hopkins from the Titans. “The Chiefs reportedly tried to land Hopkins before he signed with Tennessee, and now they’re in dire need of veteran help for Patrick Mahomes, with Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown significantly banged up.”
4. Jets: Acquire Davante Adams from the Raiders. “This could be extremely, foolishly short-sighted, because Aaron Rodgers needs more than a splashy wideout. But their chemistry is undeniable.”
5. Eagles: Acquire Von Miller from the Bills. “The Eagles probably shouldn’t be in the business of adding aging defenders. But they badly need a pass rush, and Miller, though suspended until Week 8, was a Pro Bowler under Vic Fangio in Denver.”

If you want to check out all 32 of Cody’s trade proposals, then be sure to check out his full story here. 

5. Breech’s Week 6 NFL picks: Ravens top Commanders, Lions edge Cowboys

Every Tuesday, I unveil three of my weekly picks here in the newsletter, so let’s stop wasting time and get to them: 

• Commanders (4-1) at Ravens (3-2): If the Commanders have one problem this year, it’s that they give up 5.1 yards per carry on the ground. That is the second-worst number in the NFL and it’s literally the worst weakness you can have when you’re about to face a Baltimore team that leads the NFL in rushing. The Ravens might run for 400 yards in this game. PICK: Ravens 27-23 over Commanders
• Chargers (2-2) at Broncos (3-2): I’m starting to think that the Broncos might better than we all thought and that the Chargers might be worse than we all thought. The Broncos defense has been one of the best in the NFL over the past three weeks and I think they’ll be able to slow down Justin Herbert just enough to steal a win. PICK: Broncos 19-16 
• Lions (3-1) at Cowboys (3-2): The Cowboys will likely be missing their two best defensive players (Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence) and although that didn’t hurt them in Week 5 against a bad Steelers offense, I do expect it to hurt them this week in a game that will likely turn into a shootout. PICK: Lions 34-27 over Cowboys

If you want to check out the rest of my picks for Week 6, be sure to click here.   

6. Extra points: Deshaun Watson resolves lawsuit

It was a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Watson reaches settlement. The Browns QB was facing a new sexual assault lawsuit, but that case has now been resolved. The attorney for the alleged victim said a settlement has been reached. “We have now resolved our client’s claim with Deshaun Watson,” attorney Tony Buzbee said Monday. “The settlement is confidential.” This means Watson won’t be facing any punishment from the NFL for the accusations. You can read our full story on Watson here. 
• 49ers sign a kicker. With Jake Moody (ankle) sidelined ahead of Thursday’s game against the Seahawks, the 49ers needed a new kicker and they got one on Tuesday by adding Matthew Wright. The journeyman will be playing for his fifth team in four years. You can get the details on his signing here. 
• Nico Collins likely to miss at least one game. The NFL’s leading receiver is likely going to miss at least one game, if not more. Collins injured his hamstring while catching a 67-yard TD in Week 5 and the Texans have listed him as “week-to-week,” which means he probably won’t be playing on Sunday against the Patriots. 
• Rashee Rice appears to get good news. It looks like the Chiefs receiver didn’t tear his ACL. Instead, Rice appears to be dealing with an LCL injury, which requires a lot less recovery time. While an ACL tear will keep you out for roughly nine months, a player can be back on the field after only three or four months with an LCL tear. That could potentially open the door for Rice to play if the Chiefs make a Super Bowl run. You can read more about Rice’s situation here.