Five NFL Storylines Heading Into Week 6: Chicago's Bagent Bet, Green Bay's Achilles Loss, and the Last Unbeatens

CHICAGO — The Bears are 3-1, they lead the NFL in rushing attempts and rushing yards, and their starting quarterback still hasn't played in three weeks. That is the strangest sentence of the young season — and on Monday, head coach Ben Johnson made it official policy: Tyson Bagent is the guy. Johnson told ESPN 1000 Chicago that Bagent will start with Caleb Williams (hamstring) sidelined a third straight week, the injury he suffered back in Week 2 against Minnesota. Bagent, 26, completed 25 of 34 passes for a career-high 268 yards and an interception in Sunday's 23-12 win over the Jets at Soldier Field, and the Bears haven't flinched without their franchise passer. This is the NFL's best rushing attack married to a backup quarterback who keeps converting third downs, and the league's oldest rivalry game looms with first place on the line. The question for Week 6 isn't whether Chicago can keep winning — it's how long Johnson can keep winning this way before the bill comes due.

GREEN BAY — The worst news of Week 5 arrived Monday morning with an MRI result. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper tore his Achilles in Sunday's 17-14 win at Tampa Bay, and the Packers' best defender is done for the season. Cooper went down without contact in the third quarter, and the loss is a production crater, not a depth-chart shuffle: he'd piled up 30 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and a game-swinging interception of Jalon Daniels before the injury — a pick that set up Trey Smack's 58-yard field goal for a 10-7 halftime lead in Tampa. Green Bay was already playing without Micah Parsons, who opened the season on reserve/PUP and may not return until November. Now the 2-2 Packers head into the meat of their schedule down their two most disruptive defenders, with Isaiah McDuffie next up in the middle. Teams don't replace a player like Cooper; they survive him or they don't.

THE UNBEATENS — Three teams, zero losses, and three very different flavors of perfect. The Chiefs are 4-0 after surviving the Raiders 30-27 at Allegiant Stadium, the kind of divisional street fight that used to trip up good Kansas City teams and now just gets filed away. The Vikings are 4-0 after an ugly 15-10 grind over Miami at U.S. Bank Stadium — championship teams win the games they play badly, and Minnesota is stacking those. And the 49ers are 4-0 after handling Denver 24-14 at Levi's Stadium, looking every bit the NFC's most complete roster. Somebody blinks in Week 6 — the math always wins eventually — but right now the league has a three-team throne room and everyone else is knocking.

FOXBOROUGH — The loudest result of Sunday had nothing to do with quarterbacks or Achilles tendons. The Patriots walked into Highmark Stadium and beat the Bills 29-26, handing Buffalo its first loss and dragging the AFC East race back to life in one afternoon. The Bills fall to 3-1; the Patriots climb to 2-2, one game back, with the head-to-head tiebreaker in their pocket. That's a fundamentally different division than the one everyone penciled in back in August, when Buffalo looked like a runaway. New England's defense made the plays late, the offense did just enough, and the Bills — who have owned this division for half a decade — suddenly have company. Week 6 becomes a pressure test for both: Buffalo has to prove Sunday was a blip, and New England has to prove Sunday was a blueprint.

PHILADELPHIA — The defending conference's most uncomfortable team is 2-2. The Eagles fell 24-20 to the Rams at the Linc on Sunday, and the bigger worry walked off in the first quarter: Saquon Barkley pulled up with a right hamstring injury on his second carry. The early word is encouraging — Ian Rapoport reported it "does not seem to be overly serious" — but Monday testing decides everything, and a trip to London to face the Jaguars is next. Jacksonville is 3-1 and surging after a 22-17 win over Cincinnati. A 2-2 Eagles team crossing the Atlantic without its best player, against a confident 3-1 opponent, is exactly the kind of spot where seasons quietly tilt. Philadelphia's margin for error is gone; October is when contenders start acting like it.

THE REST — Around the league: Denver's secondary is held together with tape — Patrick Surtain II's Achilles is intact but his ankle sprain is expected to cost about two weeks, Riley Moss's rib injury isn't a break, and Pat Bryant's ankle costs him a few weeks, all out of the 24-14 loss to the 49ers. The Browns are 3-1 after Thursday's 27-24 win over Pittsburgh. The Giants are 3-1 after hanging 36 on Arizona. The Seahawks are 3-1 after dropping the Chargers 30-23. And Monday night's Falcons-Saints game — live now in New Orleans — decides who gets back to .500 in the NFC South. Week 5 isn't quite done, but Week 6 is already loaded. See our Monday injury wire for the full training-room picture.