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Thoughts on the Cincinnati Bengals' 27-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts:

What it means: The Bengals match their win total from all of last season and ended a seven-game losing streak to the Colts. It's been an improbable start for Cincinnati, which was predicted to finish last in the AFC North. Six weeks into the regular season, Cincinnati has the same record (4-2) as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thumbs up: The NFL's top-ranked defense lived up to its label. Cornerback Nate Clements forced a fumble in Indianapolis territory to set up the Bengals' first touchdown, and Carlos Dunlap returned a Colts fumble 35 yards in the fourth quarter to finish off Cincinnati's third straight win. Overall, the Bengals forced three turnovers.

Thumbs down: The Bengals continually hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 111 yards. The Colts were flagged twice.

Road block: Clements came up big in the fourth quarter when he blocked Adam Vinatieri's 52-yard field goal. It would have tied the game with 5:38 left in the game.

What's next: The Bengals get a well-deserved bye before playing at Seattle.

Thoughts on the Indianapolis Colts’ 27-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium:

What it means: The Colts remain winless, falling to 0-6. They had a fourth-quarter chance to pull even, but Adam Vinatieri's 52-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Nate Clements. Then Reggie Nelson forced a fumble by Pierre Garcon, and the Bengals got a 35-yard touchdown return by Carlos Dunlap to pull out of range.

What I didn’t like: Tight end Dallas Clark has suffered as much as anyone without Peyton Manning. But his first-quarter fumble, when he was stripped by the Bengals, set Cincinnati up for the game’s opening touchdown and had nothing to do with the quarterback. Clark did bounce back with a nice fourth-quarter catch on the right boundary and a 1-yard TD catch.

What I liked: Delone Carter took some carries and ran with the sort of authority the Cols drafted him for, converting a couple short-yardage situations. And Donald Brown had a nice 18-yard touchdown run on a day when the Colts ran the ball reasonable well -- totaling 94 yards and 4.1 yards a carry.

Stat of note: The Colts turned the ball over three times didn’t take it away once.

What’s next: The Colts head for New Orleans and play a rematch of Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints aren’t far off from the team that won that game, while the Colts aren’t even a shell of the AFC Champions of two seasons ago.

Thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers' 17-13 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars:

What it means: It wasn't as easy as many expected, but the Steelers kept pace in the AFC North with their second straight win. Pittsburgh scored on its first three possessions to jump out to a 17-0 lead before going on cruise control a little too early. The Steelers needed to sweat out a Hail Mary in the final seconds to improve their record at home this season to 3-0.

Thumbs up: Running back Rashard Mendenhall. He squashed any notion that he should get benched by running for a season-high 146 yards. Mendenhall scored the game's first touchdown on an 8-yard run and then set up a field goal with a career-long 68-yard dash.

Coming up big: Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley lived up to his big contract for a second straight week. He had two sacks and made a critical tackle for a loss on a third-and-3 in the fourth quarter, which forced a field goal.

Linemen down: Another game, another offensive lineman injured for the Steelers. Left guard Doug Legursky was helped off the field early in the second quarter and was replaced by Trai Essex, who has become more of a starter than a backup with the amount of snaps he's logged this season.

What's next: The Steelers make the long trip west to play at Arizona.

Thoughts on the Jaguars’ 17-13 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field:

What it means: There sure is a hopeless feeling around the Jaguars, who couldn’t really do a thing against the Steelers early on, falling behind 17-0. They rallied only to fall short. They just aren’t able to get a good 60-minute effort, and they now stand 1-5 with a five-game losing streak.

What I didn’t like: Rashean Mathis wound up in a lot of tough situations and didn’t fare well. The cornerback got beat by Mike Wallace on a well-placed touchdown pass. His failures weren’t only in coverage, though. He couldn’t angle to running back Rashard Mendenhall on a touchdown run and then got stiff-armed by the back in what seemed like a half-hearted effort to get to him during a career-best 68-yard run.

What I liked, at times: Blaine Gabbert rarely had time, but he stood in as he got hit and delivered an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jason Hill in the third quarter. It capped a long, time-consuming drive and closed the score to 17-10 despite how badly the Jaguars had been outplayed. He had a nifty scramble to convert one third-and-2. He wound up sacked five times and hurried and hit on plenty of other snaps. Hardly quality conditions for a rookie quarterback to succeed.

Significant stat: The Steelers ran for 185 yards with an average of 5.8.

What’s next: The Jaguars get the national spotlight when "Monday Night Football" rolls in to Jacksonville to see them host the Baltimore Ravens. Will people be compelled to look away?

A few thoughts on the Green Bay Packers' 24-3 victory against the St. Louis Rams:

What it means: The Packers are 6-0 for the first time since 1965. They did most of their offensive damage in the second quarter and cruised through a scoreless second half. Despite giving up 424 yards to the Rams' previously anemic offense, nothing that happened Sunday changed my mind about the Packers' status as the NFL's top team.

RodgersWatch: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a perfect passer rating at halftime after throwing three touchdown passes in the second quarter, including a 93-yarder to receiver Jordy Nelson against some bumbling Rams coverage. But if you were hoping to see Rodgers pile up some record-breaking numbers thereafter, I'm sorry to report it didn't happen. Rodgers managed just 49 yards after halftime, but with a three-score lead, he didn't need to do much.

Offensive numbers: The Packers gave up 321 passing yards to Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. Running back Steven Jackson had 96 yards. If you heard those numbers before the game, you would have thought the Rams would have been in the game. But a Sam Shields' interception in the end zone ended one drive, and the Packers defense made the plays when it counted.

What's next: The Packers will travel to their home-away-from home at the Metrodome to take on the Minnesota Vikings. Packers fans, many of them local, annually buy up thousands of tickets for that game.

Thoughts on the Atlanta Falcons’ victory against the Carolina Panthers the Georgia Dome:

What it means: The Falcons improved to 3-3, but this was about much more than getting to .500. This was about keeping Atlanta’s season from spiraling out of control. There’s still a lot for the Falcons to improve on if they’re going to climb into serious playoff contention. But the Falcons at least bought themselves some time to get things straight. For Carolina, it was the same old story. The Panthers played a nice game and continued to show all sorts of promise for the future. But they’re still not playing quite well enough to win.

What I liked: With receiver Julio Jones out, the Falcons got back to basics on offense. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the Falcons did what they should have been doing all along. They got the ball into the hands of running back Michael Turner and he responded with 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns. There’s no question the Falcons need to pass the ball downfield more later in the season. But, now that they’ve got the running game going, they can reconfigure how they can incorporate the passing game to enhance their offense.

What I didn’t like: The throw by Carolina rookie quarterback Cam Newton that got picked off by Atlanta defensive tackle Corey Peters. It was a screen for DeAngelo Williams. It’s one thing for a rookie to get picked off on a downfield throw. But there’s no excuse for throwing an interception to Peters, who is far from the most athletic player in the league.

Play of the day: Near the end of the second quarter, Carolina was driving -- and very much in the game. But Newton, throwing for the end zone, had a ball tipped by safety William Moore. Cornerback Brent Grimes grabbed the ball for an interception and prevented the Panthers from scoring when it looked they were certain to come away with at least a field goal.

What’s next: The Panthers host the Redskins at Bank of America Stadium next Sunday. The Falcons travel to Detroit next Sunday.

Thoughts on the St. Louis Rams' 24-3 road defeat to the Green Bay Packers in Week 6:

What it means: The Rams fell to 0-5 despite showing small signs of improvement. They probably haven't hit bottom in the standings, either, given that Dallas (road) and New Orleans (home) are next on the schedule. But expectations were low against the unbeaten Packers. This result could have been much worse.

What I liked: Sam Bradford was much more efficient early than in previous games, a positive step for the offense. Sacks weren't nearly the problem they had been previously this season. Rookie tight end Lance Kendricks snapped out of a slump with a 45-yard reception. The Rams' coaching staff made the right call by benching Mike Sims-Walker, holding him accountable for a drop-filled performance against Washington before the Rams' bye. That was the right call and a good reason to give younger receivers a chance. Bradford topped 300 yards and Steven Jackson threatened 100 yards on the ground. The Rams finished with 424 yards.

What I didn't like: Bradford threw an interception in the end zone when the Rams finally had a good scoring chance in the third quarter. He had thrown only one pick all season. Left tackle Rodger Saffold was shaken up late in the game. I'm not going to dwell on negatives in this game because they were relative negatives. Green Bay should have won big -- and arguably bigger than 24-3.

What's next: The Rams visit the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7.