ICYMI: The Best NFL Stories You Missed from Week 6

BALL FOR NAUGHT

You've probably never heard of Bashaud Breeland, because the only NFL stories coming out of Washington, D.C., revolve around the quarterback. Yet Breeland—a fourth-round pick in the 2014 Draft who missed training camp with an MCL injury, and the first week of the season due to a marijuana suspension—has not only locked down a starting job; he's locking down some of the best receivers in the NFL. While his miserable team is already marking time to the end of the season, Breeland's spectacular individual effort resulted in three of his team's four scores last weekend against the Jets, even though he plays defense.

Breeland's first big play came on Washington's first defensive snap of the game. Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Eric Decker for a 10-yard gain, but safety Dashon Goldson quickly hit Decker and sent the ball flying. Breeland pounced on the ball as it hit the turf, securing possession and setting up a touchdown drive.

The lead wouldn't last: the Jets answered with a touchdown drive of their own, and later added a field goal. Later in the first half, with the Jets still protecting their 10-7 lead, Breeland made the hustle play of the game.

On a first-and-10, Breeland was lined up man-to-man on Brandon Marshall. At the snap, Fitzpatrick locked onto Marshall, who ran a quick slant. The ball came out fast, and Marshall turned upfield, looking to get loose. Instead, he ran into Breeland—who bear-hugged Marshall, spun him around, and dug the ball out of his grasp. Less than three minutes later, kicker Dustin Hopkins equalized from 54 yards out.

On the ensuing drive, Breeland again got the better of Marshall and Fitzpatrick, this time using his strength and speed to slow down Marshall at the line, turn to get inside position, and pick the pass off:

This — Washington Redskins (@Redskins)October 21, 2015

Washington again converted the turnover to points, taking a 13-10 lead into halftime.

It wasn't enough, of course: the Jets caught fire in the second half and won 34-20, which, again, is probably why you missed it. Breeland's incredible three-turnover performance firmly established him as a young player worth paying attention to, even if nobody's paying attention.

THE FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM

We all heard about the heroics of Landry Jones, the Bon Iver tambourine player third-string Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, in the Steelers' upset of the red-hot Arizona Cardinals. While it was nice to see the 2013 fourth-round pick get a chance to play and then make the most of it, the reality is he's, at best, a temporary solution for a problem the Steelers don't really have.

It's unclear whether Jones will play in Week 7, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette wrote late Thursday night. The Steelers will turn back to starter Ben Roethlisberger as soon as his health will allow it, whether it's this week or next,

Meanwhile, the Steelers kicker job has started to resemble that of Spinal Tap drummer, The season-ending preseason injury to stalwart Shaun Suisham—and another one to his would-be replacement, Garrett Hartley—has kept Pittsburgh scrambling to find someone who can kick the ball straight through the swirling winds of Heinz Field.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee made just six of his 10 field goal attempts as a Steeler; his two fourth-quarter misses against the Baltimore Ravens cost the Steelers that game (and, eventually, Scobee his gig). The Steelers held an open tryout to replace Scobee, and Chris Boswell—an undrafted free agent out of Rice—got the job.

The Steelers' fourth kicker this year has been perfect on field goals across two games so far. In Week 6, he went 4-for-4 from distances of 28, 47, 48, and 51 yards. Two of those field goals, and his lone extra point that night, came at the end of Jones drives, helping the Steelers slam the door on Cardinals head coach, and former Steelers offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians.

For his effort, the Steelers kicker was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Boswell not only helped Jones pull off the Week 6 win; he might end up saving the Steelers' season.

HEY MISTER WILSON

The Kansas City Chiefs came into the season loaded with offensive weapons: Pro Bowl tailback Jamaal Charles, free-agent Pro Bowl wideout Jeremy Maclin, budding superstar tight end Travis Kelce, and third-round receiver Chris Conley, whose eye-popping combine numbers and self-directed, self-starring Star Wars fan film must be seen to be believed.

After six weeks, the Chiefs are 1-5, Charles is out for the year, Maclin has just one touchdown, and Conley's barely made an impact.

Enter Albert Wilson, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia State who's in just his second season. The Charles-less Chiefs offense was sleepwalking through a surprisingly winnable road game against the Minnesota Vikings—and when they weren't stumbling into furniture, VICE Sports readers already know, head coach Andy Reid was actively tripping them up.

Quarterback Alex Smith has struggled to throw vertically all season long, even by his own vertically challenged standards. But on a second-half third-and-10, Wilson took one of Smith's horizontal passes and made the vertical bit happen all by himself:

Albert Wilson goes the distance for Kansas City to narrow Minnesota's lead to 13-10. — Peter Elliott (@redsoxforever42)October 18, 2015

The Chiefs' loss to the Vikings all but ends their season, dropping them a whopping five games behind the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos. If Reid is coaching for his job (and if he isn't, he should be), he'll need to keep getting the ball into Wilson's hands.

How does the old coaching chestnut go? "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"? It's not that Reid, Smith, Maclin, Kelce, or Conley aren't working hard, and it's not that Wilson isn't talented. But for a desperate Chiefs team, production beats prestige when prestige isn't producing.