Three Week 6 games will be won or lost at the line of scrimmage

Chicago at Atlanta: the two best ground games

The week's purest trench test is in Atlanta, where the NFL's top two rushing attacks meet. The Bears lead the league at 173.2 yards per game; the Falcons rank second at 166.8. Chicago will look to rebound from last weekend's loss to the Packers and improve to 4-2, but its defense will be missing three key starters — ends Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo and linebacker T.J. Edwards — against running back Bijan Robinson, who leads the league in rushing with 580 yards and four touchdowns. m:…9602

The Bears still have answers on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Caleb Williams is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. On defense, Austin Booker has recorded 4.0 sacks this season, and Chicago ranks second in the league in third-down efficiency at 26.0% — a strength that meets its match in quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who leads the NFL with a 131.3 passer rating on third down. The Bears' weakness is the red zone: they rank last in the NFL with a 42.9% touchdown rate. m:…9602

Green Bay vs. Dallas: worst meets worst

The Packers come into the game with the league's least productive ground game, averaging 60.4 rushing yards per game, and the Cowboys bring the league's worst run defense, allowing 168.4 yards per game. Green Bay has not posted a 100-yard rushing game as a team this season, though the 156 yards of the past two weeks tops the 146 from the first three. MarShawn Lloyd scored his first two career rushing touchdowns last week against the Bears. m:…5738

The Packers' backfield is in flux: Zach Bako-Bewele suffered a season-ending knee injury, and running back Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner's exempt list. Lloyd, coming off his first two career rushing touchdowns, leads the ground game into its most favorable matchup of the season. m:…5738

New Orleans at the Giants: survive the blitz

In New Jersey, the line of scrimmage is about survival. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough has taken 13 sacks and 39 hits through five games, and the Giants are blitzing at a 56.6 percent rate on opponents' dropbacks over their last two games. The 1-4 Saints face the 3-1-1 Giants in New Jersey; the Saints average 82 rushing yards per game while the Giants allow 128. New Orleans says its defense must swarm Giants running back Cam Skattebo to limit his influence. m:…9509 m:…5335

The trench battle has a milestone attached. Cameron Jordan has 132 career sacks and needs one more to pass Lawrence Taylor on the all-time list. On the other side, Giants quarterback Jameis Winston has back-to-back games with three touchdown passes — the production New Orleans has to match while its line holds off the blitz. m:…9509

What the answers will say

This suggests Week 6 will grade three different kinds of line play. Chicago-Atlanta asks which elite ground game controls the game when one defense is missing its edge rushers — and whether the Bears' third-down defense can contain Penix, who leads the NFL in third-down passer rating, after the Bears ranked last in red-zone touchdowns themselves. Green Bay-Dallas asks which breaks first, a bad run offense or a bad run defense. New Orleans-New York asks the oldest question in the sport: can a line under siege keep its quarterback upright against a defense blitzing on more than half of dropbacks, with a career milestone riding on the same afternoon. m:…9602 m:…5738 m:…9509