Week 6 Picks

After taking care of the Cowboys, Tom Brady looks to 

pile up the points against the Indianapolis Colts

who were the teams that accused him of inflating footballs

(via BusinessInsider)

Atlanta -3 @ New Orleans - Atlanta's passing attack was slowed down by Washington's defense last week but pulled out a win thanks to Devonta Freeman opening up the running game.  New Orleans defense has been vulnerable, and Drew Brees has had trouble throwing the ball downfield because of his shoulder injury.  While New Orleans could get a boost from its homecrowd, \Atlanta is poised to continue its undefeated season.

Denver -4.5 @ Cleveland - People are getting nervous about Peyton Manning's arm as Denver failed to score an offensive touchdown last week.  That being said, Denver's defense looks to be one the best in the league.  Josh McCown was great leading Cleveland to over 500 yards last week but it looks like the that may have more to do with the Ravens' lack of defense.

Cincinnati (-3.5) @ Buffalo - The Bengals overcame a 17 point deficit against Seattle to pull out a win.  While there are signs that Cincinnati is becoming complacent, Buffalo is dealing with a lot of injuries including quarterback Tyrod Taylor, running backs LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams and top wideout Sammy Watkins.

Kansas City @ Minnesota Vikings (-3.5) - Minnesota is coming off a bye and looks to get its running game going again with Adrian Peterson.  Kansas City in the meantime lost Jamal Charles for the season.  Crowd noise could be a factor which could make it difficult for Kansas City going.

Houston (-1) @ Jacksonville - Both teams are looking for their second wins.   Brian Hoyer did a good job getting the passing game going, finding DeAndre Hopkins who secured another 100 yard game.  Bortles had a decent showing against the Bucaneers but the Jaguars run defense struggled to contain Doug Martin and gave up 37 points.

Chicago @ Detroit (-3) - Detroit looks to secure its first win against a division rival at home.  While Jay Cutler has been surprisingly effective this season, Detroit could pose to be a tougher match especially with its pride on the line after getting blown out the previous week by Arizona.

Washington (+6) @ New York Jets-  This game comes down to which quarterback can limit his mistakes the most.  Kirk Cousins had a dreadful interception which resulted in a pick six that resulted in an overtime loss.  Then again, Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Harvard graduate, has been known to make similar mistakes throughout his career.  Washingon's secondary will be tested by Jet's Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker.  This game should be a battle of the leagues top defenses, and it could be a low scoring game.

Arizona (-3) @ Pittsburgh- Big Ben started practicing to face his former quarterback coach Bruce Arians who is now the head coach of the Arizona.  Even if Roethlisberger returns, he may have to shake up some rust after suffering a sprained MCL.  Carson Palmer suffered a career altering knee injury against the Steelers in the playoffs when he was on the Bengals, which could inspire some extra motivation.

Miami Dolphins @ Tennessee Titans (-2.5) - Miami fired their head coach Joe Philbin and replaced with Dan Campbell who looks to add to the Dolphins toughness.  While Miami is coming off a bye and looking to change its philosophy, Tennessee has shown signs of being a competent football team with Marcus Mariotta.  Miami's problem now appears to be a lack of talent, not toughness.

Carolina (+7) @ Seattle - Carolina has typically played Seattle close in their past few meetings and is also coming off a bye.  Of course, this is a must win for Seattle but Russell Wilson could be tested by Carolina's defense.  Seattle will need to figure out how to integrate tight end Jimmy Graham into the offense.  Graham has been putrid in run blocking and Pete Carroll has not utilized  him effectively as one of the pass catching tight end.  

San Diego @ Green Bay (-10) - Aaron Rodgers was not perfect last week as he threw two interceptions against St. Louis last week.   However, it remains unclear if the Chargers' defense is up to the task, especially after giving up a game winning 4th quarter drive to Michael Vick.  Phillip Rivers has been solid so far this season but Green Bay's defense has been pretty effective in forcing turnovers.

Baltimore @ San Francisco (-2.5) - Three years ago, Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick faced off in the Super Bowl.  Now, both of their teams are 1-4 and each team's postseason's hopes are dwindling.  The 49ers did play better than the Ravens last week, since they almost came away with a win against the NY Giants while the Ravens managed to make Josh McCown look like one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

New England Patriots (-8) @ Indianapolis Colts - These games between Tom Brady's Patriots and Andrew Luck's Colts have not been close in recent history.  Look for New England to try to run up the score if this game shifts in New England's favor as they try to seek revenge about Deflategate.  Colt's wideout Andre Johnson looks to be a living and breathing football player as he finally got on the board by scoring 2 touchdowns against the Texans.  Still, there are still a lot of questions about Indianapolis's offensive line.  Things do not get easier for the Colts, as four of the Colts' next five games are against teams that are currently undefeated.

NY Giants (+3.5) @ Philadelphia - Eli Manning and New York Giants almost let one get away against the struggling 49ers, while the Eagles comfortably put away the New Orleans Saints in the second half.  While Sam Bradford could exploit the weaknesses in the Giants lack of pass rush, it could be difficult for the Eagles to contain Odell Beckham, who was key in the final comeback to close out the game against San Francisco.

Last week: 8-4-1

Season: 46-27-3