Week 6 Picks

Week 6 Picks 

Josh's Record: (49-26) – Last week: (12-3)

Jacks Record: (43-32) – Last week: (8-7)

Indianapolis Colts (3-2) at Houston Texans (3-2) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Colts

This week’s Thursday nighter looks to be our first non-blowout and entertaining Thursday night game of the year as the first 5 have been decided by an average of 29 points.  Andrew Luck has been one of the three best QB’s in the league so far and he should find a lot of success against Houston’s defense.  Although they have arguably the best player in the league in JJ Watt at defensive end Houston has had trouble defending the pass.  Their secondary has not been solid and the pass rushers have only generated 7 sacks in 5 games, posting a sack rate of 3.5% which is 24^th in the league.  With a lot of time to throw, Luck and receivers TY Hilton and Reggie Wayne should have a big day.

Josh's Pick: Colts 

The Colts have the longest winning streak Thursday night football with 9 straight wins, the second longest in the NFL is only 3, so that is quite the streak by the Colts. Usually on short weeks, we see the team with the better Quarterback have a night of season highs (Aaron Rodgers against the Vikings, Eli Manning against the Redskins, and Matt Ryan against the Bucs). With both of those trends factoring, the Colts should walked handedly with this victory.

Baltimore Ravens (3-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Ravens

Both teams are coming off tough losses against last year playoff teams in week 5 and are looking to get a bounce back win.  Tampa has had a rough season but has shown signs of promise with Mike Glennon leading the team and they almost beat New Orleans last week.  However, I think the Ravens defense with great rookie MLB CJ Mosley will be able to keep Tampa from scoring and force some Glennon turnovers to a Ravens win.  Also this.

Josh's Pick: Ravens 

The Ravens have a bounce back game but the struggles on offense remain since they are going against a Bucs defense that is getting better each week. The reason for the Ravens pick is because the matchup of the Baltimore defense is favorable against a shaky Bucs air and ground attack. 

Denver Broncos (3-1) at New York Jets (1-4) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Broncos

Jets are coming off a 31-0 thrashing at the hands of Philip Rivers, Brandon Oliver, Michael Vick and Geno Smith’s inability to pass, and the rest of the San Diego Chargers.  Things don’t get any easier this week as they face Peyton Manning and the Broncos crazy good offense.  Rex Ryan is as good of a defensive coach as anyone else in the league, but even he can’t cover the patchwork that is the Jets secondary.  Manning and his band of receivers should be able to torch this secondary en route to an easy win. 

Josh's Pick: Broncos

The Jets are an absolute mess after last week. I actually bet they give a good fight in the first half but the Broncos have too many weapons to cover and the Jets offense isn’t ready for the speed rushing attack that the Broncos bring on defense. 

Detroit Lions (3-2) at Minnesota Vikings (2-3) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Lions

Detroit is coming off an incredibly painful and classic Lions style loss with former Eagles kicker Alex Henery going 0-3 and missing the game winner.  That missed game winner let the Bills drive right down the field and allow Dan Carpetner to kick a 58 yard game winner of his own.  This week they signed Matt Prater who should solve their kicking issues, and anything is going to be better than the 4-12 dumpster fire they had the first 5 weeks.  Even with Megatron’s status in jeopardy I see the Lions being able to put up points and the Vikings will struggle against the Lions stellar run defense.

Josh's Pick: Vikings 

This is one of my upset picks for the week. Teddy Bridgewater will be getting his second start after missing last week’s Thursday debacle against the Packers. I bet their defense feels like they have something to prove after being torched by both the run and the pass last week. Bridgewater will display the accuracy that made him a first round pick, and provide a spark to an offense that desperately needs one. Another pro-vikings factor; Calvin Johnson will probably be sitting out with a high ankle sprain. 

New England Patriots (3-2) at Buffalo Bills (3-2) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Patriots

New England is coming off a huge win against the Bengals on Sunday night and the offense is finally looking good for the first time all season.  Tom Brady basically owns the Bills with a lifetime record of 22-2 against them.  I’m not picking against Brady vs the Bills. 

Josh's Pick: Patriots 

A part of me wants to take this Bills here coming off a game where their defense played great against a loaded Lions team, but I am too high on the Patriots ceiling after a stellar performance on Sunday night. If the Patriots run Ridley like they did last week, they can limit the spotty offense of the Bills and control the pace of the game to notch a road win.

Carolina Panthers (3-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Bengals

This is a tough pick because Cincy’s biggest weapon AJ Green is likely sitting out with a toe injury.  This is a huge blow to the passing game as Andy Dalton loves to throw it up and let green go get it.  However, Carolina has the 23^rd raked rushing defense so I expect Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill to have big days.  Also, Carolina is relying solely on their passing game as they are getting 74.8 yards per game from their RB’s.  Cincy happens to have the best ranked pass defense in the league, this one is definitely in the Bengals favor. 

Josh's Pick: Bengals 

 I believe the Bengals will bounce back like the Patriots did against them. The Panthers are a far better home team then a road team, as they got blown out by Ravens in their last game outside Bank of America Stadium. 

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) at Cleveland Browns (2-2) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Steelers

Things haven’t looked great in Pittsburgh with a loss in Tampa Bay and their offense only managed to up 10 points against the lowly Jaguars.  Cleveland had an impressive 25 point comeback over the Titans, but you shouldn’t be down 28-3 to the Titans anyway.  I think the Browns are going to have a very tough time covering Antonio Brown since he plays in the slot and can avoid lining up against Joe Haden.  Big Ben and Brown should lead the Steelers to a 4-2 record. 

Josh's Pick: Steelers 

Bryan Hoyer has been receiving a lot of buzz and the Browns have certainly been noticed for their highly efficient offense this season. However, their defense has had some struggles and I expect the threesome of Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger to do some damage on offense to seal the road win. 

Green Bay Packers (3-2) at Miami Dolphins (2-2) Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Packers

R-E-L-A-X, is what Aaron Rodgers told his team two weeks ago after their loss to the Detroit Lions where the offense was held to 10 points. Since then he has been absolutely rolling after killing both the Bears and Vikings secondaries.  Although the Dolphins have a solid secondary I see Rodgers continuing his success and having himself a nice day. 

Josh's Pick: Packers 

The Packers offense will be too much to compete with for the Miami offense. Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the league in October. 

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-5) at Tennessee Titans (1-4)  Sunday 1:00 PM

Jacks Pick: Jaguars 

Two of the NFL's bottom feeders square off in this matchup.  Both of these teams are completely inept on offense, however, the Jags defense looked good Sunday and kept Pittsburgh to only 10 points.  If Bortles can take care of the ball and the defense has another good game I could see the Jags pulling off their first win of the season. 

Josh's Pick: Titans 

Despite impressing in Preseason, Bortles hasn’t looked as good as some may have anticipated. He has thrown two picks in every game and isn’t making all the right reads. The Titans offense hasn’t been better but I bet Jacksonville’s offensive ineptitude provides more short fields for the Titans than the Titans provide the Jags. 

San Diego Chargers (4-1) at Oakland Raiders (0-4) Sunday 4:05 PM

Jacks Pick: Chargers

Chargers have a case for the best team in football right now, and Oakland has a strong case for the worst team in football.  San Diego just killed the Jets and have one of the best offenses in football led by MVP candidate Phillip Rivers.  Things won’t get easier for the Raiders either, with 10 of their last 12 games coming against teams that currently have a winning record.  I could easily see this team going 0-16.

Josh's Pick: Chargers 

The Chargers may be playing the best football in the NFL right now, and Raiders might be playing the worst football in the NFL. If the Raiders were within two scores it would be a surprise. 

Chicago Bears (2-3) at Atlanta Falcons (2-3) Sunday 4:25 PM

Jacks Pick: Falcons

This was an extremely tough game to pick because justifying a Falcons pick with that dumpster fire of a defense was extremely difficult.  However, the Matt Ryan led Falcons always play well inside the Georgia Dome and are currently 2-0 there on the year.  Chicago has all the offensive weapons in the world but can’t seem to put it together so I’m taking the Falcons. 

Josh's Pick:  Falcons  

I am taking the Falcons because of Matt Ryan’s continuity as a starting quarterback in a home game. When playing under the roof of the Georgia Dome his winning percentage is miles higher than when he plays on the road. The Bears also struggled two weeks ago against the Packers who have a similar offensive build to the Falcons. 

Dallas Cowboys (4-1) at Seattle Seahawks (3-1) Sunday 4:25 PM

Jacks Pick: Seahawks

Never pick against the Seahawks at home is the general reason for picking them here.  Dallas has been relying on their running attack from leading rusher Demarco Murray and probably the best O-Line in the entire league blocking for him.  However, the Seahawks defense is 1^st in the league in yards per carry and we all know how good their secondary is.  I think the Seahawks will be able to stop this offense pretty easily, and force some mistakes from Romo.  Look for this one to end on a classic heartbreaking Romo 4^th quarter interception. 

Josh's Pick: Seahawks 

This game will be a close one as the Cowboys offensive line and Seattle’s defensive front will be one of the premier matchups of the weekend. I bet Seattle’s offense displays great efficiency against a Cowboys defense that has some lack of talent.

Washington Redskins (1-4) at Arizona Cardinals (3-1) Sunday 4:25 PM

Jacks Pick: Cardinals

The Skins looked good in a loss against the Seahawks at home last week and the Cardinals just got thrashed by the Broncos.  The Cardinals are by far the more talented team but it’s tough to pick them because we don’t know who will be playing for them at QB.  If its Palmer or Stanton I like their chances against a weak Redskins defense, but if Logan Thomas has to start they will struggle to move the ball.  However, I still have faith that the Cardinals can pull out another win and move to 4-1.

Josh's Pick: Cardinals 

I’m playing it safe and picking the Cardinals despite them being torched last week by Manning and the Broncos. Kirk played efficiently against the vaunted Seahawks defense, but I don’t know if he can go two mistake free weeks against two stereotyped top 10 defenses. The shakiness at QB for the Cardinals is concerning but I’m hoping they ride their defense and make use of Andre Ellington to aid their QB to take this one

NY Giants (3-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) Sunday 8:30 PM 

Jacks Pick: Eagles 

The Eagles have a struggling running back, struggling QB, depleted offensive line, are 29th in total defense, lead the league in giveaways and still have a 4-1 record.  What? This weird situation makes it very hard to project the Eagles future success, they could either be getting extremely lucky, or their offense will turn around at some point and they will be extremely dangerous.  This game is very difficult for me to predict since the Eagles have more talent in my opinion than the Giants, but the Giants have looked awesome these last 3 weeks.  I give the Eagles a slight edge over the Giants just because it’s a home game.  I expect this to be a great game. 

Josh's Pick: Giants 

I hate to take the Giants but they are trending in the right direction. In Eli’s last three games he has over a 70 percent completion percentage along with 8 touchdowns and only one interception. The Eagles have struggled heavily since the injuries on their offensive line started, and Shady hasn’t been the same back as a season ago, only averaging 2.9 yards per carry in 2014. Eli’s weapons are getting stronger and I don’t think the Eagles will be able to pull off the home victory. 

San Francisco 49ers (3-2) at St. Louis Rams (1-3) Monday 8:30 PM

Jacks Pick: 49ers 

The Rams have found a nice surprise in QB Austin Davis and the team is 6th in the league in passing yards.  However, teams have been able to run on them to the tune of 152 yards per game.  I think Kaepernick and Frank Gore will run all over this defense and get the Niners their third straight victory.  

Josh's Pick: 49ers

Austin Davis showed some heart against the eagles last week, almost pulling together a crazy fourth quarter comeback. I feel like this game will be closer than people might expect but Kaep will of course struggle throughout and rely on the ground game to secure the win.