NFL Week 6 Preview

After two weeks of good Thursday night games, we’re either going to see a massive blowout or a mistake filled penalty fest where the referee is the star of the show here. Chances are it will be the former because if there’s one thing we know about Bill Belichick coached teams is that they are prepared regardless of whether they are playing on four, six, eight or 15 days of rest. With a strong defence, they should be able to take advantage of a depleted New York Giants offence and keep them in single digit points. In terms of betting, the question here is whether or not the Patriots can get to 30 in this game and essentially reach the over on their own. That’s a bit much to ask, especially with limited receivers for Brady to go to. Instead look for them to get to something like a 27-3 lead and sit on it from there.

We’re headed back to London for the second Bucs-Panthers matchup in the space of four weeks. Tampa came into Carolina in week two and took full advantage of a beaten up Cam Newton to come away with a victory. This time around though, it’s going to be the Christian McCaffery show with Kyle Allen playing a supporting role instead of trying to do it all himself like Newton was guilty of at times. That has been good enough for three straight wins and that momentum should carry across to London here. I’ll back the Panthers in a high scoring clash as both sides take advantage of defences that have some questions about them.

After lengthy discussions in the office… we still have no idea how Jacksonville is favoured in this game. New Orleans somehow is an underdog here and it’s worth jumping on that price now in case they get bet into favouritism. As long as Teddy Bridgewater continues to avoid making mistakes and the rest of his team does their bit, they should have no trouble dismissing the Jaguars.

The Eagles return to the site of their Super Bowl LII triumph and if Carson Wentz can replicate the production of his then backup Nick Foles they could be in for a big win over the Vikings. Sure Kirk Cousins looked ok against the Giants but… it’s the Giants. The Eagles dismantled the other New York team as well but that also comes with an asterisk to it. Both sides would love to get their ground game going here and I give a slight edge to the Eagles, but I’ll back the two bellcows to also find the end zone for a same game multi.

These two sides are as bad as it can get in the NFL now so it’s probably fitting we get to see them face off here. The main question is whether or not you think that Washington will respond to the firing of Jay Gruden. They might but the talent is that sparse on the team it’s not even worth taking a flyer on at that price. Miami is similarly bereft of talent so in a matchup between two bad teams, take the home underdog… if you want to take anyone here.

In terms of the early slate of games, this is definitely the pick of the bunch. Houston is coming off a dominant win over Atlanta while Kansas City is a little beaten up but still capable of pretty much anything. Houston’s biggest issue has been consistency and while they can be the most entertaining side to watch when on their game, it doesn’t seem all that likely they’ll be able to back up from last week.  The deciding factor here could be the health of Patrick Mahomes, the league’s magician in chief who was clearly limited in last weekend’s loss to Indy. While we’d love to see him and Deshaun Watson trading blows for four quarters (and maybe overtime) this is probably going to turn into a bit more of a grind. If Mahomes is limited it really does limit the potential of the Chiefs offence and that puts the normally high total in jeopardy. Kansas City is still going to be good enough to win this game, but it won’t be a huge fireworks display.

“Seattle should win & it’s only 1.5 points so why not take the point” is exactly what went through my mind last week before the Rams game. Of course that backfired when DK Metcalfe couldn’t bring in the two point conversion so… we’re going to go back to the well here and see if the Seahawks can make Cleveland’s misery continue. Something is still very, very wrong with the Browns, maybe it’s chemistry, maybe it’s injury, maybe it’s coaching. Either way, I’m happy to go back to Seattle at the line, Wilson might be putting together an MVP season and they do have some good momentum going for them now.

The Bengals are not very good and should be nothing more than a minor inconvenience for the Ravens to run over. It’s a case of Baltimore by how much and looking at the way this clash is set up, it could be by quite a lot so take the Ravens in a big way, even with the risk of it being a divisional matchup. As for the points, for a franchise known as a defensive powerhouse, they’ve actually been a good overs play so far this year and they are more than capable of putting up 40 points on their own.

Are the 49ers… good? That was a really impressive display humiliating the Browns on Monday Night Football and the Rams are up next. The Rams managed to sweep the Jimmy Garropolo-less Niners last season including a wild 48-32 game in week 17 but chances are this one goes under. While they do have their quarterback in place, he is still playing a supporting role as the ground game takes over, although if he needs to win a game he probably could. In the last two weeks the Rams have given up over 400 yards but they will be hoping that the mini-bye following their loss in Seattle. If they allow San Francisco to run anywhere near as well as the Seahawks did this game could be headed for an upset and the under as the 49ers keep the ball away from their hosts.

After much debate, a lot of yelling and protests… we decided to actually write a preview for this game, but it won’t be a long one. Atlanta should win this game by a lot just comparing the rosters, but these games aren’t decided on rosters alone and it really does look like Atlanta has given up on coach Dan Quinn. It might not net a winner every week but it’s worth backing against Atlanta until a change is made.

The Samchise is back in the Big Apple! Ok we promise never to use that phrase again, but it’s not a minute too soon for the Jets to get their signal caller back under centre… or in the shotgun. The Jets have really struggled without him though but it does at least give some hope that Le’Veon Bell might be able to get going now teams have to worry about a forward pass or two. Dallas is still the better side though and will win here thanks to a heavy dose of Ezekiel Elliot but Darnold in his first game back should keep the game close.

If you winced when you saw this matchup, you’re not alone. Sure Denver are back at home and maybe they might be starting to get something going but there is no way there’s a whole lot of points in this one. This could be a first team to 20 wins and unless there’s a couple of defensive or special teams touchdowns, this might be a real struggle to get to even that score.

If you looked at the Chargers injury report you’d be thinking that there was no side more beaten up with injuries… until you saw the Steelers. Their quarterback situation alone is enough to almost, kind make you feel something resembling sympathy for them. In all fairness, Devlin Hodges didn’t look as bad as some of the other fill in quarterbacks if he does have to go in place of Mason Rudolph, but the Steelers will be a bit too limited in that case and just won’t be able to match whatever the Chargers can do.

Detroit just doesn’t win meaningful games in Green Bay although you’d be forgiven for thinking they had a decent shot considering the Packers setup here. In the four games before their bye, the Lions gave up over 100 yards on the ground and after four touchdowns from Packers running back Aaron Jones last week against Dallas, you have to expect he’s on course for a very good game here.