Halloween came early with my Week Six NFL Picks and, frankly, it doesn’t help much that everybody who puts out game picks is in the tank this season. My goal is, as always, to soundly defeat everyone and anyone in the pick-o-sphere. I want to stand above their crumpled bodies and hear the lamentation of their significant others of whatever genders they’re into. Not be down here in a huge pile of mediocrity. That’s not me, for God’s sake. I’m not Boomer Esiason.
Luckily, I have 11 more weeks plus the playoffs to separate myself from this rabble. Here’s how I did.
This week
Straight up: 5-9
Against the spread: 5-9
Last week
Straight up: 6-8
Against the spread: 6-8
Season
Straight up: 48-43
Against the spread: 43-48
My best pick of the week was, hands down, the New England Patriots winning but not covering against the New York Jets. There’s just so many issues with the Pats defense and the Jets had been solid enough on offense to move the ball. I was as shocked as everybody else they were up 14-0 in the first quarter. And I was just as angry as everybody else when the refs stole a touchdown from the Jets late. That one is a black eye on the NFL, but, regardless, I still got to count it as a win on both sides of the bracket.
My worst pick? The Kansas City Chiefs over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, the Chiefs were the overwhelming favorite here and plenty of people got this one wrong. The problem is, I knew it when I wrote it up. I had a feeling the Steelers would knock them off and I just didn’t trust my gut. I was already trusting it with my Los Angeles Rams – Jacksonville Jaguars pick and didn’t want to give my entrails two picks last week. I regret it.
The best Week Six belonged to Chris Burke at Tthe Atlantic, my man crush Kurt Warner at the NFL Network and Mike Renner from Pro Football Focus, who all went 9-5. The worst straight up selections belonged to Ryan Van Bibber from SBNation who went 3-11 all by himself.
In the overall standings, I’m still in the top 40 percent, tied with Jarrett Bell of USA Today, David Moore of The Dallas Morning News, Peter King of MMQB and Stephen White of SBNation.
Against the spread, Mike Clay of ESPN had an incredible week, going 11-3. Will Brinson of CBS Sports, who I spent all last season shitting on, went 10-4. The worst record? That belongs to Scott Thurston of The Boston Globe who went 3-11. For the season, like in the straight up picks, I’m still in the top 40 percent, right behind Pete Prisco of CBS Sports and New Scruggs of The Dallas Morning News.
EARLY NFL WEEK SEVEN LINES
Thursday
Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (+3), O/U: 47.0
Sunday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills (N/A), O/U: N/A
Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears (+3), O/U: 40.5
Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns (+5.5), O/U: 46.5
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers (+5.5), O/U: 48.0
Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (+3), O/U: 43.5
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams (-3.5), O/U: 47.5
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins (-3), O/U: 38.5
Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings (-5.5), O/U: 39.5
Sunday Late Games
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers (+6), O/U: 47.0
Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (-5.5), O/U: 41.0
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (N/A), O/U: N/A
Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants (+5.5), O/U: 38.5
Sunday Night
Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots (-3.5), O/U: 55.0
Monday Night
Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (-5), O/U: 48.5
Byes: Detroit Lions, Houston Texans
NFL WEEK SIX INJURIES
No bigger injury hit the NFL landscape harder than when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was driven into the turf by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr on a legal hit. Rodgers broke his collarbone and will require surgery to fix it. He’ll probably be out the rest of the season. Needless to say, this sends a shockwave throughout the NFC and, especially, the NFC North.
QB: Aaron Rodgers
RB: David Johnson, Dalvin Cook
WR: OBJ, Edelman
OL: Marshall Yanda
TE: Greg Olsen
DE: JJ Watt
S: Eric Berry
Only week 6 🤕
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 16, 2017
The primary beneficiaries of this injury are the Minnesota Vikings, who were able to down the Packers 23-10 with Case Keenum at quarterback Sunday. Both Minnesota and Green Bay are now 4-2 and the Vikings have to be seen as the favorites to win that division now.
But don’t count out Green Bay just yet. At his press conference Monday, head coach Mike McCarthy bristled at the idea of bringing in a veteran quarterback to replace Rodgers. Speculation started as early as Sunday night that the Packers could talk Wisconsin native Tony Romo out of the broadcast booth or bring in Colin Kaepernick, also from Wisconsin, to take over. McCarthy made it clear neither of those things would happen.
“I’ve got three years invested in Brett Hundley, two years invested in Joe Callahan,” McCarthy said. “The quarterback room is exactly where it needs to be, OK? We’re fortunate to have a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. We’re committed to the path that we’re on. We need to play better as a football team.”
Brett Hundley is the first player not named Aaron Rodgers to throw a TD pass for the Packers since Matt Flynn in Week 16, 2013. pic.twitter.com/f71ehpvym1
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 15, 2017
Hundley was a fifth round pick out of UCLA back in 2015 and is a guy that other teams were going to look hard at for a potential starting job this off-season. He threw three picks against the Vikings Sunday, but that’s off desperation moments and trying to get something going. Hundley will get the chance to make the most of his audition for other teams this year and I think he’ll be fine.
I’m less a believer in Joe Callahan and feel like if Hundley does stumble, McCarthy will be picking up that phone for somebody, probably Kaepernick.
Barr didn’t escape the game unscathed. He left in the second half with a concussion and is in the league’s protocol. It was a bad day for Green Bay all around. Starting tackles Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari, both no stranger to injury reports this year, got banged up. Bulaga is in the concussion protocol himself and Bakhtiari injured his hamstring.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston sprained his AC joint in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He’s listed as day-to-day. Winston, for his part, doesn’t think he’ll miss any time.
“I’ve come out of a game before, but I don’t think I’ve ever missed a game (in my life), Winston told ESPN. “I don’t think I’m going to miss a game (now), either.”
https://twitter.com/AllThatChazz1/status/919676096144117761
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