Undefeated no more! Eagles with a sluggish offense and banged up secondary fall from the unbeated as do the 49ers in a sloppy Cleveland contest. With no undefeated teams left, the Eagles and 49ers now join the Lions, Dolphins and Chiefs as the only 1-loss squads. Only the Panthers are winless but they’re not the worst team in the NFL. One-win Broncos, Giants, and Patriots teams have been pretty pathetic. The Bears and Cards are also at the bottom but Chicago seems to be trying to make adjustments Fields and the Cards are actually punching above their weight while they wait for Kyler Murry to return. A pretty great slate considering some of the injuries and bad or backup QB play this early in the season. The Lions/Ravens, Chargers/Chiefs, Dolphins/Eagles should be fun. Jags/Saints, Browns/Colts, Falcons/Bucs, Steelers/Rams, all have stakes. Cards/Seahawks should be entertaining. A few favorites on the road: Raiders, Bills, Washington, Packers, 49ers, is also recipt for some upsets.
Week 1: 12-4
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 7-7
Week 6: 9-6
Jaguars 4-2 @ Saints 3-3
The Jags ripped up a bad Minshew team last week and got the offense going. Derek Carr put the ball in the air 50 times against the Texans and couldn’t get the job done on the road. They also gave up over 100 yards to one of the worst rushing teams in the league. I think the Jags with the better offense get it done.
Pick: Jaguars
Raiders 3-3 @ Bears 1-5
The Raiders still aren’t good with wins over the Broncos, Packers, Pats by a combined 8 points. Fields is probably out for the Bears. What a garbage game. Potential for two back-up QB’s in this one if G-man is too banged up and Brian Hoyer has to step in.
Possible-Weekly QB Counter: 2
Pick: Raiders
Browns 3-2 @ Colts 3-3
Yuck. Another backup QB game? Does it matter who plays Qb for the Colts? How do you ride with Minshew against the Browns defensive front that needed a little rain help, but whooped up on the 49ers?
Possible-Weekly QB Counter: 4
Pick: Browns
Bills 4-2 @ Patriots 1-5
I’d like to see Malik Cunningham start for the Pats. The Bills look awesome at times and throw some real duds up on some occasions. On 9 possessions against the Giants they had 2 missed field goals, 2 turnovers, 3 punts, 2 Tds. It shouldn’t have taken a 14 point 4th quarter and a late no-call to survive at home against the struggling Giants.
Possible-Weekly QB Counter: 5
Pick: Bill
Washington 3-3 @ Giants 1-5
Speaking of those Giants, Tyrod Taylor didn’t shoot the Giants in the foot last week but he didn’t lead an awesome offense. 0-5 in the red zone, a fumble, 4.7 yards-per-pass wasn’t great. 10/13 on 3rd down and no turnovers (didn’t lose fumble) was efficient at least. Washington forced 3 turnovers last week against the Falcons and leaned on Howell although the offense wasn’t impressive for them either. I daresay, I’m going with the home team and Tyrod this week.
Possible-Weekly QB Counter: 6
Pick: Giants
Falcons 3-3 @ Buccaneers 3-2
Rough week for these too. Falcons hit the Commanders. Buccaneers hit the Lions buzzsaw. Desmond Ridder’s three turnovers single handly cost the Falcons a better offensive performance than the Commanders. The losing out of the bye week doesn’t reflect well but the talent is just better.
Pick: Buccaneers
Lions 5-1 @ Ravens 4-2
Oooo baby a big game between two potential Super Bowl teams. Detroit has to win another game on the road and is still banged up. They won 4 straight by 14+ points. The running back position could be a toss-up. Lamar has been one of the best QB’s in the league but his receivers are killing him and they could be 6-0 without self-inflected issues. Effective running back play has been an issue for the Ravens as well. I picked against the Lions last week though and that was a mistake.
Pick: Lions
Steelers 3-2 @ Rams 3-3
Williams could be out for the Rams and that would put a lot of the offense on Stafford. He can do it with his receiving core now healthy. The Steelers offense isn’t very good but it doesn’t help that Kendrick at CB was arrested this week.
Pick: Rams
Cardinal 1-5 @ Seahawks 3-2
Seattle might have something working in the secondary and the offense has been healthy. Last weeks sloppy game was an anomaly.
Pick: Seahawks
Packers 2-3 @ Broncos 1-5
GB is coming off a bye but I think they suck. You trust the staff to not lose coming out of a bye even though they’re playing in altitude.
Pick: Packers
Chargers 2-3 @ Chiefs 5-1
Woof Charger fans. Here we go again. Your past the bye week, lost at home to two good teams in the Cowboys and Dolphins and squeaked by in your two wins. Injuries are biting and it already looks like you’re not a playoff team less than halfway through the season. The Chiefs defense is good but the offense is shaky. If Kelce is healthy it doesn’t take much to move the ball against the Chargers.
Pick: Chiefs
Dolphins 5-1 @ Eagles 5-1
Philly has been sluggish all season and the Jets finally got them last week. The Fins have appropriately rolled the Giants and Panthers the past two weeks. Perhaps if they didn’t score so often the defense would have to stop so many opposing drives. The Eagles defense has been much better and can disrupt Miami if they have some guys back from injury.
Pick: Eagles
49ers 5-1 @ Vikings 2-4
It took a slop-fest for the 49ers to fall against the Browns. The Vikings will blitz at a crazy rate and can cause problems for Purdy who isn’t a top-level QB. If Deebo and CMC are out the top weapon pool shrinks. I still don’t think the Vikings can move the ball enough against SF.
Pick: 49ers
On bye: Bengals, Cowboys, Jets, Panthers, Texans, Titans
