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Six undefeated teams will put their spotless records on the line in Week 6. For NESN.com’s expert pickers, protecting spotless records isn’t really a problem.
The number-crunching, football-watching, pick-making trifecta of Mike Cole, Ricky Doyle and Ben Watanabe each went 7-6-1 last week, as their mediocre showing of picks matched quite well with a mediocre slate of games. Ahead, though, Week 6 features plenty of juicy matchups.
The Denver Broncos put their 5-0 record on the line against the scrappy Cleveland Browns, the Arizona Cardinals look to bring Michael Vick and the Pittsburgh Steelers back down to earth and the Green Bay Packers are huuuuuuuge favorites over the San Diego Chargers.
Oh yeah, and the New England Patriots are licking their chops at a rematch with the Indianapolis Colts, who helped spark the eight-month-long embarrassment known as Deflategate.
Our standings heading into Week 6:
Ben Watanabe: 46-29-2. (Last week: 7-6-1) Kirk Cousins and Mike Vick came through for him; Nick Foles and Sebastian Janikowski, not so much.
Mike Cole: 41-34-2. (Last week: 7-6-1) Now has taken the Jaguars twice this season to cover. He should probably stop doing that.
Ricky Doyle: 40-35-2. (Last week: 7-6-1) Shouldn’t we assess these guys five bonus points for all posting identical records? That’s quite a feat.
On to Week 6!
THURSDAY, OCT. 15
(-3) Atlanta Falcons (5-0) at New Orleans Saints (1-4), 8:25 p.m. ET
Ricky: Falcons. Atlanta has a plus-5 turnover differential. New Orleans has a minus-5. Add those numbers together and you get zero, which is my confidence in the Saints this season.
Ben: Falcons. Atlanta failed to cover last week for the first time all season, but Washington presented problems for the Falcons that New Orleans simply can’t.
Mike: Falcons. The Saints’ defense stinks a little less at home than on the road, but after seeing the Eagles put up 500 yards last week, they could play this game on Bourbon Street, and I’d still take Atlanta to cover.
SUNDAY, OCT. 18
(-3.5) Cincinnati Bengals (5-0) at Buffalo Bills (3-2), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Bengals. EJ Manuel is starting for the Bills this week? That’s all I needed to know.
Ben: Bengals. Buffalo’s tough at home, but Andy Dalton and Los Tigres look like they’re for real — at least until December and January roll around.
Mike: Bengals. If Manuel wasn’t starting at quarterback, I’d be all over the Bills, who are 6-1 against the spread in their last seven at home against Cincy. But still.
(-4) Denver Broncos (5-0) at Cleveland Browns (2-3), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Broncos. Denver’s defense leads the NFL with 22 sacks. Cleveland, meanwhile, has allowed 18 sacks, third-most in the NFL. Something tells me Josh McCown won’t throw for 457 yards this week.
Ben: Broncos. The Browns have beaten the spread nicely a couple times this season — including last week’s win over the Ravens — and the Broncos have been on the verge of a couple letdowns. But Denver’s 5-1 against the spread in its last six matchups with Cleveland, so we’ll side with history here.
Mike: Browns. Give me the points! The total has gone under in five of the Broncos’ last seven games, and I think another low-scoring game is in order this week. If that’s the case, a four-point spread seems pretty big.
Chicago Bears (2-3) at (-2.5) Detroit Lions (0-5), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Lions. I was the only one last week to correctly pick the Bears over the Chiefs. In an effort to trump that stroke of genius this week, I’m going to pick one of the few teams worse than Chicago. Because why not? Let’s let our hair down.
Ben: Bears. The NFL has teams with lions, tigers (Bengals) and bears mascots. It’s honestly taken me more than three decades on this earth to realize this. Oh my.
Mike: Bears. Maybe the best thing the Bears have going for them right now is that they’re not the Lions.
(EV) Houston Texans (1-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Texans. I’ll lose any respect I have for Tom Brady’s former backups if Brian Hoyer can’t beat the Jaguars. Sorry, Rohan Davey, wherever you are.
Ben: Jaguars. We are contractually obligated to address this game, however briefly. I don’t know who will win, but I know who will lose, and it’s the American people.
Mike: Jaguars. What the hell. This job sucks sometimes.
Kansas City Chiefs (1-4) at (-4) Minnesota Vikings (2-2), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Vikings. There are so many running back committees nowadays that most teams probably could overcome losing their leading rusher. The Chiefs aren’t one of those teams.
Ben: Vikings. Just when their schedule brought some relief, the Chiefs lose their most important player in Jamaal Charles. Kansas City might not win five games.
Mike: Vikings. The Chiefs’ offense was average at best with Charles playing. With him gone, oh boy.
Washington Redskins (2-3) at (-7) New York Jets (3-1), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Jets. Kirk Cousins hasn’t thrown more than one touchdown pass in a game this season. I can’t imagine that changes this week against a good Jets defense that ranks second in the NFL in pass defense (185.5 yards per game).
Ben: Redskins. Washington was able to cover against a good quarterback in Matt Ryan. Its defense should have no trouble doing the same (and more) against Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Mike: Jets. How do the Redskins score points? I don’t get it. Even if DeSean Jackson is able to return, he’s going straight to Revis Island, and I think the Jets actually win this game relatively easily– which may end up being the dumbest thing ever said.
(-3) Arizona Cardinals (4-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Cardinals. Arizona has faced a weak schedule. I get that. But the Cards still look legit. Mike Vick can’t fart around until the fourth quarter and expect to win this one.
Ben: Cardinals. On Monday, Vick was able to “lead” a game-winning drive. Against an NFL opponent. In the year 2015. Lightning like that doesn’t strike twice in consecutive weeks.
Mike: Cardinals. It’s been a rough season for Mike Tomlin, who’s seemingly had one or two instances every week where you scratch your head and go “Huh?” The Cardinals, unlike the Chargers on Monday night, should make the Steelers pay if that happens Sunday.
Miami Dolphins (1-3) at (-2.5) Tennessee Titans (1-3), 1 p.m.
Ricky: Dolphins. The Dolphins will win this week and probably next week against the Texans, giving off the illusion they’re playing inspired football under their interim head coach. They’ll then travel to New England in Week 8 and get hung from the flagpole by their underwear.
Ben: Dolphins. There’s so much nonsense going on in Miami, but this will be the game where Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake magically show up and register 17 sacks — which would only serve to make them more of a disgrace for their failure to show up prior to this.
Mike: Dolphins. I’m not kidding here, but the main reason I’m taking the Dolphins is this story about interim head coach Dan Campbell and his exploding appendix. Can you see Joe Philbin doing that? Didn’t think so.
Carolina Panthers (4-0) at (-7.5) Seattle Seahawks (2-3), 4:05 p.m.
Ricky: Panthers. The Seahawks have some issues. Marshawn Lynch is banged up, Jimmy Graham hasn’t found his stride, the offensive line stinks and the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense isn’t the same vaunted unit it’s been in years past. The Panthers lead the NFL with a plus-8 turnover differential this season, and a couple takeaways should be enough to keep this game close.
Ben: Panthers. Way too many points to turn down for a team that’s 3-1 ATS this season, especially with Seattle’s sudden inconsistency at home.
Mike: Panthers. The Seahawks have had issues with tight ends this season, which is good news for Greg Olsen and the Panthers.
San Diego Chargers (2-3) at (-11.5) Green Bay Packers (5-0), 4:25 p.m.
Ricky: Packers. That’s a whole lot of points, but there’s just something unsettling about picking against Aaron Rodgers and Co. at Lambeau Field.
Ben: Packers. The Packers have covered, if barely, in every game this season, and I can’t see a Chargers offense that mustered just two touchdowns against Pittsburgh cracking the endzone often against Green Bay’s D.
Mike: Packers. The Chargers are 1-7 ATS in their last eight October road games, and they’re not very good. The Packers will take care of business before entering a much-needed bye week.
(-1) Baltimore Ravens (1-4) at San Francisco 49ers (1-4) , 4:25 p.m.
Ricky: Ravens. Hopefully the lights go out and never come back on this time.
Ben: Ravens. Ravens will win, 5-3, when, milking a 3-3 tie with less than a minute remaining, the Niners snap the ball over the head of punter Andy Lee, who boots it out of the endzone for the game-winning safety.
Mike: Ravens. Really looking forward to the “Who’s fallen harder since Super Bowl XLVII?” Bowl.
(-9) New England Patriots (4-0) at Indianapolis Colts (3-2), 8:30 p.m.
Ricky: Patriots. Andrew Luck’s return would be a lot cooler if he didn’t stain his trousers every time he played the Patriots. Or if he was capable of helping a Colts defense that’s going to get stomped by TB12.
Ben: Patriots. Can’t wait to see what the Colts come up with as an excuse for this 58-3 whupping.
Mike: Patriots. I think this game will be closer than Patriots fans say it will be, but how do you look at the matchups and not see how the Patriots are at least 10 to 14 points better than the Colts?
MONDAY, OCT. 19
New York Giants (3-2) at (-4) Philadelphia Eagles (2-3), 8:30 p.m.
Ricky: Giants. Oh, good. The Giants on national TV again. Anyway, this is a classic case of shying away from that four-point spread. A field goal decides this one, which means I’m going with the G-Men.
Ben: Eagles. Although I’m tempted to take the points in this intra-division rivalry, the numbers say the Eagles are 11-3 ATS in their last 14 against Big Blue and 4-2 ATS in their last six at the Linc in the series. Fly, Eagles, fly.
Mike: Giants. The Giants on the road are a gambler’s delight (6-3 ATS last nine on the road), while the Eagles rarely cover at home (3-6 ATS last nine at home).
Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
