Clash of the Cappers – 2016 Week 6

By Josh Mansilla (@Manzilla36)

Throughout the 2016 NFL season, NFL handicapper Josh Mansilla will be providing his weekly plays, along with a brief write-up on how he sees the games playing out. We’ll track his picks alongside those of our other capper, Dan Urda, to see who best assisted our readers throughout the season. Dan’s picks for Week 6 can be found on this week’s podcast.

Season Records

Josh Mansilla: 4-1

Dan Urda: 12-16

Packers -4

We had a nice winner last week with Tennessee getting it done outright over Miami. Now at 4-1 on the season, let’s keep it going.

This week I like the Packers to get it done at home against the red hot Dallas Cowboys. Everyone has been talking about Dak Prescott and the Cowboys and who should start once Tony Romo returns. If that isn’t a distraction to a young quarterback then I don’t know what is.

Now, I know a lot of people have short memories and only remember how well the Cowboys looked last week, but they beat a Bengals team that seemed to not be in the game at all. Although I know we backed them a few weeks ago, the Bengals are a much different team on the road than at home.

Also, the Cowboys are on the road this week with Green Bay arguably one of the tougher places to play in the NFL, mainly because of the cold, but also because of the Lambeau cheeseheads whipping themselves into a frenzy. Yes, Dallas is 2-0 on the road this season but those wins came against the likes of an underachieving Redskins team and a dismal 49ers squad. This will be the Cowboys first real road test with a young QB hearing a lot of media talk about how his play this week will determine whether he should he start over Romo when he returns from injury. I like that angle.

Add all that to the fact that the Packers have the league’s best rush defense, allowing just 171 total rushing yards total on the season, at 2.0 yards per rushing attempt and 42.8 yards per game (all tops in the NFL by far). Look for the Green Bay defense to step up this week and force Prescott into a lot of 3rd and long situations. I am a fan of Dak, but I do not think he is ready for this challenge. (In fact, I would play this line up to a touchdown; currently at -4).

Prediction: Green Bay 30, Dallas 17

Survivor Pick

This week I am going with the Tennessee Titans. If you have been following my picks all season, this is one of the riskier picks we have made. I have been waiting for Cleveland to knock off some survivors and get their first win for a few weeks now. However, we were right about Mariota stepping up last week against Miami and I think he keeps it going here at home versus the lowly Browns. Kessler appears to be under center again and I like our chances against him rather than McCown. Once we get past this week, we have a nice stretch of 4-5 weeks with some of the top teams in the NFL we have saved. (Alternative pick would have been the Bills, but I have them circled in week 15 against Cleveland and I think Tennessee gets it done here at home.)

Good luck.