NFL Picks for Week 6

Last week was a good week for me. Nine up and four down for an overall record of 40-26 for a .606 winning percentage. Let’s keep up the momentum.

Washington at Green Bay – Fox, 1 p.m.
This is the featured game for the 1 p.m. starts. The Redskins at 3-1 and the Packers at home at 4-1, coming off the surprise loss to Chicago last Sunday night. This will be an interesting matchup of one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history against a up and coming quarterback. Jason Campbell still has to show why the Redskins are so high on him. He has shown flashes of brilliance this season, but also has shown signs of inexperience as well. Antwaan Randle-El will be out for the Redskins after tweaking a hamstring. The Skins will need him to attack the Packers secondary which has played very well this season. Brett Favre did throw some inexplicable picks against the Bears last week, but he should play much better this week. While I picked against the Redskins last week, I still don’t have confidence in them to pick them on Sunday. Green Bay wins, 28-17.

Houston at Jacksonville – CBS, 1 p.m.
The Jags are quietly getting things done. In the highlights last week, Maurice Jones-Drew ran for a long touchdown against the Chiefs, sparking Jacksonville to an easy 17-7 win. And Houston had to struggle against Miami before pulling out the win. Both teams have winning records and are getting it done in the AFC South. Were it not for the Indianapolis Colts, these two teams would be battling it out for the division lead. The Texans are showing they have upgraded their QB position with Matt Schaub. The Jags as mentioned are quietly getting it done. When you only allow 10 rushing yards against an opponent with Larry Johnson in the backfield, you’re a force to be reckoned with. As much as I like Houston this season, I like Jacksonville more. Take the Jags to win this, 32-24.

Miami at Cleveland – CBS, 1 p.m.
Miami is 0-5 and there’s a good reason for that. The Dolphins are a bad football team. Yeah, they played Washington tough in Week 1, had the lead last week against Houston before losing, but as Bill Parcells used to say, “You are what you are.” The Dolphins are 0-5 and there’s no disguising what they are. Cleveland did play New England well in the 3rd quarter even though they were down by plenty. There was no quit in my Browns. Miami will show up in Cleveland Browns Stadium, but they might as well have the plane revved up to go home. I’m saying the Browns will win this one, 30-3. I hate the Dolphins and they’re not even in my division.

Philadelphia at New York Jets – Fox, 1 p.m.
This is a dangerous game for the Iggles. Even though Philly is 1-3, this is a game it should win. The Jets played the Giants tough last week, but then QB Chad Pennington showed why he’ll never be a great player by throwing two key interceptions late in the game including one for a touchdown. In the meantime, the Eagles coming off a bye have a chance to right the ship. Believe it or not, this is a trap game for the Eagles. They have Chicago next week so the Eagles need to win this game to get some confidence for Week 7. In the meantime, the Jets are weak in just about every department except returning kicks. If the Jets could return kicks for touchdowns instead of have Chad Pennington at QB, I’m sure Eric Mangini wouldn’t mind. Take the Eagles in a hard fought game, 14-10.

Minnesota at Chicago – Fox, 1 p.m.
The Bears got a big win in Green Bay last week while the Vikings took the week off. The Bears got a good game out of Brian Griese at quarterback and coach Lovie Smith hopes that Griese can string two games in a row. Now despite Fox NFL Sunday’s Terry Bradshaw pining for the return of Rex Grossman, I don’t think Bears fans could stand seeing him again. Now I want to see Adrian Petersen against this defense and QB Tavaris Jackson will be back after being out the previous two games with an injury. I’ll say the Bears will win this one by a typical NFC North score, 17-13.

St. Louis at Baltimore – Fox, 1 p.m.
The Rams are another bad football team. Baltimore’s defense held the 49ers to just 7 points. Expect more of the same this week. Ravens can barely score, but the Rams will score even less. Ravens will win, 10-0.

Cincinnati at Kansas City – CBS, 1 p.m.
Here’s a game that looked good on paper earlier in the season. Now, the Chiefs have disappointed thus far and so have the Bengals. Both have losing records coming into this game and the Bengals come off a drubbing at the hand of the Patriots in Week 4. Expect the Bengals to try to use this game to salvage its season. Damon Huard was pulled last week because he was ineffective and if it continues, expect Brodie Croyle to get more playing time. This game is not appealing to me at all, but it’s a game like this that turn out to be entertaining. I’ll pick the Bengals to win this game, 31-28 in a shootout.

Tennessee at Tampa Bay – CBS, 1 p.m.
This has the potential to be a very good game. Two teams who play in the South Division of their respective conferences and both trying to get back to past levels of glory. Vince Young is an explosive weapon who just seems to know how to win. The Titans did just barely beat the Falcons, but it was a win. The Bucs last week were just not going to beat the Colts no matter how hard they tried. Surprisingly, the AFC South has turned out to be one of the stronger divisions in the AFC. No one has a losing record. And the Bucs are fighting with rival Carolina for the top spot in the NFC South. Since Tampa Bay is home, I’ll give the Bucs an edge here with them taking this game by a figgy, 24-21.

Carolina at Arizona – Fox, 4 p.m.
The Cardinals are greatly improved under coach Ken Whisenhunt and now that quarterback Kurt Warner is going to be playing for a while Matt Leinart hurt, expect the Cards to really get ramped up. But Carolina’s defense will be sending four or five men to rush Warner. Steve Smith is Steve Smith. He’s really good. But it’ll be 89 year old Vinny Testaverde to start for the Panthers and while he may know most of the playbook, he still is coming in cold. I think Arizona will take this, 38-14.

Oakland at San Diego – CBS, 4:15 p.m.
California residents really don’t want to see this game. If you look at the coverage map for the CBS late game this Sunday, notice how all of California, norther Nevada, plus parts of Oregon and Arizona get this game. All are not happy missing the Patriots-Cowboys game which I’ll preview coming up. The Chargers looked like the 2006 Chargers in a 41-3 drubbing of the Broncos last week. LaDanian Tomlinson ran for 109 yards last week and was even taken out early so the Chargers could cruise to victory. Believe it or not, three teams in the AFC West are 2-3, with the Raiders at 2-2 on top of the division. I do believe that even though the Raiders are improved from last season, the Chargers are still the Chargers. They righted the ship last week and will run all over the Raiders, 38-7.

New England at Dallas – CBS, 4:15 p.m.
Don’t you think that NBC would just love to have this game instead of New Orleans-Seattle? The flexible schedule doesn’t take effect until Week 11, but NBC wishes it could start now. You have the 5-0 Pats vs. the 5-0 Cowboys. Two great franchises with winning traditions. The Patriots are just hitting on all cylinders. They’ve scored more than 30 points in each of their first five games. The Patriots defense is tough. The Cowboy
s barely pulled out a win against Buffalo last week, and they have one less day to prepare for the Pats. While the Cowboys’ defense will be ready, New England just has too many weapons. If you shut down Randy Moss, Tom Brady can throw to Wes Welker or Reche Caldwell. And they can hand the ball off to Sammy Morris if Laurence Maroney can’t play. Take New England all the way, 34-24.

New Orleans at Seattle – NBC, 8:15 p.m.
I don’t expect the ratings for this game to be very good. CBS has the game of the week. The Saints are now 0-4 and the Seahawks are just 3-2. What had the Saints going so well last season has had them slumping this season. Drew Brees who played so efficiently in 2006 is throwing interceptions this season. Deuce McAllister is out for the season so the Saints’ one-two punch of he and Reggie Bush has been greatly diminished. Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck did not play well last week in Pittsburgh, throwing like his sister-in-law Elizabeth of The View. And Shaun Alexander just couldn’t get going. This week, both teams need to prove something this week. I’m going to say Seattle because they win at home and Mike Holmgren has never lost to the Saints. Take Seattle, 24-13.

New York Giants at Atlanta – ESPN, 8:30 p.m., Monday
You can’t pay me enough to watch this game. My TV will be on the Red Sox-Indians game on Fox. I suspect many across the country will also. Take the G-Men, 30-0. Ok?

Enjoy Week 6.