NFL Week 6 thread

Bye Week: Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals

Sunday, October 17th

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers 6 pm
New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccanneers 6 pm
Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers 6 pm
San Diego Chargers at St. Louis Rams 6 pm
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots 6 pm
Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans 6 pm
Detroit Lions at New York Giants 6 pm
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles 6 pm
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears 6 pm
Oakland Raiders at San Francisco 49ers 9:05 pm
New York Jets at Denver Broncos 9:05 pm
Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings 9:15 pm

Monday, October 18th 1:20 am(Sunday Night Game)

Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins

Tuesday October 19th 1:30 am(Monday Night Game)

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday, October 17th

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers 6 pm Big Ben rejoins the 3-1 Steelers who are now many peoples favourites to win it all this year. Their D is back where it was when they won in two years ago and their offense should take a jump forward with Roethlisberger back at the controls. This should be easy. Pittsburgh Steelers
New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccanneers 6 pm Well the Bucs impressed coming off their bye week when beating the Bengals in Cincy. They have improved a lot this season. Meanwhile the New Orleans Saints lost at home last week with Drew Brees the culprit for most of it. There were signs of life from that super offense from last year but if this loss to the Cardinals doesn't shake them out of that superbowl hangover then their season is pretty much done. I still think the Saints will play a major part in the postseason and I'm going for them here. New Orleans Saints
Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers 6 pm A lot of people are going for the upset here with all the injuries in Green Bay. Thing is that even with those injuries the biggest problem for the Packers has been Special teams and Miami isn't much better in that department. Aaron Rodgers looks like he will play the game and that will be a huge boost to this Packers team. The other problem they are having though is stopping the run and Miami can run the ball all day long. Chad Pennington is rumoured to be taking over and if that happens I think there will be a lot of wildcat in this game like previous years. I just feel though that Rodgers and his magnificent offense even without Finley will do enough to win this. Green Bay Packers
San Diego Chargers at St. Louis Rams 6 pm Yep I've said it every week and I'll say it again, how does Norv Turner still have a job? The Rams got destroyed in Detroit last week, not only that but Sam Bradford lost his best receiver in Mark Clayton. I expect that its down to Steven Jackson here to do the damage with Bradford having to get used to a new no.1 and thats going to take a bit of time for a rookie. The Chargers have Ryan Matthews back and their offense is just too powerful. The Rams might struggle to match them for scoring. San Diego Chargers
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots 6 pm The first game without Randy Moss for the Patriots. Still coming off a bye week and at home in Gillette Stadium with a chip on their shoulders after last seasons embarrassing playoff loss I fancy them here. It won't be easy by any means against one of the better defenses in the league. They do know how to score though and thats a problem for the Ravens. Ray Rice has been struggling all week, Joe Flacco is just too easy to put off his game and while they have a nice bunch of receivers I just don't see them matching the Patriots for scoring. It will still be close though. New England Patriots
Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans 6 pm Well the Chiefs lost the unbeaten record last week and they go to Houston to face the struggling Texans this week. The Chiefs front seven is pretty special and while they lost last week the Colts only managed to score one touchdown last week at home and that was at the end of the fourth quarter which made the score a little flattering to finish at 19-9. The Texans are having trouble with pass protection since they lost their left tackle, Andre Johnson still hasn't practiced fully, Jones is questionable for Sunday and Kevin Walter has failed to step up to the plate. Arian Foster has been in trouble with the coach as well. Its just all going wrong for the Texans offense and their D has been horrendous against the pass. Meanwhile Matt Cassel has threatened to do some damage in recent weeks and I can see him getting the time this week to cause a lot of trouble for the Texans D. If you told me at the start of the year that the Chiefs would be 4-1 after week 6 I'd have laughed in your face. Kansas City Chiefs
Detroit Lions at New York Giants 6 pm Well the Giants have suddenly started to motor on offense and their D has shown how important it is to give them a rest with some magnificent performances. The Giants are suddenly looking like the favourites to win the NFC East. The Lions have improved a lot but they really look up against it here. Shaun Hill has played well but likes the short ball and that won't work against this team and Megatron is questionable for this game and tbh if I was the Lions coach I wouldn't take any chances with him this week. New York Giants
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles 6 pm This is one real tough game. Kolb had a solid game last week and if his confidence is up then this game could be the making of the man. Vick did limited practice on Friday and while they are not starting him, he will be there if things are going bad for Kolb. I like Kolb though and I fancy him here to put a big decision on Andy Reid when Vick returns to full fitness. The Falcons are not to be underestimated but apart from the blowout at home against the Cardinals they have been just doing enough to win games and its never going to be that easy in Philly. The Eagles need a win here and it will be interesting to see what happens after Kolb leads them to Vic(k)tory. Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears 6 pm This is a tough one to work out. On the one hand the Seahawks have given up a lot of yardage but they have faced the two hottest QBs in the league so far and have given up over 800 yards combined to Rivers and Orton. They have been getting to the QB too and thats not good for Cutler and that awful pass protecting line of his. The Seahawks are fresh too coming off their bye week. Add to that they are second best against the run and this doesn't look like a nice matchup for the Bears offense.
Letting Deion Branch go is a strange one. I thought he was playing quite well for them but Carroll must be happy with things as they are. Thing is that the Bears are really good against the run too so that leaves this game in the hands of Matt Hasselbeck and his line hasn't been great either.
So now we look at special teams and both these outfits are at the top of the rankings. Its going to be a really tight affair and my gut tells me that the fresher Seahawks if they get to Cutler early will win this one. Seattle Seahawks
Oakland Raiders at San Francisco 49ers 9:05 pm Well the Raiders got a huge win last week and they will be full of confidence heading to Candlestick Park. The 49ers are 0-5 under a terrible coach(yes I've been saying this every week too) but the rot has to stop somewhere and I fancy them this week. The Raiders win when they can run the ball and the 49ers are real good at stopping that. The Raiders run defense did ok last week but its been their problem all year and Frank Gore will like his chances of a big game here. San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets at Denver Broncos 9:05 pm I'm very interested in this matchup and I think its a nightmare for the Jets D. The reason I believe this is because the Broncos use the screen pass quite a bit and the Jets like to blitz. With Orton's accuracy right now thats a huge problem for the Jets. If they come and its a screen he gets the short pass off which could go for big yardage, if they don't come he could potentially beat them with a longer throw.
Sanchez is having a decent run right now but this game is at high altitude and it takes getting used to. Their running game might be a big problem for the Broncos though and if they stick to the ground it could work for them. I can't see that though and I just think that Sanchez is likely to make mistakes in this game due to the thinner air that will cost the Jets the win. Denver Broncos
Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings 9:15 pm Well anything could happen there. Brett Favre is questionable for this one and with the way he has been playing it might be a blessing for the Vikings if he was to miss it. The Cowboys still have big problems with that offensive line and its going to be tough for Romo. It could come down to AP vs Felix Jones and Barber and I'd always take AP if thats the case. Wild guess here. Minnesota Vikings

Monday October 18th 1:20 am (Sunday Night game)

Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins Well the Colts are 3-2 along with every other team in the AFC South. Its hard to know what will happen here. One week the Colts stop the run the next week a team runs wild on them. The Redskins have a well balanced offense but you just don't know if they are going to turn up or not for sure. You know the Colts will score in this one and its all about if the Redskins can match them in that department. I just have to take the Colts even though I am well aware that the Redskins are at home but I'm just not sold on Ryan Torrain yet and he is a very important man in this game. Indianapolis Colts

Tuesday October 19th 1:30 am (Monday Night game)

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars CJ vs MJD. This should be one hell of a Monday night game. I'm already looking forward to it, it should be really exciting to watch. Its just so different with two QBs who like to run with the ball and two of the best RBs in the league. I've fancied the Titans for a long time to be a big team this year and I think they have to stamp their authority on the division with a big win here. The Jags have won their last two and they are always good in divisional matchups but I just like Tennessee in this one and the reason being that Vince Young has the better arm. Tennessee Titans