We have more undefeateds heading into Week 7 than at any point in league history, and three of them are guaranteed to make it through the week with that record in tact thanks to their bye weeks.
Here are this weeks games:
GAME OF THE WEEK – New York Jets (4-1) at New England Patriots (5-0), NE by 9 – The Jets have to be the biggest surprise team of the year so far. Four wins in five games and in solid position to get a playoff spot this year, all with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB. While this defense is definitely legit and I could see them giving the Patriots a run for their money on their own turf, I’m reluctant to say they can come in and dish out an upset in New England. I think they can keep it close, but Tom Brady and company will pull away as the fourth quarter rolls around. Patriots 27, Jets 17
THURSDAY NIGHT – Seattle Seahawks (2-4) at San Francisco 49ers (2-4), SEA by 6 – Who would have thought that going into week seven these two teams would be playing for last place in the division? How the mighty have fallen. This is a tough game to pick. The Seahawks have been great at building leads but even better at blowing them. The 49ers have shown a little bit of fight but don’t have anywhere near the talent of the Seahawks. I gotta take Seattle here but either way this one wouldn’t surprise me. Seahawks 20, 49ers 17
Buffalo Bills (3-3) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4) in London, BUF by 4.5 – The Jaguars have just been awful this season and there’s no reason to think they can take down Buffalo. Bills 24, Jaguars 10
Cleveland Browns (2-4) at St. Louis Rams (2-4), STL by 5 – These are two feisty teams capable of playing up or down to any opponent in the league. The Rams seem to only win games against their division, though, so I’ll take Cleveland to pull off a mild upset here. UPSET! – Browns 28, Rams 20
Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-5), PIT by 2 – It’s unbelievable what’s happened to the Chiefs. There’s no excuse for them having this slow of a start. But now with Jamaal Charles out, they don’t have much hope this season. Even with Landry Jones at QB, the Steelers can get past a team that’s essentially lost all its fire. Steelers 23, Chiefs 10
Houston Texans (2-4) at Miami Dolphins (2-3), MIA by 4.5 – The Dolphins showed some new life last week against the Titans. Now they get a chance to beat the Texans for the first time in their history as a franchise. I like the Dolphins to show some of that renewed passion in this one. Dolphins 24, Texans 20
Minnesota Vikings (3-2) at Detroit Lions (1-5), MIN by 2.5 – Ok, I definitely sold the Lions short last week. Bad call in the endzone aside, they came out and took it to Chicago. The Bears have a significantly better offense than the Vikings (although a much worse defense). The Vikings are a real trendy playoff pick, but that offense is going nowhere right now. Playing on the road in a division game, they’d better hope they start getting some more points, otherwise they’re going to drop this one. UPSET! – Lions 20, Vikings 16
Atlanta Falcons (5-1) at Tennessee Titans (1-4), ATL by 4 – With a hurt Mariota and no real defense to speak of, the Titans can’t hold up to this Atlanta offensive assault. Falcons 37, Titans 13
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) at Washington Redskins (2-4), WAS by 3.5 – Hard to know what to make of this one. I’ll probably go with the Redskins by virtue of them being the home team, but you can’t really put your faith in either of these teams to get a win. Redskins 26, Bucs 14
New Orleans Saints (2-4) at Indianapolis Colts (3-3), IND by 5 – The Colts get a break here, as the Saints aren’t really capable of picking up a road win in a hostile environment. They’ll likely stumble into another divisional title, but this is looking more and more like yet another “one and done” Indy team. Colts 27, Saints 20
Oakland Raiders (2-3) at San Diego Chargers (2-4), SD by 4 – The Chargers are so freaking inconsistent it’s really hard to know what to expect out of them. Just as easily as Rivers can go for 500 yards, the team could easily shit its pants at home against the Raiders. I think this will be a hard fought game, but I’m going with the safe bet in San Diego. Chargers 31, Raiders 20
Dallas Cowboys (2-3) at New York Giants (3-3), NYG by 4 – The Giants looked absolutely awful on MNF last night. Fortunately for them they get a home game against Matt Cassel in his first start as a Cowboy and a team that’s just barely treading water until Romo returns. Giants 27, Cowboys 21
Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) at Carolina Panthers (5-0), CAR by 3 – This is exactly the kind of game you’d expect a young, up-and-coming team like the Panthers to drop. Coming off an emotional statement win on the road, playing at home in primetime with the whole nation’s eyes on them, something they don’t have a whole lot of experience with in the last few years, and playing against an opponent that’s finding its offensive stride. But despite that, I’m going to go against my better judgment and put my faith in the Panthers, which I’ve been somewhat reluctant to do so far this year. To this point they’ve shown the ability to overcome a lot of different challenges, and maybe by beating back this Eagles team in primetime they’ll earn a bit more national respect as well. Panthers 27, Eagles 24
Baltimore Ravens (1-5) at Arizona Cardinals (4-2), ARZ by 7.5 – Shocking defeat for the Cardinals this week, but they should have no troubles with taking down the Ravens this week. Cardinals 20, Ravens 13
BYES: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos
