Sonny’s NFL Picks: Week 6

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Hey guys, have you been checking out my Top 50 NBA Players Countdown, right here at Baller Mind Frame? If you have, thanks a ton, and if you haven’t, what the hell is wrong with you?! The NBA season is only 12 days away, and for the last month I’ve been writing about the best players in the league. So immediately after you check out this lightning round edition of my Week 6 NFL Picks, check out a few of my Top 50 Countdown posts!

Home Teams in CAPS 

Atlanta over NEW ORLEANS 

If Atlanta put a beating on Washington last week like almost everybody expected they would, then nobody would even have had to think twice about this one. It turns out Washington is probably half-way decent and Atlanta definitely didn’t play their best game. Look, every good team is due to have a few of those games that end up closer than we expected them to. The bottom line is Atlanta took care of business and got the W, something New Orleans hasn’t been doing too much recently.

The Saints aren’t the unbeatable juggernaut at home that they once were. It’s not 2009 anymore, and in their last ten home games the Saints are only 4-6. Drew Brees looks like he’s entering into the same sad stage in his career that Peyton Manning is in right now, only Brees doesn’t have the playmakers or the defense to keep getting wins. Maybe tonight’s game is the last relevant moment in the career of Drew Brees; a primetime win against a division rival that might turn out to be one of the conference’s best. Or maybe Atlanta moves to 6-0 and finally gets their pass rush going against an offensive line that has given up the 5th most sacks this season.

Arizona over PITTSBURGH

If Ben Roethlisberger were taking the field, I might feel differently about this one, but I can’t ignore the fact that for three and a half quarters on Monday night Michael Vick just wasn’t a good quarterback, and that was against a Chargers defense that is currently fifth worst in the league in defensive yards per play. Arizona had one hiccup against a very game St. Louis Rams squad, otherwise they’ve pummeled the intestines (both large and small) out of everyone else they’ve played.

MINNESOTA over Kansas City

Jamal Charles is done for the year and if the final nail hadn’t already been hammered into the the coffin of the Kansas City Chiefs season, that was it. At least all of the people in Kansas City still have the Royals to root for. Wait, are the Royals still in the Playoffs? I don’t do the whole baseball thing.

Cincinnati over BUFFALO 

This was looking like a prime upset pick on the grounds of Cincinnati having a let-down game after an awesome come-from-behind win against Seattle last week, and Buffalo needing a win against a top five opponent to inspire some more mid-season false hope in their home crowd. But then I realized I’d be right out of my mind picking the Bills if they were without Sammy Watkins (or even without a healthy Sammy Watkins) and starting EJ Manuel at Quarterback, even if everything I’ve seen suggests the Bills aren’t done torturing their fan base this season just yet.

Chicago over DETROIT 

Just (Chicago) bear with me for a second:

At Detroit, Bye Week, vs. Minnesota, at San Diego, at St. Louis, vs. Denver, at Green Bay, vs. San Francisco, vs. Washington, at Minnesota, at Tampa Bay, vs. Detroit

Go ahead and tell me that the Chicago Bears couldn’t go 7-4 the rest of the way and make grab a Wild Card spot in the NFC, and then I’m going to tell you that you’re a liar. LET’S GO BEARS! BEAR DOWN! I ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THIS TEAM!

Denver over CLEVELAND
NEW YORK JETS over Washington

Quarterback A: 1,224 yards, 68% Completion, 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 81.9 Passer Rating

Quarterback B: 1,234 yards, 63% Completion, 6 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 77.3 Passer Rating

Quarterback C: 1,203 yards, 67% Completion, 6 touchdowns, 1 interception, 102.8 Passer Rating

Quarterback D: 924 yards, 60% Completion, 7 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 78.1 Passer Rating

One of those quarterbacks is Peyton Manning, the other three are Josh McCown, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kirk Cousins. Peyton Manning is the one with the worst Passer Rating. Josh McCown is the one with the best Passer Rating. I’m done trying to figure out football.

JACKSONVILLE over Houston

Yucky.

TENNESSEE over Miami

This one was a deceptively tough game to pick, because it meant I had to decide whether Miami was more prone to have a “We really hated playing for Joe Philbin and we’re ready to get after it today” Game or a “We’re just a really lousy football team and now you know that for sure” Game in Tennessee. I went with Option B if only because I haven’t seen anything from the Dolphins that makes me think they might be a good football team. I also haven’t seen anything that makes me believe interim coach Dan Campbell might be a good football coach. I read one story about how when Campbell was playing in the NFL his appendix exploded on the team plane and he didn’t tell anybody about it until they landed. Maybe that makes Campbell a tough guy. I personally think it indicates he’s probably a psychopath. I definitely don’t see why that makes him a good NFL coach, though.

SEATTLE over Carolina
GREEN BAY over San Diego

Seattle started last season 3-3 and everyone lost their mind. They can’t defend. Their offense isn’t any good. It’s the Super Bowl hangover … They responded by winning 12 of their next 13 games before losing a heart-breaker in Super Bowl XLIX. Take a page out of Aaron Rodgers book, and RELAX. If they lose at home to Carolina maybe I’ll start to worry. Until then, I’m expecting that history will come pretty close to repeating itself, and that includes hooking up with Green Bay in the Playoffs again.

SAN FRANCISCO over Baltimore

Do yourself a favor and just re-watch Super Bowl XLVII instead of this game … you aren’t going to miss anything good. Actually, if this is your only television option during the second slate of games, you might as well just check out some of the posts you’ve missed in my Top 50 NBA Players Countdown. Definitely do that!

New England over INDIANAPOLIS
New York Giants over PHILADELPHIA 

Remember what I told ya last week? Remember how I put the Giants on upset alert because a should-win home game in primetime against the lowly San Francisco 49ers felt too safe? Boy am I glad I called a near upset but still stuck with the Giants. This might be one of those funky years where they blow a couple of games they should have won, but win a few more of the games we expected them to lose, and then all of the sudden they’re in the NFC Title game. Be honest, given their track record of getting hot at the right time and pulling wins out of their ass, could you say that you’d be shocked if the New York Giants ended up representing the NFC in the Super Bowl? No, right? Doesn’t a third Giants/Patriots Super Bowl feel like it might be in the cards?

Of course, the Patriots are a much safer bet to get to Super Bowl 50 than the Giants are, and I’m ready to go ahead and call them one of the safest bets of the entire season on Sunday Night. There is no effing way the Patriots are going to lose to the Indianapolis Colts, not after everything that happened with Deflategate. The Patriots are in the midst of a vintage eff-you season and this game is a textbook eff-you game. I’d be more surprised if the Patriots didn’t hang 50 points on the Colts than if they did.

Last Week: 11-3
Overall: 49-27