Week 6 NFL picks against the spread

The Game Haus is giving away free money so far in the 2018 NFL season. After a 9-5-1 mark last week, the season record now sits at 41-34-3 against the spread. Picks are bolded, outright upsets have an asterisk, and all spreads are from rtsports.com at the time of writing.

Thursday Night:
Eagles (-3) at *Giants– Two teams that have been among the league’s most disappointing will get the week started. These teams are a 63-yard field goal away from having the same record. The Giants offense came to life last week in defeat. Lastly, unless the talent gap is obvious, the home team is always the smart play on Thursday night. Nyg 27 Phi 24

Sunday:

Cardinals at Vikings (-10)- The last time the Vikings played a lesser team with a rookie quarterback at home, they got piledriven by the Bills. This team is too well coached and has too many good players to let anything close to that happen again. Min 24 Ari 10

Bills at Texans (-9.5)- This is a tough one to get a feel for. The Texans seem to be finding a bit of mojo after a slow start. Still, it is tough to consider them 9.5 points better than any team. Also, Buffalo is not nearly as bad as we all thought after the first two weeks. Hou 21 Buf 14

*Panthers at Redskins (-1)-The lack of respect for Carolina here is odd. Washington got blown out by Indianapolis at home a few weeks ago and is still trying to figure out what they are as a football team week to week. On the other hand, Carolina’s offense is much more well rounded with Norv Turner at the controls. With this line, someone in Vegas clearly has not warmed up to the Panthers yet, but there is no glaring weakness on this football team. Car 28 Was 21

Bears (-3) at Dolphins- Miami has been hit square in the mouth the last two weeks after a 3-0 start. The Bears may have some limitations on offense that will limit their playoff and Super Bowl potential. Time will tell. For this week, the Dolphins need to get right, that will not happen for any team against the Bears defense. Chi 24 Mia 13

*Colts at Jets (-2.5)- The Jets are an incredibly young team at more spots than just quarterback. What limited success they have had this year has been tough to sustain. They won last week. Meanwhile, the Colts are a 1-4 team that could very easily be 4-1. The best thing on either roster in this game is Andrew Luck. Luck has 12 touchdowns and just five interceptions on the year. If that keeps up, a winning streak starts here. Ind 27 Nyj 16

Chargers (-1) at *Browns– If you can stay away from betting this game, do so. The Chargers are an average west coast team traveling east for an early start. We all saw what happened to Denver in a similar spot last week. The Browns are the pick here, but who knows how they will react with a reasonable chance to declare themselves true playoff contenders for the first time in a very very long time. Cle 21 Lac 20

*Steelers at Bengals (-2.5)- The Bengals have the better record and have been the far less dramatic team to this point in the year. Still, betting on them here is like setting your money on fire. The Steelers have won 29 of the last 38 matchups in this series. That is called a trend folks. Pit 31 Cin 24

Photo: seattlepi.com

Seahawks (-3) at Raiders (London)- You never know with these London games, but Russell Wilson is the best player on either team. Also, Seattle should be feeling pretty good about things after playing the Rams to the wire last week, while the Raiders should be feeling just the opposite after being manhandled by the Chargers for their fourth loss.Sea 24 Oak 17

Bucs at Falcons (-3.5)- Atlanta season has been derailed by defensive injuries before it ever really got going, but the offense should be enough to overcome Tampa Bay. Jameis Winston is sure to be rusty in his return to the starting lineup. Atl 31 TB 20

Rams (-7) at Broncos- This will not be a complete blowout with Denver at home and the line reflects that. However, the Rams are a machine at the moment. Their lowest single-game point total this year is 33. Denver’s once great defense made the Jets look like the ’99 Rams last week and Vance Joseph’s seat is white hot. There is some chatter of bad weather. That would change things dramatically. As it stands now, the undefeated Rams pull away late. Lar 35 Den 24

Photo 1043thefan.com

Ravens (-2.5) at Titans- These next two matchups will be low scoring fistfights, a refreshing thing in the modern NFL. Both of these teams had a chance to establish themselves as full-fledged contenders last week but lost to less talented teams. Joe Flacco was on the fringes of the early MVP conversation before last week’s clunker. In a passing league, Baltimore’s air game is a little better. Bal 20 Ten 13

Jaguars (-3) at *Cowboys– Dallas still has issues on offense, but they have gotten a little better since the first two weeks of the season. Also, as good as the Jaguars defense is, the team has scored 20 points or less three times in five games. Thus, it is still difficult to trust this team on the road against good defenses. Dal 20 Jac 17

Chiefs at Patriots (-3.5)- Limiting Jacksonville to 14 points does very little to ease any concerns about the Chiefs defense. Combine that with a Patriots team that is finding its stride as it always does this time of year, and the fact that Patrick Mahomes has regressed ever so slightly the last two weeks, and you get Kansas City’s first loss. NE 31 KC 21

MNF:
49ers at Packers (-9.5)- This is a huge number to swallow and frankly, Green Bay is not that good. For this week though, a home date with a team that is being forced to use a backup quarterback is just what the doctor ordered. The 49ers got pushed around by the lowly Cardinals last week. Thus, it is hard to envision anything but a blowout here. GB 38 SF 17

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