It’s Week 6 in the NFL, and some teams still seem impossible to figure out. We dive into the numbers to try to make sense of it all, and make our picks for this week’s betting lines.
What can we say? The NFL has not been easy to predict this season. One week, the Tennessee Titans look like world beaters. The next week, they can’t get anything going offensively. The Indianapolis Colts lose to the Oakland Raiders just to turn around and beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Speaking of Raiders, did you see what happened in London? Those Raiders dominated the lines against the Chicago Bears of all teams.
This week, we have a good slate set for Sunday. We finally get the London game that starts at 9:30 Eastern. We also have four 4 p.m. games, which gives us a ton of options from sunrise all the way until midnight.
Last week, we were up and down with our picks. The Cleveland Browns sucked us in again, but the San Francisco 49ers humbled them in a big way on national television. The Washington Redskins won the “first coach fired” bet as a heavy favorite. Coming into the season, there were 3/1 odds for him to win (more like lose) the race to be unemployed first. Now, those same Washington Redskins are playing the Miami Dolphins in a matchup none of us want to see.
This week, make sure you shop around. Different sportsbooks actually have a one-point difference in lines. That’s huge this time of year, and should change the way you bet. We’ve seen a lot of games within a point of the lines this season, and with some places allowing bets on the phone, take advantage of the opportunity.
Last Week: 6-8-1
Season Record: 36-42-1
New York Giants at New England Patriots (-16.5)
Daniel Jones does not have the same aura around him that he did when he took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Minnesota Vikings tore them apart offensively and defensively, and Danny Dimes looked human. Now, they play the best defense in the league on a short week. The wild card here is the possible return of Saquon Barkley, but we have to imagine the Giants want to give him the 10 days’ rest that comes after this matchup.
The New England Patriots have been starting off rough despite facing the worst of the worst in the league to start the season. They went into halftime up just 12-7, despite facing the Redskins. They went crazy in the second half and ended up scoring 33, but we expected a little more. Are they going to be able to get up for this game on short rest? Is Tom Brady going to continue to show signs of age at 42? The Patriots need their receiving corps to step up this week when playing this terrible Giants secondary.
That secondary is key when looking at a three-score line. The Patriots need to beat the Giants by two touchdowns and a field goal. Is Bill Belichick still mad about those two Super Bowl losses to the point that he wants to bury Pat Shurmur? This bet is all about motivation, and it’s hard to tell what that motivation will be three days after your last game. Still, this Patriots defense is too good, and Jones is prone to turnovers. Pick: New England (-16.5)