Week 6 is almost here! The playoff picture is slowly taking shape, but there’s still a lot to sort out in mid-October.
Three teams remain unbeaten. The 49ers beat the Seahawks and the Vikings beat the Saints to improve to 5-0 each. The Chiefs are 4-0 and coming off their Week 5 bye. On the other side of things, the Dolphins, Titans, and Chargers all lost last week to drop to 0-5. Many expected the Chargers to compete for the AFC West title, but that is not happening.
Week 6 begins on Thursday with the Seahawks and Broncos facing off in Denver. An unexpectedly interesting matchup finds the 3-2 Browns hosting the 4-1 Ravens with significant AFC North implications. The 3-2 Raiders host the 4-1 Bills with AFC implications if Las Vegas can bounce back from two straight losses to the Chiefs and Patriots. The Bengals, Lions, Dolphins, and Vikings all have byes this week.
I’m back with my week 6 Survivor picks ahead of Seahawks-Broncos Thursday Night Football. Survivor involves picking a team each week to win. If you win, if you lose, in most cases, you’re out. I’m in a pool with four entries, but it’s also a double-elimination pool. I lost one entry after taking the Chargers and Bucs in the first two weeks. Last week, I lost a few other entries thanks to my decision to take the Cowboys on Thursday. I have three entries alive with one strike against each.
Below I have a look at the safest picks, best value picks, and then trap picks. I’ll post my own picks at the end. I’ll update on Sunday once I’ve locked in my three picks for the weekend.
I’ve included odds for the favorite in each game, courtesy of FanDuel.
Rams (-12.5) at Cardinals
49ers (-7.5) over the Commanders
Patriots (-7.5) at Jets
The Cardinals stink and LA should have no problem with them. The Rams haven’t exactly impressed this season, but they also face a rough first five games on the schedule. They head into a five-game stretch where they could win all five easily.
The Commanders have Jayden Daniels back, but considering what we saw against an inefficient Giants team, this could be an ugly one for them.
Rams (-12.5) at Cardinals
Patriots (-7.5) at Jets
You can save the Rams for any of the next four games, but this looks like the most winnable of those games. You can also save the Patriots for Week 8 on the road against the Dolphins or Week 18 at home against the Dolphins, but you have to get to that point in the first place.
Chiefs (-8.5) over Chargers
I went with the divisional games above, but while the Cardinals are clearly not a great team, I remain convinced that the Chargers can still prove dangerous. You can find tremendous value on the line with the Chiefs, as they have home games against the Jets and Cardinals later this season.
I’ll take two Rams picks this week. My third pick, I’m leaning Patriots, but we’ll see.