NOTE: Click here for Doc Brown’s 2011 week 6 NFL picks.
It doesn’t get much better than last week’s performance against the spread. The Doc went 11-3 in 14 games ATS, with Brett Favre’s typical pick six coming between the Doc and 12-2. No sweat. We’re still looking strong picking at 63% against the number and 83% on the Top 3 picks of the week. More to continue this week.
I love, absolutely love Pittsburgh this week. I think Big Ben will come out with a bang and smash Cleveland’s weak secondary. Their defense is going to make Colt McCoy wish he were back at Texas or at home with his lovely wife. If I were handicapping this NFL spread, I’d have it at Pittsburgh -21, so obviously I love them -13.5. It’s not often I feel so strongly about a game, but that’s how I feel about this one.
For my other Top 3 picks, I like two good teams getting points on the road. I think very highly of the Falcons and Ravens, enough to take them straight up in each of their games. Atlanta’s been playing close games with opponents, but they keep coming out on top. They should run all over Philly because if you check the NFL stats, you’ll see the Eagles give up around 126 yards per game. I think it will hurt the Pats that they traded Randy Moss this year, but that’s not the entire reason they’ll lose this week. I think they have a better defense than New England and that their offense is just about as good. Ray Rice is healthy and should be able to make big plays. Not having to cover Moss will help the Ravens pressure Brady and cover their other targets.
Here are Doc Brown’s NFL Week 6 Picks with explanations for the rest of the selections below (and be sure to check out Del’s picks on Friday):
Even with Jay Cutler playing for the Bears, I like the Seahawks coming off the bye. They’ll be well-prepared for the game and I expect it to be low-scoring with two good defenses going at it. The Lions not having Calvin Johnson healthy will hurt, but they’ve been scoring all kinds of points under Shaun Hill. Their offense should be able to keep it within 10 points. St. Louis fell flat on its face last week against Detroit, but they should bounce back this week at home. San Diego will win it, but at least the Rams will be within nine.
I think the Jags will be pumped up for their Monday night game with the Titans. They’ve actually looked pretty good the past two weeks and seem to be capable of pulling another one out, especially with all the energy playing on Monday night.
After getting burned by the Vikings on Monday night, I’m backing off them this week. Truth is, who knows which way to go with this one? The losing team’s season is over, so it’s hard to know who will die. Dallas couldn’t handle Minnesota’s pass rush in the playoffs last year, and the Metrodome was loud and rocking, leaving them confused. Dallas can win a noisy dome game like this one — they did it last year at New Orleans — what they need is an early score to take the crowd out of it. I think they can do it.
I almost took Indianapolis as one of my Top 3 picks. I really like Washington’s defense and that’s why I’ve been high on them in my picks and on the power rankings, but they’ve been barely getting by offensively. Indy’s defense is lacking and their offense was shut down last week, but Peyton Manning will be back on track this week.
