NFL Week 6 Cheat Sheet with Bonus NBA and College Football Coverage
October is possibly the best sports month of the year.
It is packed from start to finish with all the major sports.
The MLB playoffs remind you that baseball still exists and can occasionally be interesting, the college football slate moves into conference play and multiple tightly contested matchups each weekend, the NFL charges toward midseason as contenders and pretenders are identified, and the NHL and NBA seasons begin...all in the month of October.
I know I don't know much about hockey. I am essentially a rookie in-person fan and will hopefully develop some good content from that experience this season. However, I won't attempt to provide predictions or in-depth hockey analysis.
The NBA is a different story.
I think I know a little something about the "Association." To prove it - let's take a quick look at the last thing I said about the NBA, and the first thing the professional sports media is saying about it this year.
In the June 23 HOTPO, I took a look at the post-draft, pre-free agency NBA through the lens of the Association being stratified into thirds -- title contenders, middle-of-the-pack teams, and cellar dwellers. In that post, I said three things:
I also ranked every NBA team in that soon-to-be-labeled-classic June 23 post. ESPN recently published their predictions for the 2018-19 season. See for yourself how they compare below.
The HOTPO and ESPN Top 8, or playoff teams, for the Eastern Conference were the same. I rated the Miami Heat higher than ESPN, and ESPN had more faith in the Toronto Raptors. But no one was thinking Leonard would end up in Toronto when I published in June -- he is a franchise changer.
For the Western Conference, HOTPO and ESPN differed by two teams. I had the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs as playoff teams, while ESPN excluded those two for the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Considering Jimmy Butler is slinging Molotov cocktails around T-Wolves practices, I will stick with my picks.
File this little update away while the NBA season starts this week. Pull it back out on Christmas Day, after you have stuffed all the wrapping paper in the recycling bin and hammered six cups of coffee before sitting down to watch the five Christmas Day NBA games. Unless you really love your local team, you can wait until the Christmas casserole is cold before you seriously tune in to the NBA.
It's October and the NBA can wait. As a bard, poet, or pompous jackalope might say, "For today is a fall Saturday, and one's countenance should turn and shine on the collegiate game of football."
Between youth soccer and yard work, I will try to steal some glances at these college football games:
Iowa at Indiana, 12 p.m., ESPNU -- To make a bowl game, the Hoosiers will need to steal a Big Ten victory from someone other than Rutgers, and we know it isn't happening against Penn State or Michigan. Probably not happening today either.
Pitt at #5 Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC -- Notre Dame needs to run the table to make the championship playoffs, and Pittsburgh has all the pieces to pull off an upset. This game could be good.
#2 Georgia at #13 LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS -- Hoo boy! Game of the day, right here!
Army at San Jose State, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU -- I won't watch much of that game of the day, because my attention will be on the Black Knights. Go Army! Beat San Jose State!
#15 Wisconsin at #12 Michigan, 7:30 p.m., ABC -- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh needs a victory against a ranked opponent badly. Good thing this isn't a road game.
#19 Colorado at USC, 10:30 p.m., FS1 -- This is a great night cap for a nocturnal sports nut. I hate going to bed, and I hate getting up.
But you didn't come here for the NBA or NCAA football, did you? Let's get on that NFL Week 6 Cheat Sheet!
Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland (-1.0): What's that strange urge inside of me? I feel like picking the Browns in this one -- they have an opportunistic defense, haven't lost at home this year, and might finally have a decent quarterback. Still can't pull that trigger on a Browns pick. -- CHARGERS
Buffalo at Houston (-10): There is not much impressive from either of these teams. The most impressive player in this game is Houston QB Deshaun Watson, who is dealing with a rib injury. As long as Watson plays, this is an easy pick. -- HOUSTON
Carolina (-1.0) at Washington: Carolina quietly is 3-1 and off to a solid start. Even though Washington is 2-2 and leading the NFC East, there are questions about coach Jay Gruden's job security following an embarrassing 43-19 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Redskins under Gruden are wildly inconsistent -- losing games they should win, and winning games they should lose -- they should lose this game. -- PANTHERS
Chicago (-3.5) at Miami: Miami is reeling from two consecutive road losses, and Chicago is coming off their bye week. -- BEARS
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (-1.5): Cincinnati is off to a hot start, and Pittsburgh looks like "team turmoil" (if you discount the New York Giants...yeesh). The Bengals have lost four straight in this series, and are 2-15 in Cincinnati against the Steelers since Marvin Lewis became the head coach. Maybe the Bengals are due, or maybe they are going to do what they do in this series. -- STEELERS
Seattle (-2.5) vs Oakland in London: Raiders QB Derek Carr has thrown eight interceptions already this year and the Oakland run defense is weak. -- SEAHAWKS
Indianapolis at New York Jets (-2.0): This is a winnable game for the Colts, but they are incredibly inventive at finding ways to lose. -- JETS
Arizona at Minnesota (-10.0): Arizona got their first win last week against a quarterback-less San Francisco 49ers team. Minnesota has already lost to one miserable team at home this year (Oh, sorry, didn't see you sitting there Bills Mafia). They aren't going to make that mistake again. -- VIKINGS
Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-3.0): This is a tough one -- two teams on losing streaks, two bad defenses, but only one home team. -- ATLANTA
Los Angeles Rams (-6.5) at Denver: Los Angeles is undefeated and Denver has three straight losses after starting 2-0. The 18-point loss to the Jets last week was inexcusable and speaks to serious issues, particularly their rushing defense. -- RAMS
Baltimore (-2.5) at Tennessee: Holy smokes. This game is it! It could possibly be the worst game to watch in the last 10 years of NFL football. It has all the trappings of a one-touchdown game. The Titans lost 13-12 last weekend in Buffalo, and the Ravens were not able to score a touchdown in their 12-9 loss at Cleveland. I am sure this game will be on in my market. I need to force myself to watch it so I can laugh at the ineptitude. -- TITANS
Jacksonville (-3.0) at Dallas: The 2-3 Cowboys have been better at home where they secured their two victories over the Detroit Lions and Giants. Playing at home against Jacksonville's top-rated defense is an entirely different story. -- JAGUARS
Kansas City at New England (-3.5): We have seen this before. In fact, we saw this last year. The 2017 Chiefs got out to a 5-0 start, including a Week 1 42-27 victory over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. They then went on to lose six of their next seven games. It is about time for Kansas City to regress back to the mean, and for New England to remind everybody of their greatness. -- PATRIOTS
San Francisco at Green Bay (-9.5): And this is where you can watch some of the MLB playoffs. This game will not be competitive. -- PACKERS
It is packed from start to finish with all the major sports.
The MLB playoffs remind you that baseball still exists and can occasionally be interesting, the college football slate moves into conference play and multiple tightly contested matchups each weekend, the NFL charges toward midseason as contenders and pretenders are identified, and the NHL and NBA seasons begin...all in the month of October.
I know I don't know much about hockey. I am essentially a rookie in-person fan and will hopefully develop some good content from that experience this season. However, I won't attempt to provide predictions or in-depth hockey analysis.
The NBA is a different story.
I think I know a little something about the "Association." To prove it - let's take a quick look at the last thing I said about the NBA, and the first thing the professional sports media is saying about it this year.
In the June 23 HOTPO, I took a look at the post-draft, pre-free agency NBA through the lens of the Association being stratified into thirds -- title contenders, middle-of-the-pack teams, and cellar dwellers. In that post, I said three things:
- LeBron James leaves Cleveland and what has been an elite team for four years will drop to C-level status (bottom third).
- Lakers will get a superstar free agent and/or trade for Kawhi Leonard and they will jump to the A-level (top third).
- If Demarcus Cousins leaves New Orleans, the Pelicans will improve, and the team that he goes to will reach no higher than B-level (middle third).
I also ranked every NBA team in that soon-to-be-labeled-classic June 23 post. ESPN recently published their predictions for the 2018-19 season. See for yourself how they compare below.
The HOTPO and ESPN Top 8, or playoff teams, for the Eastern Conference were the same. I rated the Miami Heat higher than ESPN, and ESPN had more faith in the Toronto Raptors. But no one was thinking Leonard would end up in Toronto when I published in June -- he is a franchise changer.
For the Western Conference, HOTPO and ESPN differed by two teams. I had the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs as playoff teams, while ESPN excluded those two for the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Considering Jimmy Butler is slinging Molotov cocktails around T-Wolves practices, I will stick with my picks.
File this little update away while the NBA season starts this week. Pull it back out on Christmas Day, after you have stuffed all the wrapping paper in the recycling bin and hammered six cups of coffee before sitting down to watch the five Christmas Day NBA games. Unless you really love your local team, you can wait until the Christmas casserole is cold before you seriously tune in to the NBA.
It's October and the NBA can wait. As a bard, poet, or pompous jackalope might say, "For today is a fall Saturday, and one's countenance should turn and shine on the collegiate game of football."
Between youth soccer and yard work, I will try to steal some glances at these college football games:
Iowa at Indiana, 12 p.m., ESPNU -- To make a bowl game, the Hoosiers will need to steal a Big Ten victory from someone other than Rutgers, and we know it isn't happening against Penn State or Michigan. Probably not happening today either.
Pitt at #5 Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC -- Notre Dame needs to run the table to make the championship playoffs, and Pittsburgh has all the pieces to pull off an upset. This game could be good.
#2 Georgia at #13 LSU, 3:30 p.m., CBS -- Hoo boy! Game of the day, right here!
Army at San Jose State, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU -- I won't watch much of that game of the day, because my attention will be on the Black Knights. Go Army! Beat San Jose State!
#15 Wisconsin at #12 Michigan, 7:30 p.m., ABC -- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh needs a victory against a ranked opponent badly. Good thing this isn't a road game.
#19 Colorado at USC, 10:30 p.m., FS1 -- This is a great night cap for a nocturnal sports nut. I hate going to bed, and I hate getting up.
But you didn't come here for the NBA or NCAA football, did you? Let's get on that NFL Week 6 Cheat Sheet!
Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland (-1.0): What's that strange urge inside of me? I feel like picking the Browns in this one -- they have an opportunistic defense, haven't lost at home this year, and might finally have a decent quarterback. Still can't pull that trigger on a Browns pick. -- CHARGERS
Buffalo at Houston (-10): There is not much impressive from either of these teams. The most impressive player in this game is Houston QB Deshaun Watson, who is dealing with a rib injury. As long as Watson plays, this is an easy pick. -- HOUSTON
Carolina (-1.0) at Washington: Carolina quietly is 3-1 and off to a solid start. Even though Washington is 2-2 and leading the NFC East, there are questions about coach Jay Gruden's job security following an embarrassing 43-19 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Redskins under Gruden are wildly inconsistent -- losing games they should win, and winning games they should lose -- they should lose this game. -- PANTHERS
Chicago (-3.5) at Miami: Miami is reeling from two consecutive road losses, and Chicago is coming off their bye week. -- BEARS
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (-1.5): Cincinnati is off to a hot start, and Pittsburgh looks like "team turmoil" (if you discount the New York Giants...yeesh). The Bengals have lost four straight in this series, and are 2-15 in Cincinnati against the Steelers since Marvin Lewis became the head coach. Maybe the Bengals are due, or maybe they are going to do what they do in this series. -- STEELERS
Seattle (-2.5) vs Oakland in London: Raiders QB Derek Carr has thrown eight interceptions already this year and the Oakland run defense is weak. -- SEAHAWKS
Indianapolis at New York Jets (-2.0): This is a winnable game for the Colts, but they are incredibly inventive at finding ways to lose. -- JETS
Arizona at Minnesota (-10.0): Arizona got their first win last week against a quarterback-less San Francisco 49ers team. Minnesota has already lost to one miserable team at home this year (Oh, sorry, didn't see you sitting there Bills Mafia). They aren't going to make that mistake again. -- VIKINGS
Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-3.0): This is a tough one -- two teams on losing streaks, two bad defenses, but only one home team. -- ATLANTA
Los Angeles Rams (-6.5) at Denver: Los Angeles is undefeated and Denver has three straight losses after starting 2-0. The 18-point loss to the Jets last week was inexcusable and speaks to serious issues, particularly their rushing defense. -- RAMS
Baltimore (-2.5) at Tennessee: Holy smokes. This game is it! It could possibly be the worst game to watch in the last 10 years of NFL football. It has all the trappings of a one-touchdown game. The Titans lost 13-12 last weekend in Buffalo, and the Ravens were not able to score a touchdown in their 12-9 loss at Cleveland. I am sure this game will be on in my market. I need to force myself to watch it so I can laugh at the ineptitude. -- TITANS
Jacksonville (-3.0) at Dallas: The 2-3 Cowboys have been better at home where they secured their two victories over the Detroit Lions and Giants. Playing at home against Jacksonville's top-rated defense is an entirely different story. -- JAGUARS
Kansas City at New England (-3.5): We have seen this before. In fact, we saw this last year. The 2017 Chiefs got out to a 5-0 start, including a Week 1 42-27 victory over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. They then went on to lose six of their next seven games. It is about time for Kansas City to regress back to the mean, and for New England to remind everybody of their greatness. -- PATRIOTS
San Francisco at Green Bay (-9.5): And this is where you can watch some of the MLB playoffs. This game will not be competitive. -- PACKERS
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