NFL Picks 2013: Week 6

We here at Zoneblitz had a tough Week 5 with none of our contributors hitting more than eight of the 14 contests. Several upsets and many unpredictable games between, frankly, bad teams left us all bunched together.

Consequently nobody gained or lost a lot of ground. I remain the leader. But just six games separate the top from the bottom in our standings for the season. So a big week by any one of us could create quite a swing.

Here are the standings:

We’re close to the one-third mark of the season so you’d think picking these games would get easier. But if you look over the last three weeks there have been a number of coin flip games. That continues into week six, with a couple of divisional games and a slate of contests between teams that don’t often play. So we’ll see if any of us can hit the jackpot.

Here are our picks:

Game of the Week: New Orleans at New England – The Saints come in as the turnaround team of 2013 with an unbeaten record and a defense that has made an amazing turnaround in just one offseason under Rob Ryan. They’ve looked excellent. The Patriots have yet to put it all together on offense, but they still sport a 4-1 record and it’s hard to bet against them at home after a loss. Tom Brady reportedly is likely to get tight end Rob Gronkowski back, which should help lighten the load on a collection of young receivers with whom he has yet to mesh. This game between two of the all-time top QBs could turn on which team’s defense is able to make a stop. Other games that were considered include Washington’s visit to Dallas Sunday night in a game that could get the struggling Redskins back into the division race and the Kansas City home game against a suddenly competitive Oakland team led by Terrelle Pryor. But neither of those games stacks up with the Pats and Saints.

Game of the Weak: Jacksonville at Denver – The Broncos are unbeaten and might stay that way for quite awhile after fighting off a strong challenge from Dallas. The Jaguars are winless and might stay that way for quite awhile after trading their starting left tackle and losing their rookie replacement left tackle for the season to an ankle injury. The spread reportedly opened at 28 points. Denver might beat that by the end of the first quarter. This game has the feel of a college nonconference game between Alabama and Savannah State. Brock Osweiler might actually be a legitimate fantasy football play this weekend – he should get plenty of opportunities in garbage time.

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