NFL Expert Picks Week 6: ESPN Experts Predict 49ers Win Over Ravens
NFL expert picks for Week 6 have started coming in from ESPN. One of the interesting Week 6 NFL picks has the ESPN experts predicting that the Atlanta Falcons will beat the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, October 15. It’s not unanimous, though, with analyst Chris Mortensen feeling the Saints can pull off an upset. ESPN.com releases weekly predictions from experts with the network, but not all the picks from the coming week have been submitted yet. It’s possible that a few of the analysts are waiting for more injury reports to come out.
A Falcons victory would improve the team to 6-0 on the season. Playing in front of the national audience on Thursday night might also get the team a lot of additional attention from football fans around the country. It’s not going to be an easy game against an NFC South rival, though, especially with the match-up taking place on the road. Game time is at about 8:25 p.m. ET with NFL Network carrying it live.
Another interesting match-up from the Week 6 NFL expert picks comes from the late afternoon games on Sunday, October 18. The San Francisco 49ers are predicted to beat the Baltimore Ravens, giving Colin Kaepernick just his second victory of the season. Both teams have struggled to early 1-4 records, but Joe Flacco has kept the Ravens in contention to win most weeks. The 49ers now have one of the worst defenses in football, but only one analyst (Mike Ditka) has picked them to lose in Week 6.
The four teams with byes in Week 6 are the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There are also several games predicted unanimously by the ESPN analysts, and they are the Minnesota Vikings beating the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals beating the Buffalo Bills, the Denver Broncos beating the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers beating the San Diego Chargers, and the New England Patriots beating the Indianapolis Colts. Those predictions could lead to five undefeated teams when Week 7 rolls around.
The undefeated team predicted to lose on Sunday is the Carolina Panthers. Only Mike Ditka has selected them to beat the Seattle Seahawks, with all the other analysts siding with the two-time defending NFC champions so far. That could shift a bit as the game draws closer, but the news that Marshawn Lynch will start at running back for the Seahawks has shifted the odds more in favor of Seattle. Getting to play the game at home is also a sign that the Seahawks could improve to 3-3 on the season and get right back in the playoff race.
The other Sunday game predictions have the New York Jets beating the Washington Redskins, the Arizona Cardinals beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chicago Bears beating the Detroit Lions, the Houston Texans beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Tennessee Titans beating the Miami Dolphins. Another loss by the Lions would drop the team to 0-6 on the season. It would also improve the Bears to 3-3, despite giving up 142 points in the first five games of the season.
In the Monday night game from October 19, the ESPN analysts have predicted that the Philadelphia Eagles will beat the New York Giants. The selection is a bit surprising, since the Giants could very easily be 5-0 on the season thus far. Instead, the analysts predict the team will fall to 3-3 in a tough road game against an NFC East rival. That game brings an end to the Week 6 NFL expert picks from ESPN, though there are a few analysts who didn’t submit their selections yet. With several pending injury reports, an update is expected from the site before the weekend games.
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