NFL Week 6 Preview: Avoid the Landmines

By Alex Lauzon from the “Course of Life” podcast

Week 6 - Landmine Games

Stayin alive’ like the Bee Gees? Or throwing in the towel and wondering if your team is tanking? We’re sadly (and quickly) at that junction of the season where about half of the NFL fan base are coming to some tough terms with their team’s hopes this season. My Patriots, and pillar NFL franchises like the Giants and the Broncos are all off to disastrous starts to their season that have management questioning everything. In playing with my analogy on landmines, detonation occurred for those teams yesterday.

As we roll into week seven there’s also teams like the Chiefs, 49ers, Eagles and Dolphins that are clicking on all cylinders. Nothing can go wrong for them…which is what gives me pause. As dominant as these teams have been, there are a couple of landmines that they need to avoid in week 6 to stay hot. “Any Given Sunday” as they say, which means even the ugliest of teams can find a win out of thin air amidst all adversity and turmoil. Let’s make sense of the week 6 board as you prepare to take down this week’s NFL contest:

Games of the Week

Broncos @ Chiefs (-10.5) - 8:15 pm ET (Thursday) - The sports and gossip worlds resume the Taylor Swift watch for an Amazon Prime showcase. I wonder if Jeff Bezos has cut the check for TSwift to be in attendance? Brace yourself for the Hollywood hype heading into the NFL weekend opener.

Ravens @ Titans (+3) - 9:30am ET - The third and final NFL London game is here and it does not feature the Jags - they get to go home after notching two wins overseas. This matchup is a grind of divisional rivals and should be won in the trenches and with whoever possesses the ball the longest - old school gridiron vibes for the London fans.

Colts @ Jaguars (-4) - 1:00 pm ET - A strange moment for the Colts, as rookie Anthony Richardson looked promising right up until his injury that will sideline him for a month. Now, Gardener Minshew enters as the backup, but he’s had his own success in guiding the Colts to two of their three early season wins. It’s an interesting narrative as they head to Jacksonville - the team that originally drafted Minshew in 2019.  

Patriots @ Raiders (-3) - 4:05 pm ET - I get it - football karma is being enacted for our six Patriots Super Bowl wins over the span of two glorious decades. So when it rains it pours in New England, and now they face the team they thought they would morph into, with former Pats coach Josh McDaniels at the helm. The sky is falling in Foxboro, and if nothing else I'm sure most of the league is having fun watching the car crash of a former dynasty.

Lions @ Buccaneers (+3) - 4:25 pm ET - The Baker Mayfield disrespect continues as they are home dogs against the Lions. While Detroit looks good, the line indicates that the Bucs hype train might come to an end this week, or at least be sidelined until they deliver a landmark win.

Fishy Lines + Landmines to Watch

49ers @ Browns (+5) - 1:00 pm ET - Mini landmine? The spread certainly indicates so as the Browns are a live dog here? This line is absurdly low if you take what the two teams have done at face value. Maybe the west coast niners can’t adjust their east clocks and get caught sleepwalking? I’ve seen crazier happen in the NFL.

Eagles @ Jets (+6.5) - 4:25 pm ET - What a landmine this would be if the blemish free Eagles lose to Zach Wilson and the lowly Jets. Again, that line under a touchdown tells me and should tell you that Vegas likes a big dog to go down on Sunday. Are the Jets the landmine of the week?

The Primetime Pick

Cowboys @ Chargers (+2) - 8:15 pm ET (Monday) - It’s the Cowboy fresh off of a butt whooping against the Cardiac Chargers, who have played one score games in each of their four contests this season. Now they have two weeks to prepare for Dak Prescott and I personally think that’s enough time to meet the challenge - this is a good primetime spot for the Chargers.

Week Five Plays To Watch

Ravens/Titans Under 40 - This has the makings of a grind of a game that shouldn’t be packed with big plays.

Texans +1.5 - It’s a double bounceback play, where the Texans come off a less than inspiring performance and the Saints are flying high after shutting out the Patriots. Go against the brain and the gran here.

Browns +5 - Why so low against the Niners? Someone knows something we may not know about this matchup.

Panthers +14.5 - I’m a glutton for punishment that likes picking the worst teams in the league to cover big spreads - sue me.

Lions -3 - This D has handled Mayfield in the past and the disrespect with the spread has me leaning towards Detroit early in the week.