Hi, hello & welcome to Week 6 of the National Football League! It’s definitely been an up & down season over here. We narrowly had a winning record last week, but still sit below .500 overall. If previous years are any indication, we’ll be under .500 for awhile, make a classic comeback in the second half of the season, go up & down like a yo-yo and finish just over .500. What I’m saying is that y’all better stick around, because things are about to get interesting.

Speaking of things getting interesting, we have to talk about Jon Gruden, don’t we? I would have put a lot of money on Urban Meyer being the first head coach to get replaced this season, turns out he’s going to out-last at least one guy. Gruden joins an ever-growing list of people ruined by their e-mails, as messages he sent to Bruce Allen were uncovered as part of an investigation into misconduct by Allen while he was president of the Washington Football Team. Gruden being the first domino to fall as a result of an investigation into Washington seems a bit odd, though it’s hard for me to argue he doesn’t deserve the backlash he’s getting. Can’t feel bad for the guy, but the whole situation feels kinda weird. The fact that the first e-mail made public was a racist insult about NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, and the fact it got released just prior to a vote on Smith’s future with the NFLPA, seemed awfully fishy.

It makes one wonder how deep this thing is going to go. Who else in the NFL was exchanging e-mails containing opinions best kept out of the public eye with Bruce Allen or other people in the WFT front office? How many people employed by NFL teams are deleting all of their e-mails? Something tells me we’ll never know the answer to any of these questions, but we’ll find out what somebody wants us to find out about.

I’m not sure I’d call Gruden’s second stint with the Raiders a disappointment, since most of us expected it to not go particularly well. He ended up going 22-31 during his 3.25 season stint with the Raiders, and early returns seemed to show that this season’s Raiders team wasn’t going to improve that winning percentage too much. Especially if their showing against the Bears on Sunday was any indication. Looking back, it seems like a sign that the team had given up on him. Whether that’s true or not is irrelevant at this point. Gruden’s out of Las Vegas, and I wouldn’t count on him being back anywhere too soon.

Heck, Tampa Bay booted him out of their Ring of Honor! I wonder if they’ll have a ceremony for that on Thursday night…

Thursday, October 14

Tampa Bay (-7) at Philadelphia

The new leader in quarterback DYAR, the quarterback with the most value by our numbers and thus theoretically the leading candidate for MVP?

It's not Allen, or Herbert. Or Mahomes, or Stafford, or Prescott, or Murray.

44-year-old Tom Brady.

— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@FO_ASchatz) October 11, 2021

Tom Brady allegedly has some kind of hand injury. Does anybody really think it’s going to hamper him in this game? Even on a Thursday night? Come on, that’d be betting against greatness, and you know darn well we don’t do that around here. Seven points is a tricky number, especially in Philadelphia, but the Eagles have yet to win a home game this season and the slimmest margin is six.

Sure, they’ve only played at home twice, but doesn’t that sound like a good stat? We riding with the Buccaneers, it’s not like anyone there has any reason to be distracted with this Gruden stuff. Unless they sent some sketchy e-mails to Bruce Allen…

Sunday, October 17

Miami (-3.5) vs. Jacksonville

The NFL sending the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars to London should be considered an act of war.

— Mike (@mikeyj2208) October 10, 2021

I mean…Jets vs. Falcons was at least somewhat entertaining when the Jets tried to make it a game in the second half. The Falcons also had some real nice looking uniforms. I’m struggling to find anything positive to say about this one. You got a sorry, no account Dolphin team that have gotten their doors blown off most of the season after somehow winning in Foxboro by a point, then there’s a sorry, no account Jaguar team with a coach that is bound to either quit or get fired or have a mutual parting of ways during the bye week after this game. I’d be shocked if Urban Meyer is still coaching the Jags when they go to Seattle on Halloween. Tony Khan & the rest of the Jags brass better hope the Dolphins cover here, it’ll make their job much easier.

Houston at Indianapolis (-10)

The AFC South is 5-15 through the first 5 weeks of the season.

The Texans, Colts and Jaguars are a combined 2-13. pic.twitter.com/4wTaMXPjOG

— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) October 12, 2021

I mean, we knew the AFC South was going to be pathetic, but this is somewhat ridiculous. People will want to sell me on the Titans, and they probably end up “winning” this division, but it’s a pretty sorry collection of teams. The Texans are absolutely brutal, and the Colts aren’t a whole lot better. My honest recommendation to you would be to avoid watching this game or having any kind of association with it.

If you insist on involving yourself in this type of filth…well, you probably need to call one of those hotlines for people with gambling problems. I do have the feeling the Texans will come within 10, but it’s a disgusting situation all around that I would want no part of.

Green Bay (-4.5) at Chicago

Probably bring this up every year before the 1st Packers-Bears game, but …

Justin Fields will be 20th different starting QB that CHI has used against Packers since 1992.

GB has used 3 different starters vs. Bears during that span: Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Hundley.

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 13, 2021

This is certainly the most historical rivalry in the NFL. It isn’t the most competitive. The Packers have had a 44-15 edge since 1992, when Brett Favre became the team’s QB1. And, to be honest, it wasn’t really competitive for most decades. The Bears dominated from the 1920s-1950s. The Packers dominated during the 1960s when Vince Lombardi came along. Then the Bears dominated from Lombardi’s leaving the Packers until Favre’s emergence. It’s been a rare occasion where both of these teams are good at the same time, and this isn’t one of those occasions.

That all being said, I’m leaning Bears based off that spread. The Packers have some defensive weaknesses that can be exploited.

Kansas City (-7) at Washington

He misspelled “the Kansas City Chiefs defense” but I’ll forgive him

— Dustin James (@dustinjames) October 12, 2021

I’ve been giving the Chiefs the benefit of the doubt so far, and they’ve been doing all they can to convince me they don’t deserve it. Then they go to Washington to face a Football Team that just lost to the Saints by 11. What am I supposed to do with this? By all rights, the Chiefs should be able to take care of this, and that’ll be my pick. Will I be shocked if it doesn’t work out? Absolutely not, even if a team QBed by Patrick Mahomes should easily take care of a team QBed by Taylor…good lord, I can’t even remember. Hendrix? She used to be around. Was nice for a second.

Minnesota (-1) at Carolina

Panthers' Rhule: McCaffrey '50-50' for Sunday vs. Vikings https://t.co/QBjyGlh7an

— AP NFL (@AP_NFL) October 14, 2021

I’ve arrived at this conclusion about the Panthers: If Christian McCaffrey can play, the Panthers can win. If McCaffrey can’t play, they can’t win. I mean, if Panthers fans want to correct me on this they can, but I’m pretty certain this is the deal. Assuming he actually plays, I have to roll with the Panthers, especially if Dalvin Cook’s status is also up in the air. This game could either feature two of the best RBs in the league or be absolutely not worth watching.

LA Chargers at Baltimore (-3)

Can @SNFonNBC flex Chargers Ravens to prime time? No one wants to see Geno Smith vs Big Ben

— Cut Vizcaino Now ⚡️ (@randallchargers) October 11, 2021

That’s what I was thinking. This seems like a perfect fit for SUNDAY NIGHT IS FOOTBALL NIGHT, doesn’t it? The Chargers have charged their way to the top of power rankings while the Ravens have kept doing their thing. They had one of the craziest comebacks in recent memory while we were all figuring out that Jon Gruden nonsense. While that whole news story was happening, we assumed the Colts had somehow blown out the Ravens in Baltimore. That didn’t happen, thanks to Lamar Jackson being an absolute freak of nature. Some people forgot. Lamar wasn’t MVP for a season, and some people forgot. That man gonna be a problem for people for at least the next few years. Probably longer.

Winning here would be a big deal for the Chargers. That would be their official coronation as the top AFC team for this 2021 season. I realize that betting against Justin Herbert might be betting against greatness one of these days…but so would betting against Lamar Jackson. I’m taking the Ravens, though this feels like a push kinda game. Especially when Justin Tucker is kicking for the favorite.

Cincinnati (-3.5) at Detroit

#LionsWeek #BengalsRecordBook : The longest rushing TD in #bengals history. 96 yarder by Corey Dillon vs #lions in 2001. Cincy wins 31-27 (CD with 184 yards rushing). #RuleTheJungle #CincinnatiFootballHistory

pic.twitter.com/KxmxewkkLC

— Bengal Jim’s BTR (@bengaljims_BTR) October 11, 2021

I’d like to tell y’all to predict the Bengals running over the Lions like in that clip up above, but things have me a bit concerned. Like the whole Joe Burrow throat contusion thing. If the guy can’t talk to much leading up to the game, he’s going to have problems screaming. Which he’ll need to do whilst running the Bengals offense in a loud Ford Field. I’ve been under-selling the Bengals all season, and people say I’m over-selling the Lions…but that team tends to keep things close. If the Bengals actually do win this game, it’ll be one of those field goal differential games.

LA Rams (-10.5) at NY Giants

So the Giants might have to face the Rams on Sunday without QB Daniel Jones, WR Kenny Golladay, RB Saquon Barkley, WR Kadarius Toney and maybe LT Andrew Thomas, WR Sterling Shepard and WR Darius Slayton.

“Might”. pic.twitter.com/dIvYmMF044

— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) October 11, 2021

Well, reports say that Daniel Jones is working out, and that’s reason for Giants fans to be optimistic. No, there’s actually no earthly reason I’ve seen to not take the Rams, as everybody involved with their passing game & defense appear to be healthy. Sometimes these things aren’t hard.

Arizona at Cleveland (-2.5)

The Arizona Cardinals are going to need more of these run stuffing plays from JJ Watt in Week 6 against the Browns beast RBs. pic.twitter.com/b7oQSok5AZ

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) October 13, 2021

I’m a big fan of what Arizona has been doing early. Not so much of Cleveland. So that means the Browns are the team to pick here. I know that sounds strange, but trust me.

Jake Roberts voice: Trust me.

I know how these things work. You’ll see the Browns blow the Cardinals out here…it doesn’t mean Arizona is screwed going forward, it just means they got woke up.

Las Vegas at Denver (-3.5)

NFL referee Ron Torbert assigned to #Raiders vs Broncos game.

The #Raiders have a 1-5 record when he refereed.

* Solely for the purpose of information. pic.twitter.com/2cxc9et2bN

— AFL Godfather🏴‍☠️👓🏈 (@NFLMAVERICK) October 12, 2021

Raiders fans already reaching for explanations when they lose…I mean, as much as I’d love for that team to be good due to a historical fetish I have, they really haven’t been in a long time, and we can’t blame referees for it. The Broncos have gotten owned the last two weeks like I figured they would, but now they have an inferior team to feast on at home again.

Dallas (-4) at New England

Tony Dorsett
Cowboys Vs Patriots 1981 #DallasCowboys #CowboysNation #CowboysFam pic.twitter.com/WbRlLslUjT

— Sohe Coop (4-1) (@SoheCoop) October 13, 2021

America’s Team vs. The Team That Wants To Be America’s Team So Badly They Called Themselves “Patriots”. If the Patriots are looking for a silver lining, it’s that all the asskickings the Cowboys have dished out lately took place in JerryWorld. Their two road games were much closer affairs. That being said, we’re talking about a team that barely beat the Texans after the national media told us how great they were since Tom Brady took mercy on them. The Cowboys take no mercy. Just ask-you know what, I better calm down right now before people start asking questions.

Seattle at Pittsburgh (-5)

LMFAOOOOO SEAHAWKS STEELERS IS SNF THE WHOLE WORLD IS GONNA BE FORCED TO WATCH BIG BEN VS GENO SMITH IM CRYING

— AlexATM44 (@AlexATM44) October 11, 2021

Yeah, this thing won’t be worth staying up for. Alls I’m saying is that y’all shouldn’t keep under-selling the Steelers. That’s when they’re at their most dangerous. You let them slide under the radar while the national media goes gaga over Lamar, the Browns and even the Bengals for some reason…Pittsburgh loves that shit. They thrive off of it. They want you to keep doing it. I don’t, so I give the Steelers their proper respect and say they’ll win this game easily.

Monday, October 18

Buffalo (-5.5) at Tennessee

Out of the three losses last season, the Titans game was the only one where the #Bills got absolutely embarrassed. As with KC, new season, different team, etc, etc… but I'm sure they'd love to return the favor.

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) October 13, 2021

Last week we had a lot of people telling us how the Bills would get exposed in Kansas City. Pretty sure some FS1 geek staked his career on it. His reasoning was how the Chiefs had embarrassed the Bills in previous meetings. Well, that didn’t hold up. This week, the reasoning for picking the Titans would be that they embarrassed the Bills last season. Pretty sure the Bills remember that, and that’ll be a reason they don’t sleep on an AFC South team.

The Titans do have Derrick Henry…but not much else. I lean towards the Bills handling their business.

Week 5 Record: 8-7-1

Overall Record: 36-42-2