NFL 2015 Week 6 Gameplan

The 2nd quarter of the NFL season is officially underway here in mid-October!

Last week was not too shabby, going 10-4 at the end of Week 5. Checking out the ones I missed:

– Cleveland’s defense is at the bottom of the league right now, but their Josh McCown-led offense has been a revelation; the Ravens gave up 457 passing yards to McCown in an overtime home loss.

– The Seahawks punted with a 24-7 lead early in the 4th quarter at Cincinnati, which usually means game over. But Bengals TE Tyler Eifert lit up Seahawks SS Kam Chancellor for 59 yards and a TD in the 4th quarter and OT.

– The Chiefs just lost one of the best RBs in the league in Jamaal Charles (ACL tear), and you have to credit Chicago’s pass defense for holding the Chiefs to 44 passing yards on 11 dropbacks in the 2nd half.

– The Cardinals have been way better on the offensive line than I expected, going from worst to first in rushing average while allowing only 3 sacks in their 4 wins this season.

Four 2-3 teams are on bye this week:

Dallas: The Cowboys are 2-3 for the 4th time in 5 seasons, with last year being the exception. The injury to QB Tony Romo has left the Cowboys on a three-game losing streak, a stretch where the team is 30th in the NFL in 3rd down conversions (25 percent). The Cowboys will make changes in the passing offense (QB Matt Cassel), running offense (RB Christine Michael), and OL (LG La’el Collins) after the bye.

Oakland: The Raiders started 2-3 in 2013, and that didn’t work out, finishing 4-12. They have already exceeded my awfully low expectations, but the Raiders pass defense continues to be mediocre, despite 39-year-old legend SS Charles Woodson grabbing 4 INTs already. Only the Giants allow more passing yards per game.

Saint Louis: The Rams are 2-0 in the division, but 0-3 outside of it. The Rams are 35-68 outside the NFC West since 2005, the worst non-divisional record in that span other than the Raiders. The Rams started 2-3 in 2013, and they failed to reach .500 that year. The biggest problem for the Rams is their last-ranked offense. WR Kenny Britt leads the team with 183 receiving yards this season, which wouldn’t put him on pace to break 600 yards. Terrible.

Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers have matched last year’s win total, so there’s that. The last time the Buccaneers started 2-3 was in 2012, which is also the last time RB Doug Martin had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. Martin’s playing well, as he’s tied for 5th in the NFL in rushing yards per game. But the Buccaneers are allowing 29.6 points per game, dead last in the NFL. Only the Chiefs have allowed more than Tampa Bay’s 12 TD passes.

And now, for the Week 6 games of the week:

2015 #NFL Week 6 picks (10-4 in Week 5, +7 for 2015): NO, BUF, DEN, DET, HOU, KC, NYJ, PIT, TEN, SEA, GB, BAL, NE, PHI

— Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU) October 15, 2015

Atlanta at New Orleans: The Saints give up a score on half of their drives; they need RBs Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller to be major factors in the running and passing game to pull the upset.

Cincinnati at Buffalo: A strong preseason and an injury to QB Tyrod Taylor puts Bills QB EJ Manuel in line to start, but the big X-Factor is RB LeSean McCoy returning and having a breakout game against a Cincinnati defense that allowed 169 rushing yards last week to Seattle RB Thomas Rawls.

Denver at Cleveland: The Broncos defense has been carrying the awful Peyton Manning-led offense almost all season, but the Denver offense may get untracked against Cleveland’s 31st-ranked run defense.

Chicago at Detroit: The Lions are still looking for their first win of the season; in a battle between two of the five worst pass defenses in the league, the Lions are still better set up to take advantage despite QB Matthew Stafford’s struggles this season.

Houston at Jacksonville: The Texans had ten days off to figure out how they can take advantage of a Jacksonville offensive line that allowed six sacks last week and nine sacks in two games against Houston last season.

Kansas City at Minnesota: Going into Week 6, the Vikings have the 6th-best record in the NFC at 2-2, but they have to show they can protect the passer against what should be a more aggressive Chiefs pass rush.

Washington at New York Jets: The Jets are at home, coming off a bye, and facing a QB in Kirk Cousins who won’t have Pro Bowl LT Trent Williams (concussion) and is notorious for struggling with turnovers; the Jets have forced 13 turnovers in 4 games this season.

Arizona at Pittsburgh: This will only be the third time since the merger that the Steelers host the Cardinals, and this will mark Arizona head coach Bruce Arians’ first trip back to Pittsburgh after he left the team in 2011; Steelers WR Antonio Brown told me that he wants QB Michael Vick to be aggressive against Arizona’s press coverage.

Miami at Tennessee: The Titans lost after coming off their bye last week, and they’ll look to return the favor against a Miami team breaking in interim head coach Dan Campbell; stopping the run will be key for the Titans defense, as Miami will surely run more than 20 times.

Carolina at Seattle: The Panthers have never won in Seattle (0-4), but the Seahawks need to get TE Jimmy Graham involved since it cost them a 1st-round pick and a competent offensive lineman in C Max Unger; a year after getting at least 9 targets in half of his games, Graham hasn’t received 9 targets once this season.

San Diego at Green Bay: The Chargers lost at the buzzer on Monday night, and now they have to travel with a thin offensive line to face a Packers defense that is top-five against the pass.

Baltimore at San Francisco: A rematch of the only Super Bowl to feature two starting QBs that have never made a Pro Bowl; the 49ers have been much better defensively at home, but Baltimore WR Steve Smith Sr and RB Justin Forsett should be healthy enough to give the 49ers defense problems.

New England at Indianapolis: Colts QB Andrew Luck showed how much of a liability he was in absentia, as backup Matt Hasselbeck led the team to back-to-back wins with no turnovers; look for the Patriots to win the turnover battle against the whistleblowers.

New York Giants at Philadelphia: Last time the Giants went to Lincoln Financial Field, they were shut out and WR Victor Cruz was severely injured; the Eagles defense has to stay off the field if they are to get a share of first place in the NFC East.

The Patriots have defeated the Colts six straight times, and the last four haven’t been close. (Twitter/Rob Gronkowski)