We’re back for another week of football! The San Francisco 49ers are not back in action until Sunday, but in the meantime, Thursday Night Football is back and we’re back with more straight up picks, TNF against the spread, and even a Survivor pool pick. The San Diego Chargers host the Denver Broncos. The Chargers re 1-4 and scuffling along, while Denver lost their first game and is now tied with the Oakland Raiders atop the NFC West.
The 49ers are facing the Bills in Buffalo, and I imagine tomorrow’s look at media picks and predictions will be mostly Bills picks. But the change to Colin Kaepernick at quarterback certainly makes this game a little more interesting. He might get nothing done, and this offense could continue struggling with consistency. But, Sunday we get to see something different at least.
I imagine a lot of people will be taking the Bills in my Survivor pool. With the Survivor pool, you can only pick a team once. You get one grace loss, so if I pick a team and they lose this week, I’m still alive. If I pick a team next week after that loss, and that latter team loses, then I’m done. I went with the Green Bay Packers over the New York Giants last week. I’m leaning toward taking the Tennessee Titans over the Cleveland Browns. It’s not the safest of picks, but with the Titans getting healthier this week, it could be a nice value pick. Or, I’ll be eliminated (I already lost my first game when the Atlanta Falcons beat the Oakland Raiders). We’ll see!
The TNF matchup between the Broncos and Chargers is a tough one to figure. Trevor Siemian is listed as questionable, with Paxton Lynch set to start if the former can’t go. The Broncos are 3.5-point road favorites, facing a Chargers team that cannot seem to get out of its own way. I’m leaning Chargers getting over the hump and springing the upset.
Here are my straight up picks for the week.
Broncos @ Chargers: Broncos
49ers @ Bills: Bills
Eagles @ Washington: Washington
Browns @ Titans: Titans
Ravens @ Giants: Giants
Panthers @ Saints: Panthers
Jaguars @ Bears: Bears
Rams @ Lions: Lions
Steelers @ Dolphins: Steelers
Bengals @ Patriots: Patriots
Chiefs @ Raiders: Raiders
Falcons @ Seahawks: Seahawks
Cowboys @ Packers: Packers
Colts @ Texans: Texans
Jets @ Cardinals: Cardinals