We are entering the seventh week of the season, and we have one remaining undefeated team in the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams improved to 6-0 last week, and now arrive in Santa Clara to face our San Francisco 49ers. Maybe the 49ers can provide the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins with a chance to pop their annual champagne toast. In the meantime, we open the week with a fairly abysmal matchup on Thursday Night Football. The Arizona Cardinals host the Denver Broncos, and we’ll get into this mess more down before my weekly picks.
It’s time once again for our pick ‘em and Survivor pool contest options. We have the weekly prediction contest this season, and you can make those picks here. We also have a traditional “Pick ‘Em” contest. If you still want to join, the group name is Niners Nation, the group ID is 45734, and the password is go49ers. You’re pretty far behind, but feel free to join.
I remain alive in my double-elimination Survivor pool. I have one strike, but lived to fight another day with the Houston Texans beating the Buffalo Bills, albeit just barely. This week is a tough one for Survivor picks. The Rams are the safe pick against the 49ers, and after that, not much is safe. Indianapolis a 7.5-point favorite over Buffalo, and while the Bills will be rolling out Derek Anderson, I’m not really sure I’d be comfortable taking them. The Los Angeles Chargers are a six-point favorite over the Tennessee Titans. It’s in London, and I think we see Tennessee hang close, and maybe even win outright. Right now, I’m leaning with the safe Rams pick just to make it through the week.
Tonight, Week 7 opens with the Cardinals hosting the Cardinals. The Broncos are a mess without a clear answer at quarterback. Consider me shocked Case Keenum is not proving to be the answer. Meanwhile, the Cardinals offense is working through rookie growing pains, and they are going to be generally bad, and inconsistent at best. The Broncos are a 1.5-point favorite, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. I’m inclined to just take the points with Arizona, given that both teams are just not any good.
Here are the rest of my straight-up picks. I was 13-2 last week, bringing my season record to 65-26-2. I’ll have my picks against the spread later this weekend.
Broncos @ Cardinals: Cardinals
Titans @ Chargers: Titans
Patriots @ Bears: Bears
Bills @ Colts: Colts
Lions @ Dolphins: Lions
Vikings @ Jets: Jets
Panthers @ Eagles: Eagles
Browns @ Buccaneers: Bucs
Texans @ Jaguars: Jaguars
Saints @ Ravens: Ravens
Rams @ 49ers: Rams
Cowboys @ Washington: Washington
Bengals @ Chiefs: Chiefs
Giants @ Falcons: Giants