Weekly NFL Picks and Predictions
Fearless Rick & Coin Flip Week 6 NFL Picks
Week 5 Results:
ALL TIMES EASTERN
Thursday, October 10
San Francisco 49ers (-3.5, 49.5) at Seattle Seahawks, 8:15 pm (Prime Video) - The 49ers looked more like 7th graders in their loss to Arizona last week and the Seahawks came within a blocked field goal of overtime against the Giants. Divisional game, points at home. Yeah, sure.
Generally speaking, this game is a pass, so tread lightly, if at all.
Coin Flip: Seattle
Fearless Rick's Pick: Seahawks 20 49ers 16
Jacksonville Jaguars vs Chicago Bears (-2, 44.5) (at Tottenham, London), 9:30 am (NFL Network) - Jacksonville got their first win of the season last week, just barely edging out the Colts, 37-34 at home. They're 1-4 and not very good. The Bears have more upside and twice as many wins. No team is allowing more ppg than Jacksonville except, hmmm, the Bengals.
Coin Flip: Chicago
Fearless Rick's Pick: Bears 34 Jaguars 24
Coin Flip: Baltimore
Fearless Rick's Pick: Commanders 31 Ravens 29
Coin Flip: Green Bay
Fearless Rick's Pick: Packers 40 Cardinals 20
Coin Flip: New England
Fearless Rick's Pick: Texans 34 Patriots 0
Coin Flip: New Orleans
Fearless Rick's Pick: Buccaneers 27 Saints 13
Coin Flip: Cleveland
Fearless Rick's Pick: Eagles 27 Browns 10
Coin Flip: Tennessee
Fearless Rick's Pick: Titans 30 Colts 17
Both teams are playing well defensively. This might be the under play of the week.
Coin Flip: Denver
Fearless Rick's Pick: Broncos 19 Chargers 16
Coin Flip: Pittsburgh
Fearless Rick's Pick: Steelers 20 Raiders 13
Coin Flip: Atanta
Fearless Rick's Pick: Falcons 31 Panters 14
Coin Flip: Dallas
Fearless Rick's Pick: Lions 24 Cowboys 17
Coin Flip: New York Giants
Fearless Rick's Pick: Giants 26 Bengals 24
Buffalo Bills (-2.5, 41) at New York Jets, 8:15 pm (ESPN) - Both teams are coming off losses, but it appears the Jets are actually playing better football than the Bills, despite their record. The winner of this contest will have first place in the division, and it's arguable that the Jets have the better defense, plus the firing of head coach Sales probably a step in the right direction.
Coin Flip: New York Jets
Fearless Rick's Pick: Jets 23 Bills 21
Byes: Kansas City, Los Angeles Rams, Miami, Minnesota
Fearless Rick & Coin Flip Week 5 NFL Picks
Week 4 Results:
Thursday, October 3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons (-1.5, 43.5), 8:15 pm (Prime Video) - The Falcons are home for a third straight week and come off a 26-24 win over the Saints. They are finding their best offense and the defense has been good enough the past three weeks, producing a 22-21 win over the Eagles and losing a tight one, 22-17, to the Chiefs.
Tampa Bay is 3-1, leading the division and were last seen wrecking the Eagles, 33-16. The Bucs and Falcons split their divisional series last season, each winning on the road. Falcons should produce a win and tighten up the divisional race, but that's far from a certainty.
Coin Flip: Atlanta
Fearless Rick's Pick: Falcons 27 Buccaneers 24
New York Jets vs Minnesota Vikings (-2.5, 40.5) (at Tottenham, London) 9:30 am (NFLN) - 4-0 Vikings meet unlucky Aaron Rodgers and the Jets (not a rock band). Had a few plays gone differently for the Jets, especially in their rain-drenched 10-9 loss to Denver, the Jets might be 4-0.
The Vikings have beaten good teams: Giants, 49ers, Texans, and Packers - and done so confidently. Can the Jets contain Justin Jefferson for 60 minutes? Probably not.
Coin Flip: New York Jets
Fearless Rick's Pick: Vikings 24 Jets 16
The Bears are not really that good and neither is their rookie QB, Caleb Williams, so giving four points may be a stretch. Looking for a close game.
Coin Flip: Carolina
Fearless Rick's Pick: Panthers 24 Bears 23
Who's not favored at home should be a red flag.
Coin Flip: Baltimore
Fearless Rick's Pick: Ravens 30 Bengals 21
Everything points to a tight game featuring two talented, playoff-bound teams. Home field should count for something, but in this case Houston gets a point. Take it.
Coin Flip: Buffalo
Fearless Rick's Pick: Texans 26 Bills 24
Coin Flip: Indianapolis
Fearless Rick's Pick: Jaguars 24 Colts 17
Coin Flip: Miami
Fearless Rick's Pick: Patriots 20 Dolphins 13
QB Jayden Daniels is almost certain to be NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and may bid for league MVP. Washington may be the best pure play of the week.
Coin Flip: Washington
Fearless Rick's Pick: Commanders 38 Browns 14
Coin Flip: Denver
Fearless Rick's Pick: Broncos 23 Raiders 13
Even a little banged up, the 49ers are a vastly superior team.
Coin Flip: San Francisco
Fearless Rick's Pick: 49ers 31 Cardinals 16
They should do better against the up-and-down 1-3 Rams, who managed somehow to lose to Arizona and Chicago, but beat the 49ers. The Rams are really desperate for a quality performance and may spring the upset.
Coin Flip: Green Bay
Fearless Rick's Pick: Rams 28 Packers 26
The Giants show signs of improvement and injuries to Seattle defenders may pave the way for a breakout game for Daniel Jones and the G-Men's offense. The 20-15 loss to the Cowboys last week was a good effort by the defense.
Coin Flip: Seattle
Fearless Rick's Pick: Giants 27 Seahawks 24
Even though the Steelers are home and Dallas is on the road a second straight week, it's worthwhile to note that the Cowboys' game was on Thursday, giving them extra time to prepare and get healthy.
Coin Flip: Dallas
Fearless Rick's Pick: Cowboys 21 Steelers 17
New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs (-5, 42.5), 8:15 pm (ESPN) - Awesome match-up to close out the week, with the 4-0 Chiefs having to deal with injuries at wideout and running back. The door is open for Derek Carr and the Saints to hand KC their first loss of the season.
New Orleans lost to Philly, 15-12, two weeks ago, and dropped a divisional game at Atlanta, 26-24, last week. Chris Olave, who missed the Atlanta game, is back for the Saints this week.
Coin Flip: Kansas City
Fearless Rick's Pick: Saints 29 Chiefs 24
|
Your ad could be in the next issue of idleguy.com for as little as $6 per month. Contact Fearless Rick using the form on page 12 for more information.
All Times Eastern
Week 6 Results: Rick: 7-7; Flip: 2-12
Friday, October 11
8:00 pm Northwestern at Maryland (-11, 45.5) (FS1) - This is really a throwaway game. Neither team is expected to reach the playoffs much less win six games and be bowl eligible. It's here because it's on FS1 and a Friday night game.
Both teams lost to Indiana recently, Northwestern, 41-24, at home; Maryland, 42-28, at IU. Does that make Maryland 11 points better? Probably not.
Coin Flip: Northwestern
Fearless Rick's Pick: Terrapins 27 Wildcats 24
Word has it that Rising will start, but how effective he will be on the road after a month on the sidelines is still uncertain, though Rising is 2-0 against the Sun Devils, winning, 35-21, in 2021, and 34-13 in 2022. Rising was inactive in Utah's 55-3 thumping of AZST last season.
For its part, Arizona State seems to be game, their only loss was to Texas Tech, 30-22. Otherwise, wins over Mississippi State (30-23) and Kansas (35-31) look pretty good.
Coin Flip: Arizona State
Fearless Rick's Pick: Sun Devils 24 Utes 21
12:00 pm South Carolina at 7 Alabama (-21, 50.5) (ABC) - The Tide got rolled by Vanderbilt last week, 40-35, knocking them down from #1 to #7 in the latest poll.
The Gamecocks have the unenviable task of trying to inflict a second straight loss on Alabama, something that's unheard of anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. Seeing that Lanorris Sellers and the South Carolina offense could only muster up a field goal in a 27-3 home loss to Ole Miss last week, heading into Tuscaloosa looks like a death sentence.
These two last met in 2019. The result: Alabama 47 South Carolina 23. Could be more of the same, maybe worse.
Coin Flip: South Carolina
Fearless Rick's Pick: Crimson Tide 42 Gamecocks 10
The win by the Huskies should inspire confidence and the program looks to be well balanced. Iowa remains challenged offensively which negatively affects their defense. Leaning heavily toward the visitors continuing to make their case for playoffs down the road.
Coin Flip: Iowa
Fearless Rick's Pick: Huskies 23 Hawkeyes 10
The last time the Demon Deacons beat the Tigers was in 2008, by a 12-7 score, so history is not on their side. Lay the points because Clemson is in solid, mid-season form and likely headed to the ACC championship game and beyond.
Coin Flip: Clemson
Fearless Rick's Pick: Tigers 44 Demon Deacons 17
5-0 Texas has beaten every team handily, the closest margin was 19 points in their win over Michigan, 31-12, so, it's safe to assume they're the real deal and they've won the last three with backup QB Arch Manning running the offense. This week Quinn Ewers returns, so it may be a long day for Sooners' fans and defenders.
No team has scored more than 13 points on the Longhorns or held them to under 31.
Coin Flip: Texas
Fearless Rick's Pick: Longhorns 38 Sooners 17
As boring as this game may be, USC can do better and may expose the Lions as lambs.
Coin Flip: USC
Fearless Rick's Pick: Trojans 23 Nittany Lions 20
Notre Dame hasn't exactly been overpowering anybody this season (other than Purdie, 66-7), but they're cruising towards a playoff spot if they don't mess up what looks to be a pretty easy schedule. They were last seen 9/28, topping Louisville, 31-24. Not sure they can win by 24.
Coin Flip: Stanford
Fearless Rick's Pick: Fighting Irish 31 Cardinal 17
At 3-2, Cal is looking for its first ACC win. They've lost to Florida State, 14-9, and last week, fought tooth and nail with Miami, only to surrender a tough, 39-38, home loss. They may be good enough to pull off the upset.
Coin Flip: Pittsburgh
Fearless Rick's Pick: Golden Bears 26 Panthers 24
BYU QB Jake Retzlaff has to avoid interceptions. If he does the 5-0 Cougars could cruise to another victory.
Coin Flip: Arizona
Fearless Rick's Pick: Cougars 31 Wildcats 14
This time the Gators are on the road against another quality foe, but the Vols just don't appear to be exactly on top of their game, and the quality of freshman QB Nico Iamaleava hasn't been that good (7 TDs, 2 INTs, 8 Sacs). The Vols lost at Arkansas last week, proving they may be overrated. Florida may not win this game, but they have won two straight and should make this one closer than the line indicates.
Coin Flip: Florida
Fearless Rick's Pick: Volunteers 27 Gators 20
Most of the best athletes for the Buckeyes are on offense, and, to be honest, Oregon's defense doesn't really impress. Neither team has played any significant opponent, except that Ohio State's win last week over Iowa, 35-7, was pretty impressive as compared to Oregon's 37-34 win over Boise State in Week 2.
Coin Flip: Ohio State
Fearless Rick's Pick: Buckeyes 31 Ducks 24
By comparison, LSU won at South Carolina, 36-33, in a game many believe the Gamecocks got robbed by the refs. It would be nice to think that this game would be competitive, but LSU's four wins came against Nicholls, S. Carolina, UCLA, and South Alabama, not exactly a powerhouse lineup.
Coin Flip: Ole Miss
Fearless Rick's Pick: Rebels 34 Tigers 14
The Mountaineers are only three-point dogs at home, maybe due to their last two wins, over Kansas and Oklahoma State, but, prior to those victories, losses at Pitt (38-34) and Penn State (34-12) tell a different story. At 3-2, West Virginia looks to be outclassed by the Cyclones.
Coin Flip: West Virginia
Fearless Rick's Pick: Cyclones 41 Mountaineers 24
Where Colorado is deficient is on defense, and the Wildcats may be able to control the clock with their patient offense and good mix of run and pass.
Coin Flip: Kansas State
Fearless Rick's Pick: Wildcats 34 Buffaloes 27
Fearless Rick & Coin Flip Week 6 College Picks
All Times Eastern
Week 5 Results: Rick: 6-8; Flip: 5-9
Cumulative: Rick: 32-45; Flip: 40-37
Friday, October 4
9:00 pm Michigan State at 6 Oregon (-23.5, 52.5) (FOX) - The Spartans have lost two straight: 23-19 at Boston College and 38-7, last week at home to Ohio State.
4-0 Oregon continues to improve, winning their last two games by convincing margins, although the competition was suspect (Oregon State, 49-14; UCLA, 34-13). This appears to be a very uncompetitive affair unless Oregon makes grievous errors.
Coin Flip: Oregon
Fearless Rick's Pick: Ducks 45 Spartans 14
At UNLV, QB Matthew Sluka redshirted himself after three games, leaving Jajj-Malik Williams the starter last week against Fresno State. All Williams did was throw three TDs and runs for 119 yards in a 59-14 blowout of Fresno State, setting up an interesting match-up on Friday night.
Coin Flip: UNLV
Fearless Rick's Pick: Orange 30 Rebels 27
12:00 pm UCLA at 7 Penn State (-27.5, 46.5) (FOX) - A sleeper for the national championship, the Nittany Lions appear to be properly ranked among the best in the country, with four convincing wins, the latest a 21-7 triumph over the Fighting Illini.
The Bruins have experienced a rough ride thus far. After a 16-13 win at Hawaii, three straight losses, by large margins, to Indiana, LSU, and Oregon. Penn State's defense may keep them out of the end zone for the full 60 minutes.
Coin Flip: UCLA
Fearless Rick's Pick: Nittany Lions 41 Bruins 6
While the Tigers had to go to overtime to defeat Vanderbilt on 9/21, they managed, and have had an xtra week to work out any issues. The Aggies opened their 2024 campaign with a 23-13 loss to Notre Dame, but have won four straight since, the latest a 21-17 tussle over Arkansas.
This should be tight until the end.
Coin Flip: Missouri
Fearless Rick's Pick: Tigers 27 Aggies 24
Both teams can light it up. SMU's 66-43 win over TCU and last week's 42-16 rout of Florida State stamped them as a serious contender in the ACC.
Coin Flip: Louisville
Fearless Rick's Pick: Mustangs 48 Cardinals 35
Ohio State may be 4-0 and their average margin of victory 42 points, but they've played Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall, and Michigan State. Iowa's defense is stout and the Buckeyes may find it difficult to sustain drives. If Iowa can muster up two TDs, they may find themselves alive come the 4th quarter.
Coin Flip: Iowa
Fearless Rick's Pick: Buckeyes 24 Hawkeyes 14
Oddsmakers say the Bulldogs can win this by more than three TDs. Others may have different opinions
Coin Flip: Georgia
Fearless Rick's Pick: Bulldogs 34 Tigers 26
South Carolina comes in off a 50-7 blowout of Akron on 9/21, after losing a heartbreaker to LSU, 36-33, a game many believe was the result of some questionable calls by the refs. The Gamecocks will be jacked for this having already pounded Kentucky, 31-6, earlier. Plus, Lannoris Sellers is expected back at QB for SC.
Coin Flip: South Carolina
Fearless Rick's Pick: Gamecocks 28 Rebels 24
Clemson should run roughshod over this overrated bunch of crybabies.
Coin Flip: Florida State
Fearless Rick's Pick: Tigers 54 Seminoles 14
The Vols proved they could go toe to toe with just about anybody when they last hit the field two weeks ago, winning at Oklahoma, 25-15. This being the SEC, nothing comes easy, and a two touchdown win by the Vols appears to be a formidable task.
Coin Flip: Arkansas
Fearless Rick's Pick: Volunteers 34 Razorbacks 27
4-1 Michigan doesn't offer much in the passing department, so if Washington can contain their run game and produce some short possessions, their offense could come alive. Mainly, this appears to be headed for a close, low-scoring affair. Michigan struggled to hold on against USC and Minnesota their last two outings, scraping by with a pair of 27-24 wins.
Coin Flip: Michigan
Fearless Rick's Pick: Huskies 21 Wolverines 17
Minnesota has had trouble keeping drives alive, and, while USC's defense isn't special, they are probably good enough to limit the Gophers scoring opportunities.
Coin Flip: USC
Fearless Rick's Pick: Trojans 34 Golden Gophers 16
Iowa State has only allowed 29 points in their four wins without a loss, and 19 of those were to Iowa, in a 20-19 victory that elevated their national profile. Last week's 20-0 win at Houston was a defensive masterpiece.
Coin Flip: Baylor
Fearless Rick's Pick: Cyclones 38 Bears 20
Miami was less than impressive in their 38-34 win over Virginia Tech last Friday night, but that's now ancient history and Cam Ward and his pals should be able to hit pay dirt on multiple possessions.
Coin Flip: Miami
Fearless Rick's Pick: Hurricanes 35 Golden Bears 21
|