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| Monday, October 19, 2020 |
| Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Pick Six newsletter, which is apparently being sponsored by Aaron Rodgers and Baker Mayfield this week. I mean, they're not technically sponsoring it, but it kind of feels that way because both those guys threw a pick-six on Sunday. It's basically free advertising for us and we very much appreciate it. |
| You know what else is free? This newsletter! And because of that, you should get as many people to sign up as possible. If I know one thing about people, it's that they love free stuff, which means they'll probably love you even more than they already do if you sign them up for this newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link. |
| Alright, let's get this thing off the ground because there's a lot to sift through today. |
| 1. Today's Show: Packers and Browns no-shows |
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| It's Monday, which can only mean one thing: I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night recording a podcast with Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson that touched on everything you need to know about Week 6. If the three of us had no-showed like the Packers and Browns did on Sunday, there wouldn't have been a podcast for today, but don't fret, we showed up and there's definitely a podcast. |
| Going into Week 6, it seemed like Browns-Steelers and Packers-Buccaneers were going to qualify as two of the best games of the week, but then both turned out to be total duds and I think we can blame the losing quarterback in each game for that. In Tampa, Aaron Rodgers threw two picks and zero touchdowns, marking just the second time in his career that he's thrown multiple interceptions in a game with no touchdown passes. His ugliest throw came on a pick-six in the second quarter. If you want to know how bad things got for Green Bay, it only had 57 yards of total offense over the final three quarters after putting up 144 yards in the first quarter. |
| As for the Browns, Baker Mayfield also joined the pick-six party, which doesn't actually sound like a fun party. Mayfield, who went into Sunday's game with injured ribs, likely now also has a bruised ego and injured pride after the way the Steelers beat up on him. Things got so out of hand in the Browns' 38-7 loss that Mayfield got benched in the third quarter. |
| Does this loss mean the Browns aren't for real? Are the Packers still one of the top-two teams in the NFC? |
| Not only did we talk about those two things, but we recapped every game that was played on Sunday -- EVEN DOLPHINS AT JETS -- and if you want to listen, you can click here. |
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2. Winners and losers of Week 6
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| One thing we do every Monday on the podcast is hand out our weekly winners and losers from Sunday's action. We went all over the place with our winners this week, with one person naming a team, one person naming a player and one person naming an entire city. |
| For Wilson, his winner was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 1978, which is notable, because that happened to be a year where they ended up winning the Super Bowl. |
| For Brinson, the choice was obvious. As the president of the Philip Rivers fan club, Brinson decided to make Rivers his winner of the week. Normally, I'd roast Brinson here for being such a homer, but Rivers arguably played his best game of the season (371 passing yards, three touchdowns), so the award makes sense. |
| For me, my winner was the city of Tampa. Although 2020 has been a disaster for almost everyone, it has somehow turned into the year of Tampa Bay. Over the past six weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saved their season with a dominating win over the Packers. I'm moving to Tampa Bay. |
| To check out who our losers were, be sure to click here and listen to the podcast. If you want to skip straight to us talking about our winners and losers, just head to the one hour and 38-minute mark in the episode. |
| 3. Monday, Part 1: Prepping you for Chiefs-Bills |
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| The only thing better than one Monday night game is TWO Monday night games and that's exactly what we'll be getting tonight. |
| The Chiefs and Bills were originally scheduled to play on Thursday in Week 6, but then 17 million things happened that I lost track of, and now, they're playing a Monday game. In a twist, both of these teams are coming off their first loss of the season, which makes this game extra important, because no one wants to go on a losing streak after starting the season 4-0. |
| Cody Benjamin handled our preview for this game and one of the interesting things he pointed out is that the Chiefs have struggled to stop the run. Going into Week 6, they were allowing the fourth-most rushing yards per game in the entire NFL. The good news for Kansas City is that the Bills don't exactly have the personnel to take advantage of that fact. |
| The other good news for the Chiefs is that the Bills secondary has struggled this year, and if there's one part of your team that you don't want to see struggle before playing Kansas City, it's definitely your secondary. Although the Chiefs won't have Sammy Watkins or Le'Veon Bell -- he won't be eligible to play until Week 7 -- they will have plenty of weapons. If Andy Reid is smart -- and I think he is -- he'll have Patrick Mahomes slinging the ball around for the entire game. Cody is picking the Chiefs to win, and you know what, so am I. |
| To check out Cody's full preview, be sure to click here. |
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| 4. Monday, Part II: Prepping you for Cardinals-Cowboys |
| As the long-time president and possibly only member of the Andy Dalton fan club, I have to say, I've never been more excited for a Monday night game in my entire life. Although Dalton almost always flops in primetime, it's not going to happen this year. |
| Our Jared Dubin wrote the preview for this game, and his biggest question for the Cowboys going into tonight revolves around how much they're going to change their offense to fit Dalton's skill set. Before Dak Prescott went down, the Cowboys were throwing the ball all over the place and guess what, Dubin is expecting to see more of the same in this game, if only because the Cardinals have struggled to stop the pass. |
| When Arizona has the ball, don't be surprised if it starts feeding DeAndre Hopkins early and often, and that's because the Cowboys have also struggled to stop the pass (They also don't have anyone who really matches up well with Hopkins). Dubin is predicting a Cardinals win (30-24), but that's only because he hates Andy Dalton. As for me, I'm fully expecting the Carrot-Top Cannon to win his first start in Dallas. |
| To check out Dubin's full preview, be sure to click here. |
| 5. Week 6 grades: Vikings get a big fat 'F' |
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| Every week, I team up with six of my colleagues here at CBSSports.com to hand out grades, and this week, two teams went home with an 'F.' To absolutely no one's surprise, one of those teams was the Jets. The one 'F' that was surprising though went to the Vikings, who I think have given up on the season. Kirk Cousins had a disastrous day as he threw three interceptions in the 40-23 loss. I'm not sure what rock bottom is in the NFL, but giving up 40 points to a previously winless team that just fired its coach seems pretty close. |
| CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora took a deeper look at the Vikings and how they've turned into a mess this year and you can check that out by clicking here. |
| On the other end of the grading scale, we have the Tennessee Titans, who got an 'A-' for their wild 42-36 overtime win against the Texans. The most wild thing about it might be the fact that the Titans put up more than 600 YARDS of total offense, which set a franchise record. Thanks to the performances of Ryan Tannehill (364 passing yards) and Derrick Henry (212 rushing yards), the Titans became the first team in NFL history to have a quarterback throw for 350 or more yards and a running back rush for 200 or more yards in the same game. |
| Although running backs have been devalued, Derrick Henry is worth every dollar the Titans are paying him and CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones explains why in a story you can check out by clicking here. |
| Also, the Titans might be the best team in the AFC, and I'm not just saying that because I live in Nashville, or maybe I am, who knows? |
| As for the other 22 grades we handed out on Sunday, you can check those out by clicking here. |
| 6. Week 7 early odds: Undefeated Titans open as home underdog |
| I just spent an entire section talking about how awesome the Titans are, but apparently, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas don't agree with me, because the Titans have opened as a one-point home underdog to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure, there are home underdogs every week, but you almost never see a 5-0 home underdog. As a matter of fact, this game marks the first time in five years that an undefeated team with five wins or more has opened as a underdog at home. |
| The last time it happened came in 2015, when the 7-0 Panthers opened as a 2.5-point underdog to the 6-1 Packers in a game Carolina would win 37-29. |
| In other early odds, the Bills have opened as a double-digit road favorite for just the second time in 25 years. That's what happens when you get to play the Jets, like the Bills will be doing this week. |
| If you want to check out the rest of the early odds for Week 7, you can do that by heading here. |
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| 7. The Kicker! |
| As always, I'm ending the newsletter with a special teams note, which is fitting this week, because there was nothing more special on Sunday than the performance Brandon McManus had in New England. |
| With six field goals, McManus scored EVERY SINGLE POINT for the Broncos in their 18-12 win over the Patriots. There's a long list of reasons why this was special, but I'm only going to give you two because this newsletter is getting a little long and you're probably ready to get to your next email. |
| For one, McManus set the Broncos' franchise record for most field goals in a game. Of McManus' six kicks, three of them came from 45 yards or more (45, 52, 54). Also, this was Bill Belichick's first ever loss with the Patriots in a game where New England didn't allow a touchdown. BELICHICK GOT BEAT BY A KICKER. The man should have to give McManus one of his Super Bowl rings. |
| I will surely be thinking about this game for years to come. I'll also be spending the next 24 hours thinking about tomorrow's newsletter. See you guys then! |
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