NFL Week 6: DFS bargains, prop bets, and some TJ Watt disrespect
Week 6 started pretty much the way we expected. For the 11th straight time, Tom Brady failed to cover the spread in prime time. It didn’t matter, because his Tampa Bay Buccaneers still dispatched the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-22, behind a typical Brady performance and a whole bunch of angry runs from Leonard Fournette.
The win further entrenched Tampa as the NFC South favorites. It also cast a national spotlight on the Eagles’ offense, which spent much of the night skittering under refrigerators and cabinets to avoid detection. Philadelphia played weird football behind second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts, opting to avoid the Buccaneers’ stout run defense almost entirely. The Eagles’ tailbacks had one total carry in the first half and Miles Sanders finished the game with only nine handoffs despite averaging more than six yards per touch.
That put a ton of pressure on Hurts’ shoulders, and while he had several nice moments, he was unable to string them together long enough to mount a comeback win. The Eagles are still better than any team with $50 million in dead cap space should be after hanging with both of last year’s Super Bowl teams, and a +.500 record is still in play.
With their win total set at 7.5 for the season — up from 6.5 back in August — they could be a sneaky play despite Nick Sirianni dialing up the kind of play-calling that gets him sarcastically applauded for using a halfback dive at home. Philly still gets to face the Detroit Lions, New York Jets, New York Giants (twice), Washington Football Team (twice), Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos. Feels like there could be six wins in there!
Let’s talk about Sunday’s other bets that make sense.