Straight-up NFL picks, Week 6: Seahawks-Bengals might be a mess
Week 6 isn’t a great lineup in terms of marquee NFL games. You know how I know? Because a showdown between the one-win Minnesota Vikings and one-win Chicago Bears may be the most interesting game on the slate.
Sure, other games with playoff implications exist, but this NFC North showdown between 1-4 teams could divine the immediate future for each franchise. A win for the Bears provides more evidence Justin Fields deserves more time to prove he’s a franchise quarterback and, just maybe, that head coach Matt Eberflus deserves to be there with him. A loss for the Vikings could send a team laden with veteran talent to a seller’s market at the trade deadline and portend a significant rebuild for the first time in a decade.
Meanwhile, a Minnesota win would provide proof the team is better than its record and capable of a playoff run, even from the depths of the NFC standings. A Chicago loss hastens the dawn of a new era for a team that looked hopeless the first three weeks of the season.
There’s plenty more on tap. Week 6 promises 15 games, headlined by battles between 2022 playoff teams like Seahawks-Bengals and Cowboys-Chargers. It’s not a great slate, but it’s an interesting one. Here are this week’s picks:
| Game | Christian | Robert | Charles |
| Broncos at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs |
| Ravens at Titans | Ravens | Titans | Ravens |
| Panthers at Dolphins | Dolphins | Dolphins | Dolphins |
| Colts at Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars |
| Vikings at Bears | Bears | Bears | Bears |
| Saints at Texans | Texans | Saints | Saints |
| Seahawks at Bengals | Seahawks | Seahawks | Bengals |
| 49ers at Browns | 49ers | 49ers | 49ers |
| Commanders at Falcons | Falcons | Falcons | Falcons |
| Patriots at Raiders | Raiders? | Raiders | Raiders |
| Cardinals at Rams | Rams | Rams | Rams |
| Lions at Buccaneers | Lions? | Lions | Lions |
| Eagles at Jets | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles |
| Giants at Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills |
| Cowboys at Chargers | Cowboys | Chargers | Cowboys |
| Last week: | 8-6 | 7-7 | 9-5 |
| Year to date: | 54-24 | 48-30 | 51-27 |
and:
| Game | Prince | Mary | Meghan |
| Broncos at Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs | Chiefs |
| Ravens at Titans | Ravens | Ravens | Titans |
| Panthers at Dolphins | Dolphins | Dolphins | Dolphins |
| Colts at Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars |
| Vikings at Bears | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings |
| Saints at Texans | Texans | Saints | Texans |
| Seahawks at Bengals | Seahawks | Seahawks | Bengals |
| 49ers at Browns | 49ers | 49ers | 49ers |
| Commanders at Falcons | Falcons | Falcons | Falcons |
| Patriots at Raiders | Raiders | Raiders | Raiders |
| Cardinals at Rams | Rams | Rams | Rams |
| Lions at Buccaneers | Lions | Lions | Bucs |
| Eagles at Jets | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles |
| Giants at Bills | Bills | Bills | Bills |
| Cowboys at Chargers | Cowboys | Cowboys | Cowboys |
| Last week: | 8-6 | 9-5 | 8-6 |
| Year to date: | 46-32 | 40-22 | 32-14 |
Here are those selections in a better-formatted screenshot of our actual picks sheet, which unfortunately struggles to translate to our editing software.