Last week I picked the Eagles, Steelers and Jaguars to get upset and even though I was right on two of the three, picking the Bengals over the Jaguars turned out not to be much of an upset at all and when it comes to the Eagles it will be hard to pick them to win many games until they actually start playing like they should.
NFL Week 6 Upset Watch Includes Bengals, Falcons And Patriots
The Bengals, Falcons and Patriots are on upset watch in Week 6 of the 2011 NFL season.
This week I won’t be picking the Eagles to be upset, I’ll just pick them to lose.
Here are the three teams on upset watch this week.
Where: Cincinnati, Ohio
Spread: Bengals by seven
Why:
For the first time this season, the Bengals are coming into the game as favorites even though they have a 3-2 record and, as a Bengals fan, that scares the crap out of me. If you’ve followed the Bengals in recent years you know that they have a propensity to let you down in the weirdest times. This has trap game written all over it.
Maybe the fact that the team started over again with a new offensive coordinator and new quarterback in the wake of Carson Palmer's retirement will change things but I'm not holding my breath. Curtis Painter is looking better and better and the Bengals haven't faced defensive ends like Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis yet.
Sunday could be a bad day in Cincinnati. I hope I’m wrong.
Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Spread: Falcons by four
Why:
Cam Newton, that's why. The Panthers have been are 1-4 but they've been within a touchdown in all four of those losses and those losses came against some pretty impressive teams -- the Packers, the Saints and the Bears. The Falcons haven't looked to great so far this season. The combination of Matt Ryan, Roddy White and Julio Jones hasn't been spectacular like many thought it would, in fact, the Falcons just have a middle-of-the-road passing offense.
What’s worse than that is their defense. The Falcons have the No. 24 ranked defense and against Cam Newton, they could look pretty bad on Sunday. I’m beginning to suspect that the Panthers are starting to get tired of losing by a touchdown. I wouldn’t be surprised if they win by a touchdown or two in Atlanta.
Where: Foxborough, Massachusetts
Spread: Patriots by seven
Why:
Even though they have the best offense in the NFL, having the worst passing offense in the league, which has given them the worst defense overall, has got to come back and bite eventually, right? That may happen this week. I was surprised that the Jets didn't attempt to throw the ball against New England more often last week, especially considering how bad the Patriots' secondary is. Well that's something that the Cowboys will do, especially now that they have Miles Austin back.
The Patriots are going to have to shut down Austin, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten and as long as Tony Romo doesn't choke and throw interceptions in the second half, the Cowboys could have a decent chance of beating the Patriots. Also, we can't forget about Dallas' fourth-ranked defense.
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