Week 6 ATS Recap: Felt Like Old Times

Back in the old days of IMLD, I would come out looking unbeatable in my picks for the noon (CST) slate of Sunday games, giving myself a clear lead that I would quickly give up to Dre in the late afternoon starts. We took that to the extreme this week, where I won every head to head matchup in the early games and then lost everything else. So I need to petition the NFL to stop playing games on Thursdays and any time other than Sunday at noon. Then I'd be golden.

Picks We Both Won (4)

• Steelers (+1) 19, Jets 6 - The Steeler defense we thought would show up in this contest did exactly that. Geno Smith looked like a confused rookie should in a zero touchdown, two interception performance. The Jets O that looked so great against Atlanta never got on track and strugg-a-ling Pittsburgh got their first win.
• Rams (+7½) 38, Toxins 13 - Bob Costas had it all wrong. The NFL team most in need of a name change isn't the Redskins, it's the Houston Texans. On the Week 6 podcast, I joked that the Texans were ATS poison right now and should change their name to the Toxins. I kinda like it. Matt (#benchschaub) Schaub managed to get hurt and miss out the chance to throw a pick six for a 5th straight game. Enter T.J. Yates, who decided to throw one of his own, an embarrassing 98-yarder that ended the Toxins chances of any sort of comeback. Houston is in full-on meltdown mode. This will be fun to watch.
• Lions (-1) 31, Browns 17 - The Browns went into halftime up 17-7 before Brandon Weeden remembered who he was and the Lions skated to an easy win. The Lion D giving up 395 yards to the Brown Fever does have to be a troubling indicator for a team fighting in a highly competitive NFC North.
• Seahawks (-13) 20, Texans 13 - The Titans were dominated in every statistical category, yet Seattle miscues kept the Titans, who were even leading at the half, around. The silly halftime TD score the Titans special teams scored on a botched FG attempt sure helped Dre and I on this pick, so we'll just say "thanks" and move on.

Picks We Both Lost (3)

• Packers (-1) 19, Ravens 17 - The Packer D was surprisingly effective, as it had been the week prior against Detroit. A late Raven surge fell short, and like Atlanta the Monday night before, the losing teams coaches were left again with a close loss after forsaking a FG attempt early and turning the ball over on downs. Ego doesn't win football games. Points do. The win was costly for the Packers, who left this game ridiculously thin at WR after Randall Cobb left injured and is expected to miss 8 weeks.
• Benglas 27, Bills (+6) 24 (OT) - I thought I had extolled the greatness of Thad Lewis enough, albeit sarcastically, on the podcast that we were safe from a crap result like this. The Bengals seem to handle prosperity like the Ravens do (which is not well for those keeping score).
• Chargers (+1) 19, Colts 9 - Was Andrew Luck caught looking ahead to his matchup against Peyton or something? The Colts offense managed to do nothing all day against the New-New England Patriots, who dusted off the powder blues and smoked the Colts in a battle of mostly field goals.

Picks Dre Won Head to Head (5)

• Bears 27, Giants (+7½) 21 - A Bear win here was never in doubt all of Thursday night, but Bear mistakes in a scoreless 4th quarter held their lead at 6 and won Dre the pick. He can now claim to have finally picked a Bear game correctly (in week 6 no less). Congrats!
• Broncos 35, Jaguars (+26) 19 - Dre may be on to something with his Justin Blackmon love. Blackmon has come back from suspension to turn out two monster games, and may actually help the Jags to win a game or two this season. Denver did their usual, playing fairly even in the first half and then romping in the second half.
• Patriots (-1) 30, Saints 27 - I'm completely lost as to what the Saints were doing at the end of this game. They had the Pats on their heels the entire second half, needed a great effort to overcome a 17-7 halftime deficit. Scoring the go-ahead TD with just over 3 minutes left, the Saints then allowed the Pats THREE more offensive drives. After a quick pick and three and out, you had to know that giving Brady a third chance late could only spell doom. The Saints went ultra conservative on offense, and played with no killer instinct to get a first down to put the game away.
• Niners (-10½) 32, Cardinals 20 - The Cards stayed competitive all through this game, only letting San Fran pull away late. Sure, my upset special didn't come through, but this wasn't quite the squoosh Dre thought it would be either. The Cards are a sneaky team, but still have a lot of work to do before they can hang with elite teams.
• Cowboys (-5½) 31, Redskins 16 - Well, RG3 looked much improved in this game, as the Skins outgained the Boys by almost 200 yards. Too bad Griffin wasn't out there tackling on special teams, as Dwayne Harris torched the Skins for a punt AND kick return each of over 80 yards. The Dallas win was not without a high price as DeMarco Murray and DeMarcus Ware both left injured and look to miss some time.

Picks I Won Head to Head (3)

• Eagles (-1) 31, Bucs 20 - Both Nick Foles and Mike Glennon moved their teams offenses well on the day, but the Eagles had too much LeSean McCoy late. Having a run game proved all the difference for Philly, as McCoy was able to run 6 minutes off the clock on a field goal drive to put the game out of reach. As we head in to the cold months, these teams that can run the ball will start to assert more dominance, and Philly has the guy to do it.
• Panthers (+1) 35, Vikings 10 - Carolina took advantage of a deflated Viking squad reeling from the death of Adrian Petersons 2 year old son. I didn't think Peterson should even be out on the field, and his presence made no difference to the outcome of the game in the end. Peterson came up 138 yards short of Dre's predicted 200 for the day, Matt Cassel looked like Matt Cassel, and the Panthers never let up on a team clearly primed for a beatdown. Enter Josh Freeman?
• Chiefs (-9½) 24, Raiders 7 - Turnovers made all the difference. The Oakland defense held the Chiefs down all day, but a late KC field goal and a prompt pick-6 put this game out of reach for the Raiders. This score was nowhere near as lopsided as the game overall. We may be seeing the chinks in the Chiefs armor.