NFL Week 6 Pre: Did The Bears Let The Packers Get Their Mojo Back?

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Inside the Birds NFL Weekly Preview. I'm Geoff Mosher, and it is week six in the NFL. And hey, whenever things are in the NFL are uncertain, it's good to know that craptastic football is back on Thursday night. And if you were among those who are unfortunate enough to watch the Broncos beat the Seahawks 17-14 Thursday night, I'm sorry. I mean, that might have been one of the worst displays of football, especially offensive football that I've seen in a long time. The Broncos are somehow four and two. The Seahawks are three and three. And I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I feel worse about the future for the team that won than I do for the team that lost. The Broncos are just lost offensively. I mean, they had a nice first half there. Sean Payton took over the play calling. We talked about that last show. Did a few things that enabled them to move the ball. But in the grand scheme of things, that was some of the worst quarterbacking that you'll ever see. And don't take it from me. You know, Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback who did the game for Amazon, after the game, said something to the effect of that Bo Nix played the quarterback position disrespectfully. That he was almost non-competitive. I almost have to agree. I mean, the inability or the lack of desire of Bo Nix to want to throw the football forward in 2026 is mind boggling to me. And that team went out and got a true deep threat, true talent in Jalen Waddle, and they cannot figure out how to get him the football. Watching Bo Nix, Bo Nix took a sack by running out of bounds three yards behind the line of scrimmage. Watching the Broncos offense right now is like watching the way football might have been played when they wore leather helmets. It's really bad. And it's been that way for a while. And I give them credit for being foreign, too. You know, they've done a lot of it without Jonathan Cooper, their edge rusher, who's been some legal trouble. They were out. Patrick Surtain. So they're clearly figuring out a way to get it done. But I just don't know how sustainable that is. They look to get worse. They look like they are worse week after week offensively. They have a good offensive line, good enough running backs, good enough receivers with Sutton and Waddle. And obviously, you have Sean Payton as a major play caller, taking it back from Davis Webb. And they still look at times like they have no clue how to move the football horizontally. And that will catch up to them, especially in the conference they play, in the schedule they have to play. I had the Broncos facing the Rams in the Super Bowl in the preseason. I can no longer say that I think that that is a viable Super Bowl. I'm fine still with the Rams. We'll talk about them. But if the Broncos don't figure things out offensively, I think it's going to be one of those years where they just regress and you're going to look back at last year when Nix was playing better. Nix is Nix. He's not a great quarterback. He's very streaky, very sporadic. I saw, though, times last year where he could come alive in a quarter or a half and win you a game when you needed it to be won. Make the plays that needed to be made. That's not happening this year. And you will look back on the Broncos last year, and that opportunity in the AFC Championship game, unfortunately, Nix got hurt with the ankle. Stidham had to play. They should have been in the Super Bowl. I don't think they would have won it, but they could have maybe. You just never know how things are going to go. That might have been their window last year. They're still a very good team, but if they just don't get more from their offense, it kind of remind me of what the Texans have looked like, you know, the last few years, except even the Texans at their worst. I don't know if they look this bad. It's not a good situation for Denver's offense. Meanwhile, Seattle, I can at least rationalize that, you know, they're going to get their, their unhealthy at running back. They'll get Charbonnet back soon. He's a big part of what they do offensively. Giderian Price, their first round has been banged up. They're asking Darnold to throw the ball way too much. Last year, I mentioned this a lot last year. People thought that because they went under center and had these running backs, Walker, Kenneth Walker and Charbonnet, that they were a good run team that worked off play action. They were a formidable running team. They ran the ball respectfully. They honestly didn't use Kenneth Walker enough, in my opinion. And when they did, their offensive line is not very good. They overcame their offensive line issues with a respectable running game and obviously a great play action pass game with Darnold and Jackson Smith and Jigba. But now their running game is very average. Their offensive line is getting exposed. They're throwing the ball too much, new play caller and all. And it's just been, their defense had some losses as Super Bowl teams will have, you lose some players. You know, they lost Riquel and they lost Mafe, a pass rusher. They're still, to me, a very good team that will figure this thing out. But they're just going through it. They're playing a tougher schedule. I still think they'll be very competitive as they go along. They'll have some extra rest here. I really do feel better about the Seahawks than I did the Broncos, or that I do the Broncos, especially considering how I felt about the Broncos going into the year. A lot of decent games here. You get in that period where you got a lot of two-and-two teams, and you may have a three-and-one team that you don't believe in, and a one-and-three team that you do believe in. Injuries, of course, play a role. I want to start off with the one-o'clock game between the Bears and Falcons, because I want to just talk about what happened to the Bears last week. They got their teeth absolutely kicked in by the Green Bay Backers. The Green Bay Packers team that has been struggling, has been having no run game, injuries up front, no Micah Parsons. They were two and two. And this is a, it was in Green Bay. And if you remember what I said about this game last week, I said, do not count out the Packers, even though everything is terrible for them and everything is going really well for the Bears. The Bears are three and one. They were managing without Caleb Williams. And I went back to last year and I said, Ben Johnson started a fire, okay? He went into the locker room. They beat the Packers twice in dramatic comeback fashion. But then they rubbed salt in the wounds. You heard Ben Johnson F the Packers, except he said it all, the real word in the locker room. He has made it no, absolutely no secret for the fact that he hates the Packers. And then the Bears opened their mouth in the week leading up. And after they get their teeth kicked in, 31 to 7, and we'll talk about why a little bit later. You heard Zaire Franklin from the Packers say, oh yeah, I heard them talking. They said they wanted to make us quit, this and that. Let me just tell you guys this now. I'm a big fan of Ben Johnson, the strategist, the schemer, the game planner, the offensive mind. He's brilliant, okay? There's no question about it. He's a great young head coach. I'm sorry, schemer, young schemer, who really knows what he's doing offensively. He's brilliant. I stand on this because I said it last year. Those who have been watching this show or listening may know. I said last year that his decorum is going to get the best of him, his behavior. Now, some people love that. In Philly, they loved it when Nick Sirianni was the guy who was going to challenge the fans and yell at the opponents. I know fans love that. They think it's great when their head coach acts like them. It's a real connection. I get that fans like that. I don't believe that as a journalist that that is the way to be. I'm not anti-fun. I am about respect and class. I don't think Ben Johnson carried himself in a very classy manner last year. The one thing I'll say is if you're going to do that, I said it about Nick Sirianni, you're going to talk all that trash. You're going to put yourself out there. You're going to belittle your opponent. You're going to use curses and know that it's going to get out there. You better win something. Ben Johnson hasn't won anything other than an NFC North title. He may go on to win and that's great. Maybe he'll win some Super Bowls. He has a chance to be a hero in Chicago because they're not used to good offensive teams. But until you really win something, you probably shouldn't talk the way you talk. When you do, it looks 10 times worse when you get your teeth kicked in, by a team that you're better than. I think the Bears are better than the Packers, but they were not in this game. The Packers were absolutely fired up to play, and Jordan Love just picked apart their defense as if it was Swiss cheese. Now, the Bears defense is somewhat fraudulent. It's been good for most of the year because of the offense, but the offense did not function very well against Green Bay. They haven't had Kyle Menangai. Beijing gets pulled. Case Keenum had to go in there. And when the Bears offense doesn't do the heavy lifting, the defense gets exposed. And all I'm going to say is this, Ben Johnson wants to carry himself a certain way. I don't think it's the right tone to set when you're a head coach, especially in a big market like that. I know some fans will love it, but guess what? If you don't win, they will turn on you. They will hate it. They will call you a character of yourself. You will become the next Rex Ryan, where you're known for making outlandish statements about how great you are and how much your opponent stinks, and then you never win anything, all right? So that would be my caution for Ben Johnson. I think it would be all right to tone it down a little bit and win something before you start talking like you're Vince Lombardi. Just my own personal feel on it. Now, he's got to go play a Falcons team that is playing good football. Pennix is going to play Bijon Robinson and Bryan Robinson. The tandem is doing very well. Unfortunately, you know, the Falcons, when I say playing very well, they should have won that game against the Ravens. Tua had to go in and overtime when Pennix got hurt, he throws the interception, so they have no chance to really respond to the touchdown drive that the Ravens had, credit the Ravens. But the Falcons are 2-1 in their last three. They scored 35 points, 45 points and 23 points. So, they're running the ball well, they're moving the ball well, and they're going to play a Bears defense that's not very good. They're at home. Interestingly, the Bears are one and a half point favorites. I think this will be a very good game. I don't think the Bears will be able to stop Bajon Robinson, so it'll be probably one of those shootout type of games. The fact that Pennix can play is a great thing. Now, we'll see what goes on with Caleb Williams. He's questionable. He hasn't made it sound like he's definitely going to play. I get the feeling that he is. I think the Bears are kind of playing with the media here. I assume that Caleb Williams is going to play. We'll see how functional he is. A big part of what they do is his ability to get in and out of the pocket and run around. They still won't have Kyle Menungai. They could get their left tackle who got hurt last year, Trapezo back. So it should be an interesting game. A lot of points I imagine will be scored in this game. Next game, 930. I went to the one o'clock game early. I just wanted to really say my say on Ben Johnson. The 930 game is Jaguars hosting the Texans. It's obviously the second straight game in London for the Jaguars. They stayed out there. I always worry about a team, even a good one like the Jags, about how they're going to respond when they win a game that they absolutely should have lost in an emotional way that they did over the Eagles. They get the huge kick return. They get the huge field goal. They snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. They're feeling great. But behind the scenes, they lost their left tackle in the game. Anton Harrison, their best corner, Monterik Brown, well, one of their best corners, Monterik Brown, Buster Brown is going to be out. They're playing a Houston Texans team that saved its season last week, okay? They got a gift in that they played the Titans. D'Amico Ryan's took over play calling, and suddenly they looked like the defense they're supposed to be. Now again, they played the Titans. So of course, they're going to smash up the Titans. But their defensive front has played well all year. Will Anderson is a very early and good candidate for defensive player of the year. He's just an absolute force. He is a beast. But D'Amico Ryan's is calling the plays now. They make the trade for Marvin Harrison, who of course played with CJ Stroud, their quarterback at Ohio State. It doesn't matter, Nikko Collins, when Nikko Collins plays is a top five receiver. He keeps showing that. If they can just get Marvin Harrison to be what he was earlier in his career against for the Cardinals, which was not a number one pick for sure. I mean, he's never played like a top 10 pick, but it's not like I think people forget. You know, they know he was getting phased out in Arizona. They clearly weren't going to commit to him. They kind of act like people act like, well, he's never done anything. I mean, when he played with Kyler Murray, he had some pretty good years. Not great years, but good enough to be a number two for a team that really needs a lot of receiver help. And so now he plays opposite Nico Collins, and he plays with a quarterback that he's been with before. So I would expect this to help out the Texans offense. I would expect this to be a lift for the Texans offense in a way that it wasn't going to be for Arizona. I would expect Marvin Harrison to be a little more invested when you watch him play. I think he will help. And he will probably want to prove to people that maybe it was Arizona that messed them up. Maybe it was to the fact that they've been a bad franchise for a long time. I just think that he will be helpful to them. Again, he had 885 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie. He had 600 yards and four touchdowns last year. The fact that he had 85 yards and four games this year looks terrible, but this is a guy who I will not say was completely unproductive. He just wasn't number one wide receiver, can't miss prospect that he was supposed to be. Can he be a good number two on this Texans offense and help out? We'll see. I think he can be. Now, the Texans are going to have a new running back because Montgomery has been out and he hasn't been running the ball very well. Anyway, they're going to turn to Woody Marks. Woody Marks actually has been pretty impressive in year two. He can catch the ball very well. He's not explosive. He wasn't at USC. He was a guy who just caught the ball really well out of the back field, and they'll have to rely on him to move the change. Should be a very good game. Again, I just worry about the kind of Jaguars team that's going to show up, especially early after such a dramatic victory that they had over the Eagles. Ravens at Browns, one o'clock in Cleveland. Ravens are three-point favorites. Got to give them respect. They won't have Lamar again. They didn't have Lamar against the Falcons. They won in overtime. They scored 30 points. Because like I said last week, Huntley is a professional quarterback. He's not bad. He knows the team. He can move around the pocket a little bit. There's still a Derek Henry operation. Ze Flowers had a nice year, made some nice catches. They might get their rookie who made all the headlines in training camp back, Jacoby Lane, we'll see. But they are not the type of team that when you get on the backup quarterback, you're in trouble or you don't know what you're going to get. He can move the chains. He understands how to play the game. He's not bad. He's one of the better backups in the league. And of course, we'll see Cam Jergens make his debut at center and see what they get from Jergens in his debut for the Ravens. Browns ruined an opportunity last week to go to four and one. They had one three in a row. They lost to the Jets. I did say I thought that that was going to be a close game. Jets pulled it out. It was an ugly game. I still don't believe in the Browns is a really good team, even though they had one three in a row. They beat the Steelers. They had beat the Panthers. They were looking pretty interesting there. Hey, right now it's a Deshaun Watson operation conception. Their rookie wide receiver looks like he's going to wind up playing. But I think beating the Browns at home would be huge for them. They would go to four and two. It wouldn't be so catastrophic for the Ravens. They would drop the four and two, but you'd feel good about how they've played without Lamar. And I'm sure Lamar will be back the following week. But this will not be easy for the Browns, even at home and the Ravens are three point favorites. Another one o'clock game, the Titans at the Colts. The Colts are seven point favorites. The Titans are O and five, and they have looked absolutely catastrophic offensively. The Brian Dable experience right now is going about as well for them as the Mike McDaniel experience is going for the Chargers. It is not good. You have to wonder at some point if maybe the Titans feel like they've got to sit Cam Ward down for a little bit. I don't think he's their only problem. They obviously don't have a very good defense. I don't think Robert Salla is the kind of guy who is a great head coach. I think he's probably a great defensive coordinator. They're playing a Colts team that's not great. They're two and three. But I know just right now, they're a hard team to take at all. They are really, really a tough watch. The Colts are a one-man show. They're not much of a great watch either. They are a Jonathan Taylor show. Daniel Jones isn't playing very well coming off the Achilles. They've had all sorts of injuries at wide receiver. Their defense isn't very good. I didn't panic when they started off 0-2 because they lost to the Chiefs and the Ravens, and those are good teams. Then they went and won two straight games against the Texans and Commanders. Caught the Texans at a great time. Everybody's catching the Commanders at a time. The Commanders are just bad. Then the Colts had a 12-point loss to the Steelers last week. I thought they would be more competitive. It's competitive for a half. They had no answer for the Steelers running game. So they'll win this game and they'll get to three and three. But there's no reason to feel really good about the Colts right now. They just have not put it all together. Certainly not like they did last year when they started off eight. No. Jets at Patriots. Good. Again, good win by the Jets over the Browns. They're two and three. They have been a respectable team this year, the Jets. I mean, they blew a lead against the Packers. We all know that. They went and played the Lions on the road. Respectable. They were humiliated. I mean, they were outgained by the Bears the week before by something like 350, 400 yards. So that wasn't, even though it was only a 23-12 loss, it didn't look great, but credit the Jets for bouncing back and beating a Browns team that had a winning record. So now the Jets are two and three. And what you can say about them in year two of Aaron Glenn is that they have not been a disaster. They've had some bad decisions. They've had some shaky games. Obviously, they've been hurt by injuries to Breece Hall, but they went and played a, they played respectively, respectfully. I think that will probably end this week. The Patriots seem to have their mojo back. Drake May just went off on the Raiders last week, 378 yards, three touchdowns. Looks like the Patriots will get Christian Gonzalez back. He's a big key to their defense, great cornerback. They did lose Trevion Henderson, but Henderson wasn't a huge part of their offense. However, AJ Brown is questionable. Sounds like he might give it a go. They really need some more offensive firepower, losing Henderson especially. But the way Drake May has come back over the last two weeks and played better football, they can get to three and three. They should get to three and three, beating the Jets. They're seven and a half point favorites. It wouldn't surprise me if they covered, got to three and three, and all of a sudden you'll start to feel the Patriots are getting their groove back and looking like that team that entered this year as a top five team, a team that could go back to the Super Bowl after getting there last year. One o'clock game in New York or in New Jersey, the Giants are hosting the Saints. Now, this is one of those games, right? The Giants are three, one and one. Three and O at home this year, played well at home, and they're facing a Saints team that has looked god awful over the last two weeks. Their offense has really hit the skids and gone into the tanks. Tyler shook through for 96 yards last week and was intercepted twice in a very, very ugly loss to the Vikings. Now, they go to New York, and yet the Saints are still one and a half point favorites. And that's mainly because the Giants have beaten up on Cupcakes, and the Giants can shoot themselves in the foot just like anybody else. The craziest thing about the way they tied the commanders last week is that the commanders came away looking like the village idiots because they let the clock run out when all they had to do was line up, kick a field goal, and win the game in overtime. But what went under the radar or maybe out overshadowed by it was that the Giants had a chance to kick the field goal or to score first in overtime and Scadaboo fumbled away possession. I mean, the Giants had an easy points that they should have scored. They should have the lead. And then Washington, of course, blew it. All Washington do has is kick the field goal, games over because the Giants turn the ball over. Winston's playing well. They're not, Scadaboo is not playing very well. He's not running. He's not an explosive guy. They don't have much in the running game. The one thing I think that is you got to watch for is that it looks like Malik neighbors and Winston are starting to really jail. And that could be a very prolific. We know Winston can throw touchdowns. We know he can throw the ball deep. We know he's going to have games. And we'll see if it's Sunday against the Saints where he's going to throw a bunch of interceptions, not because he's under pressure, but just because he throws the ball to the other team. And that's what the Saints have to hope for because they need some help. They haven't had the ETN. They're running back where they paid a lot of money for. So they haven't had a great running game. Camara has been banged up. And now it's all on Shuck and Olavi. They need Jordan Tyson to come back. He's not going to be back for this game. Maybe he'll practice next week. We'll see. But these are just two teams right now. The Saints are hurting. The Giants blew a golden opportunity. And the Saints really need to win here. I get why they're favorite. I do think they're the better overall team. They've just played some lousy football the last two weeks. But I would not be surprised if the Giants pulled this one out. Last two one o'clock games. Obviously, Panthers Eagles will cover in the Inside the Birds pregame show. I'm just going to say it's going to have to be. The Eagles really need their defense to win this game for them. Need to create turnovers, need to generate sacks, got to figure out a way to help the offense out. And I know it's not fair because the defense has played well and then been put in fourth quarter spots where they just couldn't hold on. But they have to go the extra mile in this game. Steelers are at Bucs, Bucs well rested and probably saved their season by that big Thursday night victory over the Cowboys. They come home. Jalen Daniels is now one and one in his two starts replacing Mayfield. I would not let that win over the Cowboys who are just a mess defensively. Skew how you view the Buccaneers. They are, yes, they're going to be home, but they're to me hanging by a thread here. Now you need Jalen Daniels, who's played good. He's played well for them at quarterback. They need him to continue to play well against the Steelers team. They are at home, but I think it's going to be a little bit of a tall order. If they win and get to 2-5, you'll feel better. They'll get Mayfield back. He should be back the next week, and maybe he can help reverse course. But a loss against the Steelers, and the Steelers are 2.5 point favorites, would send them to 1-5. I think it would continue to raise questions about Lovie Smith being on the hot seat, trying to find their identity. They run the ball occasionally well with that. Obviously, they ran the ball great against the Cowboys, because the Cowboys have a bad defense, but can they do that against the Steelers? That remains to be seen. The Steelers obviously got the win over the Colts. They're 3-2. The one thing that sticks out to me watching them is their offensive line is starting to play much better. It just feels like they've stabilized it. I know the big angle was that Jalen Warren went crazy against them. Jalen Warren just went, you know, he's actually 4th in the NFL right now in yards from scrimmage. That's how good Jalen Warren has been since taking over, like his Rico Dowdle got hurt, so he basically took over the bulk of the workload and he's played really well. He is a good running back. But the big deal for them is that their offensive line is playing well. They got the rookie first round pick, Ajani Anker, Max Ajani Anker out of Arizona State playing right tackle. Feltanu, their first round pick from a couple of years ago at left tackle. McCormick is a good left guard. Frazier is a very good center. You can't have the offense that they've been able to have the last few weeks without really improving on the O line. Now, they're banged up at wide receiver. Pittman's out. They lost Roman Wilson last. I talked up Roman Wilson. Of course, he goes and gets a finger injury that's going to keep him out for a while. But Jeremy Bernard, who is their second round pick out of Alabama, stepped in and had a big game. He's a good receiver. He's not explosive, but he's a good receiver out of Alabama. He's a perfect slot receiver. Remember, the Steelers wanted that inside slot guy. They wanted Mackay Lemon, the Eagles leapfrogged him. So in the second round, they went and took Jeremy Bernard and he had a nice game for them last week against the Colts. He's probably going to get a lot of opportunities. It's going to be him. It's going to be Metcalf. Of course, going to be Firemuth. Those are going to be the guys that moved the chains for the Steelers right now. And they're doing a good job of it. Aaron Rodgers has been able to get the ball to them. But to me, it's really about their offensive line really starting to assert itself. And the Steelers have a chance here to win this game, get the 4-2 and be really competitive going forward. Hey, football is heating up and everyone's pulling up because PrizePix has all your picks in one place. New users, get yourself a head start with PrizePix. Best offer yet. If you win your first $5 lineup, you'll get $150 in lineups. That's right. New users get $150 in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. PrizePix is available nationwide. So what are you waiting for? Lock in for kickoff with PrizePix. What you want, I'll tell you what I'm on. It's the Bengals wide receivers, T. Higgins, Jamar Chase. They're unbelievable. And Joe Burrow is healthy. And he's finding them. So go to PrizePix, find Higgins, find Chase, look at their projected stat and hit them more on it. So lock in with me for game time. Cause everyone and everything is on PrizePix. PrizePix has your back when other apps don't. Did you know PrizePix invented the injury reboot? Yeah, that's right. 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Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/birds. That's quo.com/birds. Four o'clock games. All right, Cardinals at Rams. I said last week, the more the Cardinals lose, you gotta think that they are closer to going to Carson Beck. What else do they have to play Jacoby Brissette for? I know they gave him some more money going into the year. He wasn't going to play unless they paid him like a starter. They probably want to get some of their money's worth, but you're one and four, you're 12.5 point underdogs against the Rams. You just traded Marvin Harrison Jr. for a second round pick, which was a great deal for them, by the way. Made a lot of sense to do it. You still have Trey McBride, you got Kendrick Bourne, you have Michael Wilson. So, I mean, it was clear Harrison was getting phased out. He looked uninvested in the offense. But at some point, you got to see if this kid, Carson Beck, out of Miami, who played well during the preseason, kind of looked beyond his years, throw him in there. I mean, they lost their left tackle already for a long time, Paris Johnson. So, I mean, they're unraveling. They are not a good team. Their defense is terrible. I mean, they just got absolutely lit up last week by the Lions, as you would expect them to do. Gave up a truckload of points. Now, you're playing the Rams, who can also score a truckload of points. You go to one and five, you might as well play the kid and see what you got. The Rams, I just keep wondering how long they're going to let special teams, let them lose games. They cut their kicker, he missed a field goal, he had one blocked last week in the game, and that really cost them against the Bills. They should have won the game. They should have been three and two. Instead, they're two and three. They continue to lose games because they get kicks blocked, or they miss field goals, or they give up big returns. That goes back to last year, or else they would have been in the Super Bowl. Pukka Nakua has come back and just been unbelievable. I mean, they have everything they need. They just have to be able to make field goals, simple field goals. So they signed group, the new kicker. He's at least been a veteran in this league. We'll see if that makes a difference. If it does, let me tell you something. The Rams should win this game even without... The Rams should beat the cards without a kicker. They should just be able to stomp on them. And then their next games after this are the Chargers who have not yet won a game, the Commanders who are a dumpster fire, and then they play the Cardinals again. Okay, look at this four-game stretch. Let me repeat that. Cardinals, Raiders, Chargers, Commanders, Cardinals. Okay, sorry, five-game stretch. There's no excuse for the Rams not to be seven and three after this stretch. And if they are, they're going to be every bit the super team and you know, that everybody thought they were and Super Bowl contender that they thought they were. Garrett isn't ready to come back. Sounds like Donald is. So they should be all right. Again, they should beat the Cardinals handily. I think 12 and a half is a fair number. You win that, you've got to then go beat Raiders, Chargers, Commanders. You got to at least win four of those five games coming up. Speaking of the Chargers, they play the Chiefs. The Chargers 0-5, they are a mess offensively. They are just lost. And I don't know what the answer for them is. They are clearly not getting it with the Mike McDaniel offense. And defensively, they are just injured all over the place. They won't have Derwin James. They won't have their wide receiver, Trey Harris. Of course, they will not have offensive line, Joel Alt, Ouska, their left guard. I mean, they are a banged up downtrodden team. And sometimes those are dangerous teams. But I've been saying that about the Chargers for a few weeks now. And unfortunately, they have to go play in Kansas City against the Chiefs who are coming out of the by. We all know Andy Reid's great coming out of the by. Not the last two years, but circumstances are different. They are a healthier team. Now, they won't have Rashi Rice. They're still without Simmons, their left tackle, who I think is coming back. But we all know that Kenneth Walker has been a beautiful find for them. He has been unbelievable. Travis Kelsey is playing well. Mahomes is playing great. They're seven and a half point favorites for a reason. And I'll just say this about the Chargers. If not now, then when? Because if they fall 0-6, I don't know how they recover. I mean, I don't know how they recover from 0-5, but 0-6 for this team that was in the playoffs, double-digit wins, had all these expectations going to this year. It is mind-boggling that they are this bad. The last four o'clock game is Bills at Raiders. Now, the Bills probably should have lost to the Rams, but they're 4-1. They are overcoming the fact that they have a very average to below average defense. They have a good front. If you look at their defensive front, it's good. Their backfield, linebackers to secondary has been terrible. The Rams moved the ball up and down and up and down, and obviously, James Cook was fumbling and giving the Rams opportunities, and the Rams were going up and down the field, scoring points as if the Bills had no defense. Of course, the Rams ruined it on special teams. They are facing a Raiders team that is starting to come back to earth here a little bit. Gent D has been banged up. He's going to play, but they started off 3-0. They lost a heartbreaker to the Chiefs, and then they absolutely fell apart to the Patriots. Now, the Raiders have to play the Bills this week, then they get the Rams next week. They're going through a gauntlet. They'll get the Jets in 3 weeks, but then they get back to 49ers, Seahawks, and then they'll, of course, have to play the Broncos, who have at least a division team. I think the Raiders, what you're seeing is they're coming back to earth a little bit. They're getting only so much they can get out of Brock Bowers, and Kirk Cousins, and Clint Kubiak with their play action, which has been good for them, but they're not a talented team. The Raiders don't have a lot of talent on defense outside, of course, Max Crosby, N'Kobe Dean has played well for them at times, but this is going to be a challenge for them. The Bills are probably going to be able to move the ball against them pretty easily, so it's going to be up to the Raiders to get into a shootout, and again, they're kind of coming back to earth. They're a little one-dimensional with Brock Bowers, and Trey Tucker has some big games, but what they need is Gentie to be a real workhorse and be a real chain mover. He had a nice week one, but ever since then, he's been among the least efficient running backs in the NFL. If they're not going to get efficiency out of their run game and be able to control the clock and control time and possession, especially against a team like the Bills, then they're just not going to be able to be competitive. They need that in order to hang with the Bills and beat the Bills. I don't think they're going to get that this week. Eight o'clock game, Cowboys, Packers. Cowboys are arrested, but they're all rusted, coming off a horrific, horrific home loss to the Bucks that we talked about. In between, they have hired Mike Petten as a senior consultant. I think you heard me talk recently about the importance that young coordinators need to hire senior advisors, and I thought Parker was missing that. I had no idea they were going to go out and hire one, but they did. Mike Petten, who was with Parker in Green Bay a couple of years ago when Parker was the D-backs coach there and Petten was presiding over the defense in Green Bay. So they have a connection. I think it will be good to have a guy like that in his ear. I don't think it's going to lead to some dramatic turnaround immediately, but anything can help, and they absolutely need help on defense right now. I mean, they are a tough watch defensively. Now, they got to go into Green Bay. They are lucky that Parsons is still not ready to return. I don't believe he is because it would look like egg on their face if Parsons had a big game against them. But Parsons is still on the sidelines. But hey, like I said, the Packers, this is why when the Packers started out and it didn't look good for them. They had an ugly, horrendous loss to the Vikings in week one. They had to scrape to beat the Jets in week two. They got crushed by the Falcons in week three. What did you hear me say? I said, I think the Packers are still going to be okay because they're that kind of organization that can cover up its flaws. And this is another reason why I think Ben Johnson screwed up. You had an opportunity to bury your division opponent, your division rival, send them to two and three, all right, and really have them reeling. But now the Packers can look and say, man, we have played awful football, no run game, haven't had Parsons, and we're three and two. Now, if they lose this game, the Cowboys, they're still three and three. They're still in it. They're not out of it. You're three and three, and you'll eventually get Parsons back and you'll probably feel better about yourself. If you beat the Cowboys, which they can do, you're four and two, and you're like, all right, we have, we have taken some major bullets and yet we are four and two. And the Packers are one and a half point favorites and they should be, okay? The Packers win this game. They're sitting pretty four and two feeling good about themselves with better days ahead. And apparently Josh Jacobs will return soon. Okay, we'll see if how much that works for them. If they lose in the three and three, the Packers can still lick their wounds and say, we're hanging in there. Maybe we can take advantage of our schedule after. I mean, they'll have to play the Lions and the Panthers after. Then they'll have the Patriots, then the Vikings again, then the Rams, Saints. So it's like their schedule lines up for them to win one, lose one, win one, lose one. Okay, so they'll hang in there probably all season long. That's what I expect from the Packers. This is a big game for them to get that two games over 500, look good in your division, and then if you go 500 for the next four to six games, you're still pretty good. Monday night game, the 49ers against the Commanders. The Commanders, you talk about injury and insult. No McCloren's been hurt, they're running back, Merritt's been hurt, Kinlaw has been hurt, Daniels comes back after being hurt, gives them two big rushing touchdowns, gives them a chance to win, then blows it in the final seconds. Now they have to go play a 49ers team that is 5-0, and it looks like the best team in football. If I think the 49ers will win the Super Bowl, I wouldn't put them as my number one team. Do I think that they're the best football team in the NFL right now? No, but I have a hard time arguing against it. They're 5-0, the 3-0 at home. They've had a bunch of injuries as they always do. They will not get Bosa back this week, maybe the week after. Evans is banged up. McCaffrey is interestingly not being efficient, not explosive, but he still gets the ball a lot. And Kittle has looked like he's found the fountain of youth. I have to give Brock Purdy a ton of credit. 13 touchdowns, two interceptions. Him and Kyle Shanahan, they're in their bag. They know what they're doing. Debo's hurt. Okay, maybe they get Christian Kirk back. I'm not sure. I didn't, you know, they still have an extra day for their injury report to come out because they play Monday night. I don't know, but I'm not betting against them this week. They're playing the commanders. They're seven and a half point favorites. Good shot to fall to go to 6-0, which would just put them in such a great driver's seat as the Seahawks and the Rams kind of struggle a little bit. 6-0 with then the Falcons and the Raiders, Cowboys, Vikings. They got winnable games over the next four weeks. They are in cruise control and they're only going to get healthier, assuming they don't lose other guys. But they got more guys who can come back and help them than I think that they got guys you got to worry about losing. Unless of course, Purdy goes down or McCaffrey goes down. But what an advantage for them to be 5-0 and playing a commander's team that has just looked awful for four weeks, for five weeks here in the Monday night game. Hey, Philly fans, game day is stressful enough. Parking, traffic, long lines. We've all been there. But when it comes to your cannabis, Camden Apothecary makes it easy. This is the dispensary for sports fans. Just minutes outside of Philly, with plenty of free parking, you'll be in and out fast, no hassle, no waiting. And they don't just care about convenience. Camden Apothecary is all about the guest experience. Their staff makes sure you feel taken care of every time you walk in. Plus, they carry only the best quality cannabis at the fairest prices. So whether you're stocking up for the tailgate, the watch party, or celebrating a big win, you know you're getting the good stuff without overpaying. They even show love to the community with specials for fans, students, service members, and health care pros. 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So that is a look at the games around the schedule. I'm going to give you my three picks in a second. First, I'll tell you, I went one and two. I went back and regressed after going two and one the week before. I thought last week's games were really tough to pick, but I shouldn't have gone with the Titans to cover. I didn't think the Titans were going to win. I thought they might cover the seven and a half was a big number. They got destroyed. I thought the Saints would cover two and a half at home against the Vikings. They got destroyed. I did win on the Ravens three-point favorites over the Falcons. They won by seven. So that was my one win. I went to one and two. So now I am four and eight. So not great there, but I'm going to give you my best shot this week. All right. I like the Steelers on the road. Even though they're on the road, I like them as two and a half point favorites over the Bucks. I like the way the Steelers have been playing, and I don't think the Bucks will have enough firepower to hang with the Steelers. So I like the Steelers two and a half. I'm going to go. You might say I'm crazy. I'm going to say it's a big number. I'm taking the Rams over the Cardinals, even with the 12 and a half point spread. I think the Rams can win this one by 17 or more. I think the Rams are going to be pretty. At some point, the Rams are going to get really frustrated about the games they gave away against good teams that they should have won, like the Eagles last year, like the Seahawks last year, like the Bills last week. But when they play a bad team, like the Cardinals, you don't worry so much about special teams biting them in the ass. I think that they will win this game going away. And of course, I think you could hear it in the tone of my voice. I like the Niners, even at that big number, seven and a half at home against the commanders. The commanders are all beat up. Bad defense. Niners are rolling. And I do think they'll win this game by double digits. So those are my three picks. That's how I see week six in the NFL. As I tell you every week, enjoy your football watching. This is Geoff Mosher for the Inside the Birds NFL week six preview. Have a great weekend, everybody.