<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ZM5bB_0w0j0Tov00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ZM5bB_0w0j0Tov00" width="1920" height="1080" ><figcaption>Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers Alex Highsmith, left, and TJ Watt are lookikng to get back on winning track with a trip to Sin City to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. AP PHOTO</figcaption></figure>What a weird week to go with this weird season. So after a rough start, we came out roaring and going 4-1 in our best bets. Good thing those were the only ones we wagered on, as we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a watermelon with our other picks.Maybe I haven’t done enough consultation with Drunk Joe and Aunt Mabel? Let’s see if we can find a place to sneak them in this week and have winners across the board. If we can successfully pick the Jaguars to win their first game, we can have a winning week in all three phases: best bets, ATS and totals.Here we go …NOTES: All spreads, money lines and over/under totals (as of Tuesday) are provided by DraftKings. Home team is listed in CAPS.<h2>WEEK 6: THE TOP 5 BEST BETS</h2>BYES: Kansas City, LA Rams, Miami and Minnesota1, Pittsburgh (-3) over LAS VEGAS / Sunday at 3:05 p.m.This must be the old farts reminiscing tour for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last week, they played their No. 1 Super Bowl nemesis in the Dallas Cowboys, and now we’re taking another trip down Nostalgia Lane from the 1970s and the Raiders.All we need now is Al Davis and John Madden, but they are both gone, so … “Derry, what the hell are you talking about?”OK, never mind. Back to the pick.This is mainly a power-rating pick for me, as I have Pittsburgh as just shy of a 6-point favorite. Besides that, I simply don’t think the Raiders will be able to handle the Steelers pressure – either in the run game or passing game.Following back-to-back losses, they should rebound well here against an inferior foe.Score: Steelers 24, Raiders 17 (Total: Over 36.5)2, SEATTLE (+3.5) over San Francisco / Thursday at 7:15 p.m.OK, I couldn’t jinx myself last week by saying I was 4-0 on Thursdays, so let’s see if we can do it again. And this one isn’t simply because we’ve been good on Thursday.At some point we have to think something might be wrong with San Francisco, don’t we? Twice in 3 weeks they have blown double-digit leads to far inferior division foes, but maybe that’s it … maybe they aren’t all that inferior.Seattle certainly is as good as both the Rams and Cardinals, and although this series has been all San Francisco as of late with the 49ers winning five in a row, it was just the opposite prior to that with the Seahawks taking a whopping 17 of 20 from December 2012 to December 2021.Both teams are desperate, and while I think the 49ers will find a way to win, I think this is super tight until the end in another fun opener to the week.Score: 49ers 26, Seahawks 24 (Total: Over 48.5)3, Indianapolis (ML -112) over TENNESSEE / Sunday at noonThe Colts have the worst defense in the NFL when yards per game is used. Want to know what makes you better? A game against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans. As of Wednesday morning, we don’t yet know who will play quarterback for the Colts, and it really doesn’t matter to me. (I’d almost prefer Joe Flacco.)It doesn’t change my power ratings, which have this game as Indy -3, so I don’t quite get the line.Meanwhile, the Titans have the best defense in the league by yards per game allowed, but they are 15th in points per game allowed, and two of their four games have been against backup quarterbacks. Quite a misleading stat.And here’s what isn’t misleading: scoring 17, 17, 14 in their first three games before putting up 31 against a Miami team that was the most injured in the league.Score: Colts 20, Titans 13 (Total: Under 43)4, Jacksonville (+2.5) over Chicago / Sunday at 8:30 a.m. in LondonYou want to talk about rocking the boat. So last week I was dumb enough to take previously winless Jacksonville as one of my knockout picks, which made me look like a genius. (No, I know it was dumb. I HATED my other options.) Guess who one of my other two picks was? Yep, the Bears.But like I said last week, just because I was taking Chicago against the hapless Panthers, it didn’t mean I was buying into Caleb Williams like most of the rest of the planet. Rather, I think it’s the Jaguars who might build off of that (potentially) season-saving victory last week.And who knows how to play in Great Britain better than the Jags? They have won six of their last nine there and both games last season – against the Bills and Falcons. Meanwhile, the Bears have played only twice in London and they haven’t won there since their first trip in 2011.I see Jax getting back to 3-4 with a win here and in again across the Pond vs. New England before crashing back to Earth with five consecutive games against playoff likelies.Score: Jaguars 27, Bears 20 (Total: Over 44.5)5, DENVER (+3) over LA Chargers / Sunday at 3:05 p.m.I nearly took the under here as a best bet, but then I thought a bit more about it and realized if the linesmakers want to give me a full field goal at home against a division foe that is close to equal … who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?I am not necessarily buying into the Broncos all of a sudden, but I do think I underestimated their defense, which is third-best in the NFL. And if they can continue anywhere near that rate, they have a legitimate chance to up their win total from last year (eight).Score: Broncos 13, Chargers 10 (Total: Under 35.5)<h2>SAINTS PICK vs. Tampa Bay, Sunday at noon</h2>I don’t think I have done this in 10 years of this column, but I simply cannot make a pick on this game as of Wednesday morning without knowing more about the Saints’ injury report.<div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oGhdi5cXy_U?si=3AQj4VyEpMqGF-FY" frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div>We don’t know who will play quarterback except the fact that it won’t be Derek Carr, we don’t know if Taysom Hill will be back, and we don’t know what the offensive line will look like (among other positions).That, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to spend the week in New Orleans not knowing what they will be going home to.So many ifs, and there simply isn’t a logical reason to try and make a pick here until closer to game day. I will be back on both the Dattitude YouTube page and our TikTok page with a final pick. Check with us on Sunday morning.Score: TBAOTHER PICKSSunday at noonBALTIMORE (-6.5) 30, Washington 23 (Over 52.5)GREEN BAY (-5) 26, Arizona 20 (Under 49.5)Note: Early weather forecast predicts showers and temperatures in the mid-50s (which might feel like 30s to a team from the desert in October) with winds up to 20 mph.Houston (-7) 22, NEW ENGLAND 14 (Under 38)Note: I was prepared to take the Patriots with the spread until they announced Drake Maye will make his first career start. This will be a no-play, although I like the under much more than the spread.PHILADELPHIA 23, Cleveland (+8.5) 17 (Under 43.5)Note: Another no play. I give up on the Browns. When will they start Jameis?Sunday at 3:25 p.m.Atlanta (-6) 31, CAROLINA 20 (Over 47.5)Note: This just missed the card and might have been my sixth pick if I needed one. They keep overvaluing the Panthers, and I will keep betting against them – even in division games at home.Detroit (-3) 36, DALLAS 30 (Over 52.5)Note: My power ratings make this a pick em, so it’s a stay away, but I simply cannot advocate taking Dallas against a good team, whether they are at home or on the road. Especially one I don’t think they can stop.Sunday at 7:20 p.m.Cincinnati 23, NY GIANTS (-3.5) 21 (Under 49)Monday at 7:15 p.m.NY JETS (+2) 22, Buffalo 21 (Over 41)Note: Sometimes you have to make a pick simply to be contrarian, and although this line is almost exactly what my power ratings say it should be, it just screams out that Aunt Mabel and Drunk Joe will be putting their entire Social Security check on the Bills. That’s enough to make me pick the Jets. It’s just too easy. (But I am not dumb enough to make it a best bet – no matter where Robert Saleh rests his head on this night.)_____________________HOW WE DOIN?Note: TIES ARE NOT COUNTED IN MY RECORD, which could result in a different total of games in the “straight up” and “against the spread” categories, as well as with totals.AGAINST THE SPREADWeek 5 best bets: 4-1; Season 13-11 (.542). Week 5 all picks: 5-7; Season 32-39 (.450).STRAIGHT UP (no spread)Week 5: 6-8. Season: 41-34 (.547).OVER/UNDER TOTALSWeek 5: 3-11. Season: 33-40 (.452).SAINTS PICKSWeek 5 pick: Saints 24, Chiefs 20. (Actual: Chiefs 26, Saints 13.) Straight up: L, 3-2. Against spread (Saints +5.5): L, 2-3.PREVIOUS COLUMNS(click on week to view)Week 5: 4-1 best bets; 5-7 ATS; 6-8 straight up; 3-11 over/undersWeek 4: 2-3 best bets; 7-7 ATS; 8-6 straight up; 7-7 over/undersWeek 3: 3-2 best bets; 9-6 ATS; 8-7 straight up; 8-7 over/undersWeek 2: 3-2 best bets; 8-8 ATS; 9-7 straight up; 8-7 over/undersWeek 1: 1-3 best bets; 3-11 ATS; 10-6 straight up; 7-8 over/unders</div></body>

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Derry’s Week 6 NFL Picks: Steelers take second straight trip down Nostalgia Lane vs. Raiders

What a weird week to go with this weird season. So after a rough start, we came out roaring and going 4-1 in our best bets. Good thing those were the only ones we wagered on, as we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a watermelon with our other picks.

Derry’s Week 6 NFL Picks: Steelers take second straight trip down Nostalgia Lane vs. Raiders

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