AFC West Week 6 Preview & Picks

NFL AFC West Week 6 Preview

All four teams are in action as the AFC West Week 6 card is chalked full of intriguing matchups this week. Kansas City still leads the division and will be looking to keep its one game advantage heading into Week 7. Their bout with Houston will go a long way in legitimizing their 3-0 start. My pick for game of the week is the Jets at Denver. The league’s best passer against one of the NFL’s best defensive backs. Don’t forget to check back every week as I will be giving you my free picks for the AFC West all season long right here on sportbooklists.com.

vs.

San Diego at St. Louis 1:00 PM CBS – The Rams will be kicking itself for letting one get away and frankly out of control as they were mauled by the winless Lions 44-6 last Sunday.

The loss was bad enough, but with it came another blow that has depleted the St. Louis receiving corp., as leading WR Mark Clayton went down with a torn patellar tendon. Coupled with the preseason ACL injury of third-year wideout Donnie Avery, quarterback Sam Bradford will certainly look to hand the ball to RB Steven Jackson who had 25 carries for 114 yards in Sunday’s loss.

Meanwhile, the Chargers once again beat themselves, losing in Oakland 35-27. They have been up and down all season and have been plagued by turnovers and a mistake-filled special teams.

They have dropped all three of their road games, a trend they’ll try to reverse when they look for their first ever win in St. Louis this weekend.

It’s hard to believe that a team with QB Philip Rivers, who leads the NFL with 1,759 passing yards and is tied for first with 11 touchdowns, and have a point differential of plus 34, could be under .500.

Rivers has been the only thing keeping the Chargers’ offense rolling, but the Chargers may want to consider assigning RBs Mike Tolbert and Ryan Matthews much more important rolls this weekend against the Rams’ middle-of-the road rushing defense.

I think Rivers can outgun Bradford who will have no real No. 1 target to play catch with.

PREDICTION: San Diego

vs.

Kansas City at Houston 1:00 PM CBS – Both teams flew out of the starting gate and got off to an early lead in their respective divisions, but then have recently displayed chinks in the armor.

Kansas City suffered its first loss to the Colts this past weekend, but Indy didn’t have an easy time as the KC defense held Peyton Manning and his high-powered offense to just 19 points. The real problem was the lack of Kansas City’s offense that could only produce nine points on three field goals.

Kansas City, which ranks third in the league with 148.8 rushing yards per game, was held to a season-low 113 yards on the ground last week, while QB Quarterback Matt Cassel finished with just 16 of 29 for 156 yards. Ouch!

Cassel will have a chance to get back on the rails as he faces a Texans defense that are giving up a league-leading 329.6 passing yards per game.

Houston also started the season 3-1, but then was pounded by the Giants last Sunday.

The running game was shut down and held to just 24 yards against the Giants, a staggering drop from the 142.4 the team had been averaging.

QB Matt Schaub has thrown for 1,233 yards and completed 62.2 percent of his passes, but he has seven touchdowns to five interceptions and has been sacked 14 times — second most in the league.

The Chiefs and Texans have split their four meetings with Houston winning the most recent, a 20-3 home victory in 2007.

I expect the Chiefs to find their early season mojo and eke out enough points to get a win on the road.

PREDICTION: Chiefs

vs.

Oakland at San Francisco 4:05 PM CBS – The Raiders are coming off an upset over archrival San Diego last week and should have some momentum as they look to add to the woes of the hapless San Francisco 49’ers this weekend.

Running back Michael Bush led the Raiders offensive charge rolling up 104 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown in the win. The strength of the team has been its ability to run the football, and ranks 7^th overall with 134 yards per game. Bush has contributed 157 yards of that, but the real standout has been Darren McFadden with 392 yards, as he is averaging 4.6 per carry.

Meanwhile, the 49ers season is in a downward spiral as they lost their fifth straight to Philadelphia a week ago.

Niners’ QB Alex Smith tarnished a solid effort with two interceptions after passing for 309 yards and two TDs. It’s been the same story all season.

The team has been nonexistent on the ground with 77 yards to rank 30^th, and is wasting one of the most productive running backs in the league as Frank Gore has just 322 yards and a single TD in five appearances.

He will face little challenge by a Raiders front four that has trouble limiting the run, allowing opponents to manage 147.8 yards per game, putting the team second to last at 31^st overall.

Even though Oakland is just a mediocre team at best, they should be able to collect more than 15 points — San Francisco’s average per game—behind a solid running attack and a better defensive effort.

PREDICTION: Oakland

vs.

NY Jets at Denver 4:05 PM CBS – The Jets defense did a get job shutting the Vikes out in the first half, but faded in the second allowing Minnesota to make a fourth quarter comeback scoring 13-points, but still hung on for the win.

There wasn’t whole lot of offense as kicker Nick Folk led New York with 15 points off five field goals including a 53-yarder in the second quarter.

Veteran RB LaDainian Tomlinson had 20 carries for 94 yards while QB Mark Sanchez tallied only 191 yards on 21 completions. Tomlinson has been the key ingredient to the New York running game with 56 attempts and three touchdowns. He has 341 yards and averages just over six yards a carry. Shonn Greene is the change of pace back with 52 attempts for 223 yards, and finally found the end zone recording his first TD of the season on Monday night.

On the defensive side of the football, the team has had trouble with defending against the pass as they rank 23^rd in passing yards with 233. Not good as they will now be challenged by Denver QB Kyle Orton who ranks second in the league with 1,733 passing yards.

Orton threw for 314 yards, surpassing the 300-yard mark for the fourth straight game, and two touchdowns last week, as the Broncos were spanked by the Ravens, 31-17.

Denver rushers Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter have combined for just three touchdowns and 173 yards, so to say the running attack is little flaccid, maybe be the understatement of the year.

If Orton doesn’t get the support needed on the ground and from the Broncos defense, the losses will being to pile up, staring in East Rutherford on Sunday.

PREDICTION: Jets