NFC Week 6 Predictions

NFL NFC West Week 6 Preview

There are just three games on the NFC West schedule as we head into Week 6 of the 2010 NFL season. Arizona has a bye.

Before we jump into this week’s game previews let’s take a look at how the NFC stacks up.

First of all, no offense or defense ranks higher than 17th in yards allowed per game.

That’s a pretty good indication of why the teams have combined for an overall 7-12, the worst combined divisional record in the league. However, every team in the division retained its overall offensive ranking from the previous week, but the Rams slipped from fourth to 11th in points allowed per game following their 44-6 defeat at Detroit.

The 49ers have scored touchdowns on their last five red zone trips spread across three games. The team has scored touchdowns on eight of nine over its last four games, while Seattle moved up from third to second in rushing yards allowed per game.

Here I take a quick look at each Week 6 match up. Don’t forget to check back every week, as I will be giving you my free picks for the NFC West all season long right here on sportbooklists.com.

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SUN, OCT 17 TIME (ET)

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Seattle at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX – Bears’ QB Jay Cutler is expected to return to action after missing last week’s game against the Carolina Panthers due to a concussion he suffered in a 17-3 loss to the New York Giants on Oct. 3.

Cutler was sacked a career-high nine times in that meeting.

Chicago eked out an ugly 23-6 win despite an awful performance from Cutler’s replacement Todd Collins 23who went 6 of 16 for 32 yards and was picked off for a career-worst four interceptions.

The Bears powerful running game led by Matt Forte who ran for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns, after averaging 33.5 rushing yards over the first four games. Forte will need to bring his A-game against a Seahawks team ranked second in the league against the rush at 72.8 yards allowed per game.

Meanwhile, Seattle spent its bye week making some personnel changes by acquiring running back Marshawn Lynch, who will make his Seattle debut Sunday. He will be a welcome addition to a Seahawks’ 29th-ranked rushing attack that has been averaging 79.5 rushing yards per game. Lynch ran for 164 yards in four games with the Bills this season.

His first test will come on Sunday as he faces Chicago’s third-ranked rush defense. The Bears are giving up 78.6 yards a contest on the ground.

Seattle has lost two of the last three meetings with Chicago, falling 25-19 last Sept. 27 at Qwest Field.

The Bears’ defense will out play Seattle in this one.

PREDICTION: Bears

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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

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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