Lance's Week 6 Predictions
Every week I’ll be putting out my predictions, they will include my winner for each game with a brief explanation, and 1 start and 1 sit for each fantasy football position.
Thanks to the Thursday night game being moved to Monday I was able to take the time to seriously consider my predictions prior to posting this. Hopefully it works! As usual, I’ll start with my picks:
Overall Record: 46-30-1
New England over Denver
Newton has been activated and is expected to play. Denver lost it's identity when they lost Miller, and they lost everything else when Sutton and Lock went down. The Pats hand Denver their backsides.
Tennessee over Houston
Things aren’t going to get better for Houston until the season is over. Tennessee runs away with an easy division win.
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Cleveland’s offense had been able to take advantage of some shoddy defenses so far, though their showing against Indy was very impressive. I think the Steelers are able to slow down Baker and company just enough, while thrashing Cleveland’s defense.
Baltimore over Philadelphia
The Eagles had to play Pitt and Baltimore in back to back weeks, they were done no favors. The Ravens defense takes advantage of Philly’s depleted O-Line, and Lamar keeps the offense chugging along.
Washington over NY Giants
I do believe the Giants are bad enough to lose to Washington twice, but I think they’ll end up splitting the series. I’m taking Washington now as they’ve got more going for them (front seven, Antonio Gibson and Terry McLaurin).
Jacksonville over Detroit
You’ll see below that I expect Minshew to have a career game this week, and that’ll lead to an unprecedented 2-4 start for the Jags (may not seem like much, but some analysts were expecting them to go 0-16).
Minnesota over Atlanta
The Falcons definitely have the pieces to take advantage of Minnesota’s defense, but Atlanta’s defense may actually be worse. High scoring game with the Vikings defense making more stops than the Falcons can muster.
Carolina over Chicago
Bridgewater has this Panthers team playing very well right now. Joe Brady helps the offense find holes in Chicago’s defense, while the Panthers take full advantage of poor QB play by Chicago.
Indianapolis over Cincinnati
Indy’s defense will make it two tough games in a row for Burrow. He won’t be able to get the job done.
Miami over NY Jets
The Dolphins are coming off a big win which means they're in position for a letdown game. But the Jets are so bad I don't think they'll be able to take advantage.
Green Bay over Tampa Bay
Green Bay is just playing better football right now, Rodgers isn’t making the same mistakes Brady has been, and the Packers defense is finally starting to show life.
LA Rams over San Francisco
The Niners have a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. At least with the Rams we know what we’re going to get, there’s consistency there.
Kansas City over Buffalo
As it stands there are two AFC teams that I view as threats to KC’s reign and Buffalo isn’t one them. Mahomes dominates and continues KC’s push toward perfection.
Arizona over Dallas
The Cowboys defense is awful, Kyler Murray could set some records in this one thanks to his dual threat abilities. I could see Hopkins breaking a couple records too. I like Dalton, but this is a tough first game for him to walk into when Dallas' defense will basically be playing for the other team.
Fantasy Starts and Sits
Record for QBs, TEs, Ks, and Ds is based off if they finished top 12 or not
Record for RBs and WRs is based off if they finished top 24 or not.
QB Record: 4-6
QB Start: Ben Roethlisberger vs Cleveland
Big Ben has had his fair share of big games against Cleveland over the years, but he hasn’t often faced a Cleveland offense that could force him to continue to throw late into the game. This Browns offense could put up just enough of a fight to keep Big Ben tossing the ball into the fourth quarter, and their secondary is banged up enough that Roethlisberger can do it at will.
QB Sit: Philip Rivers vs Cincinnati
Rivers has been solid on the field (prior to last week), but not so much in fantasy. Plus, Cincy has been surprisingly stingy against the pass.
RB Record: 4-6
RB Start: Antonio Gibson at NY Giants
Gibson has had some pretty solid weeks to open his rookie season, and he flirted with a monster game against Baltimore two weeks ago. This time there won’t be any flirting, he’s going to get it done. The Giants rush and pass defense is going to allow him to do whatever he wants all game long. (Note: he may not play, if he does sit this week then J.D. McKissic takes over this spot for me)
RB Sit: Darrell Henderson at San Francisco
The Niners have done a very good job of shutting down opposing Running Backs, so this isn’t just a “sit Henderson” kind of deal, it’s a sit all the Rams Running Backs. If you are dead set on wanting to start one, start Brown as he’s been the primary goal line back.
WR Record: 6-4
WR Start: Laviska Shenault vs Detroit***
Minshew’s single game highs to this point in 2020; passing yards: 351, passing touchdowns: 3. He’s also had over 40 attempts four times this year. I think he once again eclipses the 40 attempt mark and he marks new career single game highs; i.e. over 400 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. Shenault will be the second biggest benefactor from those stats and the divide between him and Chark won’t be all that big.
WR Sit: Darius Slayton vs Washington
He’s seeing a good number of targets, which makes benching him difficult. But Washington’s pass defense has been getting the job done so far and I think their front seven is going to make Daniel Jones miserable in this one.
TE Record: 7-3
TE Start: Mike Gesicki vs NY Jets
I said to sit him last week, but I’m telling you to get him in your lineups this week! He's a major mismatch issue for most teams and the Jets don't really have anyone who can hang with him.
TE Sit: Chris Herndon at Miami
For whatever reason the projections on Herndon are still high each week. I’m just putting the warning out there, DON’T FALL FOR IT! The Jets have been abysmal and Herndon has yet to do anything despite the preseason hype train and the weekly need to pass for New York.
K Record: 5-5
K Start: Rodrigo Blankenship vs Cincinnati
Respect the Specs man! Blankenship has been one of the best Kickers in fantasy this season; as a rookie!! I expect to see more of that against Cincy who is giving up a good amount of points to Kickers.
K Sit: Brandon McManus at New England
Belichick still has his defense playing well, and the Broncos offense has been iffy at best since they lost Lock and Sutton. McManus would be a tough play this week.
Defense Record: 6-4
Defense Start: Miami Dolphins vs NY Jets
Miami’s defense has been looking more like something you would expect from a coach who came off the Belichick tree. They’re still not vintage Patriots, but they can rattle the QB, force turnovers and limit the point total of a bad offense (I’m looking at you Jets).
Defense Sit: San Francisco vs LA Rams
This isn’t the same prolific Rams offense from when they made the Super Bowl run, nor is it the same dismal display we saw in 2019. They’re playing smart football and they’ve done a pretty good job of scoring points in the process. San Fran might get a turnover and a couple sacks, but it won’t be enough to see them finish as a top fantasy defense this week.
