NFL Free Picks on Four Week 6 2011 ATS Football Matchups

Cleveland Browns (+7) @ Oakland Raiders
The Browns certainly haven’t produced the way many expected. Colt McCoy was supposed to take another step forward, and a solid rushing attack, led by Madden cover boy Peyton Hillis, was expected to keep them close and beat on defenses. That really hasn’t happened yet, and defensively they give up a lot. Still, they will be able to run it and pass for some big plays against a Raider defense that gives up some holes. Hillis and Montario Hardesty will be running tough, and if Colt McCoy can hook up with new starting receiver Greg Little, they might just upset the once again relevant Raiders. I’ll take the points.

Dallas Cowboys (+7) @ New England Patriots
This is an interesting game because Dallas can score the football, and so can New England – but can either defense stop either offense? New England is certainly more efficient – and they don’t make as many mistakes, but they might not be as explosive as the Cowboys. New England rarely bangs away at an opponent until they are no longer in it – their defense isn’t good enough and their rushing attack isn’t consistent enough. With Dallas needing this game a little more, I think they keep it closer than a touchdown when all is said and done.

New Orleans Saints (-4) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Saints are the better team in the game – they really don’t get as much recognition for how good they are because aside from Drew Brees, they really don’t have big names on offense. Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham have been their most impressive players outside of Drew, and quite frankly, those guys don’t have much star power – though both are awesome. With Colston back in full, the Saints might just get more firepower from an offense that has controlled the ball over the first 5 weeks. Tampa has a solid young team, no doubt, and they should play inspired after getting embarrassed last week – but 4 points from the Saints isn’t’ enough for me.

St. Louis Rams @ Green Bay Packers (-14.5)
The Packers probably should be 14.5 point favorites, but I’m not crazy about taking any NFL team as a huge favorite like this. The Rams certainly haven’t been very good this season, basically getting trounced by anybody and everybody, but they are a better football team than they’ve showed, and in a big-time environment, that always scares me. Still, the Packers’ air assault is dang-near perfect, and defensively they should put enough pressure on the Rams offense to help Rodgers add some more points to the party. Tough to take this many points, but it’s worth a shot with the best team in football.