NFL Week 6 Double Action: Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets & Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland Browns

While it’s clear that the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns have both hit home runs with rookie quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield what NFL bettors really need to know about the pair of talented first-year signal-callers is whether they can lead their respective teams to consecutive victories in NFL Week 6!

After lead the Jets and Browns to wins in their respective Week 5 matchups, Darnold and Mayfield will look to lead the Jets and Browns to back-to-back wins over the visiting Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers respectively. If you’re looking for NFL betting value, then let’s get to my pair of expert picks on both rookie quarterbacks Week 6 matchups.

Waiting on #INDvsNYJ like…#WinFromWithin #WorkoutWednesday pic.twitter.com/VZUTTaCaqO

— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 10, 2018

The Colts fell to 1-4 on the season by losing to New England 38-24 last Thursday while the Jets improved to 2-3 on the season by smacking Denver senseless 34-16 on Sunday.

Indianapolis will be well-rested for this Week 6 affair after getting 10 days off between games, but I don’t think it’s going to help the Colts get the win over a Jets team whose confidence I expect to be blossoming right about now. Not only did New York find they have a possible stud in veteran running back Isaiah Crowell, but the Jets clearly made the right call in naming inexperienced, but athletically gifted quarterback Sam Darnold their starter this season.

In addition to that, defensively, New York has held the opposition to 21 points or less in four of their five games. While the Colts have been decent on offense with Andrew Luck back under center (23.6 ppg), Indianapolis is also pretty awful defensively in giving up 27.6 points per game. The Jets have the statistical edge on both sides of the ball, plus I believe they’re growing in confidence right now and view this matchup as a game they should win.

Indianapolis is an uninspiring 24-11-3 ATS in their last 18 Week 6 contests and 2-7 ATS in their last nine games against their AFC counterparts. On the flip side of the coin, the Jets are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a losing road record, 7-0-1 ATS in their last 8 games in October and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 home games. I like the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, to win and cover as a slight home favorite!

Predicted Score: Jets 28 Colts 23

There are couple of things we can all admit about this Week 6 matchup. First, the Los Angeles Chargers are not nearly as good as their preseason billing as a legitimate AFC title contender. Second, the Cleveland Browns have been a lot better than anyone could imagined as they enter Week 6 with a .500 record. Last but not least, were it not some misfortune at the most inopportune time, the Browns could very easily be 5-0 as opposed to 2-2-1.

Los Angeles has won two straight and held Oakland to just 10 points on Sunday. Cleveland has gone to overtime in each of their last two games while gutting out a huge 12-9 home win over Baltimore on Sunday one week after suffering a crushing 45-42 loss at Oakland in a game that officials robbed them in.

While I’ve been very impressed with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Browns this season, I’m going to advise you to back Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers to march into Cleveland and sneak out with a hard-fought road win and narrow cover as a 1-point favorite.

In spite of their improved play, the Browns are just 3-14-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. Philip Rivers and the semi-desperate Bolts have gone 4-1 ATS in their last five Week 6 contests, 4-1 ATS in their last five games in the month of October and 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games against a team with a losing home record. Forget the fact that the Underdog in this series has gone 6-0 ATS in the last six meetings. The Chargers are desperate and they’ve got the superior roster.

Predicted Score: Chargers 27 Browns 24