Kenneth Walker III already has more rushing yards than the Chiefs’ leader last season. Jamie Squire / Getty Images
The Los Angeles Rams are 2-4, while the Cleveland Browns are 4-2. Just like everyone drew it up. The San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs remain the only unbeaten teams, while the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers are winless.
The Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, with their four combined Super Bowl titles over the last seven years, meet on Sunday Night Football, while the 49ers put their undefeated record on the line in Atlanta.
David Bearman details the top betting and statistical trends for each matchup while Nick Kostos offers his straight-up predictions and picks against the spread (ATS).
Steelers at Saints
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Steelers
ATS: Steelers -3
Bearman’s stats and trends
HOF numbers: Rodgers has 255 career games with a touchdown pass, including the playoffs, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (254 games) for the fourth-most games with a touchdown pass, including the postseason.
QB battle: Aaron Rodgers and Tyler Shough are two of five QBs this season to record 3-plus TDs in three different games.
Slow starts: The Saints have still not scored first in a game this season. The Dolphins are the only other team to not score first in 2026.
49ers at Falcons
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: 49ers
ATS: Falcons +3.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Most efficient QB ever? With 29 passing attempts last Monday, Brock Purdy qualified for the NFL’s all-time career passer rating leaderboard. His career rating of 105.6 ranks first in league history.
Undefeated: The Niners are 6-0 for the fourth time in franchise history (1984, 1990, 2019). They won the Super Bowl following the 1984 season.
Bad at home: The Falcons are 0-3 at home this season and have failed to cover in all three games. They are 22 games below .500 ATS at home since 2020.
One thing helped this NFL player with anxiety
Elise Devlin
Buccaneers at Panthers
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Bucs
ATS: Bucs +3.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
One-sided: The Bucs have dominated this series this decade, winning six of the past seven, and 10 of the past 12 meetings, dating back to 2020. Both Panthers wins in that time have come at home, including last December.
Top QB: Bryce Young leads the NFL in passing yards per game (309.8). He has thrown for at least 280 yards in all five starts.
Under trend: Four straight and six of the past seven Panthers divisional games have come in under the total. They’ve covered each of their past three divisional games.
Giants at Texans
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Texans
ATS: Texans -9.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Shocking history: JJ McCarthy’s 243 passing yards in 11 minutes of action last week were the most in an 11-minute span in NFL history.
Near-historic career start: Malik Nabers has 168 career receptions and surpassed Puka Nacua (159 receptions) for the second-most receptions by a player in his first 25 career games in NFL history, trailing only Odell Beckham Jr. (176 receptions).
Top QB: C.J. Stroud leads the AFC in passing yards per game at 285.7.
Colts at Vikings
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Vikings
ATS: Vikings -6.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
New team success: Kyler Murray has three wins as Vikings QB, one fewer than his former team (Cardinals) has without him since he got hurt last season in the fifth game of the 2025 season.
Undefeated: The Vikings are looking for their fifth 6-0 start since 1990 (1998, 2000, 2003, 2009).
Defense: Minnesota is the first team since the 2007 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2007 New England Patriots to allow 16 or fewer points and 300 or fewer total yards in four of their first five games.
Game on the line and the play call is…hot dogs?
Dolphins at Jets
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Jets
ATS: Jets -5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Bad offense: The Dolphins have the worst offensive success rate of any team through Week 5 in the last five seasons — 160th out of 160.
First-half follies: Since the start of 2025, the Jets have been outscored 100-6 in the final two minutes of the first half.
Low-scoring games: Outside of the game vs. a Lions team that has the worst defense in football, Jets games have combined for 33, 37, 35, 29, and 45 points. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have topped 13 points one time in five games.
Bengals at Ravens
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Ravens
ATS: Ravens -3
Editor’s note: This pick was made before the news that Lamar Jackson was ruled out
Bearman’s stats and trends
HOF numbers: Derrick Henry has 135 career touchdowns and is one behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk for the fourth-most touchdowns by a running back in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith (175), LaDainian Tomlinson (162) and Marcus Allen (145).
Bad home cooking: The Ravens have failed to cover in six straight home games, and they have lost four of their last five home games straight up.
Not rested: The Bengals have lost their last five games with extended rest (9 or more days off) over the past three seasons.
Browns at Titans
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Titans
ATS: Titans +1.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Not winning, but sometimes covering: Over the past nine games, Tennessee is 1-8 outright, but 5-4 ATS.
Road favorite: The Browns are a road favorite, something that happened just once in the previous 15 road games. They last covered as a road favorite in Week 16, 2023 at Houston.
Rare air: The Browns are looking for their first 5-2 start since the 2020 season.
Broncos at Cardinals
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Broncos
ATS: Broncos -4
Bearman’s stats and trends
Consistent option: Trey McBride is the first player in NFL history with at least seven receptions in each of his team’s first six games of a season.
Slow starts: The Broncos are tied for 28th in the NFL in first-half scoring through Week 6, averaging 6.2 points per game.
Bad home cooking: The Cardinals have failed to cover in six straight home games (two this season and their final four last year) and nine of their past 10 in front of their fans.
Packers at Lions
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Lions
ATS: Lions -3
Bearman’s stats and trends
Big drive: Jordan Love had 109 passing yards on the first drive of last week’s game, more passing yards than Bo Nix and Cam Ward had in their entire Week 6 games.
Young history: Jahmyr Gibbs has 16 multi-TD games, the most of any player before turning 25 in NFL history (Jim Brown, Todd Gurley and Christian McCaffrey all had 15).
Explosive: Detroit is averaging 32.8 points per game this season, tied for the highest in the NFL. It’s the second-most points they’ve scored through five games in franchise history, behind only last season (34.8 PPG).
Rams at Raiders
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Raiders
ATS: Raiders +4.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Strong on both sides: The Rams are the only NFL team to be in the top five in both total offense and total defense.
Top WR: Puka Nacua has 350 receptions in 48 career games and surpassed Michael Thomas (346 receptions) for the most receptions by a player in his first 50 career games in NFL history.
Road warriors: Dating back to 2022, the Rams are an NFL-best 14-3 as a road favorite, covering in 13 of the 17 games.
Chiefs at Seahawks
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Seahawks
ATS: Chiefs +3
Bearman’s stats and trends
RB history: Kenneth Walker III is the third RB all-time with 650-plus rush yards, 6.0 yards per carry and 6 or more rush TDs in his first five games. (O.J. Simpson and Jim Brown).
Running game evolved: The Chiefs’ leading rusher last year had 611 yards. Walker has 665 through five games.
Big WR production: Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the fourth player since 2000 with at least 100 receiving yards in five of his team’s first six games of a season (Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Marvin Harrison)
Cowboys at Eagles
Kostos’ picks
Straight-up: Cowboys
ATS: Cowboys -4.5
Bearman’s stats and trends
Favorite opponent: CeeDee Lamb has 10 or more targets in seven straight games against the Eagles.
MNF trend: Dak Prescott is 4-0 all-time (SU and ATS) on the road on Monday Night Football.
Slow out of half: The Eagles have scored just six third-quarter points in six games, and all six of their opening drives of the second half have ended in three-and-outs.
Oct 25, 2026
Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle