Mac’s Picks went winless last Sunday dropping the season record to a mediocre 5-5.
Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) at New York Giants (2-3)
Sunday 8:20pm NBC/Peacock
Joe Burrow is second in the NFL in completion % at 72.3%, first in TDs with 12, second in QBR at 73.6 and second in QB RTG at 113.6. Which begs the question, how bad is their defense that they are coming into week 6 with only one win? To paraphrase one of our favorite comedians, “pretty, pretty, pretty bad”. The Bengals rank 26th in yards given up per game at 365.4, 31st in rushing yards per game at 151.4 and 31st in points per game at 29.
Last week Big Blue overcame injuries to Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary to put up 29 points against Seattle due to a breakout game for rookie RB Tyrone Tracy, Jr. (129 yards) and veteran WR Darius Slayton (122 yards). With all the attention on the Jets soap opera and the baseball diamond, Brian Daboll and Daniel Jones have been flying under our radar, but they seem to have righted the ship after a bad opening weekend.
A Giants’ win would get them back to .500 and a path into contention. If they were healthy, that would be our pick, but we can’t see the Giants outscoring the Bengals without Nabers.
Mac’s Pick – Bengals 31 Giants 27
Buffalo Bills (3-2) at New York Jets (2-3)
Monday 8:15pm ABC/ESPN
Woody Johnson was embarrassed last week in London in front of his friends, guests and dignitaries. The former United States ambassador to the United Kingdom returned home and activated his inner George Steinbrenner, attempting to spark his team by relieving Head Coach Robert Saleh of his duties on Tuesday morning. We are on record as saying that this was a ridiculous move because football is the one sport with no track record of in-season coaching changes producing positive results. Now that Woody flexed his ownership, Jeff Ulbrich stepped into the head coach role and Todd Downing is calling the plays, the focus for the rest of the season should be on the players. Specifically on Aaron Rodgers and his two offensive co-stars Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson.
The Jets lost their last two games for multiple reasons, including undisciplined penalties and miscues, but the offensive stars are simply not playing good football. Rodgers has been uncharacteristically inaccurate; Hall has been invisible and even though Wilson caught 13 passes in last week’s loss to Minnesota (on an astounding 23 targets) his long was only 16 yards. It won’t matter who is patrolling the sidelines and calling the plays if those three don’t start to live up to their advance billing.
On the other side of the field, many predicted the Bills to take a step back this year, but they ran out to a 3-0 start outscoring their first three opponents 112-48. Consecutive losses to Baltimore and Houston have turned this Monday night game into a battle for first place.
Despite the outside noise (coaching changes, Haason Reddick, Davante Adams) and poor offensive execution, we still think this Jets team is going to make a run, starting next week in Pittsburgh.
Mac’s Pick – Bills 23 Jets 21
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Disclaimer: Mac’s Picks is written for entertainment purposes only. “Mac” is not a professional prognosticator and doesn’t claim to be able to able to predict the future, nor help you win enough money to pay off previous gambling debts. Use this information at your own risk.
