Week 6 NFL Picks: Tips, Odds and Over/Under Predictions for Sunday

It's never too late to take on a full slate of NFL picks. 

This Week 6 offering is no exception. While some might prefer to pounce on early-week lines with holes in them before readjustments, overcompensation and sheer oddities can still be found and exploited when taking on last-second lines from oddsmakers. 

After weeks of close matchups, oddsmakers are either bold or really dislike several teams, too, because the slate features five games with double-digit margins. 

Said margins shouldn't discourage would-be bettors from jumping into the deep end. Research and an understanding of how the season has unfolded to this point works wonders, so let's take a look at the full schedule. 

NFL Week 6 Schedule, Odds

Chicago at Baltimore (-7) | O/U 39.5

Cleveland at Houston (-10)  | O/U 46.5

Detroit at New Orleans (-4)  | O/U 51

Green Bay (-3.5) at Minnesota  | O/U n/a

Miami at Atlanta (-13)  | O/U 47

New England (-10) at N.Y. Jets  | O/U 47.5

San Francisco at Washington (-11)  | O/U 46.5

L.A. Rams at Jacksonville (-2.5)  | O/U 42.5

Tampa Bay (-2) at Arizona  | O/U 44.5

L.A. Chargers at Oakland  | O/U n/a

Pittsburgh at Kansas City (-4.5)  | O/U 45.5

N.Y. Giants at Denver (-12)  | O/U 40

Indianapolis at Tennessee  | O/U n/a

Bold denotes predicted winner against the spread and over/under projection. 

Cleveland at Houston (-10)

See? This is a fun line to take advantage of right now. 

The Houston Texans are one of the talks of the NFL right now thanks to the play of rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. Fair—he has thrown 12 touchdowns and four interceptions while winning two games over four starts. 

It would seem a game against the Cleveland Browns would classify as another easy win, too. 

And it might. Might, because the Texans are a hobbled mess after losing both J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus for the season. Head coach Bill O'Brien isn't ready to chalk it up as a win: 

This isn't just typical coachspeak. Though winless, the Browns have come up short by three points against a trio of opponents, including the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Not only do the Browns feel due, the team benched rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer in a loss to the surprising New York Jets, turning to Kevin Hogan and getting two touchdowns on 19 attempts for their efforts. 

With young weapons like Duke Johnson Jr. and David Njoku helping the efforts, the Browns have the ammunition necessary to keep this much closer than a double-digit spread. Bank on the Texans outright because of Watson's star status, but he won't have an easy time against Myles Garrett and a Browns offense with new life. 

Prediction: Texans 23, Browns 17

San Francisco at Washington (-11) 

Now, this is a big line bettors shouldn't have a problem backing. 

Unlike the Browns, the San Francisco 49ers are a winless team incapable of making major changes to revitalize the locker room. Consecutive overtime losses to struggling Arizona and Indianapolis teams over the past two weeks are more crushing than encouraging. 

The negative storylines surrounding the team continues going into Week 6, an encounter against a Washington Redskins team that boasts wins against strong Los Angeles Rams and Oakland Raiders teams, with competitive losses against equally strong Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs teams. 

Numbers tell part of the story. Kirk Cousins has seven touchdowns against one interception. His ground game averages 4.5 yards per carry. The defense only allows 88.8 rushing yards and 22.3 points per game and has 12 sacks and four picks. 

Rob Lowder TheNinersWire contextualized Cousins' play so far: 

Long story short, Washington has looked great in most respects, yet simply had one of the most brutal schedules to start the season. 

That changes against the Brian Hoyer-led 49ers, a team struggling in all regards with no alternatives to turn things around. Washington's defense at home shouldn't have a problem containing the attack while Cousins has one of his typical performances. 

Prediction: Redskins 27, 49ers 1

Pittsburgh at Kansas City (-4.5)

Here's a close line that probably doesn't have any business being as close as it is.  

Even at 3-2, the Steelers have been one of the NFL's bigger disappointments this year. After hardly escaping the Browns in 21-18 fashion, the Steelers went down at the hands of the one-win Chicago Bears and most recently took a 30-9 whipping at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.   

Now the Steelers have to hit the road and take on the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs look unstoppable. Alex Smith has 11 touchdowns with no interceptions. Kareem Hunt looks like Rookie of the Year material with 609 yards and four touchdowns on a 6.3 per-carry average. As expected, the defense looks solid while permitting an average of 22.2 points per game. Add it all up and it's not hard to see why the Chiefs took down the New England Patriots 42-27 to start the season, then secured notable wins against the Eagles and Redskins. 

Did anyone mention the Chiefs enter this one with revenge on the mind after a playoff loss to the Steelers last year? 

"This will be a real good challenge for us offensively," head coach Andy Reid said, according to Stats LLC (via ESPN.com). "We are doing some things that are different, but not a bunch—I just think our execution, we didn't execute as well as we needed to last year and we'll see how we do."

It's hard to sum up the problems plaguing the Steelers when the obvious talent is there. But Ben Roethlisberger has six touchdowns and seven interceptions and Le'Veon Bell has rushed for a 3.6 average. The defense hasn't shown any physicality, ranking 28th with 136.6 rushing yards allowed per game. 

Meaning, this is a Hunt-led affair for a Chiefs team ready to fire off another warning shot to the rest of the conference. 

Prediction: Chiefs 34, Steelers 24

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Odds according to OddsShark.