NFL Picks Week 6: Dallas Cowboys and 3 Teams Guaranteed to Lose

For some NFL teams, the bye week is a perfect time to get healthy, rested and erase a whatever happened to their team before the bye. 

The Dallas Cowboys certainly needed the bye week to do all three of those things.

The Cowboys came into their bye week struggling with injuries, losses and question marks about how physically and mentally tough they are. After losing in a crushing manner to the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys needed this bye in order to push the reset button on the 2011 season. 

But, the question is, did the bye week fix anything? 

Did the Cowboys bye week help fix this team’s fragile mental composition? If this team opens on Sunday against the New England Patriots with a couple of bad series' and quarterback Tony Romo struggling, do they just collapse under the pressure that is weighing on Romo? 

It’s these questions that will have the Cowboys on the losing end on Sunday. 

But they won’t be the only team to suffer a loss next week. There are two other teams facing tough tasks, either because their team is struggling or because their team is just plain awful.

Dallas Cowboys

We already dove into the problems that the Cowboys are facing. Unfortunately, they get no help this week from their opponent, as they have to travel to New England to play Tom Brady and the Patriots. 

There a lot of problems in the Cowboys' secondary, as they have given up multiple passing touchdown games to mediocre quarterbacks such as Mark Sanchez and Alex Smith. 

Tom Brady should have no problem shredding this defense for 300 yards and three touchdowns. 

Houston Texans

This team has been destroyed by injuries this year. First, it was Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster, then Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson and now Pro Bowl defense end Mario Williams. 

After a crushing loss to the Oakland Raiders, where they dominated in almost every aspect of the game, they travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens. 

Here’s a fun “prop-bet” game that you can play with friends at home, guess which Texans' offensive player will get injured against the Ravens. 2:1 odds right now on quarterback Matt Schaub. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa is very much like Houston, as they are coming into this game with a “MASH” unit. After their game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Bucs now have quarterback Josh Freeman and running back LeGarrette Blunt nursing injuries. 

The Bucs have the Saints this week, a team that has not lost since their opening game against the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. 

Tampa will have problems finding a way to stop a Saints' offense that is playing at a high level, ranking second in passing offense and 14th in rushing. 

The old saying says that on any given Sunday anyone can come out on top. However, these three teams have a lot of things going against them heading into this week’s contests. 

Twitter: @tjmcaloon