NFL Picks Week 6: Houston Texans and More Division Leaders Destined to Fail

As we enter the NFL's sixth week of play, there are still several surprising teams that are at or near the top of their respective divisions. Although those teams may be for real, they have yet to prove it over an entire 16-game schedule.

Many of these upstart teams have big challenges ahead of them in Week 6, and while wins could solidify their status, losses might knock them down a peg.

Here are three surprising division leaders that will begin to face some adversity this weekend with losses.

San Francisco 49ers

While it doesn't take much to lead the NFC West, the San Francisco 49ers have certainly been impressive in the early going. The Niners demolished a solid Tampa Bay Buccaneers team 48-3 last week and have gotten the job done with tough defense and by limiting the mistakes on offense.

Not to take anything away from San Francisco's 4-1 start, but it has yet to face a truly elite team. That will change on Sunday when the Niners travel to take on the 5-0 Detroit Lions. Many are waiting for the Lions to fall flat, but they have all the tools on offense and defense for long-term success.

The Lions have a vicious pass rush with the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, so quarterback Alex Smith will have to make good decisions under pressure. Also, the Niners have been beaten through the air by good passing teams and the Lions are just that with quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins have gotten their 2011 season off to a great start with a 3-1 record and they currently sit atop the NFC East. There are still a lot of question marks on offense, though, and it remains to be seen how much longer quarterback Rex Grossman can hold up.

All of Washington's victories have been fairly close ones and two of them were against NFC West teams, in the Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams. The 'Skins will face another losing team this weekend, but the Philadelphia Eagles aren't just any losing team.

The Eagles are stocked with talent, but they have simply found ways to lose. The defense has been a mess and the offense has been turnover prone, but it's now or never if the Eagles are going to turn around their season. I expect quarterback Michael Vick to have his best game of the season in a Philadelphia victory.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans started things off in grand fashion as they smashed the Indianapolis Colts to open the season, but after losing losing a heartbreaker to the Oakland Raiders last week, the Texans are now just 3-2 and tied atop the AFC South with the Tennessee Titans.

Houston is vastly improved on defense and explosive on offense, but some of that explosiveness will be missing on Sunday as stud wide receiver Andre Johnson is expected to miss his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury.

To make matters worse, the Texans will have to contend with perhaps the NFL's best defense in the Baltimore Ravens. Each of Baltimore's three wins this season have been dominant as the Ravens are impressive on both sides of the ball. Without Johnson, Baltimore will be able to key on running back Arian Foster and shut down the Houston offense.