Bik's Thursday Night Week 6 Pick: Rewinding

Let’s rewind and go back to this point last year. The completion of week 5. All of the following are true:

• The Bills are 4-1.
• The Giants just lost at home to the Seahawks.
• The Raiders are 3-2.
• The Buccaneers are 3-2.
• The Eagles are 1-4.
• The Broncos are 1-4.
• The Falcons are 2-3.

If I said 3 of these teams would go on to make the playoffs – Wouldn’t you choose Bills, Raiders, Buccaneers? To answer that – all of the following are true:

• The Bills finished 6-10.
• The Giants made the playoffs at 9-7 and won the Super Bowl.
• The Raiders missed the playoffs at 8-8.
• The Buccaneers finished 4-12 and on a 10 game losing streak.
• The Eagles finished 8-8 and on a 4 game winning streak.
• The Broncos discovered Tebow Time and won their division at 8-8.
• And the Falcons made the playoffs at 10-6.

The first 5 weeks are nice to some teams. The rest of the season might not treat them so well. It’s week 6, time to pull back the curtain and unveil the team behind the record. I’m looking at you Arizona, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Green Bay. But first we get the Thursday game.

Home team in CAPS.

Steelers (-6) over TITANS

Here’s a snippet of life recently for the Tennessee Titans:

• Chris Johnson was quoted as saying “We need somebody in this locker room to make plays and give us a spark. I feel like I've made some plays, but the situation of a spark has got to come from somewhere and getting a spark that can be big for this team." Ummm... Just FYI Chris – your whole contract and team value is based on you being that spark. And you’re averaging 2.9 yards a carry. And you have zero runs of over 20 yards.
• That followed from last week when CJ-K said: “I wouldn't sit here and say I'm to blame, I wouldn't think so, but I'm not the guy to sit here and be the guy that points fingers and things like that. It's just a situation where I'm going to be only as good as my [offensive] line's going to be.” Ummm... Just FYI Chris – when you say you’re not the guy to point fingers, and then immediately point a finger at the offensive line... That’s pointing fingers. You get that right? Ok cool just wanted to make sure.
• The fans are also confused as to why Head Coach Mike Munchak hasn’t shaken up the strategy for the team or even shaken up the staff with some firings. There's nothing worrying when a fan base is calling for peoples jobs right?
• They rank 26^th in Points For. 28^th in Rushing Yards (which for a team that relies on Play Action is kind of a big deal).32^nd in Points Against. 29^th in Yards Allowed. 

So you know what’s not the perfect remedy for all of this: A nationally televised game on Thursday night at home when all eyes are on you and if you make a mistake, the crowd is ready and willing to turn on you in a heartbeat. Good luck.

Rest of Week 6 picks on Friday

Last Week: 7-7

Season: 39-37-1