Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six Newsletter!
Today is “Philly Friday” and that’s because we’re going to be spending half the newsletter talking about the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only are we going to recap their 28-22 loss to the Buccaneers, but we’re also going to dissect the big trade they made on Friday (They sent Zach Ertz to Arizona).
I can’t say this for a fact, but this has to be the first time in NFL history that a guy got traded less than 12 hours after scoring a touchdown for his team. If you have Ertz in fantasy and you’re hoping to double-dip this week, I have some bad news for you: He’s not eligible to play on Sunday, which means we won’t be seeing him on the field with the Cardinals until Week 7 at the earliest.
Alright, we’ve got a lot to cover today and I promise it’s not all Philly-related, so let’s get to the rundown.
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1. Today’s show: Recapping the Buccaneers’ win over the Eagles
This was definitely one of the weirdest prime-time games of the year. At first, it looked like we were in for a barn burner with both teams scoring on their opening possessions, but then it looked like Tampa Bay was going to turn this into a blowout after going up 28-7, but then the Bucs didn’t score again and we ended up with a one-score game!
The entire game was a wild roller coaster ride, kind of like the podcast we recorded afterward. In today’s episode, we covered every aspect of Tampa Bay’s win over Philadelphia. If you missed the game, here’s a quick rehash of what happened and what we talked about on the podcast
- Tom Brady has another big night. Brady got off to a hot start in this game by completing 19 of his first 22 passes for 184 yards and a TD as the Buccaneers shot out to a 21-7 lead. After that hot start, he never really cooled off. The game ended with Brady completing at least 80 percent of his passes for the first time EVER in a game where he threw 40 or more passes. The Buccaneers QB finished 34 of 42 (80.1 percent) for 297 yards and two touchdowns.
- Leonard Fournette leads the offensive charge. The Buccaneers have a lot of weapons on offense, but there was only one that the Eagles really had trouble stopping and that was Fournette. Not only did the Buccaneers running back rush for 81 yards and two touchdowns, but he also caught six passes for 46 yards for a total of 127 yards on the night. The only other Buccaneers player who even totaled more than 50 yards was Antonio Brown, who caught nine passes for 93 yards, including a game-clinching 27-yard catch on a third-and-7 late in the fourth quarter.
- The jury is still out on Jalen Hurts. If Hurts wants to be the Eagles’ quarterback of the future, he’s going to have to start playing better, because he definitely didn’t inspire very many Eagles fans with his performance on Thursday night. Although he had a solid game on the ground with 44 yards and two touchdowns, he had some major struggles through the air. Not only was Hurts overthrowing his receivers, but he was missing routine throws that most NFL quarterbacks can make. Of the Eagles three touchdowns in this game, two came on possessions that included an interference call of 45 yards or more. Overall, Hurts completed just 12 of 26 passes for 126 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The pick came on an ugly throw in the first half at a point in the game when the Eagles were trailing just 14-7. The Buccaneers scored on the following drive to go up 14 points and from there, it felt like the game was over.
To listen/watch today’s episode on YouTube, be sure to click here (Seriously, you can WATCH the podcast). You can also check out our takeaways from the game by clicking here.
2. Today’s show Part II: Best bets for Week 6
The best part about Friday — besides the fact that it’s Friday — is that you get two episodes of the podcast in your feed. After the recap of the Thursday game, Brinson politely asked me and Ryan Wilson to leave so that he could bring in Pete Prisco and R.J. White for a discussion about their best bets for Week 6.
Actually, Brinson didn’t politely ask us to leave, he threatened to release all of our emails if we didn’t. The joke’s on him, though, because I don’t even use email anymore. I do all of my correspondence through TikTok videos.
Anyway, the guys spent nearly 60 minutes going over the best bets for every single game being played in Week 6 and we’re going to cover three from each guy below. In their picks last week, the trio went a combined 5-3-1 in picks featured here.
Pete Prisco (2-1 last week in picks featured here)
Chargers (+3) to cover against Ravens
Steelers (-5) to cover against the Seahawks
Chiefs at Washington OVER 55.5
Will Brinson (2-1 last week in picks featured here)
Broncos (-3.5) to cover against the Raiders
Lions (+3.5) to cover against the Bengals
Cardinals at Browns UNDER 49.5
R.J. White (1-1-1 last week in picks featured here)
Panthers (+1) to cover against the Vikings
Packers (-4.5) to cover against the Bears
Texans (+9.5) to cover against the Dolphins
The three guys also have a parlay they like that pays out +595 and that parlay is:
- Steelers (-5) to cover against the Seahawks
- Packers (-4.5) to cover against the Bears
- Browns (-3) to cover against the Cardinals
That parlay will pay out $595 on a $100 bet.
To hear what the rest of the best bets are for Week 6 — and there are quite a few — be sure to click here so you can listen to the entire episode of the podcast.
3. Eagles finally trade Zach Ertz
After spending what seems like forever on the trade block, the Eagles finally found a taker for Ertz. The tight end is headed to Arizona after the Eagles and Cardinals made a deal on Friday morning.
Here’s a look at the details of the trade:
Cardinals get: Zach Ertz
Eagles get: Cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick
The Cardinals found themselves in a need of a tight end this week after they lost Maxx Williams to a season-ending knee injury. With Williams out, the Cardinals spent the past 24 hours calling other teams around the league to try to acquire a tight end, according to ESPN.com.
Although Ertz hasn’t put up huge numbers in either of the past two seasons, that feels like it had more to do with Philadelphia’s ineptitude on offense than anything else. In 2020, the Eagles’ offense was a disaster during a season where Carson Wentz never had time to throw. In 2021, Ertz averaged three catches for 31.5 yards per game, which isn’t a horrible number, considering the Eagles haven’t done a great job of throwing the ball this year. With weapons all around him in Arizona, there’s no reason to think he can’t be successful with the Cardinals.
Here are a few highlights from Ertz’s nine years in Philly:
- He holds the single-season record for most catches by a tight end (116), which he set in 2018.
- Ertz has been selected to three Pro Bowls over the past five years (2017-19).
- Since entering the NFL in 2013, Ertz ranks second among tight ends in receptions (579), second in receiving yards (6,267), fourth in touchdown receptions (38), and is tied for third in 100-yard receiving games (12)
If the 30-year-old still has anything left in the tank, and I think he does, he’s going to be a huge asset to a Cardinals offense that already includes DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore.
4. NFL Week 6 picks
This is the final newsletter of the week, which means I feel morally obligated to cram as many picks as possible into this space. I once crammed 19 doughnuts into a box that was only supposed to fit one dozen, so I know I’m good at cramming.
With that in mind, we’ve got some Week 6 picks coming your way and those will be coming from Will Brinson, Tom Fornelli and Jonathan Jones along with CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora and CBSSports.com writers Jordan Dajani and Tyler Sullivan.
Here’s how things are going to work: I’m going to give you one pick from each guy and then direct you to the rest of their picks. That way, if you like their pick, you’ll be able to read the rest of them, but if they pick against your favorite team, you can ignore the rest of their picks and move on.
- Will Brinson: Chargers 31-28 over Ravens (Los Angeles covers +2.5). “Week 6 is too early for full-blown MVP talk, but there’s no question this particular matchup could/should have an impact on the MVP race, with two fringy candidates in Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson squaring off. This could end up turning into a similar shootout like the Chargers-Browns game last week. Again, I’ll take the points in a crazy shootout.” For the rest of Brinson’s Week 6 picks, be sure to click here.
- Jonathan Jones: Jaguars over Dolphins (Jacksonville +140 moneyline). “I don’t trust either one of these teams. I certainly don’t trust Urban Meyer to have his team prepared for the flight across the pond. But I really like the way Trevor Lawrence has improved since the first three weeks of the season. And when in doubt, go with the better quarterback.” For the rest of Jones’ Week 6 picks, plus his insider notebook, be sure to click here.
- Jason La Canfora: Cowboys over Patriots (Dallas covers -3). “Not a whole lot that I like about the Patriots these days, and I especially don’t like them at home, where they’re 0-3 this year. The bloom is off that rose and there are major questions to be asked about New England’s offensive and defensive lines right now. I don’t see them getting much push against this stout Dallas offensive line and Matt Judon is really the only guy you have to worry about.” For the rest of La Canfora’s Week 6 best bets, be sure to click here.
- Tom Fornelli: Lions 23-21 over Bengals (Detroit covers +3.5). “The Lions might be 0-5, but there’s a difference in their 0-5 compared to Jacksonville’s. The Jaguars have looked overmatched and outclassed a lot. The Lions have only looked truly bad in one loss, and that was a 35-17 loss to the same Green Bay team that beat Cincinnati last week. I’ll gladly take the Lions getting over a field goal at home, and I suggest considering the Detroit money line too.” For the rest of Fornelli’s Week 6 best bets, be sure to click here.
- Jordan Dajani: Broncos 26-21 over Raiders (Denver covers -3.5). “I’m not in love with the Broncos, but I do like them being at home against a team that is dealing with some unfortunate off-field issues.” For the rest of Dajani’s Week 6 picks, be sure to click here.
- Tyler Sullivan: Bills 33-20 over Titans (Buffalo covers -5.5). “While we know what the Josh Allen-led offense can do, Buffalo’s defense has been quietly impressive, allowing the lowest yards per play in the entire NFL. Derrick Henry certainly poses a threat, but Tennessee’s defense ranks 27th in the NFL in DVOA, which should allow the Bills to answer whatever damage Henry does on the ground. Buffalo is also 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games overall and 6-1 ATS on the road.” For the rest of Sullivan’s Week 6 picks, be sure to click here.
5. More NFL emails get leaked
Jon Gruden might not be the only one who loses his job over his emails and that’s because there were more emails leaked on Thursday and those emails were obtained by the New York Times. This time around, the leaked emails came from NFL general counsel Jeff Pash, who serves as one of the league’s top lawyers and reports directly to Roger Goodell.
Although Pash’s emails weren’t as controversial as Gruden’s, the emails definitely don’t paint a great picture for the NFL because Pash appears to have had a tight relationship with former Washington team president Bruce Allen.
Among the revelations in the emails:
- Pash rescinded a $15,000 fine that Washington was supposed to pay in 2013.
- Pash gave Washington the benefit of the doubt when sexual harassment allegations originally surfaced involving the team’s cheerleaders. “I know that you are on it and would not condone something untoward,” Pash wrote to Allen.
- Pash made a joke with racial undertones after Allen played a song for him that he hoped would help Washington gain traction in the Latino community. “I am not sure this song will be as popular after the wall gets built,” Pash wrote.
The NFL has yet to comment on Pash’s emails.
If you’re wondering where these emails came from, it all started after allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct came out against the Washington Football Team. After that happened, the team hired lawyer Beth Wilkinson to conduct an investigation and she ended up going through more than 650,000 emails as part of her investigation. Although it’s still not clear what she found — because the NFL hasn’t released any information pertaining to the case — it must have been bad because the team got fined $10 million and owner Dan Snyder stepped away from day-to-day control of the organization.
Despite the punishment, the 650,000 emails that Wilkinson uncovered were never made public. Instead, they’re being slowly leaked out, which is an extremely bad look for the NFL.
In other Washington news, the team has apologized for the timing of the Sean Taylor jersey retirement. For the most part, teams usually announced this stuff during the offseason so that fans have plenty of time to make plans to attend, but in this case, the team announced it Thursday, just three days before it’s scheduled to happen.
6. Rapid-fire roundup
It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Tua expected to return on Sunday. If Tua makes it through Friday’s practice without any setbacks, then he’ll be the starting QB on Sunday against the Jaguars. Tua hasn’t played since injuring his ribs against the Bills in Week 2.
- Bears place Damien Williams on COVID-19 list. The Bears are already down a running back with David Montgomery out and now they could be down another one. Williams has tested positive for COVID, which means he won’t be able to play unless he registers two negative tests at least 24 hours apart. If Williams can’t play, the means Bears rookie Khalil Herbert, a sixth-round pick, will likely carry most of the load against the Packers on Sunday.
- Cardinals also dealing with COVID-19 issues. Three members of the organization have tested positive this week. This total includes one player (Chandler Jones) and two staff members, according to ESPN.com. If one more member of the organization tests positive before Sunday, the Cards will enter intensive protocol, which would mean more testing for everyone.
- T.Y. Hilton contemplated retirement. The Colts receiver actually thought about retiring after he was placed on injured reserve with a neck issue before Week 1. Things got so serious that he actually talked with retired Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. In the end, Hilton decided to stick around. The receiver is now off IR, which means he’ll soon be returning to the field.
