Week 6 picks: How are injury-riddled Vikings the NFL’s last undefeated team?

A Sam Bradford in his seventh season apparently isn’t much worse than a Teddy Bridgewater in his third season.

And those two starting offensive tackles must not have been that important, either.

And Adrian Peterson … well, what’s it say about him if his team undefeated without him.

In a league full of surprises, nothing is more shocking than the fact that one of the most injury-riddled teams in the league is the last one to be unbeaten.

Maybe Minnesota’s defense is just that good? Nah. Can’t be.

Denver at San Diego (Thursday night)

The Chargers have scored 10 more points than they’ve allowed yet they’re 1-4, and after all that hard luck, San Diego must now host the defending NFL champions who’ve only won the past four games in the series. The Chargers could just kick themselves in a season where they’ve held second-half leads in each of the four losses. Of course, that would be one more kick the Chargers couldn’t convert, though, judging how they handled a game-tying field-goal attempt last week against Oakland.

Pick: Chargers 24, Broncos 16.

San Francisco at Buffalo

Colin Kaepernick returns to the starting lineup as the 49ers hope something will jump start a passing attack that ranks No. 31 in the league at 170 yards per game. Of course, the Bills rank No. 32 at 169.4, which makes it surprising that they have scored 30 or more points in three games this season. In other words, the only people passing here will be the Sunday Ticket viewers who find a more appetizing matchup.

Pick: Bills 27, 49ers 20.

Jacksonville at Chicago

This is one of those classic confrontations. The Bears are the immovable object, their offense having scored more than 20 points exactly once this season. The Jaguars have an irresistible defense, which has allowed fewer than 20 only once. It’s not really a matter of who wins this game, though; anyone who watches will lose.

Pick: Jaguars 20, Bears 15.

Los Angeles at Detroit

None of the Rams’ three victories have been by more than five points, but both of their losses have been by double digits. The Lions haven’t played a game decided by more than seven points. All that adds up to a Ram victory since Detroit can’t help but play close games and the only time Los Angeles loses is in a blowout.

Pick: Rams 20, Lions 18.

Pittsburgh at Miami

The Dolphins have allowed the most rushing yards of any team in the league, which is a really bad sign since Le’Veon Bell is back for Pittsburgh. The Steelers have scored more than 30 points in three of their five games and allowed 16 or fewer in all but one game this season. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have reached 30 points only once all season.

Pick: Steelers 33, Dolphins 23.

Cincinnati at New England

The Bengals are the most puzzlingly mediocre team in the league. Here’s a team that has reached the playoffs in five successive seasons, has Andy Dalton back at quarterback with one of the league’s best receivers in A.J. Green and a defense that allowed the second-fewest points in the league last season. Yet through five games, the Bengals rank a perfectly mediocre 16th in points, allowing 22 per game, and a decidedly below average 24th in points scored with 18.4. Meanwhile, the Patriots have won 27 of the past 30 at home, including the playoffs, and they’ve got Tom Brady back.

Pick: Patriots 27, Bengals 24.

Carolina at New Orleans

The NFC South is particularly rancid on defense. The Saints have given up a league-leading 32.5 points, the Bucs are tied for 28th at 28.4 and by those standards the Panthers are doing OK at No. 22, having allowed 27 points. Carolina has also won four of the last five in the series.

Pick: Panthers 37, Saints 27.

Baltimore at New York Giants

The Giants have a league-low four sacks. Meanwhile the Ravens sacked their offensive coordinator, John Harbaugh firing Marc Trestman after Baltimore failed to score 20 points in three of the team’s first five games. Joe Flacco has almost as many interceptions (four) as touchdown passes (five).

Pick: Ravens 23, Giants 17.

Cleveland at Tennessee

Here it is, the worst game of the weekend, which makes it Exhibit A for those who will point to the quality of product to explain the decline in NFL ratings. Cleveland is the league’s last winless team, and not only that, but three of the five losses have been by double digits. Meanwhile, the Titans are actually 2-3, but have scored more than 20 points exactly once this season.

Pick: Browns 10, Titans 9.

Philadelphia at Washington

The NFC East is supposed to be the second worst division in the league behind the AFC South yet three of the four teams currently hold winning records. Washington has won three in a row, and winning this one would force people to take it seriously while the Eagles are trying to avoid a second straight loss after the 3-0 start.

Pick: Epithets 23, Eagles 20.

Kansas City at Oakland

The Chiefs have won six consecutive games in the division and five of the past six meetings with the Raiders specifically. Oakland has allowed a league-low five sacks this season. The Raiders have also allowed a league-leading 452.6 yards.

Pick: Raiders 34, Chiefs 23.

Dallas at Green Bay

Something has got to give. The Cowboys lead the league with 155.2 yards rushing while the Packers are giving up a league-low 42.8 yards rushing. But what happened to the Packers’ explosive passing game? They have 10 completions of 20 or more yards this season, fewer than all but two teams in the league.

Pick: Packers 27, Cowboys 17.

Atlanta at Seattle

The Falcons have yet to score fewer than 24 points in a game this season while the Seahawks have yet to allow more than 18. The Falcons have gained the most yards in the league, the Seahawks have allowed the fewest. But in what appears to be a test of strengths, it might be the Falcons’ weakness on defense that proves their undoing.

Pick: Seahawks 23, Falcons 17.

Indianapolis at Houston

The Colts have won six of the past seven against Houston. In fact, the Texans are 5-23 in this series. Brock Osweiler has yet to lose a home start. Meanwhile, the Colts have allowed a league-leading 20 sacks, three more than any other team in the league. The Texans are the only team in the league that has yet to score a rushing touchdown.

Pick: Colts 24, Texans 17.

New York Jets at Arizona (Monday night)

What happened to the Jets? They scored 59 points over the first two weeks and looked downright respectable. They’ve scored just 33 over the past three weeks, though, and have looked downright putrid. Meanwhile, Drew Stanton has as many victorious starts as Carson Palmer at quarterback this season, which tells you how much the Cardinals have sputtered out of the gate.

Pick: Cardinals 38, Jets 30.

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