NFL Week 6: New England Patriots vs Denver Broncos NFL Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/18/20

The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots meet Sunday in week 6 NFL action at Gillette Stadium.

The Denver Broncos look for back-to-back victories to climb out of this rough 1-3 hole. The Denver Broncos have lost five of their last seven road games. Jeff Driskel is completing 54.7 percent of his passes for 432 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Driskel and Brett Rypien have combined for five touchdown passes and six interceptions this season. Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant have combined for 453 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Tim Patrick has 16 receptions. The Denver Broncos ground game is averaging 92.5 yards per contest, and Melvin Gordon III leads the way with 281 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Denver is allowing 24.5 points and 365.3 yards per game. Josey Jewell leads the Denver Broncos with 30 tackles, Shelby Harris has 2.5 sacks and Justin Simmons has one interception.  

The New England Patriots look for their third home victory to get a game above a .500 record. The New England Patriots have won eight of their last 10 home games. Jarrett Stidham is completing 38.5 percent of his passes for 60 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Stidham and Brian Hoyer have combined for one touchdown and three interceptions this season. Julian Edelman and Damiere Byrd have combined for 473 receiving yards on 32 catches while N’Keal Harry has 18 receptions. The New England Patriots ground game is averaging 179.8 yards per contest, and Sony Michel leads the way with 173 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, New England is allowing 23 points and 349 yards per game. Adrian Phillips leads the New England Patriots with 25 tackles, Chase Winovich has 2.5 sacks and Stephon Gilmore has one interception.

The Broncos are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 meetings in New England and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 meetings. The favorite is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings. The home team is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 meetings. The over is 4-0-1 in the last 5 meetings in New England and 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

The Denver Broncos have looked awful for much of this season, mainly on the offensive end, and their only win came in a game against the Jets where New York did everything it could to lose that contest. The New England Patriots are obviously battling COVID issues, but they’ve still covered nine of their last 12 games when a favorite of at least seven points. There’s also reports that Newton could return to practice this week and it’s a possibility he’ll be the starting quarterback against the Broncos. Obviously this game depends a lot on if Newton is playing or not.

Assuming Newton is cleared to play, I’ll take the Patriots by double digits. If he doesn’t, I’d lean toward the Broncos and the points, but it would be a game I’d leave alone.