NFL Teams on Upset Alert in Week 6

The NFL is often praised for its parity, and for good reason. Week 5 of the season brought us some pretty surprising results, with the double-digit underdog Indianapolis Colts topping the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jon Gruden's scrappy Oakland Raiders besting the Chicago Bears' vaunted defense in London.

If you're looking for some more potential upsets, here are three favorites that could fall in Week 6.

1. Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-5)

Don't look now, but the Houston Texans' offensive line may have finally turned the corner. Deshaun Watson wasn't sacked once in the team's Week 5 clash against the Atlanta Falcons, and he absolutely lit it up, throwing for 426 yards while tossing five TDs and no INTs. In fact, Watson has played six games where he's been sacked once or fewer since 2017, and the Texans are 6-0 in those games. Houston's six wins in such contests have come by an average margin of 19.2 points per game (PPG). The Kansas City Chiefs' pass-rush struggled to get home in Week 5, failing to sack Jacoby Brissett once. With top-tier pass-rusher Chris Jones likely to be sidelined, and KC's defense ranking in the bottom 10 of the NFL in QB hits, Houston has a real shot to pull off the upset, especially with Patrick Mahomes potentially hampered by an ankle injury.

2. San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (-4)

The San Francisco 49ers' defense proved it was for real in Week 5, sacking Baker Mayfield four times, racking up two INTs and two forced fumbles while holding the Cleveland Browns to three points. That new-look pass rush has been dominant all season, ranking fifth in the NFL with a 9.2 sack percentage, and San Francisco has forced a turnover on a league-best 21.3 percent of its opponent's drives. That could be problematic for the Los Angeles Rams and Jared Goff, who has thrown seven INTs (tied for second worst in the NFL), and has fumbled the ball four times (tied for seventh worst in the NFL). If San Francisco continues to generate turnovers and sacks at this rate, the 49ers have a real shot to defeat the reigning division champs here.

3. Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota Vikings (-3)

It looked like Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings' passing game finally turned it around in Week 5, throwing for 306 yards, two TDs and no INTs. However, the opponent Minnesota played certainly had a lot to do with that. Minnesota faced a New York Giants team that is currently allowing the fifth-most passing yards per game. While the Philadelphia Eagles haven't been much better against opposing QBs, they have been excellent against the run, holding opponents to a league-best 63.0 rushing yards per game. Since Cousins took over as the starter in 2018, Dalvin Cook has been held below 70 rushing yards eight times, and Minnesota has gone 2-1-5 (W-D-L) in such contests. If the Eagles keep Cook bottled up, Cousins could struggle to carry Minnesota's offense here.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.