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NFL Upset Predictions and Picks for Week 7 (Buccaneers Will Take Down Ravens on Monday Night Football)

The Buccaneers are underdogs to the Ravens on Monday Night Football

SI Staff

The Buccaneers are underdogs to the Ravens on Monday Night Football
The Buccaneers are underdogs to the Ravens on Monday Night Football / Baker: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images, Lamar: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Here at Sports Illustrated we love correctly predicting an upset in the NFL and to start the year, there were plenty of winning underdogs to go around.

Unfortunately, fans of an upset came crashing down to earth in Week 6 when favorites went 12-2 straight up with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts being the only underdogs to pull off a win. That made it difficult for the SI Team to correctly hit their upset picks, especially considering the Bears were favored when we made our picks last week.

As a result, almost the entire team took an "L" in Week 6. Albert Breer made the smart decision to pass on picking an underdog to win, which paid off for him.

Let's take a look at where everyone stands with their upset picks so far this season:

We move on to Week 7 and the entire team is back to break down their favorite upset picks. The odds listed below are via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Albert Breer Week 6 Upset Pick

Texans (+124) vs. Packers

The Texans won by 20 last week. The reality? They could’ve won by 50. They got up early, and didn’t let much out of the bag from there—outside of their ability to do just about whatever they wanted against a bad team. Will Anderson had three sacks and a deflection that wound up intercepted. Danielle Hunter was a menace opposite him. Jalen Pitre looked like one of the NFL’s best safeties. Behind Joe Mixon and Co., the offense came close to rushing for 200 yards, and the receivers, sans Nico Collins, had no problem producing. C.J. Stroud threw for under 200 yards, by design, and the Texans still destroyed the Patriots.

To me, that adds up, again, even against a bad team, to a team that’s capable of pulling a bunch of different levers to win ballgames. And I think this week is where we see the Texans start to show just how good that’s going to make them. -- Albert Breer

Conor Orr Week 6 Upset Pick

Patriots (+195) vs. Jaguars

London is always a bit of guesswork, but the Patriots are still riding a high from the passage of QB1 from Jacoby Brissett to Drake Maye. Maye brings energy, he escapes trouble in the pocket and ripped some incredible throws against the Texans on Sunday. I look for the progress to continue and a feisty Patriots team to show up in London and spoil the fun for the spiraling Jaguars. -- Conor Orr

Matt Verderame Week 6 Upset Pick

Chiefs (+102) vs. 49ers

Why are the Chiefs getting points off a bye? Kansas City is one of two undefeated teams in the league and it’s well-documented how great Andy Reid has been with an extra week to prepare. Additionally, Patrick Mahomes has torched the Niners in his career.

In four games against San Francisco, Mahomes is 4–0 and has thrown for 10 touchdowns against three interceptions while averaging 339 passing yards per game. The 49ers are at home and also have some extra rest after playing last Thursday, but Mahomes is 11–1–1 as an underdog against the spread and 10–3 straight up. Tough ask for San Francisco. -- Matt Verderame

Mitch Goldich Week 6 Upset Pick

Lions (+105) vs. Vikings

Sorry, Vikings. I’ve enjoyed your season, I’m pretty high on you overall and you’ve done nothing wrong here. I just think the Lions are the best team in the NFC, and I’m going to pick them to win games until anything happens that would change my mind about it. I’m sure this is partly a reputation pick, based on what I thought about these teams coming into the season, too.

And I don’t want to get into a semantic debate about whether the Vikings are “for real” at 5–0. Minnesota is at home and Detroit is without Aidan Hutchinson, but neither of those are enough to pick against the Lions when they look as good as they did last week against the Cowboys. -- Mitch Goldich

Gilberto Manzano Week 6 Upset Pick

Buccaneers (+150) vs. Ravens

Yes, I’m back with trying to predict when the Ravens will lose again. I’m not feeling too optimistic about this one, but I’ll take a chance on a very good home team. The Buccaneers aren’t getting much attention, even though they beat the Lions and Eagles earlier this season. Tampa Bay did have a heartbreaking loss to the Falcons and an upset loss to the Broncos.

But those losses won’t steer me away from what Baker Mayfield has done with the Tampa Bay offense this season. As a side note, we desperately need more upsets this week. It was a yawnfest last week with all the favorites winning. Shock the NFL world, Tampa Bay. -- Gilberto Manzano

Peter Dewey Week 6 Upset Pick

Lions (+105) vs. Vikings

I’m selling high on the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings in Week 6.

Sure, Minnesota has one of the best defenses in the NFL – fifth in opponent yards per play – but it came back to earth a bit in Week 5 before the bye against the New York Jets. Sam Darnold wasn’t as effective in that game, and now the Vikings have to face an elite Detroit offense in Week 7.

The Lions hung 47 points on the Dallas Cowboys last week, and they rank third in the NFL in yards per play on offense. I think the Vikings finally start to regress to the mean against a superior opponent in Week 7. -- Peter Dewey

Jennifer Piacenti Week 6 Upset Pick

Chiefs (+102) vs. 49ers


The Chiefs as underdogs? I’ll buy.

Kansas City has come out on top in each of the last three matchups, two of which resulted in Lombardi trophies. Shanahan hasn’t figured this one out.

The Chiefs, despite being beat up, have proven they can still win games with Kareem Hunt, Travis Kelce, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Their defense has remained a top unit, allowing just 17 points per game, and opponents are scoring 46% of the time in the red zone (10th).

San Francisco has been off to a bumpy start. In addition to being without Christian McCaffrey, they may also be without Jordan Mason who is dealing with a shoulder injury. Brandon Aiyuk has yet to get going, and the Niners' defense has not been as sharp. San Francisco has allowed 21.7 points per game with opponents scoring 56% of the time from the red zone (19th). -- Jennifer Piacenti

Iain MacMillan Week 6 Upset Pick

Raiders (+245) vs. Rams

The Rams are still being evaluated by the betting market like they're a much better team than they are, so I'm going to take a shot on betting on the Raiders to win as underdogs at +205.

Let's not forget the injury issues the Rams are dealing with. Puka Nacua and Steve Avila won't return to action this week and Joe Noteboom is still questionable. They remain one of the most injured teams in the league and their metrics to date don't give me confidence they can start winning games. They're 30th in the NFL in Net Yards per Play (-1.1), 17th in EPA per play, and 31st in opponent EPA per play.

The Raiders outrank them in virtually every single metric, including the three listed above, and in my opinion, shouldn't be this big of an underdog against a banged-up and underperforming Los Angeles squad. -- Iain MacMillan

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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