The seventh week of the NFL season opens in New Orleans with the grim reality of another Saints season lost, this after starting out 2-0 with a scorching offense. Since then, they have gone from an injured Derek Carr to a young Spencer Rattler. The Broncos haven’t truly fallen anywhere, as they were expected to finish at the bottom of the AFC West. They do have rookie quarterback Bo Nix playing well, along with a tough and physical defense. It’s an interesting matchup with both young quarterbacks playing on a short week for the first time in their careers. We found some solid value in the Pick6 market — here are the top two DraftKings Pick6 predictions for Week 7 Thursday Night Football!
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DraftKings Pick6 NFL Predictions for Broncos-Saints
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Bo Nix M/L Than 30.5 Passing Attempts
It’s been a decent start for young Bo Nix, as the Broncos coaching staff isn’t asking him to be Tom Brady. The good news for Nix is he can’t be, but he’s doing enough to help win — or not lose games. One thing we’ve seen in this offense, even in lower-scoring games, is pass attempts from the youngster.
Nix cleared 30.5 attempts in four of the six games, with one of those misses being a comfortable blowout against the Raiders.
The reality is they want him throwing the ball and have backed that up with the play calling most weeks. Even in those games where he fell short, he was mid to high 20s.
The Saints might not boast that same level of offensive explosiveness we saw in the early part of the season, but they still push tempo. New Orleans is still going to throw the ball despite working a backup and still going to put the ball in Alvin Kamara’s hands as much as humanly possible. We aren’t looking for Hail Mary throws downfield to Courtland Sutton, rather a dedicated game plan to involve everyone from running back to tight end, quick throws that add up over the course of a game.
The short week might limit points or kill drives with penalties, but the process of moving the ball won’t change for Denver. The majority of people playing this market are going to fade Nix, thinking there’s no way a rookie will be doing this much on a short week on the road. We know that it’s been far more consistent.
DraftKings Pick6 Prediction: Bo Nix More Than 30.5 Passing Attempts
Alvin Kamara M/L 34.5 Receiving Yards
The production may have vanished, but the talent is still there. Carr was far from perfect, and the move to Rattler should not remove the obvious from the game plan: Get Kamara the football. While the Broncos will be focused on the ground game, the Saints have a chance to move him around and get some valuable receiving yards.
The Saints were just blown out of their own building by the Buccaneers, and Kamara was still targeted eight times. While we don’t expect the Broncos to repeat the Buccaneers performance, even in desperation the Saints used Kamara until it became too late. The three games prior — also losses — saw Kamara hit 40-plus receiving yards in each. Kamara needs the ball in his hands, and it’s on Denver to find multiple ways to do that.
It actually helps our case if the Broncos can clog some of the New Orleans run game. They don’t have the personnel to slow down Kamara — few do — so expect his targets to increase. He has the big-play capability leading a team that is straight desperate. The Saints are running out of weeks to get this right, and their best chance is Kamara — by any way or means possible.
DraftKings Pick6 Prediction: Alvin Kamara More Than 34.5 Receiving Yards
