It's now Week 6 of the 2026 NFL season, and we're starting to get a clearer picture of which teams are contenders and which are pretenders. Teams off to cold starts are starting to enter "panic mode" and are treating Week 6 as a must-win situation. Two teams who qualify there are the 0-5 Chargers, who face the 4-0 Chiefs, and 1-4 Texans, who face the 4-1 Jaguars. These games feature plenty of NFL betting options, and both are included in SportsLine NFL expert Mike Tierney's parlay betting picks for Week 6. The Patriots will likely have receiver AJ Brown (ankle) back this week after he was activated off IR.
Tierney is a veteran sportswriter whose work appears periodically in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and he has covered the NFL for decades and reported from seven Super Bowls. He is 320-271-16 in the NFL the past four seasons, returning $1,867 to $100 players. That includes Mike going 130-101 ATS (56.3 percent) the past two seasons. Here are his best parlays for Week 6.
NFL Week 6 favorites parlay
Panthers money line vs. Eagles
Scratch Philly QB Jalen Hurts. Scratch RB Saquon Barkley. Philly will be hard-pressed to score points even with Devonta Smith returning, which is kinda critical against an opponent with a lively offense. The Panthers rank third for yards per game and are scoring just north of 30 points on average, good for fourth. Panthers QB Bryce Young sports a passer rating of 100, one of 10 throwers in triple digits. Carolina wields a rest advantage, having been off last week, while the Eagles were crossing the ocean to play.
Bills money line vs. Raiders
At the risk of sounding overly simplistic: To beat the Bills, you've got to outscore them. The Raiders, with the 28th-ranked rush attack, might be too one-dimensional to keep pace with the scariest offense in the league. Go ahead, Vegas, and send your vaunted pass rush at Josh Allen. He shrugs off pressure and accumulates gains with various body parts -- arm and feet. The last three Raider adversaries averaged 34 points against then, topped by 45 from once-impotent New England last Sunday. Cross-country travel is no factor since the Bills bunked all week on the West Coast.
Chiefs money line vs. Chargers
The Chargers will win someday, but a harsh schedule stretch and a plethora of injuries make it unlikely here. Los Angeles QB Justin Herbert takes a weekly beating; at some point, he might raise a white flag of surrender. Kansas City hardly needs an extra edge, but a bye week and extra incentive to avenge a sweep by L.A. last season gives the Chiefs one. It's been two-dozen years since an undefeated team this deep into the schedule fell straight-up to a winless opponent.
NFL Week 6 underdogs parlay
Texans money line vs. Jaguars
We are fond of underdogs in games on foreign soil. We are also fond of the Texans when they enter the second quarter of their schedule after a typically slow start. QB CJ Stroud was delighted to get WR Nico Collins back from injury last week and must be over the moon to reteam with his college sidekick, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., after a recent trade. Harrison makes his Houston debut this weekend, presenting Stroud with two envious options. With 15 games played there, London is the Jaguars' home-away-from-home. They might be accustomed to the routine, but they're a pedestrian 8-7 in merry olde England.
Giants money line vs. Saints
That a 1-4 team with three successive losses is favored on the road over a 3-1-1 foe can only be attributed to one thing: the Jameis Winston Effect. The Giants' QB gets no love — partly for good reason, given his history of erraticism. You say he hasn't beaten anyone of significance since stepping in for injured Jaxson Dart? We say, so what? He's 2-0-1 while granting that the tie with Washington should have been a loss. Teammates go through a wall for him. New York should find enough points versus a shaky New Orleans defense, while Saints QB Tyler Shough appears bumped-and-bruised.
Browns money line vs. Ravens
Our Cleveland pick frankly hinges on one factor: whether Ravens QB Lamar Jackson plays. He skipped the two main practice days this week, though there is precedent for him taking snaps on Sundays after being idle midweek. As well, Tyler Huntley is a proven backup. Yet Baltimore's 4-1 record slightly deceives. It has been blessed with an easy-peasy schedule, and three wins have been by one-score margins (including last week's in overtime). The Browns' Deshaun Watson has transitioned into more of a game-manager QB, but he has brought Cleveland three wins.
