2025 NFL Picks – Week 6: Cardinals at Colts

The Matchup. Edge: Colts.

HATE MAIL: We’re going to post hate mail here this year. Here’s three pieces of hate mail:

One of my favorite things is when I get a hate response before the game I pick is finished. Kurt didn’t like my Vikings pick when the Vikings were losing, but there was no congratulations or thank you when they covered. Interesting.

Moving on elsewhere, a Magic: The Gathering associated company called Card Titan recently banned someone just for wearing a MAGA hat. Card Titan is a garbage company, and naturally, there were garbage humans defending their actions. I responded to them:

HOW DARE YOU WEAR A RED HAT YOUR EVIL!!! Idiots.

Meanwhile, an MTG player named Ross Merriam, who, if I had to guess, probably likes little boys a bit too much, had something to say about this topic. I replied:

Oh no, not the MAGA doctrine! “I want to keep more of the money I pay in taxes! I want to own guns for self defense! I don’t want children mutilated and sexualized!” Oh, the horror!

Ross, by the way, blocked me – likely before attending his weekly NAMBLA meeting.

ARIZONA OFFENSE: I’m so sick of this stupid Cardinals team. I don’t want to write about them. I’m so tired of seeing them do stupid stuff, like Emari Demercado dropping the ball shy of the goal line, or Kyler Murray getting hit in the face with a shotgun snap. I haven’t forgotten the surrendered fourth-and-16 to Brycen Tremaine. And don’t get me started on that dropped interception that was kicked into the end zone. Why can’t we get one of those crazy plays to go our way?

Part of the reason the Cardinals keep surrendering back-door covers (and inexplicable losses) is because they can’t run the ball. Michael Carter is pedestrian at best, while Demercado should not be wearing an NFL uniform. The Colts are stout against the run, so Arizona won’t do much on the ground.

The Cardinals can at least protect Kyler Murray well – or Jacoby Brissett if he has to start for an injured Murray – and they’ll do just that against the Colts. Murray/Brissett will have a chance to make plays by targeting Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride. The Colts haven’t battled a quality tight end yet this year – they managed to avoid Brock Bowers last week – so we’ll see what McBride will be able to accomplish.

INDIANAPOLIS OFFENSE: I can safely say that the Cardinals have good defensive talent, yet don’t have a good defense overall. This is because Jonathan Gannon has no clue how to coach and always goes into prevent in the fourth quarter. As the old saying goes, if you play prevent, you’re only preventing yourself from winning. Gannon, who apologized like a giant wuss for rightfully yelling at Demercado, has apparently never heard of this expression and might just be too stupid to understand it.

At any rate, teams need to be good against the run to have a prayer against Indianapolis’ offense because Jonathan Taylor has been so dominant this year. The Cardinals aren’t viewed as having a tough run defense, but they’re actually sixth against ground attacks. It’s tough to completely shut down Taylor, but they can at least limit him.

The Cardinals can also cover receivers fairly well now that Will Johnson is back from injury. However, they seem to be weak to tight ends, which will spell trouble against highly impressive rookie Tyler Warren.

RECAP: I personally don’t care if Murray misses this game. If anything, it gives us more points to work with by selecting the Cardinals.

Everyone wants to write off Arizona, but doing so, from a betting perspective, is a mistake. The Cardinals are 2-3, but all three of their losses have come in the final seconds. They can’t beat good teams, but they can at least hang around with them.

I suspect they’ll bounce back after such an embarrassing defeat, much like the Colts did twice after their pre-end zone drops. The Colts, conversely, could be flat off their blowout win.

THURSDAY THOUGHTS: Kyler Murray missed Wednesday’s practice, causing the spread to move to -7. It sounds like Jacoby Brissett may start this game. I think I’d switch to the Colts if Brissett were to be named the starter.

SATURDAY NOTES: We still don’t have definitive news on Kyler Murray. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, but was limited on Friday and is listed as questionable. Murray playing at less than 100 percent instead of Jacoby Brissett would make me feel better about betting the Colts. But I’m not betting this game, so that doesn’t matter.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Kyler Murray is inactive. Despite this, there’s late sharp action coming in on the Cardinals. The pros bet Arizona at +9.5 and +9. The best line is +9 -108 at Bookmaker. You can Bet on WalterFootball’s favorite sportsbook, Bookmaker by clicking the link.

The Motivation. Edge: Cardinals.

Coming off a big win, the Colts could look past the Cardinals with the Chargers up next week.

The Spread. Edge: Cardinals.

WalterFootball.com Calculated Spread: Colts -4.5.

Westgate Advance Point Spread: Colts -3.5.

Computer Model: Colts -7.5.

The Vegas. Edge: Colts.

Lots of action on the Colts.

Percentage of money on Indianapolis: 70% (111,000 bets)

The Trends. Edge: Colts.

Kyler Murray is 21-10 ATS as an underdog.

Opening Line: Colts -5.5.

Opening Total: 46.5.

Weather: Dome.