Sports

The computers have correctly predicted 62% of the NFL games — here are their picks for Week 6

von millerJack Dempsey/AP

The NFL season is now in Week 6, and the computers are picking their winners for every game.

We took a look at two popular systems used to pick NFL games: Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, and Elo, the modeling system used by Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.

In both cases, the computers are picking outright winners and not against the spread. However, each gives a likelihood of a team’s winning, which, in theory, could help measure the strength of certain lines.

The two models struggled in Week 5 with a number of upsets in the NFL. ELO went 8-6 and has the overall lead at 49-28 (64%). Cortana went 7-7 and is two games back at 46-31 (60%) overall.

Here are the picks for Week 6, with each model’s percent chance of winning in parentheses. Games in bold are where the two models disagree on who has the best chance to win. Point spreads are just for reference, via Vegas Insider as of Thursday morning.

Thursday

  • Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers (-3) — PANTHERS (Elo 57%, Cortana 51%)

Sunday

  • Miami Dolphins at Atlanta Falcons (-11.5) — FALCONS (Elo 78%, Cortana 72%)
  • Green Bay Packers (-3) at Minnesota Vikings — PACKERS (Elo 56%, Cortana 53%)
  • Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints (-5) — SAINTS (Elo 58%, Cortana 51%)
  • New England Patriots (-9.5) at New York Jets — PATRIOTS (Elo 67%, Cortana 74%)
  • San Francisco 49ers at Washington Redskins (-10) — REDSKINS (Elo 83%, Cortana 77%)
  • Chicago Bears at Baltimore Ravens (-6.5) — RAVENS (Elo 75%, Cortana 67%)
  • Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans (-9.5) — TEXANS (Elo 83%, Cortana 74%)
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2) at Arizona Cardinals — CARDINALS (Elo 58%), BUCCANEERS (Cortana 61%)
  • Los Angeles Rams at Jacksonville Jaguars (-2.5) — JAGUARS (Elo 66%, Cortana 55%)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs (-4.5) — CHIEFS (Elo 77%, Cortana 53%)
  • Los Angeles Chargers at Oakland Raiders (no line) — RAIDERS (Elo 68%, Cortana 57%)
  • New York Giants at Denver Broncos (-12) — BRONCOS (Elo 77%, Cortana 74%)

Monday

  • Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (no line) — TITANS (Elo 59%, Cortana 51%)
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