2022 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 6

Carolina Panthers (1-4) at Los Angeles Rams (2-3)

Sunday, October 16, 4:05 PM ET

We all know how it goes the week after an NFL team fires its coach in season. All of a sudden, the team seems galvanized and the locker room seems rejuvenated, if only for a week. The Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule on Monday, freeing him up to get after whatever big-name college is going to open up the vault and hand him whatever amount of money he wants.

The Panthers have been a struggle to watch this season. Baker Mayfield has let me and me and many other of his fans down with a really poor overall performance in his first year as Carolina’s starter. And this team has plenty of intriguing weapons. Mayfield is either not finding them or not hitting them, and both of those things are problems.

Sam Darnold is not healthy enough to play, so there’s no danger of a QB swap happening anytime overly soon for Carolina. Matthew Stafford also doesn’t look right this season and is getting hit a lot more after the Rams let Austin Corbett walk and watched Andrew Whitworth retire in the offseason.

Those two losses have loomed large and the Rams have the worst offense in the NFL right now in terms of yards per play. They are out of sync and would be a complete disaster without Cooper Kupp. Thankfully for the Rams, this could be the perfect get-right game. They desperately need one.

Prediction: Rams win 34-18