One of the trends of the 2009 NFL season belongs to the favorites. The NFL has always been an underdog’s league and bettors who depend upon favorites end up losing in a big way. But this year, the gap between the haves and the have nots seems to have grown by a large margin. The NFL picks this week, we’ll spot some favorites to play in week six, but we won’t go completely away from the old, trusty underdogs.

Carolina @ Tampa Bay

Pick: Panthers -3

The Panthers are a road favorite at Tampa and they’re poised to move to 2-3. Carolina had a rough start to the season and they looked poised to move to 0-4 during Sunday’s game against Washington. Something clicked, though, and they piled on the points en route to their first victory of the 2009 campaign. The Panthers match up well with Tampa, as their running game should present problems for a weak Bucs defense.

The Panthers need this win to give themselves a shot and with a favorable schedule ahead, 4-3 looks promising. They appear to be focused and should take advantage of a Tampa team that’s without leadership in the QB position.

Philadelphia @ Oaklnd

Pick: Philly -14

This is one of those times when we would be tempted to bet the underdog, but this year has taught us something. Philadelphia has to travel all the way across country to play an AFC opponent and they are laying two touchdowns. That would usually tell us to bet on Oakland, but the Raiders have been beyond bad this season.

Philly is tough on the road and they shouldn’t have any problem dispatching an Oakland team that is in disarray. The reason we have to love this game is because of the Philadelphia defense. Typically, two touchdowns would be significant, but it’s not nearly as good for an Oakland team that probably won’t score much against Philadelphia.

With McNabb back in the fold, the Eagles should be able to score 28 points. We don’t expect Oakland to score more than 13, so the Eagles become the pick. Lots of people will be on the big home underdog, but they’ll be in trouble during this one.

Kansas City @ Washington

Pick: KC +7

The Washington Redskins have been bad on offense this season and head coach Jim Zorn in on the hot seat. They just blew a big lead against Carolina and they don’t look like a team that should be laying a touchdown to anyone right now. Meanwhile, the Chiefs and Matt Cassell haven’t been great, but they look to be improving.

The Chiefs are a team with room to get better, and they look like they’ve made huge strides on offense. With how bad the Redskins have been offensively, it’s doubtful that they will score enough points to cover this number. Is it something to do with their new football gloves sponsor? In this one, we can expect a close game that comes down to a field goal. The touchdown here is just gravy for the road underdog. Kansas City might win this game outright.