Last week my picks went 6-7, with two key losses in the late
games, the Sunday night stomping of the Chargers by the lowly Raiders and the
New York Jets stunning victory against the forsaken Atlanta Falcons. At halftime of the Raiders-Chargers game, with
the Raiders up 17-0, Terrelle Pryor enjoyed a stretch where he went 10 for 10
with two touchdowns, making his line reminiscent of his days under center at
Ohio State. The Raiders won the special
teams battle and the defensive battle where they held off Rivers from making a
fourth quarter comeback. New York Jets
rookie quarterback Geno Smith delivered his third fourth quarter comeback
victory of the year that puts Atlanta out of contention at 1-4 and gives legs
to the thought of Tony Gonzalez back in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform.
Cleveland
defeated Buffalo on Thursday night despite losing promising quarterback Brian
Hoyer to a torn ACL during the Browns’ first offensive series. Brandon Weeden came in and performed well for
the win, and the Browns will be forced to rely on him to salvage their season
that finds themselves somehow still in contention. New Orleans rolled over Chicago on their way
to a 5-0 start, and are headed to New England this Sunday in good position to
start the season 6-0. Cincinnati beat
New England by a touchdown in a game that also saw Brady’s consecutive
touchdown streak end at 52 games. Had
Brady extended the streak last week, he would have been able to tie Drew Brees’
NFL record of 54 against his Saints.
Green
Bay beat Detroit 22-9 in a game where the final score showed this game as being
much closer than it actually way. The
Lions scored their lone touchdown in garbage time as they could not get much
offense going with Megatron on the sidelines with a non-disclosed knee injury. Despite the loss, the Lions still find
themselves in first place in their division, though their chances to finish in
that spot undeniably rest on Calvin Johnson’s knee.
Kansas
City held of Tennessee with the late comeback aided by special teams help to
keep their unbeaten streak alive. Alex
Smith had a poor day, failing to throw for a touchdown to go along with his
interception and 245 yards. Backup
quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had some highlight reel plays in this game, a
shuffle pass while falling down to Chris Johnson that he took for a 46 yard touchdown
and a 9 yard touchdown for Fitzpatrick on the ground as well. With another week to work out some of the
kinks I look for Fitzpatrick to have a spirited albeit unlikely performance
against the Seahawks.
The
Indianapolis Colts beat the Seattle Seahawks this week in an upset victory, led
by a stellar day by Andrew Luck. It was
a back and forth game for much of the first half, and the Colts were assisted
by a blocked kick that was returned 61 yards for a touchdown to make the game
14-12 Indy. The Seahawks were rolling at
this point and it was a turning point in the momentum for the game. The Colts defense responded late for the
team, allowing three third quarter field goals and blanking the Seahawks for
the fourth quarter.
St.
Louis was able to cover the spread due to how bad the Jaguars truly are. It’s tough to bet on a team to be as consistently
atrocious as Jacksonville, but they continue to deliver. Luckily, I did not watch this game, but I
know from fantasy updates that the Rams defense scored 24 points in a standard
league, including an 82 yard pick six from the ever incumbent Blaine Gabbert. All the defensive picks are solely based on matchups;
even bad defenses turn into high scorers against the Jags.
The
Baltimore defense abused Ryan Tannehill throughout the game, with Terrell Suggs
sacking him personally three different times, and the team finished with a
total of six. Baltimore’s offense turned
the ball over twice, but was bailed out by their defense and Justin Tucker’s
leg as their red zone offense continues to struggle. After starting 3-0, Miami is coming back down
to earth by losing their last two games.
Miami is only going to go as far as Tannehill is able to progress, and
although Mike Wallace had a strong game today, it is clear that these two are
still not on the same page, and Miami’s offense cannot click on all cylinders
without the Tannehill-Wallace connection being their primary weapon.
Mike
Vick went down in the first half against the Giant, but Nick Foles came in and
threw for two touchdowns and almost two hundred yards in relief. The Giants continue to show that they are one
of the worst teams in the league rendering this game virtually
unwatchable. Going forward, the Eagles
may opt to keep Foles in over Vick to try and build for the future, since they were
1-3 record with Vick starting.
Arizona
stomped out Carolina as Cam Newton continues to be the most boom or bust player
in the league. The 38-0 drubbing the
Panthers laid on the Giants a couple weeks ago now seems to be more a
reflection of how bad the Giants are than how much this team has
developed. Carolina will not be able to
take the next step until the front office focuses on the two most dire needs on
this team (wide receivers and defensive backs).
It’s never a good sign when your number one receiver is 34 years old.
In the
most highly anticipated match up of last week, Dallas covered the spread against
the Broncos, but it does not matter for the Cowboys who allowed over 50 points
in a game they had no business losing.
Tony Romo’s franchise record 506 yards passing to go along with five
touchdowns, but it was the one interception that will haunt him all week. The Cowboys had just received the ball back
with the game tied 48-48 with over two minutes left. Romo threw an interception trying to thread
the needle to Whitten in triple coverage and cost his team yet another game
with an ill-informed fourth quarter decision.
Romo, despite having a top ten all time game as a quarterback, continues
to find himself on the hot seat amidst a career of poor clutch performances.
Thursday Night
Football: NY Giants (+8) at Bears - Thu, Oct 10, 8:25 PM ET
Not
much analysis needed here, except that sooner or later Eli Manning and the
Giants are going to wake up and stomp someone out when they least expect
it. This is not much of a trap game
since the Bears lost last week to the Saints and need a win. Unless Victor Cruz can put up at least three
touchdowns for the Giants, they don’t stand a chance in this game. With the emergence of Alshon Jeffery opposite
Brandon Marshall, Jay Cutler now has two favorite targets, which spells bad
news for all the secondaries in the league.
Cutler is notorious for trying to force the ball to his favorite
receiver Marshall, but now that he has two, that opens up Marshall even more. Pick: Chicago.
Last Week’s Full Recap:
Wins and Losses 6-7
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W Cleveland over Buffalo
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W New Orleans over Chicago
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L Cincinnati over New England
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L Green Bay over Detroit
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W Kansas City over Tennessee
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L Indianapolis over Seattle
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W St. Louis over Jacksonville
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W Baltimore over Miami
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W Philadelphia over NY Giants
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L Arizona over Carolina
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L Dallas over Denver
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L Oakland over San Diego
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L NY Jets over Atlanta
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