The NFL has gone through Week Seven and now wants to feast on Week Eight. Our picks below........
The Atlanta Falcons were outclassed in every sense by the Patriots on an inexplicable Color Rush Sunday. The Patriots' reputation for improving their weaknesses as the season goes on continued with a return to fundamentals and with an ever-improving defense while Steve Sarkisian of the Falcons is coming under fire for playcalling.
Dolphins over Ravens - The Sports Business Journal's recent reportage suggests TV networks have lost interest in the NFL's Thursday Night concept, interesting as Thursday Night games have finally begun to erupt in competitive power. For this Thursday Night the Dolphins travel to Baltimore. They surprised the NY Jets with a dramatic comeback win, and in Matt Moore they have a quarterback who isn't long-term starter material but is better than the inept Jay Cutler. The Dolphins now face a Ravens team that is faltering - four losses in their last five games, just 310 yards from Joe Flacco in the last two games.
Vikings over Browns, Twickenham, UK - Here is all you need to know about the Browns - DeShone Kizer blew off curfew to bar-hop before the Titans game and coach Hue Jackson was surprised to learn this. Following two INTs against the Titans Kizer's career already looks like yet another Browns failure.
Something else you need to know - this new Twickenham Stadium was built with some financing from the NFL - indicating the NFL is serious about forming a team in England despite little evidence of fan support and also with Sports Business Journal reportage suggesting the networks don't particularly like the England games, either.
Bengals over Colts - Neither team looks to impress going into this game - the Colts already have five losses (and are 0-3 on the road) and Jacoby Brissett has played decently but that's it; Indy's only wins so far have come against two winless teams. The Bengals come in with just one home win and eight INTs by Andy Dalton - reflective of the downfall of the AFC North.
Saints over Bears - The NFC South now looks to be becoming the Saints' playground again, though at 1-1 their home record isn't exactly home cooking. Both are midpack on defense but the Saints have the positive turnover differential at plus-5; the caveat here though is they've coughed up five turnovers in their last two games. The Bears come in having won three of their last five and Mitchell Trubisky is 2-1 as starter despite an alarmingly poor 50% completion.
The last time the Falcons faced the NY Jets was on Monday Night in 2013 and it turned into one of the wildest games of that season
NY Jets over Falcons - The Falcons' only win over an AFC East team in their last seven such games was Week 13 of 2013, a 34-31 overtime win over the Bills. They thus take a 1-6 record against AFC East teams to MetLife Stadium and a Jets team that isn't the Same Old Jets - these Jets have proven to be fighters even with a streaky 3-4 record, two losses then three straight wins and now losses in their last two games. The Falcons in contrast are proving not to be fighters - Julio Jones curled up against the Patriots secondary until garbage time and there was even some sniping claiming the Patriots artificially pumped in fog (?!?!).
Buccaneers over Panthers - The Bucs come off a bitterly fought loss at Buffalo in which they put up 27 points on the defense fourth in fewest points allowed. The Bucs' recent problem has been gagging up five turnovers their last two games; in contrast the Bills have turned the ball over just three times all season. The Panthers meanwhile have clawed to a 4-3 start but have gagged up eleven turnovers led by Cam Newton's ten INTs. The Bucs need this win to get back into what is still a logjam of an NFC South race.
The Raiders-Chiefs shootout will go down as one of the most astonishing games anyone has ever seen.
Raiders over Bills - The O/U for this game is 45; we think the Over will prevail; both teams have shown genuine fight. Buffalo is 3-0 at home vs. Oakland's 1-2 road record. The wildcard is Oakland's spectacular and bizarre comeback win over the Chiefs, who'd beaten them seven of the previous eight meetings including five straight; wins like that tend to spark a rally. The last four meetings between the two have been competitive affairs highlighted by 2011's spectacular comeback win by the Bills. The return of Derek Carr has been key to the Raiders.
Marshawn Lynch won't be available for this game against the team that drafted him, and it's an indication of his irrelevance to the Raiders that Oakland pulled off the comeback after he was ejected.
The irony is the ejection harkened back to old-school Al Davis muggery and the old school of the Raiders and Chiefs rivalry.
Patriots over Chargers - A curious stat in this rivalry is eighteen of forty career meetings have been won by the road team. It is worth mentioning because the Chargers are not the same old Chargers that lost twenty-three games in 2015-16. The Chargers have won three straight and forced seven turnovers in that span, and they haven't faced the Patriots since 2014. The Patriots, though, continue to adapt to the season and win accordingly with Johnson Bademosi becoming the latest out-of-nowhere star to emerge in the New England defensive backfield.
Carson Wentz exploded against the Redskins
Eagles over 49ers - The Eagles take on a winless Niners team that showed fight most of the season before getting obliterated by the Cowboys. The Niners are bottom-seven in scoring and points allowed, minus-Two in turnover differential (the Eagles in contrast are plus-Four), and now have put rookie CJ Beathard into the breech; his rawness is obvious at just 55% completion. San Francisco's rebuild will drone on for awhile here.
Texans over Seahawks - The Seahawks pulled off a stunner in a rare road win at the NY Giants - even more stunning is they have won back-to-back road games, their history the last two decades being that of a dominant home team (their last home lass was 2015 vs the Rams) and a weak road team - but now host a Texans team rejuvenated as no one expected by rookie sensation Deshaun Watson. The Texans are third in scoring as they face Seattle's top-ranked defense, but the Seahawks even with the back-to-back road wins still have issues of breakdown in discipline after Doug Baldwin's bitchfest against the Seahawks' O-line coach and then with Russell Wilson, plus of their two AFC South opponents so far they beat the collapsing Colts and got shot down by a surging Titans team. We don't think this Texans team will be the pushover the Colts were.
Cowboys over Redskins - It's Cowboys vs Redskins again. Of Washington's sixty-eight career losses to the Cowboys twenty-eight of them have come the last twenty seasons, and they're presently 0-2 against Dak Prescott. The margin of those two games, though, leaves no room for complacency for the Cowboys as neither team is all that hot on defense (both in the bottom twelve in points allowed) while the Skins are noticeably behind the Boys in scoring (eleventh to Dallas' sixth).
Steelers over Lions - Against quality opponents the Lions simply don't elevate their game and the last time they beat the Steelers was the controversial Thanksgiving Day affair of 1998. At present the 3-3 Lions are eighth in scoring and 28th in points allowed despite a helluva rally at New Orleans last time out. The Steelers have won their last two and put up over 400 yards in both.
Tiki Barber puts Trevor Siemian's struggle on playcalling
Chiefs over Broncos - The Chiefs have lost back-to-back affairs but get a Broncos team that has now lost three of its last four games despite still being ninth in points allowed. More and more it appears Trevor Langan of the TV series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit would be a better quarterback than Trevor Siemian and his seven INTs, part of twelve turnovers gagged up by the Broncos (and presently minus-Eight in turnover differential). The Chiefs are plus-Seven in turnover differential, haven't gagged up the ball since Week One, and are still second in scoring led by Alex Smith's fifteen touchdowns and completion percentage at 72%.
We thus await Week Eight.
No comments:
Post a Comment