Thursday Night Football
Thursday saw a revitalized Philadelphia Eagles team defeating the New York Giants 34-13, BING.com. The Giants only offense seemed to be from Saquon Barkley RB. His 13 rushes for 130 yards and a 50 yard TD along with 9 receptions for 99 were the only Giants highlights. The Eagles QB Carson Wentz went 26 for 36 for 278 yards and 3 TD’s. He spread the ball out to 8 receivers and with Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement adding another 94 yards rushing and a TD they appeared to come out of hibernation and back to the Championship form of last year.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
According to NFL.com the Bucs and Falcons both bring their high scoring offenses together on Sunday in Atlanta. This pairing should bring a total score between the two teams close to 80 with plenty of highlights. The Carolina Panthers take their show on the road with a short trip to DC to paly the Redskins. With the Panthers 3-1 and the Skins at 2-2 this should be a close game.
The Seahawks 2-3 take on the Raiders 1-4 in Wembley Stadium London, while the Colts 1-4 face the Jets 2-3 in New York. The underdog Cardinals 1-4 take on the 2-2-1 Vikings in Minnesota and the Steelers 2-2-1 go against the sneaky 4-1 Bengals in Cincinnati. The 3-2 Chargers travel to Cleveland to face the Browns 2-2-1, with even standings for the season between the Bills and the Texans at 2-3 the Bills being out matched at least on paper travel to Texas to face Houston.
This year’s surprise team the Bears 3-1 take on the Dolphins 3-2 in Florida. The Dolphins look to stop their two game skid at home. The Rams 5-0 travel to mile high Colorado to face the Broncos 2-3. Can Rams QB Goff continue his dominance or will the tenacious defense of the Broncos and Von Miller halt the Rams in the Mile High City? The Ravens and Titans are both even at 3-2 so the Ravens travel to Tennessee to break the tie while the number one defense of the Jaguars takes its show on the road to Dallas where they face the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium.
The last two night games of the week Sunday night and Monday night bring us the Kansas City Chiefs vs the New England Patriots. This game should be a wild shootout and the (Game of the Week). Last year’s surprise win by the Chiefs at the beginning of the season repeats itself this year. The Patriots look to even the score against the number one offense in the NFL. Monday see the 49ers against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay. Both these teams not seeing their seasons going as planned face off on Monday to build on a seasons bad start.
Game of the Week
This weeks Game of the Week is the Chiefs vs the Patriots. This is really a no-brainer for Game of the Week on Sunday night. The unbeaten Chiefs and their superstar QB Patrick Mahomes faces off against the dynasty of Brady and Belichick with the Patriots. With the way the Chiefs have played this year you would think its a slam dunk, but you can never count out the coaching and play of Team B&B. Last year we saw the Chiefs destroy the Pats 42-27 in week one. Everyone wanted to count out the Pats and say it was over they are done, then they went on to the Super Bowl to face the Eagles. As good as the Chiefs are this year this is no gimme and it will be a fight to the finish. This is my game of the week and it should be the show to watch on Sunday night.
Bold Predictions
Bold Prediction this week are going to bring some big surprises. First is the Seahawks will miss the flight to London and the Raiders will be eating tea and crumpets for the win with a score of 27-10.
The Cardinals will get their second win of the year against the Vikings in Minnesota by a score of 33-24. While this is a hugely one sided match-up the Cards will show up and dominate both sides of the ball.
The Cowboys will find their mojo and beat the Jags in running battle between RB’s. The score of 23-17 may not be bold, but the Boys lack luster offense showing up the number one defense is.
Phillip Rivers is likely to have one of his best seasons to date. However, the magic of the Browns QB Mayfield will prevail in the end. Mayfield magic will out score the Chargers 37-21 in Cleveland.
Last but certainly not least brings the match-up on Monday night between the 49ers and the Packers. The 49ers will defeat the Pack by a score of 28-17 giving Frisco their second win of the season and the Packers with questions of how to turn things around.
Fantasy
This week’s fantasy tip gets complicated and is really for later in the season. As you work through the bye week’s you will find yourself using the same players week in and week out. This leaves some potentially good players for others on your bench. Others, is the key word here. Come week 10-12 there will be a clear split of who is in and who is out when it comes to playoffs.
This is where I start to look at who is first on the waivers list for picking up players. This guy is your spoiler, who does he play, when does he play the teams that may be ahead of you or be in your way of making the playoffs. If you strategically dump unwanted players to waivers for the spoiler to pick up he stands a chance of beating the people ahead of you.
Is this a risky move, yes, yes it is. But if you are on the outside of the playoffs looking in what do you have to lose. Fantasy football is not a game of checkers it is a game of chess and each move should be to your benefit not your opponents. Think outside of the box on ways you can win not just out scoring but out smarting. Have fun and good luck this week.