Saturday Special Edition
Saturday brings not just the start of the College Bowl season, but also a couple of NFL games. Saturday evening or afternoon depending where you are in the U.S., we have the Texans taking on the Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ. ESPN has the Texans at 9-4 and they are 4-2 playing on the road. The Jets are 4-9 and are 2-4 while playing at home.
There is no doubt that the Texans have the edge in this game, but if you have never heard of “Any Given Sunday”, give it a look. The players to watch are the two leaders of each team, Sam Darnold of the Jets and Shaun Watson of the Texans. The running back position of each team houses Lamar Miller of the Texans and Isaiah Crowell of the Jets. Catching the passes on each team will be DeAndre Hopkins of the Texans and Robby Anderson of the Jets. I will take the Texans in this match-up 31-17.
The evening game will be the Browns in the Mile High City to face the Broncos. ESPN has the Broncos as a 77 percent favorite over the Browns. This game is a toss-up in my book with the Browns at 5-7-1 and 1-5 while playing away and as of late they have been very strong. The Broncos are 6-7 and 3-3 while playing at home.
The players to watch are the two passers of course Baker Mayfield of the Browns and Case Keenum of the Broncos. The rushers of the rock are Nick Chub of the Browns and Phillip Lindsey of the Broncos. The pass catchers to keep an eye on are Jarvis Landry of the Browns and Courtland Sutton of the Broncos. My guess for this game will be the Browns winning 27-24.
Thursday Night
If you missed the game on Thursday night between the Chargers and the Chiefs here is a synopsis of events. Phillip Rivers threw two interceptions giving the Chiefs the lead in the first 0-14. In the second quarter the Chargers brought the game to a one score difference by scoring a TD ending the half 7-14.
Each team scored a touchdown in the third keeping the game at a one score difference 14-21. In the fourth quarter the Chiefs scored another touchdown putting them up by 14. With a two touchdown lead and only 4:23 left in the game it looked to be a sure win by the Chiefs. The Chargers had the ball and in 11 plays and 75 yards they scored on a 3 yard Justin Jackson RB, run.
The Chargers defense made a 3 and out stand on the Chiefs next possession giving the ball back to Rivers and the Chargers. With just 2:33 left in the game Rivers took the Chargers 60 yards in 8 plays to score what should have been the tying score. After the TD the call came into Rivers to go for a 2 point conversion and the win.
Rivers passed the ball to Michael Williams WR on a blown coverage to complete the 2 pt conversion. That gave the lead to the Chargers for the first time in the game and leaving just 4 seconds on the clock. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs could not make any magic happen in that short time giving the victory to the Chargers 29-28.
Side Note
For those of you interested there are 5 College Bowl games playing on Saturday. We have the Autonation Cure Bowl between Tulane and Louisiana at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. This game will start at 10:30am PT and be shown on CBSSN.
Next game we have is the New Mexico Bowl presented by Progressive. This Bowl game has Utah State vs North Texas at the Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque NM. This game will be shown on ESPN at 11am PT.
The third bowl game of the day has Arizona State vs Fresno State at the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas NV. This game will be shown on ABC at 12:30pm.
Next we have the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl being played at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery AL. This game features Georgia Southern vs Eastern Michigan playing at 2:30pm PT on ESPN.
Last bowl game has Middle Tennessee playing Appalachian State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. This game will be played at 6:00pm PT in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans LA.