The NY Football Giants don’t light the world on fire through
the air. In fact, they are 30th overall in passing offense. But
Saquon Barkley is second overall in the NFL in rushing, 6th overall
in scoring, and singlehandedly is making Brian Daboll look like
the best rookie coach of 2022. This could be his best season of
his career, but it is the G-Men defense that is surprising people.
While giving up the 2nd most rushing yards, they have only given
up two rushing TD’s overall, and are 7th in points allowed.
Meanwhile Jacksonville’s defense has been beaten through
the air, and in spite of their 3rd ranked rushing defense, may
find in impossible to stop the Giants top threat. It has been
remarked that he is more confident with his cuts and bursts since
his injury and the Giants will force Jacksonville to stop their
number one weapon.
Trevor Lawrence is showing signs of improvement under first year
(and veteran) coach Doug Pederson, improving his passing rating
from 70.1 in 2021 to 85.1 this year, but it is the inconsistent
play from his skill positions (specifically his wide receivers)
that are hurting this offense. They were fortunate to get James Robinson back from injury, but the lack of consistent offensive
line play has truly hurt this team. Second year player Travis Etienne seems to be getting used to the NFL in his first healthy
season and will be needed to keep this game close.
Look for the G-Men defense to feast on the inconsistency of the
Jags offense with a potential defensive score while Daniel Jones
manages the game script and hands the ball off. It won’t
be pretty and won’t be a blowout, but it will be enough
to find themselves 6-1 overall right in the thick of the NFC East
race behind the unbeaten Eagles.
#3: Las Vegas over Houston (3-3: BAL, cin, PHL, DAL, kc, tb)
The battle for the bottom. The loser of this game is on the fast
track for a top three pick in the 2023 draft and it is interesting
that the Raiders are in this position.
Why? Because it was expected that Josh McDaniels would open up
the offense, put together Derek
Carr and Davante
Adams, and utilize the workhorse back in Josh
Jacobs to run the clock out once they got in front.
But the Raiders have forgotten you also have to play some defense.
Their rushing defense is 5th in the NFL, but they’ve given up
the 5th most total points.
This week the Texans come to visit and help the Raiders get a
little healthy. Houston is 31st in yards allowed, specifically
30th in rushing yards allowed and Josh Jacobs may actually have
the best day of his career (which he has done in two of the last
three weeks).
Take the Raiders, but don’t give the points. Neither of these
teams are very good, but at least the home team will get a chance
to cheer for one day.
#2: Dallas over Detroit (3-3: NO, BUF, kc, det, PHL, sf)
Fantasy owners have been waiting since week 1 for Dak
Prescott to return and spark the Cowboys offense. This week,
he will!
Why is he so important? Did you see the game in Philly Sunday
night? 181 yards by Cooper
Rush, 1 TD and 3 INTs. The Eagles glaringly neutralized Dallas’
passing game and made Ezekiel
Elliott and Tony
Pollard beat them on the ground. This week, the Lions will
be hard pressed to duplicate that formula with Dak back under
center.
Amon-Ra
St. Brown should be healthy after the bye week, but the question
is, will Jared
Goff have time to get him the ball? In his last game, New
England stifled Goff and shut the Lions out. But overall, this
team is second in total offense and 3rd in total points.
This matchup will be about what the defenses give up. And in the
case of the Lions, their rushing defense is dead last. With Dak
coming off injury, why risk hurting your franchise when you can
give a steady dose of handoffs and win? It shouldn’t be a shootout,
but if it ends up one, the boys should pull it off now that Dak
is back.
#1: Tampa Bay over Carolina (3-2: den, lac, GB, BUF, LAR)
The G.O.A.T. is in turmoil. People want to talk about his personal
life and how it is affecting his game and relationships with teammates.
Forget that. He is a consummate professional, will work through
the nonsense and come out on top regardless.
That said, he needs to find consistency from his receiving corps
that hasn’t been healthy, and now is expected to be without
Cameron Brate (neck). Do you think Gronk has had a few conversations
with Tom about coming back for the later part of the season?
The Panthers are trying to salvage a season they originally hoped
would be respectable. However, they’ll be lucky to win four
games. Baker Mayfield is injured, the coach has been fired, Robbie Anderson has been traded, the offense is 27th in points scored
and dead last in total yardage. D.J. Moore is hoping to get paroled
from this offense (via trade) and the defense is only hoping that
they get more than four downs to rest each series.
If ever there was a week that Brady and company could use an easy
victory, it is this week. Assuming that you didn’t use the
Bucs last week (and lose), take the Bucs at Home with confidence.
