So a slightly cooler week on the picks for me for Week 5. Still in the red, but I was surprised by a couple of teams that really put it on against the odds.
Broncos over Colts (wrong)
Packers over Giants (wrong)
Lions over Pats (yikes)
Chargers over Browns ✔
Jags over Texans (man, embarrassing)
Bucs over Falcons ✔
Bills over Steelers ✔
Fins over Jets (domination!)
Vikes over Bears ✔
Titans over Commanders ✔
Saints over Seahawks (dang, Taysomed)
49ers over Panthers ✔
Eagles over Cards ✔
Cowboys over Rams ✔
Ravens over Bengals ✔
Chiefs over Raiders ✔
Had a better run as the schedule ran on, but still, not my finest performance. Speaking of poor performances, here are my 6 duds of Week 5:
#6:
The Seahawks Defence. The Seahawks allowed Taysom Hill and Kamara to run all over them, allowing the first game with 2 100+ yard rushers in the Pete Carroll era. Geno is playing out of his mind, but he can’t outscore the worst run D in the league, rivalled only by…
#5:
The Lions, who were outclassed everywhere on the field. Their vaunted offence sorely missed some of their weapons, but it was on defence that they continued to show their weakness. Stevenson and Harris went off on the ground, and Old Bill showed young Dan how to scheme up a win. Someone that could have used some more scheming was…
#4:
Matt Rhule, who has been fired after an abysmal start and poor 2 years and four games with the Panthers. Owner David Tepper’s patience finally ran out after Carolina laid another egg. Rhule was rumoured to have a great relationship with Tepper, and in return, the owner gave him control over his roster. Unfrotunately for Carolina, this meant running with Teddy Bridgewater (solid if limited), Sam Darnold (yikes) and Baker Mayfield (please bring same back) in consecutive failed seasons. Its too bad, as there is some good talent on both sides of the ball, but Rhule failed to coach them up. Speaking of coaching…
#3:
Josh McDaniels went for it for 2 to win the game against the Chiefs. I get the choice, I really do, but the Raiders need a win, and their defence had played well against the Chiefs in bursts. I know it means playing with fire, but I worry what his lack of trust in the D could do to the team’s morale. And on top of this, the ugly scene involving…
#2:
Davante Adams when he appeared to shove a media member on the sideline after the crushing series of plays leading to the Raiders loss. While Davante appeared to accidentally contact the cameraman, his response still looked bad. Now, his misdemeanor battery charge is another black mark on a Vegas team that has already had its share of controversies in its short time in the city of sin. Speaking of controversies, the biggest duds of week 6 are…
#1:
The referees that are blowing it on the phantom roughing the passer calls. Two egregious examples showed just how poor the refereeing can be in the NFL today. The later call on Chris Jones was brutal, but ultimately did not have an impact on the result of the game. On the other hand, Grady Jarrett’s legal takedown of TB12 was flagged, extending the Bucs drive and allowing them to bleed out the clock against the Falcons. This adds to the multitude of blown PI calls and strange missed replay calls. I don’t know the solution, but it is obvious the speed of the NFL needs to be accounted for in the calls made by the referees. The NFL must address poor calls mid-game and assist the refs in an insanely quick football product.
Those were my duds of the week, and unfortunately for us, and Amazon Prime, the Thursday game has plenty of duds too.
Bears v Commanders
Two teams with underwhelming results so far, it appears that the Thursday games continue to be duds. Carson Wentz’s hot start to the season has cooled measurably, and the Commanders defence is porous. Luckily for them, they are playing a historically bad Bears offence. Poor Justin Fields looks shell shocked, with his terrible O line having him under siege, and the coaching staff runs a 1920s style running game. Fields isn’t even able to use his athletic ability on designed runs as teams just sell out on the run. I see the Commanders taking an early lead and pinning their ears back and unleashing their solid pass rush on the Bears and Fields. It's going to be sloppy, and not fun sloppy.
Commanders 22 over Bears 16
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