NFL 2017-18 season

[the sicilian]

Clean sweep last week   makes 17/20 last 3 weeks.. made one of my fellow punters 2.5K..apparently he thinks im the greatest.. I will remind him of this this when we go 0/7 next week

https://degeneratethoughtsblog.wordpress.com/

[Cavey007]

Clean sweep last week   makes 17/20 last 3 weeks.. made one of my fellow punters 2.5K..apparently he thinks im the greatest.. I will remind him of this this when we go 0/7 next week

https://degeneratethoughtsblog.wordpress.com/

That's pretty darn impressive. Will have to keep an eye of that for next weekend. A chap I follow on Twitter was let down on his 7 fold by going u42 pts on last night's match

[the sicilian]

Question for Tighty :

Im having a little trouble figuring why Dallas are a 2.5 dog to Pittsburgh ?... I know Pittsburgh are at home and although Big Ben is trending up his still hobbled.. Dallas are looking good.. can control the game behind Elliot and the O line and the D has stepped right up.. Am I missing something.. has Jerry Jones demanded Romo back ?

[TightEnd]

Question for Tighty :

Im having a little trouble figuring why Dallas are a 2.5 dog to Pittsburgh ?... I know Pittsburgh are at home and although Big Ben is trending up his still hobbled.. Dallas are looking good.. can control the game behind Elliot and the O line and the D has stepped right up.. Am I missing something.. has Jerry Jones demanded Romo back ?

Romo is not quite ready and in amongst Jerry's mixed messages the realistic expecation is that they will ride the hot hand in Dak and not disturb things. In theory Romo could be in for a 6 week or so season (week 12 onwards and maybe the play offs) but can kick that down the road a while yet.

If they were both fully fit and it was an even choice i think they would stick Romo back in but its swings and roundabouts. Romo gives them a deeper passing game that could be lethal given the single coverage everywhere with so many focussed on stopping the run. Dak though gives them a QB running game that Romo doesn't

Ben has tended to be much better in his frequent injuury comebacks at home and specifically a lot better than he tends to be in his first game back (he comes back and plays when a lot of other QBs would be sitting out still, a really tough competitior) and at the Ravens which was last week.

the line, allowing for a standard 3 points to the home side, has Dallas as slight favourites on a neutral fieldwhich is probably about right. Have to factor in that Ben will be much better this week than last. Granted beyond Brown and Bell they have a lot of injuries at skill positions. Sammie Coates also couldn't catch a cold in a deep freezer since his hand injury.  I note that ladarius green is expected to be fit though

that said the Steelers have problems on their O-Line and perhaps more notably struggle to stop the run and the pass

the Zeke pick has turned into a 10 out of 10 slam dunk because the O-Line is so good. teams load up the box to try and stop the run but he suits the zone blocking scheme perfectly and Dak has been accurate enough to find receivers open down the field. A real "pick your poison" offense while the major factors are fit and firing. OK it was only cleveland last weekend but go and watch the touchdowns. cleveland stick 8 in the box, double Dez and the likes of Beasley and Witten are completely open a lot of the time

the defense is much improved. i have my doubts its championship quality, doesn't quite make enough plays which will be a concern when it comes to Atlanta etc if we make the post season

[Cavey007]

I think the line is about right and I'm leaning towards Dallas. However I shall be avoiding this match completely for win purposes

But it's dangerous to bet against the Steelers at home. Their home/away splits historically are frankly ridiculous. They also seem to play to the level of the opponent.

Ryan Shazier was back last week for them and he's one of the best line backers in the league imo. He's a filthy sod. But got to respect his talent.

I've been really disappointed with Brown and Bell this year, they've been putting up ok numbers. But they're meant to be the best in the league at their positions and they just aren't at the moment. Doesn't mean that they won't be if Ben is healthier though.

[Cavey007]

Early look at tonight's match.

Steve Smith o38.5.5 and Kenneth Dixon o24.5 rushing look good to me.

The Browns are not very good defensively (understatement) and Smith should shape fitter than last week where he got 44 yds vs the Steelers. Worry on Smith would be if the game gets out of hand.

If it does. Should mean Dixon getting more. He's supposed to be getting more action alongside West anyway and the Browns give up nearly 150 yards per game rushing. Admittedly his stats so far and the Ravens run game in general aren't as convincing though. 9 attempts for 13 yards last week :/ although that was his highest attempts of the year.

[TightEnd]

spotted this and thought it was remarkable

In terms of QB production on 3rd down this season, there's Tom Brady, then everyone else:

Click to see full-size image.

[TightEnd]

just after the half way point of the season

the Patriots look the class of the field

lots of mediocre teams, when i looked 5 of the 8 divisions didn't have more than one winning team


if you had to name the superbowl sides now, you would suggest which two teams?

expect the NFC responses to have a wider spread than the AFC responses

[the sicilian]

just after the half way point of the season

the Patriots look the class of the field

lots of mediocre teams, when i looked 5 of the 8 divisions didn't have more than one winning team


if you had to name the superbowl sides now, you would suggest which two teams?

expect the NFC responses to have a wider spread than the AFC responses

I actually have Dallas.. Patriots.. I think because of their defense Atlanta will fall short

[Cavey007]

Seahawks v Pats

The hawks haven't been good but Wilson is getting healthier and their defence is still brilliant. Also they've got the experience of doing it. Boring. But most likely imo

[Stopsleyhatter]

Dallas  Pats for me on what ive seen so far.Been really busy this year and haven't watched as many games as I'd like but the Chiefs seem like a lively outsider..

[Tal]

just after the half way point of the season

the Patriots look the class of the field

lots of mediocre teams, when i looked 5 of the 8 divisions didn't have more than one winning team


if you had to name the superbowl sides now, you would suggest which two teams?

expect the NFC responses to have a wider spread than the AFC responses

I reckon the Raiders have the kind of team that could upset the applecart in Foxboro. What a game that would be for the pennant.

In the NFC goodness knows. Pete Carroll will probably do his playoff thing, so I'm looking elsewhere. Dallas look good but it could be Romo in the playoffs and who know where that takes them. Right now, I'd say Atlanta.

Wouldn't need to work hard to sell tickets to Oakland v Atlanta!

[The Camel]

just after the half way point of the season

the Patriots look the class of the field

lots of mediocre teams, when i looked 5 of the 8 divisions didn't have more than one winning team


if you had to name the superbowl sides now, you would suggest which two teams?

expect the NFC responses to have a wider spread than the AFC responses

I reckon the Raiders have the kind of team that could upset the applecart in Foxboro. What a game that would be for the pennant.

In the NFC goodness knows. Pete Carroll will probably do his playoff thing, so I'm looking elsewhere. Dallas look good but it could be Romo in the playoffs and who know where that takes them. Right now, I'd say Atlanta.

Wouldn't need to work hard to sell tickets to Oakland v Atlanta!

Can't have Altanta on my mind. Defense is bordering on terrible.

Oakland's secondary is very exploitable too.

[The Camel]

Tal, your SF bet needs some help.

Where are Cleveland going to get a couple of wins from?

[TightEnd]

i had seahawks v raiders in mind

seahawks competitive even while Russell has been on one leg. the running game will come around when wilson can run again and rawls is back, graham is firing too and the defense is built for post season

obviously the pats are likely to have to be beaten in foxboro in the play offs. maybe the chiefs can do that but as long as the raiders defense continues to improve then that offense can put up a lot of points on anybody. good OL, good running game, good receivers, gunslinger quarterback etc