I’m sitting here in Village Inn enjoying my free pie and taking the opportunity to plan tomorrow’s flag football practices (and in fact a general practice strategy for the entire pre-season) and I thought to myself, ‘I haven’t touched the Waiver Wire in a long time…’ The reasons are clear. What business do I have offering advice when I am 1-12 in my solo league and 9-4 in the league where I have a partner? On the surface, none. However, dig a little deeper and it is easy to see why I’m losing. This week’s move of Martellus Bennett to the IR represents the 8th of my first 10 picks to go on injured reserve. That’s right: I lost everyone. Then I went to the waiver and grabbed a bunch of guys who wound up on O status too. Oh what a strange trip this season has been. Not just for me either. See, my beloved G-men are in first place… with 5 wins. My Jets, with 7 dubs, are clinging to a wildcard spot, and team Rex is one game behind them and hot on their heels. So what happens next? I think I can help with some predictions:
… Some matches require no explanation:
Seahawks over Ravens
Colts over Jags
Jets over Titans
Packers over Cowboys
Panthers over Falcons
…Others still need explaining
Vikings over Cards
After a thumping last week this Vikings team is desperate to show they can still be relevant in the east. They have to get relevant right away if they want a chance, and no better place for a runner like AP to do it then in the sweet Cardinals arena.
Bills over Eagles
Those who say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned has never been in a Rex Ryan locker room. The way they came out against the Jets proved that fire. Add to that all of what McCoy has to prove against his old team and the coach that showed him the door and what we have is a recipe for a good old fashioned butt whippin.
Browns over 49rs
Manziel still has a lot to prove. He’s fighting for a job—even if that job is not with the Browns franchise. I think he proves something here and puts down a spunky niner’s team.
Bears over Redskins
Wishful thinking and perhaps slightly magical as well, but I think that at home the Bears have a good shot at beating a pride-punched Redskins squad.
Steelers over Bengals
Everyone was talking about how good the Bengals were. It reminded me of the moment my eldest ran in a touchdown in his first year of tackle and his teammate looked at him and said, “dang, you got good, son!” Well he might’ve ‘got good’ but the Bengals are all smoke and mirrors—and AJ Green. Definitely him too. Still, the Steelers are real from top to bottom.
Rams over Lions
Because nobody can lose that many times and not find a way to win a dang game.
Chargers over Chiefs
Seriously, look out for the bolts. This is the team nobody is talking about but is quietly poised to explode. The bomb blows this Sunday @ 11 AM Mountain Standard Time.
Bucs over Saints
Shades of RG III vs. Andrew Luck here as we watch Mariota and Winston ply their trade. The question is, which one is RGIII? So far, neither. Winston has proven himself at this level thus far and done so with his top WR having a subpar season. Up against the worst pass D ever, he might do something.
Raiders over Broncos
Another classic brewing here and this one matters for the playoffs. I think the Raiders bring Brock back down to planet earth. Especially since he is looking over his shoulder at the future hall of famer trying to get his spot back.
Texans over Patriots
Yep, I said it. Skid continues. The line is crap and the receivers are not reacting fast enough. Not JJ Watt fast enough at least. There will be many sacks. I really hope they mic that fool up.
Giants over Dolphins
This is what it is all about. I’m going to be recording this game as dem franchize boys and I will be watching Roman Reigns whup that trick over on the WWE network, but I expect to press play and see LSU’s two top WRs doing it big. The Giants can’t really stop Landry, but they can stop his QB. By stop I mean STOMP. The pass rush is getting close to right and Demontre Moore finally showed up. Yeah, they’ll crumble in the fourth, but Coughlin gets that now. By then it will be too far out of reach.