Our two losses last week, the Giants and the Browns, held us to 3-2 for the week which put us at 29-16 on the season. The G-Men forgot how to stop the run and yielded 147 yards to Isaac Redman which prompted coach Ton Coughlin to call his run defense “Soft”. That will probably change this week vs the Bengals as the Giants defensive line took offense to that remark.
The Browns, our other loss, who played so well IN Baltimore losing by a TD when they faced the Ravens the first time this season, were our upset special but there was nothing special about their performance last Sunday. Here now are this week’s Best Bets…
*Home team in CAPS
Giants over the BENGALS- It didn’t take much to ruffle some of the Giants player’s feathers after their poor showing vs the Steelers in East Rutherford last week. 147 yards to Redman on the ground really upset Tom Coughlin & I would be surprised if the lawfirm (BJGE) has a similar day vs Big Blue this weekend. Bengals WR A.J. Green had some unflattering comments about the Giants secondary which prompted Antrel Rolle, who’s never at a loss for words, to come out with this stinger, “I’ll talk with my pads come Sunday. If he (A.J. Green) sees me he better duck!” Eli, with some tips from his brother (8-0 vs the Bengals) will help the Giants garner the victory.
….”and that’s how you beat the Bengals. Alright Eli, you can stop smiling now…” Photo: usatoday.com
Broncos over the PANTHERS- Peyton to Decker has been very successful the last few games and the elder Manning should have no problem keeping it coming vs Carolina this Sunday. Cam Newton just hasn’t been the same this year and he’ll face a pretty staunch Broncos defense who won’t make it an easier for him. The Giants earlier this season crushed the Panthers by 29 points so maybe Peyton will be asking Eli for some pointers in this one although he really doesn’t need any.
BUCCANEERS over the Chargers- A lot of pundits in the papers and on TV don’t see the Chargers losing to Tampa Bay this week and I cannot figure out why. I mean what have they done so far this season? They have four wins but two of them were against Kansas City! Cmon Man!! They’re travelling cross country, never an easy task, and playing an early game. As for the Bucs, they have been an offensive juggernaut scoring 28 points or more in four straight games; a franchise record. RB Doug Martin has been improving each week with rushing totals of 85-135-251 yards in his last three games. T.B. is only favored by 3. S.D. has a fairly decent defense (see last week), but they aren’t the 1985 Bears!
SEAHAWKS over the Jets- Seattle (5-4) is one team that truly defines the term ‘Home Field Advantage’. They are beasts in their building having played four times there- winning all four. They give up the least amount of fantasy points to quarterbacks at home and have held opponents to 16 or less points in six of their nine games this season. The Jets have an anemic offense at best scoring 17 points or less in half of their games. The Seattle Sack Exchange of Clemons and Irvin will give Mark Sanchez fits all afternoon.
#51 Former first rounder Bruce Irvin and Chris Clemons (not shown) have 12 sacks on the season between them. Photo: Seahawks.com
DOLPHINS over the Titans- Miami (4-4) is coming off of a heartbreaking 3 point loss to the Colts which followed a rout of the Jets 30-9 at Met Life Stadium. The Fish get to return home for the first time since week 6 and there’s nothing like home cooking to help bring them a win. Prior to the loss to the Colts, Miami was on a modest three game winning streak & should be able to start a new one this week vs the Titans who have been giving up points at record breaking proportions. In seven of their nine games this season they have allowed 30, 34, 35, 38, 38, 41, and 51 to their opponents. WR Brian Hartline and RB Reggie Bush should have an offensive ‘field day’ while the Dolphins defense tries to limit Chris Johnson’s production.
FANTASY FURNACE 
Like all your picks, my man! Should be 5-0…also, some great stats and insights in here! Best of luck, Hank.
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Thanks buddy! Hope you’re right…
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Maybe after the Bengals and Giants games you’ll stop underestimating the Steelers! To be completely honest, games like this coming Monday worry me a hell of a lot more than ones where we’re playing the reigning world champs. I don’t know what it is about weak opponents, but we just never put them away. We’ll let them linger until the middle of the 3rd, when they’ll go up by a score. Then we’ll cough the ball up when we’re fighting for the win! Ugh – it’s the most frustrating thing ever!!
Haha, thanks for the quality read as usual. Keep up the good work and take it easy on my Steelers!!
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Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind A.J. However I didn’t pick the against the Steelers last week because of their lack of talent. But with Troy, Jonathan and Rashard, to name a few, all being on the shelf last week, and given the Giants’ “usual” ability to stop the run, I never would have imagined Redman running for 147. Did you?
It was a good win for Pitts. Props! And I really wouldn’t worry too much about Monday.
Thanks for reading.
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I don’t think we’ve had a week in the last 4 years where we aren’t missing a pro-bowler or two. It’s unfortunate, but despite a couple self-inflicted gunshot wounds (Oakland/Tenn) it hasn’t really lowered our level of play too much. It killed us in the playoffs last year as Ben gimped around and still somehow tied it in regulation, but it was still a solid year. This year, our offensive line has been lightyears beyond what it’s been the past decade. So while I wouldn’t have pegged Redman for 147, I did think he’d do well enough to control the clock and keep our 3rd down statistics phenomenal. I can understand people around the country being shocked at Dwyer’s 2 big games and then Redman’s, but in Pittsburgh we have a different viewpoint. We remember that Dwyer was a top ranked RB coming out of college and that he’s worked on the one thing that had been holding him back in the pros: his conditioning. We also watched all of last year as Redman consistently showed up Mendenhall in terms of both effort and, often times, results. Point being, the hometown crowd hasn’t been all that surprised that our line and running game have had success.
But with all that said, it was obviously a tough matchup for both teams – and picking one team or the other isn’t a bad choice under any circumstances. I had just remembered your forecast for the Cincinnati game and it sounded eerily similar. So after completely shutting down the Andy Dalton to AJ Green connection that has plagued the league – and THEN holding RGIII to 9 rushing yards and dominating them from beginning to end, I thought maybe, JUST MAYBE, we’d get a little love against a mediocre Eli Manning and his banged up running attack. Don’t worry tho, you’ll have your revenge when we get creamed by Matt Cassel and fat Romeo on Monday, lol.
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I love that you picked my Dolphins last week. But, umm. . . this is what it’s like for us Miami fans whose balls don’t bounce. No pun intended. Only pain, and lots of it.
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Yeah they killed my week Cayman. I just don’t get it. Not just beaten but HANDILY! Besides the Colts loss by 3 they gave up just 13, 14, and 9 in their previous wins. Where did their Defense go?!? Could be a while before we pick the Fish again my friend..
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