Jermichael Finley

All posts tagged Jermichael Finley

NFL 2013: Week #8-The Furnace’s Five Best Bets

Posted by fantasyfurnace on October 25, 2013
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Injuries didn’t help our cause last week as Nick Foles went down in the #Eagles game for starters. Our season record sits at a disappointing 19-16 after 7 weeks. With substitute quarterbacks and and back-up running backs & wideouts alike, prognosticating has been made even more difficult, but we remain optimistic this week. Here are our five for week #8…

*Home team in CAPS

Giants over the EAGLES-  Feels like we’re pressing our luck here trying for two in a row for the downtrodden G-Men, but The Eagles “swiss-cheese” secondary should afford Eli Manning the opportunity to pad some of his passing numbers especailly to Hakeem Nicks who was called out this week by an irate Tom Coughlin. Nicks has 0 touchdowns and six dropped passes this season and is due for a breakout game. For those who are superstitious, the Eagles have lost 9 straight games at home.

The much maligned wideout #88 Hakeem Nicks, has 6 drop passes on the season; third most in the league. Photo: Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger

The much maligned wideout #88 Hakeem Nicks, has 6 drop passes on the season; third most in the league among wide receivers. Photo: Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger

Steelers over the RAIDERS- Over the last four weeks the Steelers have the  No. 9 offense and No. 4 defense, while the Raiders have the No. 29 offense and No. 25 defense. Terrelle Pryor tweaked his ankle a couple of weeks ago and although the bye week should have helped in the healing process, a sack or two and he could be in trouble. (He was sacked 10 times in K.C. before the bye week). Pryor is 2-0 at the Black Hole so it could get interesting in a low scoring affair.

CHIEFS over the Browns- Had this game been played in Cleveland we might have switched our alliance to the Browns with a much improved quarterback, Jason Campbell, taking over for the inept Brandon Weeden this week. However as we’ve stated several times here in the past, Arrowhead, after Seattle, could be the most difficult place to play in the NFL. The  Chiefs undefeated season continues.

SAINTS over the Bills- Don’t usually pick games like this but for those of you who bet on games and thus take spreads into consideration, the Saints have covered 11 in a row at home and have won their last four off a bye by an average of 15 points. Still upset over their debacle against the Patriots in a game lost in the final minutes, the Saints will be out for blood on Sunday and we kind of feel badly for the visiting Bills.

#9 QB Drew Brees and the Saints will be looking to avenge their last minute loss to the Patriots last week. Photo: Getty Images

#9 QB Drew Brees and the Saints will be looking to avenge their last minute loss to the Patriots last week. Photo: Getty Images

Packers over the VIKINGS- Again, if your’e laying 9 points in this game, it could be a bit steep for the visiting Packers who will be without their big TE Jermichael Finley who was just released from a local hospital after the hit he took last week which caused a spinal contusion in his neck causing temporary paralysis, and Clay Matthews. Even with Christian Ponder back under center, the high scoring Pack will take this one but not before Adrian Peterson has a typical AP day.

Advertisement

Fantasy Football 2013: On the Hot Seat! Five players that need to perform this season…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on August 7, 2013
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 Comments

Some players have spent a major part of their NFL careers underachieving and in some cases the team’s patience as well as the fans is waring thin. We have listed five such players and the reasons why they will open the season on the ‘Hot Seat’. It will not mean that they WILL live up to their potential, it just means that they have less excuses for failing to do so.

1. Christian Ponder-QB-Vikings– Give the Vikings credit as they went out and made some significant moves to shore up their offense in the off-season. They added ex-Packer WR Greg Jennings who they probably overpaid for, who will replace the disgruntled but talented receiver Percy Harvin. By giving up multiple picks (4) to the Patriots they selected Cordarrelle Patterson WR out of Tennessee in the first round. Then there is TE Kyle Rudolph, a rising star at tight end and Ponder’s favorite target. Now combine this array of talent with arguably the best running back in all of football, and an offensive line that had the same five players start all 17 games last year, and there is little reason to ponder why Ponder should not excel this season.

2. Tony Romo-QB-Cowboys- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took a lot of flack when he gave Romo a six year $108 million contract extension and you know he wants to see a huge return on his investment.  What owner doesn’t? The Cowboys needed to revamp their offensive line which was no help to Romo who was sacked a career high-tying 36 times last season. So with their first pick in the draft they selected C Travis Frederick  to better secure the middle, and they feel very good about LT Tyron Smith. The O-Line  will also be entering its second season with coach Bill Callahan which won’t hurt. As DeMarco Murray always seems to have health concerns, the Cowboys selected their No. 2 back in the fifth round, Joseph Randle who is a similar style runner to Murray. The turnover-happy Romo who seems to make the worst decisions when the game means the most (he only has one career playoff win), needs this season to prove to his doubters and Mr. Jones that his extension was well worth the money.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo has seen his offensive line shored up, now he need to 'step up' and hold onto Photo: Simon Bruty/SI ball. Photo:

Cowboys QB Tony Romo has seen his offensive line shored up, now he need to ‘step up’, hold onto the ball, and make better decisions. Photo: Simon Bruty/SI

3. DeSean Jackson-WR-Eagles- There was a time not too long ago when DeSean Jackson was considered on of the league’s most dangerous receivers but he has only regressed over the past couple of seasons. In 2009-’10 he had 40 catches of 20 yards or more and 18 of 40 yards or more. Over the last two years he has had 24 and 7.  Jackson has only seven touchdown catches and five 100-yard receiving games in his last 33 starts. The Eagles will need Jackson to produce even more now as their other wideout, Jeremy Maclin, has already had season-ending surgery to repair his torn right ACL. If Jackson does not get back on track, he could be gone after this season as most of his guaranteed money in his contract was in the first 2 years.

4. Jermichael Finley-TE-Packers- Finley really turned it on after the bye-week last season and that performance probably saved himself his job and his $8.25 million salary. In 2009, he looked like a super-stud in the making especially in the playoffs that year. Then in 2010 he suffered from a knee-cartilage injury which either he never fully recovered from or just had a bad case of the ‘dropsies for all of 2011 and much of last season. Finley woke up towards the end of last season so he should be over his pedestrian play, but he needs to continue performing this year as the team will spend its first in the last seven without veteran WR Greg Jennings.

5. Jay Cutler-QB-Bears- Cutler’s resume shows that in his seven seasons he only has made the playoffs once with one playoff victory on his ledger. He has never reached the potential that the Bears felt he had when they gave him a five-year $49.8 million contact which is now entering its last year. The excuses have been that he didn’t have the weapons or the adequate protection necessary to take Chicago to that ‘next level’. Well now he does. The Bears added two Pro Bowlers to help with blind-side protection. Former Saint Jermon Bushrod and former Jets standout Matt Slauson. With a first round pick they also selected Howie Long’s son Kyle. On offense a major addition was TE Martellus Bennett who was just starting to come into his own with the Giants last year, and whose stock is on the rise. They also have a proven WR in Brandon Marshall who they got last year and so Cutler’s job this season is to take the Bears on a deep playoff run or Cutler could be ‘run’ out of Chicago.

#6 Jay Cutler, with his 51-42 career record has underachieved for most of his career. Now in his last year of his contract he'll need to do much better. John Biever/SI:

#6 Jay Cutler, with his 51-42 career record has underachieved for most of his career. Now in the last year of his contract he’ll need to do much better if he hopes to return in 2014. Photo: John Biever/SI

NFL Week #8-The Week’s Five Best Bets

Posted by fantasyfurnace on October 25, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

We’ve already reached the midway point in the season. After this week’s games you should be able to seperate the contenders from the pretenders as enough of a sampling will be available and you will have a better idea of who will make it to the post-season.

We had 2 losses last week going 3-2. The Bills lost by one which hurt, and the Bengals lost by a touchdown, as Dalton to A.J. was just not working against the rigid Steelers defense even without Troy P. Our season record now stands at a decent 22- 13; better than most pundits but still room to improve. Here’s our top five picks for this week:

*Home team in CAPS

Giants over the COWBOYS-   We picked the Giants over the ‘Skins last week and see no reason why they shouldn’t repeat this week vs the ‘Boys in Dallas. After all, since the $1.2 billion stadium was built in Dallas in 2009, the Giants have had ‘home field advantage’, going 3-0 in their building! Injuries will have a greater impact on the Cowboys this week as RB DeMarco Murray will sit out for another game and RB Felix Jones is questionable. Dallas will also be without their starting center and their leading tackler Sean Lee who’s out for the remainder of the season (toe). The Giants will have Chris Canty, Prince Amukamara, and a healthy Hakeem Nicks, all of whom were missing in the season opening loss to the Cowboys.

#10 Eli Manning goes up vs #9 Tony Romo this Sunday in East Rutherford for the 2nd in their two-game season series. Photo: popscreen.com

JETS over the Dolphins- The 3-3 Jets beat the Dolphins in Miami 23-20 in week #3 and we think history will repeat itself at Met Life Stadium this Sunday. Although Miami boasts the receiver who came into last weeks games leading the NFL in receiving yardage, Brian Hartline, he was held to just one reception for 41 yards when these two teams last met. Could be because at the end of last week, the Jets have  given up the least amount of fantasy points to wide receivers in the league. That will mean a lot of Reggie Bush, something that the Jets are well aware of. Kerley, Hill, & Keller should all have a decent day against a Dolphins team that yields the 8th most fantasy points to wide receivers- if Sanchez gets the time. A victory gets the Jets another divisional win and evens their record at 4-4 going into their bye week. They’ll take it…

BRONCOS over the Saints-Coming off of their bye, the Broncos take on a Saints team that clearly is under achieving this season. They lost their first four games before defeating the Chargers and Bucs. Their defense is almost non-existent yielding the second most fantasy points to running backs in the league, making Willis McGahee a great play this week in what should be a high scoring affair. Peyton Manning will be throwing against a Saints team that gives up the 4th most FP to WRs in the league. The Broncos secondary can be scored upon as well but have a better overall defense and should pick up their 4th win in this one.

#18 Peyton Manning should put up some good numbers vs the Saints this weekend. RB Willis McGahee is a good play as well.

PACKERS over the Jags- The 4-3 Packers have been coming on since their stunning loss to the Indianapolis Colts in week #5. They beat the Texans and the Rams in their last two and hopefully will not have a let down in this potential ‘Trap’ game against the lowly Jags. The Jags have a fairly good defense but with Maurice Jones-Drew out this week their offense will take a huge hit. Aaron Rodgers completed 81% of his passes last week vs a pretty good Rams secondary and will be challenged a bit as Greg Jennings will sit this one out and Jordy Nelson (hamstring-hurt in practice) is questionable at this point until the extent of this latest setback is known. Expect a lot of Jermichael Finley in this one.

49ers over the CARDINALS- This is a tough game to call as these two teams are so evenly matched. Both have excellent defenses and they play in the same division. They split the season series last year with Arizona winning their game at home by 2 points. The Niners held Larry Fitzpatrick to just 41 yards and a score at S.F. but then he burned them for 149 yards and a touchdown in ‘Arizona. This season however, S.F. is 31st in FP to opposing WRs, just behind the Jets so Fitz might be in for more for a fight defensively this weekend. On the other side, Alex Smith will not be a great play this week as the Cards have given up the least fantasy points to QBs this season. We’re going with the Niners in another close one.

#11 WR Larry Fitzgerald will have to be slowed down if the 49ers are to win this contest vs the Cards. He torched them for 149 yards and 1 TD in Dec. ’11. Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images