Vincent Jackson

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NFL 2014: WEEK #1-The Furnace’s Five Best Bets

Posted by fantasyfurnace on September 5, 2014
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 21 Comments

Its been a long time coming but finally the new NFL season is underway with Seattle’s Legion of Doom overpowering the Pack by 20 points, 36-16 on Thursday night. Here now are our Top Five Best Bets for the first full week of games. Good luck!

*Home teams in CAPS

JETS -5 1/2 over Raiders- New offensive weapons in Chris Johnson, Eric Decker and Jace Amaro, home field, plus going up against rookie QB Derek Carr in his first game as a pro will be all too much for the travelling Raiders to handle. If you are waivering between these two teams, here is an interesting stat that might alter your thinking: Oakland has failed to win a game in the Eastern Time Zone since 2005, a span of 13 games.

Vikings +3 1/2 over RAMS- St. Louis has a fairly good defensive team but they lack a potent offense. Their quarterback, Shaun Hill, hasn’t started a game since 2010 and the rust could show. Adrian Peterson who rushed for over 200 yards the last time these two clubs met in 2012, along with veteran Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Kyle Rudolph, should make the visiting Vikes 1-0 entering Week 2.

BUCCANEERS -2 over Panthers-  It is not beyond the realm of possibilities for the Bucs to end the season as a top five most improved team. New headcoach Lovie Smith will help achieve that goal as will RB Doug Martin, if he can stay healthy. Cam Newton, who has been dealing with a rib injury, will have a target on his back all afternoon.

LIONS -5 1/2 over Giants- Eli Manning has looked like a deer in headlights throughout the pre-season and even if and when he masters the new West Coast offense, we’re not convinced that the G-Men’s offensive line will cooperate. The Lions’s, with Matt Stafford at the helm, have the talent and the chemistry to thwart any threat the Giants might impose. Big Blue will opt to keep their attack on the ground but when they fall behind they will have to abandon their game and that’s when the trouble will start.

Chargers +3 over CARDINALS- Arizona has some injuries on their defensive line and lost Linebackers Daryl Washington to suspension and Karlos Dansby to free agency. The addition of Antonio Cromartie will not be enough to stop Philip Rivers, Vincent Jackson and company from having a big day in Phoenix.

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Fantasy Football 2014: Six of this season’s potential Busts

Posted by fantasyfurnace on July 20, 2014
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Don’t be fooled or sucked in to drafting players with those ‘sexier’ or familiar names; the perennial names that you just ‘assume’ will do well because at one time they might have. We are not saying not to draft  any of this group, but before spending a draft pick “too early”, check out why we think they could let you down…

Steven Jackson-RB-Falcons- Hard to believe that SJax is only turning 31! Probably because he will be entering his eleventh year in the NFL and those legs have logged over 10,000 rushing yards (10,678 to be exact). We have never been true supporters of Jacksons even in his prime in St. Louis. Since 2004 he has only tallied more than double-digit touchdowns just once in a season.. Over the last five years Jackson has averaged only 5 TDs per year. He no longer is a featured back and thus will garner just a few touchdowns near the goal line while amassing around 500-700 rushing yards. There are better options.

#39 RB Steven Jackson's better days are behind him in Atlanta where Jaquizz Rodgers garners the bulk of the carries. Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports:

#39 RB Steven Jackson’s better days are behind him in Atlanta where Jaquizz Rodgers garners the bulk of the carries. Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports:

Eric Decker-WR-Jets- This probable bust is pretty much a n0-brainer as there are not many who feel that Decker will score 24 more touchdowns over the next two years with either Geno Smith or Michael Vick under center. The Jets’ offense will begin and end with their running back trio of Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell, and Chris Johnson, and when they do opt to throw the ball, Decker will see his share of double teams as the rest of the club’s receivers are not going to scare any opponent this season.

Lamar Miller-RB-Dolphins- While many of our Dolphin fans won’t appreciate this bust selection, savvy fantasy owners will. If you recall, Miller underachieved mightily for the bulk of last season before turning it on late. So what did Miami do? They went out and plucked Knowshon Moreno away from the Broncos leaving Miller’s role such that he will no longer be very fantasy relevant.

Chris Johnson-RB-Jets- Unfortunately, for fantasy owners anyway, Johnson will just get caught up in the log jam at the running back position in New York this season with three, count ’em, three very talented backs all fighting for fantasy points. C.J. will not get many opportunities at the goal line, so his value will drop drastically this season. A very late round pick perhaps, for those in deeper leagues.

#21 Chris Johnson's fantasy potential takes a hit this season in a very crowded & talented backfield. Photo: N.Y. Daily News

#21 Chris Johnson’s fantasy potential takes a hit this season in a very crowded & talented backfield. Photo: N.Y. Daily News

Victor Cruz-WR-Giants- We love and have missed all that “Salsa” action in the end zone from 2012, but suffered along with many other fantasy owners as Cruz’s production crashed and burned last year in Eli Manning’s worst season in memory. Cruz’ touchdowns should go up as we don’t expect Eli to suffer through quite that bad a season as last year, but those expecting Cruz to be a solid WR1 need to temper their expectations and not rush to grab the speedster too quickly otherwise they may realize some disappointment.

Vincent Jackson-WR-Buccaneers- At the outset here is a warning: Stay away from any receiver who might have to depend on soon to be 35 year old quarterback Josh McCown in a very tenable QB situation in Tampa.. If you still want to go after Jackson then consider that in the Buccaneer’s last 10 games, Jackson caught just three touchdowns. Just a sexy name with a disappointing resume. Pass.

In Tampa's last 10 games Jackson had more than six catches in only one week. The Furnace recommends that you 'pass' on this WR.

In Tampa’s last 10 games Jackson had more than six catches only once. The Furnace recommends that you ‘pass’ on this WR. Photo: Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NFL Week #11-This week’s Five Best Bets

Posted by fantasyfurnace on November 17, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments

Another 3-2 week has brought our season total to 32-18. The Bengals were out to prove that playing against the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants was not going to intimidate them. And it didn’t as they blew them away 31-13 in Cincinnati. The G-Men are in their typical November slide and are enjoying a late season bye week in which they will need to regroup and prepare for their week #12 matchup vs the Packers. Our other loss was by the Dolphins who never showed up to play on either side of the ball and coughed up their 2nd loss in as many weeks to the Titans in Miami. Let’s see if we can improve a bit with this week’s Five Best Bets…

*Home team in CAPS

REDSKINS over the Eagles-Michael Vick is still suffering from the effects of the concussion he sustained last week. He’s been dizzy and “foggy” all week and it wouldn’t be surprising if he sat out for the remainder of the season. Rookie Nick Foles takes over on Sunday vs the ‘Skins. His only NFL experience came last week when he went 22 for 32 for 219 yards with 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and 2 sacks. His biggest obstacle will be the Eagles offensive line who will allow the Redskins to add to their sack totals this week. Washington’s offensive line isn’t world class either but in RGIII they have an elusive QB who can run. The Eagles, much like the Jets, are 3-6 and have lost their last five games in a row, placing their season now on life support.

#10 RGIII will be the difference maker in this one. The Eagles’ lack of an effective offensive line will not make rookie QB Nick Foles job any easier. Photo: zimbio.com

Buccaneers over the PANTHERS- In their last five games the Bucs are 4-1. In that span they have averaged a healthy 35.6 points per game and have yet to run into a defensive  scheme that can contain them. Josh Freeman, Doug Martin, Vincent Jackson, and Mike williams represent far too much talent to lose to the 2-7 Panthers who have failed to score more than 14 points in 4 of their last 5 games. They have some nice players in Cam Newton, Jonathan Stewart, and Steve Smith but they have been far too inconsistent and won’t put up enough points to stay with the Bucs. They’ll lose this game by double digits.

Bengals over the CHIEFS- The Bengals defense which we suggested as a Must Add this week, has the fourth most sacks in the league and are not exactly going up against a pro bowl quarterback this week. They also are fifth in fumble recoveries and we would expect both of these categories to rise this week. This should also be a one-sided affair unless of course, the Bengals are caught in a ‘trap week’ after beating up on the Giants last Sunday. They had lost four in a row prior to last week’s win and we believe that they’ll start a new streak with back-to back games vs the Chiefs and Raiders; teams they should beat.

The Bengals defense is fourth in the league in sacks with 27. Photo: associated press

Saints over RAIDERS- These are two teams that are going in completely different directions. The Saints are 4-1 over their last five games while the Raiders are 2-4 over their last six. Oakland will be without their featured and oft injured running back Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson this week although Carson Palmer should have no problem reaching the 300 yard passing plateau for the ninth time as a Raider, against a very porous New Orleans defense ranked last in the league. Drew Brees holds a career 6-0 mark vs the silver and black to go along with 13 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The Saints need this game because starting with week #12, they will face three very tough opponents in the 49ers, Falcons, and Giants.

COWBOYS over the Browns-Dallas has noticed how their divisional rival Giants have been slumping over the past three weeks and need to gain some ground on them before the G-Men turn things around. Only 2-3 over their last five games, the ‘Boys lost some tough ones by margins of 2, 5, and 6 points respectively. The 2-7 Browns, at this point of the season, are basically just playing for pride as they have eliminated all possibilities of making it to the post season. RB Trent Richardson has been the highlight of their offense while QB Brandon Weeden has failed to pass for 200 or more yards since October 21st. The ‘Boys will end the day by evening their record to 5-5 and increase their chances of being a Wild Card team at season’s end.

#3 Cleveland Browns QB Brandon Weeden has failed to pass for at least 200 yards since the third week of October. Photo: AP Photo/Mark Duncan