Best Game of the Day: Cincinnati at Baltimore, 1p- The Ravens emotional leader, Ray Lewis, is sidelined with an injury on the day, but don't let that fool you into thinking the stout Baltimore D is gonna be any less nasty. Terrell Suggs will lead a defensive effort that should give Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton some trouble. The young signal caller has been quietly impressive ten weeks into the season, leading Cincy to a 6-3 record, well above expectations for a young team that jettisoned former leaders QB Carson Palmer and WR Chad Ochocinco via trades. He will be missing his primary target, fellow rookie receiver AJ Green. He has been ruled out after sustaining an injury in last weeks game.
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| Andy Dalton: Closet Ginger |
The saving grace for Cincinnati in this game? Their defense has been playing superb ball and Ravens QB Joe Flacco has been yawn worthy, especially in the fantasy game. Ray Rice has been declared the main offensive weapon for Baltimore, so expect the Bengals D to shut down the run and force Flacco to throw to his shaky corps of receivers. Wideouts Torrey Smith and Lee Evans have been less than effective at moving the chains (in Evans' case, he needs to actually get back on the field) and should be limited by the Bengals secondary.
In the end, a veteran Ravens team grinds out a win to continue their playoff push.
My prediction: Ravens 23 Bengals 16
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| Rack em' |
Highest Scoring Game of the Day: Buffalo at Miami- I feel firmly that Buffalo can blow out Miami at home. I also feel firmly that the Bills D is beatable, and with Brandon Marshall in such a sync with Matt Moore, we could see a bit of a shootout. The key here for Miami is Reggie Bush and if he can continue to be productive. Nobody will be as productive as Fred Jackson, who should consistently find his way in the Dolphins secondary both running and catching passes. Bills WR Stevie Johnson is questionable, but if he plays then Ryan Fitzpatrick shouldn't have any problem keeping a lead on the fish.
The Bills contender status has long been exposed as a farce, but when you play a 1-8 team it has to inspire some measure of confidence in your guys. And a little bit of confidence goes a long way.
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| Hopefully he scores more off the field than he does on it |
My prediction: Bills 31 Miami 21 (52 total points)
Fantasy Player of the Day: Aaron Rodgers, QB Green Bay- Taking the safe pick here. Rodgers has been the most productive QB in recent history, constantly winning despite being so one dimensional on offense. Playing a weak Tampa Bay team, it wouldn't be surprising to see him put up another 300 yard, 3 TD performance. Maybe even a rushing score from the athletic QB is in the cards.
My prediction: 37 fantasy points (Standard Y! scoring guidelines applied)
4:00---4:00---FOUR O'CLOCK UPDATE---4:00---4:00
Some quick hits off the bat:
- My Panthers are going to let me down again. The built a big lead in the first half behind a superior defensive effort, but have since let the Lions regain the lead. Cam just threw an interception, but there is still some time. We're not dead yet, but we sure are going to make it easy for them to kill us.
- The Bengals-Ravens tussle has been a higher scoring affair than I predicted, yet there is drama brewing. Under three minutes to go and Baltimore is getting ready to punt. The Ravens defense will have to preserve a seven point lead to secure their seventh win of the season. Dalton hasn't been very sharp with three picks on the day to go with only one TD pass. They find themselves with 59 yards to go at the two minute warning.
- The Cowboys were able to run up an early lead in their matchup with the Redskins, but Washington has fought back into the game. After a Rex Grossman touchdown toss to veteran journeyman Donte Stallworth near the end of the game prompted the 'Boys to kneel after the kickoff to send the game into overtime. Tony Romo has looked sharp, throwing for 252 yards and 3 TDs.
- Aaron Rodgers has certainly not been the fantasy player of the day, but he did come eeriely close to hitting the stat line I had predicted. He was inches away from a rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and BJ Raji came in for the half yard touchdown run on the following play. Later in the game, in a string of pass interference calls on the Tampa Bay secondary, Rodgers had a touchdown pass to Donald Driver interfered with that would have given him his third touchdown through the air. Maybe the chips will fall right for me next time!
- Adrian Peterson left the game against the Raiders in the second quarter with an ankle injury. He was carted off the field, but appeared later on the sidelines in a t-shirt. That game has since finished with Oakland winning by six. Hopefully the injury isn't serious, because losing Peterson would certainly signal the death of the Vikings offense. On a more personal note, AD has been leading my fantasy team to new heights, and I certainly don't want to lose that anymore than I already did today.
The second group of games is getting ready to start, have fun watching and thanks if you're reading.
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