Sports

[gardenman]

We start off week seven with the Broncos taking on the Saints. The Saints started the year on fire and have turned to ashes, losing four straight. The Broncos aren't horrible this year with a 3-3 record and a plus 16 in points. I'll give an edge to the Broncos in this one. The Saints are the more talented team, but they have coaching issues.

The Patriots and Jags fight it out early Sunday morning to see which team ends up with the best shot at that first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Both teams are now 1-5 and in prime position for that first overall pick. The loser of the game will win in draft positioning. Not the ideal time for either team to have the first overall pick as both think/hope they have their star QB. Do they take a shot at another QB, trade back, or take the best player available? I'll give a slight edge to the Patriots in this one.

Seattle goes to Atlanta. Eh, someone has to win. I guess I'll take the Falcons since the Seahawks will be flying east for a one PM game.

Tennessee goes to Buffalo. The Bills made the move to get Amari Cooper to reinforce their receiving corps. Cooper will feel like he's been let out of prison. He's gone from a QB who couldn't get the ball all that near to him, to one of the better QBs in the league. He won't be thrilled with the social scene in Buffalo, but he'll be putting up much better stats. I'll take the Bills in a romp.

The Bengals get a "get right" game against Cleveland. The Browns continue to keep trotting out Deshaun Watson despite his issues, and having now traded away their best receiver, things aren't likely to get better. I'll take the Bengals.

Houston heads to Green Bay in probably the best of the early time slot games. Two young star QBs battling it out in this one. It should be a really good game. I'll give the slightest edge to Green Bay.

Miami heads to Indy. Losing Tua really hurt the Dolphins. They expect him back sometime this year, but not for this game. I'll give an edge to the Colts.

The Lions take on the Vikings in another good game. The Vikings have avoided losing a game so far, but I suspect that streak will end this week. I'll take the Lions.

The Eagles head up the turnpike to take on the Giants. The Giants have likely lost their starting left tackle and best offensive lineman Andrew Thomas to a foot injury. The Eagles will be without their starting left tackle, Jordan Mailata, due to a hamstring issue. This should be the Saquon Barkley revenge game. He'll want to show the Giants what they threw away. I've got the Eagles winning this one.

Anyone the Raiders haven't traded away yet will take on the injury-decimated Rams. Probably not one of the better games of the week. I'll give a slight edge to the Rams.

The Panthers head to wherever it is the Commanders play to sacrifice themselves to the Commanders. The Panthers are a bad team playing poorly. The Commanders are simply better. I'll take the Commanders.

The Chiefs and Niners square off in a Super Bowl rematch. The Niners are showing how much they miss Christian McCaffrey while the Chiefs are just cruising through the season. The game is in SF which should help the Niners. I just don't think it'll be enough. I'll take the Chiefs.

The Jets continue to pull out all of the stops to try and salvage the season and head to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. The Steelers have scored more points and given up fewer points this year than the Jets, so I'll take the Steelers in this one. It's interesting that the Steelers haven't made a move at WR after reportedly being in the earlier bidding for Niners' Brandon Aiyuk. Cooper and Adams were more affordable and pretty good players but apparently weren't sought after by the Steelers. 

Two Monday night games again this week. The Ravens take on the Bucs in the first one. Will the hot Baker Mayfield show up or the cold one? When Baker has one of his good games, the Bucs can beat anyone. You just never know when he'll have a good game.  I'll give a slight edge to the Ravens in this one.

And we end week seven with a later Monday night game between the Chargers and Cards. The Chargers aren't scoring a lot, but their defense keeps them in games. I'll give the Chargers the edge in this one.

[gardenman]

In an interesting twist to the Haason Reddick story, the Eagles trade with the Jets has the Eagles getting the Jets second-round pick if they trade Reddick to an NFC team. So, if the Jets agree to trade Reddick, as he's demanded, they have to either trade him to an AFC rival of theirs, or give up their second-round pick in 2026 to the Eagles if they trade him to an NFC team.

That largely puts a floor on their asking price of a third-round pick for an AFC team or a second-round pick from an NFC team. Will a team give up that draft capital and also pay Reddick? Eh, probably not. I suspect teams will be offering a fifth or sixth for Reddick and seeing how the Jets respond. It'll probably have to be a team with a good relationship with Drew Rosenhaus. He's the new agent for Reddick. A lot of teams don't like Drew and vice versa. 

[Spurt]

CORRECTION The Bears/Washington on October 27th game is being flexed NOT to the Sunday night game, but flexed to the Late CBS game 4:25 PM ET/3:25 PM CT....

[Spurt]

I had a pretty good week last week, let's see how I do on "lucky" week 7.  

Broncos VS Saints----Both teams are coming off losses. The Saints are without Derek Carr and this will be the second start for QB Spencer Rattler. The Saints got destroyed by Baker Mayfield and company. This will be a homecoming game for Bronco's Coach, Sean Peyton, who continues to mentor their rookie QB, Bo Nix.  The Broncos defense helps to hold up Bo Nix, so I'm going with the BRONCOS and their defense for the WIN!

Patriots VS Jaguars--Yet another London breakfast game, if I were the Jaguars I'd stay overseas too because I doubt if they would get much support in Jacksonville they are playing so poorly. However, the Patriots aren't much better. This will be Patriots QB, Drake Mayes second start.  I'll go with Trevor Lawrence's experience over the rookie and take the JAGUARS!!! Drake Maye is bound to throw an interception or two.

Seahawks VS Falcons---The Seahawks lost to the 49ers and have been a bit disappointing to some.  Meanwhile Kirk Cousins is getting more and more comfortable with the Falcons offense and his new teammates.  Kirk can put up the points...FALCONS WIN!

Titans Vs Bills--After a squeaker win against the Jets, the Bills went out and got QB Josh Allen another weapon and freed Amari Cooper from a living hell also known as the Browns!  It will be Will Levis against versus Josh Allen, I'm going with the BILLS at home with their crazy mafia to cheer them on, there will be lots of table jumping.

Bengals VS Browns-- Joe Burrows must be smiling after beating the hapless Giants, he gets to go up against a PITIFUL Browns team with hapless QB, Watson, that the owner refuses to let the coach bench.  If that wasn't enough, one of their offensive weapons escaped to Buffalo.  BENGALS with a romp....And yes, sympathy cards may be sent to Brown's Coach, Kevin Stefanski!

Texans VS Packers---This should be a GREAT game! "The Strouds" as You Tuber Tom Grossi refers to them is lead by fiesty QB CJ Stroud and a decent defense. WR Joe Mixon is a dangerous weapon, they also have Stefon Diggs, but Nico Collins is out on IR. The NFL's handsomest coach, Matt Lafluer, has the Packers playing well, their offense is ranked 8th, and the defense is ranked 9th. I think this game will go down to the wire and I'll will give a slight edge to the PACKERS at Lambeau.

Dolphins VS Colts--With Tua out the Dolphins struggle. I'm taking THE COLTS! 

Lions VS Vikings--Two NFC juggernauts meet, should be a great game.  Will there be a let down for the Lions after their DEMOLISHING of the Cowboys , and how will the loss of Aidan Hutchinson impact their defense???  The Vikings are playing well in all phases of the game.  I just think the LIONS are a whisker better and will get a WIN.  Should be a terrific game!

Eagles VS Giants--- This should be referred to as the SAQUON BARKLEY REVENGE GAME!!!  He will show John Mara that his team paid the wrong player and let the most valuable piece of their offense get away!!! EAGLES for the WIN!!!  I wonder if Eagle's Coach, Nick Siranni, will have any words for Eagle fans making a trek to the Meadowlands????? 

Raiders VS Rams--- The Raiders look like they are ready to tank the season after trading one of the top receivers in the NFL to the Jets, and this doesn't help the team no matter who their QB is.  Although the Rams are riddled with injuries, they are coming off their BYE week. Going with the RAMS!

Panthers VS Washington ---Although Washington's defense took a major blow with Jon Allen being out for the year, they still have Jayden Daniels and the offense to save the day.  Meanwhile the Panther's are fighting for that top draft choice.  WASHINGTON with a WIN!

Chiefs VS 49ers---A rematch of Super Bowl 58. The 49ers are missing Christian McCaffrey,  a key in their offense, but still have WR Deebo Samuel.  The Chiefs have been a bit off on offense and have been relying on their defense and just keep winning somehow, someway. I'm going with the CHIEFS!!!

Jets VS Steelers--Can Aaron Rodgers redeem himself after showing flaws against the Bills now that he has his buddy, WR Davante Adams on his team? Or has Rodgers lost a step and contemplating a unique retirement (politics?, more meditation in a dark hole?, Jeopardy host?, golf?) we will have to wait and see.  Meanwhile uncharacteristically, Steeler's Coach, Mike Tomlin, is contemplating a QB change and benching Justin Fields and inserting Russell Wilson, whose best days are behind him!  The Steelers have TJ Watt on defense.  I don't like the move of Wilson at QB, the Steelers are 4-2, if it ain't broke why change, so I'm going with the JETS, and Aaron Rodgers with a lot to prove!!!

Ravens VS Bucs---The Ravens rolled out their version of a monster truck in the form of Derrick Henry against a weak Washington defense and he and QB Lamar Jackson delivered.  The Bucs and Baker Mayfield are putting up the points, and getting All Pro Safety Winfield back should help their defense.  I'm going with THE BUCS at home!

Chargers VS Cardinals --- Despite the distraction of Coach Jim Harbaugh's heart issue atrial flutter, (and now he's having to wear a monitor for a couple weeks), the team managed to beat the Broncos at mile high Denver.  The Cardinals sometimes put up a good fight, but just can't seem to get a win, and other times are outmatched. CHARGERS for the win!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

[Spurt]

HERE'S A POST BY SPORTS REPORTER, FIELD YATES TO GIVE YOU A CHUCKLE:

The NFL has officially announced Super Bowl XLII will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2028. The Chiefs' opponent has yet to be determined.

[Spurt]

Washington announced that they have placed DT Jonathan Allen and DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste on IR. Allen is expected to miss the rest of the season after tearing his pectoral and Jean-Baptiste suffered an ankle injury.

The roster spots were filled by signing DE

Jalyn Holmes as a free agent and signing DT Sheldon Day  

[gardenman]

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@Spurt wrote:

CORRECTION The Bears/Washington on October 27th game is being flexed NOT to the Sunday night game, but flexed to the Late CBS game 4:25 PM ET/3:25 PM CT....

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The Eagles/ Bengals was supposed to be the 4:25 game but got moved back to 1:00.

[gardenman]

He's probably not wrong. The Bills and Texans are the only real threats to the Chiefs these days. And both would need a good game to beat the Chiefs. Maybe a few of the kid QBs will turn into the next Mahomes by 2028, but that's hard to predict. 

[gardenman]

The Eagles opened the practice window for TE Albert Okwuebunam after Dallas Goedert's injury. Albert O is an interesting guy. He had a "once in a lifetime" preseason game while with the Broncos that had many thinking he was going to be a star. He hasn't done much since then. He's got the size and ability, he's just one of those guys who hasn't figured out how to put it all together.

You see guys that way. WR Travis Fulgham was that way for the Eagles in 2020. He had a four-game stretch where he led the league in receiving. People were legitimately talking about him being the next great receiver. And then it all stopped. The mental/emotional part of football is often the hardest part of football. Stuff gets in your head and you can't get out of your own way. It drives coaches and talent evaluators nuts. "We know he can do this!" Then he doesn't. 

The Eagles keep highlight reels of their guys to show them when their confidence starts to wane a bit. "Look at this guy! He's great! He's you! That's what we want to see!" Some guys if they drop a pass or miss a block, it gets in their head and they're done for that game. They just can't get over it. Keeping guys in the right headspace can be the most challenging part of being a coach.

Albert O is one of those guys with so much talent and potential that you hate to give up on him, but he has to show you something.  He's 6'-5" and 258 pounds. Runs a 4.49 forty. He had a great preseason game with the Broncos in 2023. The Eagles traded for him and he did nothing. He played in four games, had one target and no catches. Not ideal stats. In three years in Denver he amassed 546 total yards on 54 catches. They decided to move on and traded him to the Eagles. He's one of those frustrating guys where if you could put his frame and physical ability into the body of a smaller, less gifted kid who was better equipped mentally, you'd have another Travis Kelce. 

A Thursday night game tonight. Probably not a great one, but you never know. The Broncos take on the Saints. Dennis Allen looked like he might have saved his career with the first two games being huge wins. He's lost four straight since then. A fifth straight loss may seal his fate. Sean Payton will want a bit of payback for the Saints letting him go.

[Spurt]

So does anyone have any thoughts on Jerry Jones's meltdown on his radio show where he threatened to replace the radio guys just because they asked tough questions......

“This is not your job,” he said. “Your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding. You’re not going to figure it out what the team is doing right or wrong. If you are, or any five or 10 like you, you need to come to this (NFL) meeting I’m going to today with 32 teams here, you’re geniuses.”

 With Jones’ radio interview, the Cowboys are front-page again. People are talking about them, which is a win for Jones.  Jerry said he loves even bad publicity....

One person quipped---Cowboys fans are having more fun watching Jerry Jones fail than watching the team win lol let that sink in…

 @PARedbird 

Boy, Don Harris wouldn't be employed if he was the one asking the weekly questions....lol