NFL 2015: Week 4

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My “notes" from last week?

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Missed Extra Point Watch: Kyle Bridza (TB), Andrew Franks (MIA), Randy Bullock (HOU fired),

PFF QB Performances of the Week: QB Carson Palmer (+6.7), QB Matt Ryan (+5.5), QB Andy Dalton (+5.3)
PFF Non-QB Offensive Performances of the Week: WR Julio Jones (+4.9), OG Evan Mathis (+4.7), OG Gabe Jackson (+4.6)
PFF Defensive Performances of the Week: OLB Khalil Mack (+7.6), OLB Von Miller (+7.1), DT Brandon Williams (+6.7)
PFF Worst Performance of the Week: OT LaAdrian Waddle (-9.5)
Dishonorable Mention: QB Colin Kaepernick (-8.4)
Greg Robinson Watch: OT Greg Robinson (-2.2)

JJ Watt is losing his separate “performance of the week” listing until he can at least start cracking the top of the normal list.

Pick 'Ems

Through three weeks, the oddsmakers are barely scratching above .500, giving us quite a list of players outpacing Vegas for the season so far.

Oakland at Chicago: The 2-1 Raiders take on the 0-3 Bears, meaning we could very well be talking about the 3-1 Oakland Raiders a week from now. The Raiders have a top 10 offense right now, with Derek Carr connecting with Cooper and Michael Crabtree, and Latavius Murray stepping into a feature back role. Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery have both been limited in practice, so it’s a guess at this point which Bears offense the Raiders will have to face. Defense is still Oakland’s big weakness: they’ve given up more yardage through 3 games than any other team. Still, with the Bears offensive effectiveness questionable even if both Cutler and Jeffery play, I’m taking Oakland.

Dallas at New Orleans: Are we lucky enough to get a Sunday night game of Weeden versus a McCown brother? These two completed a shockingly high percentage of their throws a week ago (84.6% for Weeden, 81.6% for McCown). Threatening this epic showdown, though, is Drew Brees, who has been taking increasing reps at practice and could return for Sunday’s game. I’m torn on the pick here, and I’m not sure if Brees potentially returning makes me more or less likely to choose the Saints. In doubt, I guess I’ll go with the home team, New Orleans.

Miami “at” NY Jets (in London): London football fans pile into Wembley Stadium, excited at the prospect of watching a live NFL game that doesn’t include the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, they get the one team that lost to Jacksonville this year, so, joke’s on them. Miami’s pre-season optimism has taken some gut punches, as the big step forward by Tannehill has yet to materialize. The 2-1 Jets were riding high thanks to some FitzMagic against a couple of lesser defenses, but they got their first glimpse of FitzTragic last week against a desperate Eagles team. The Jets D-line is badly missing Sheldon Richardson, whose suspension concludes after this weekend. The defense has only mustered 4 sacks so far, good for 21st, after posting the 6th most a season ago. Still, that’s better than Miami, whose 1 sack in 3 games ranks dead last (tied with the Chargers). Still, I’ll take Miami.

Philadelphia at Washington: One win under their belt, and the panic subsides in Philly, at least temporarily. Still, Sam Bradford’s hapless 118 yards passing isn’t getting anyone excited. DeMarco Murray is still questionable, but since the only reliable offense Philly had was FRESNO STATE’S Ryan Mathews, they’re probably not worrying too much about his return, at least until Mathews’s inevitable multi-week ankle or foot injury. Washington comes into this game rested from a long week. Despite being 1-2, they’ve shown some signs of life on offense, including from rookie running back Matt Jones (not that one), who is working his way into Alfred Morris’s workload. Those two will have their work cut out for them against an Eagles defense giving up only 3.1 yards per carry so far. I’m taking Philadelphia as the team that gets to .500.

Kansas City at Cincinnati: The Chiefs may be 1-2, but those two losses are to playoff caliber teams that they gave some fight to. The Chief schedule doesn’t get any easier here, going on the road to the team that is, right now, among the best of the AFC. With a schedule that has kept Prime Time Andy Dalton at home so far, the Bengals have flourished, and not just on offense. Their run defense has been stifling (thanks in large part to Geno Atkins turning from scrub back into Geno Atkins), and their pass defense has held its own. Kansas City finally broke their no-TDs-to-WRs streak, so really, anything can happen. I’m taking Cincinnati, though this game is as good as any for Cincy to earn their first defeat of the season.

Make your Week 4 picks now!

Week 3 Results
*Legion*: 5-0
Cobble: 5-0
PorkSmoothie89: 5-0
Mr E.B. Slugworth: 5-0
sr_malo: 5-0
Tempest Blayze: 5-0
tboon: 5-0
Elliottx: 5-0
Atras: 5-0
jonfentyler: 5-0
Peedmyself: 5-0
TheGameGuru: 5-0
oldmanscene24: 5-0
thejustinbot: 5-0
karmajay: 5-0
Torq: 4-1
iaintgotnopants: 4-1
kaostheory: 4-1
Nomad: 4-1
GioClark: 4-1
Rat Boy: 4-1
LeapingGnome: 4-1
Jowner: 4-1
garion333: 4-1
Certis: 4-1
Infyrnos: 4-1
Bubs14: 4-1
UpToIsomorphism: 4-1
cube: 4-1
Oddsmakers: 3-2
Zaque: 3-2
EvilDead: 3-2
MilkmanDanimal: 3-2
BEPNewt: 3-2
onewild: 3-2
Stele: 3-2
Abu5217: 3-2
AnimeJ: 3-2
Top_Shelf: 3-2
Gumbie: 3-2
Jayhawker: 2-3
Neozilla: 0-0
whispa: 0-0
Grumpicus: 0-0
Bighoppa: 0-0
Minase: 0-0
Kush15: 0-0
Paleocon: 0-0
troubleshot: 0-0
Vector: 0-0
Psych: 0-0

Season to Date
tboon: 12-3
jonfentyler: 12-3
Mr E.B. Slugworth: 11-4
Peedmyself: 11-4
garion333: 11-4
oldmanscene24: 11-4
*Legion*: 11-4
TheGameGuru: 11-4
onewild: 10-5
Torq: 10-5
LeapingGnome: 10-5
Infyrnos: 10-5
PorkSmoothie89: 10-5
Cobble: 10-5
UpToIsomorphism: 10-5
karmajay: 10-5
MilkmanDanimal: 9-6
Zaque: 9-6
Stele: 9-6
iaintgotnopants: 9-6
Atras: 9-6
Rat Boy: 9-6
thejustinbot: 9-6
Oddsmakers: 8-7
Certis: 8-7
kaostheory: 8-7
Gumbie: 8-7
Elliottx: 8-7
Top_Shelf: 8-7
Jayhawker: 8-7
Bubs14: 7-8
Abu5217: 7-8
Jowner: 7-3
BEPNewt: 7-8
Tempest Blayze: 7-3
EvilDead: 6-9
Psych: 6-4
cube: 6-4
Nomad: 6-4
sr_malo: 6-4
AnimeJ: 5-5
Kush15: 5-5
Neozilla: 4-1
Vector: 4-6
GioClark: 4-6
Bighoppa: 4-6
Paleocon: 4-6
Grumpicus: 3-7
whispa: 3-2
Minase: 2-3
troubleshot: 0-0

Great banner image!

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Washington Redskins
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders - I'm genetically incapable of picking the bears
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: New Orleans Saints - this is a tough call, I'm tempted to pick the 'boys here, but, if Brees plays, it should be Saints
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Miami Dolphins - I flipped a coin, with the London games, who knows
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Washington Redskins - My Upset pick of the week
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals - Did not see anything on Monday night that made me think the Chiefs can beat the Bengals at home

Looks like my results got skipped? I went 5-0.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Washington Redskins
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals

Raaaaaaaaaaaaiders

'Dem Cowboys

'Fins

Iggles

Bungles

I'm just going to keep plugging along at 3-2 every week and see how that works out.

Vector wrote:

Looks like my results got skipped? I went 5-0.

Make sure to submit the picks to the picks site and confirm that they're received (the list at the top of the picks form will display your saved picks after submitting). I have no Week 3 picks for you posted there.

You did post them to the thread, so I will go back-fill them.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: New Orleans Saints
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Kansas City Chiefs

Was-Phi may not happen if the hurricane hits.

Last week my picks were the same as Legion's so I changed one on the off chance I could gain ground. This week it's go for broke time! WOO! USA! USA! USA!

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Washington Redskins
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders - Duh Bears are putrid, Oakland is not. Easy as that.
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: New Orleans Saints - If this were in Dallas, I'd take Dallas. But it isn't so...
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Miami Dolphins - London games rank up there with Thursday night games in suckitude.
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Philadelphia Eagles - The Eagles are better than Washington, right? RIGHT?!?
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals - I think KC turns it around but probably not on the road this week.

Certis wrote:

Was-Phi may not happen if the hurricane hits.

It's not going to hit. People may drown driving to the game because we may get 8-12 inches of rain around here but ol' Joaquin is headed out to sea.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: I . . . I just picked the Raiders on the road. I have a head injury, right?

Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: As bad as the Saints defense has been, I'm thinking Dallas will run 400 times and the Brandon Weeden/Matt Cassel combo might just be left in the locker room. In Dallas.

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: I endured Greg Schiano and Teenage Raheem Morris, and even I'm glad I've never had to root for a team Joe Philbin is in charge of. It's going to be tragic with Suh "accidentally" finds a way to stomp on his neck on the sideline.

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Remember "Chip Kelly, NFL Genius"? That was a fun couple of weeks a few years back, wasn't it?

Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals could line all 11 guys offsides 10 years behind Alex Smith, and he still wouldn't throw the ball more than five yards down the field.

Abu5217 wrote:

Great banner image!

Yeah nothing else NFL-related is going to come along that's as perfect for that image layout size as that.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: I . . . I just picked the Raiders on the road. I have a head injury, right?

Nope, just CARRMAGEDDON!

It's like BORTLESMANIA except better.

*Legion* wrote:
Vector wrote:

Looks like my results got skipped? I went 5-0.

Make sure to submit the picks to the picks site and confirm that they're received (the list at the top of the picks form will display your saved picks after submitting). I have no Week 3 picks for you posted there.

You did post them to the thread, so I will go back-fill them.

That's weird because I copy and paste my picks here from there after they've been confirmed.

Anyway, this weeks picks are...

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: New Orleans Saints
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Kansas City Chiefs

*Legion* wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: I . . . I just picked the Raiders on the road. I have a head injury, right?

Nope, just CARRMAGEDDON!

It's like BORTLESMANIA except better.

IMAGE(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s149/MilkmanDanimal/backhand.jpg)

My picks were there on the first page, and I know I submitted them to the site because I paste the result in here. Not that it does me much good, since I can't pick winners for crap this sea...well, period.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals

Is Kaepernick going down the Josh Freeman career path? What has happened to him this season?? I guess with his quarterback whisper gone he is flailing around.

So the Ravens are playing, isn't it time for the "is Flacco elite?" conversation?

Stele wrote:

So the Ravens are playing, isn't it time for the "is Flacco elite?" conversation?

Hahaha. Very next play INT.

I, too, approve of the header pic.

My sole pick for the week: PANTHERS

I'm feeling a little dread here. Yeah, I know they're playing the Bucs, and showing up ought to be worth a Panthers TD (or the loss of a Bucs TD - either one works). But Kuechly is still out, the DE position is in flux (Jared Allen is starting on the right side; the three other guys who rotate will be switching over to the left side), Thomas Davis suffered a mystery injury last week and J-Stew and the Toldozer both missed two days of practice this week.

Also, the Fox guys working the game? Chris Myers and Ronde Barber. WHY HAS MY GOD FORSAKEN ME?

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears:
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints:
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets:
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins:
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals:

How is this game in OT? Jeez.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Oakland Raiders
Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati Bengals

Two 4th downs... Vick rushing, no gain... Vick passing, way overthrown.

Do something else Steelers.

What a stupid game.

So who had Baltimore and Pittsburgh both at the bottom end of the AFC before the season started? Cause neither looks so hot right now.

Vector wrote:

That's weird because I copy and paste my picks here from there after they've been confirmed.

Hmm. I'll have to go look at the logs and see if there's anything going on.

Rat Boy wrote:

So who had Baltimore and Pittsburgh both at the bottom end of the AFC before the season started? Cause neither looks so hot right now.

Nobody did. But nobody expected them to be hitting the bottom of the depth chart 3 weeks in either.

Rat Boy wrote:

So who had Baltimore and Pittsburgh both at the bottom end of the AFC before the season started? Cause neither looks so hot right now.

I suspect that they will both catch their stride in the second half of the season. The road schedule Baltimore has for the first 8 weeks is pretty ridiculous and Pitt has, easily, the hardest schedule in football this year.

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