Couple hours til game time, so lets bang out a quickie and get the thread started. So, taking a break from your regularly scheduled Tiger and Notre Dame programming, howsa bout some football Canuck style. Grab a two-four and settle in for some exciting AFC East action.
Thursday, Dec. 3 NY Jets 3 BUFFALO 37
Revis versus TO is getting all the pub, but Buffalo has won their fair share of games this season without TO doing squat so I’m not sure how much it matters. The Buffalo offence seems to be finding its stride behind Fitzy and Jackson so the Jets could face more of a test than you might expect on paper. As hinted at the game is also being played in Toronto at the Rogers Centre so perhaps Buffalo’s homefield advantage will be considerably diminished. The game is indoors on turf and it’s unclear how many unbiased Canucks will be in attendance let alone how many Jets fans are making the commute for a potentially cheap ticket, wager accordingly. I like the Jets defence in this tilt and I really like Thomas Jones against the Bills front seven, but there might not be a more inconsistent team than the Jets. Delhomme tossed a tidy 4 picks to the Jets vaunted D last week and they still only managed 17 points against a defence very similar to this Bills one. The Bills play the pass really well and cover really well so Sanchez won’t have any easy looks. I think this game sets up well for the Jets and they are feeling desperate, but the trend this season usually goes against obvious picks like that. I think the Bills make it happen in surprising fashion.
Interesting statistical note - I just realized that NFL.com is now keeping track of offensive line statistics.
What did I learn by looking at them? A couple of things: Aaron Rodgers may be the most sacked quarterback in the league, but David Garrard, Matt Schaub and the Buffalo quarterbacks have been hit more. In fact, David Garrard has been hit a lot more than anyone.
The Panthers lead the league in rushes for 10+ yards to the left and up the middle. However, they are 20th in rushes of 10+ yards to the right.
The Titans are near the top of the league in long rushes to the left and right, and way down near the bottom in long rushes up the middle, which is pretty much what you’d expect, what with Chris Johnson being a speed guy. However, the Bengals are also good at rushing outside and very bad at rushing inside, which is weird, because Benson is certainly not a speed guy.
The weirdest stat of all? The Minnesota Vikings are 7th from last in converting short-yardage rushing plays to the left, barely average in rushes of 10+ yards to the left, and have the 6th-most negative rushing plays to the left. Considering that Steve Hutchinson and Bryant McKinnie are just about the highest-paid guard-tackle tandem in the league, and their back is Peterson…
Haha did you see that Braylon drop? No one within 300 yards of him, bounces right off his face. Oh it’s good to be able to laugh about those instead of cringe.
Not gonna have time to get any picks in this week. Maybe I’ll manage to get a quickie posted tomorrow morning before the games if I happen to get up early.
Odds always get erased on game day, I figure I’ll post them here just to have a record later:
Underdog on right:
12/6 1:00 ET Denver -6 At Kansas City
12/6 1:00 ET At Pittsburgh -15 Oakland
12/6 1:00 ET Houston -2 At Jacksonville
12/6 1:00 ET At Indianapolis -6.5 Tennessee
12/6 1:00 ET Philadelphia -5.5 At Atlanta
12/6 1:00 ET At Cincinnati -13 Detroit
12/6 1:00 ET New Orleans -9.5 At Washington
12/6 1:00 ET At Carolina -5 Tampa Bay
12/6 1:00 ET At Chicago -9 St. Louis
12/6 4:05 ET San Diego -13.5 At Cleveland
12/6 4:15 ET San Francisco -1 At Seattle
12/6 8:20 ET Minnesota -3.5 At Arizona
12/6 4:15 ET Dallas -1.5 At NY Giants
12/6 1:00 ET New England -4 At Miami
Both undefeated teams protecting their zero loss status right now. I expected the Titans to be more of a handful, but the Colts are up by two scores. New Orleans are trailing the Redskins but I expect them to tie it by the half and take a double digit lead in the second half.
Matt Schaub knocked out on the first play of the game with a shoulder injury. Guess who the starting quarterback for all three of my SDMB fantasy teams is?
ETA: He just came back in and is 6/6 for 54 yards.
I have him in one of my money leagues. Him, Andre Johnson, and Chris Brown (who thanks to Portis, DeAngelo Williams, and Ladell Betts I have to start this week) all going in today’s must win game. Lots of eggs in one basket (but a pretty nice basket so far this year). I had to leave the TV and turn off the computer for fear these nice things of mine would become broken, most likely from my fist, when he went down. Still, lots of ground to make up.
Looks like Kurt Warner will play. I’m sure he’ll get pulled if he takes one good hit and hits the ground. The Cards really need to jump out to an early lead and get Leinart in there for some work.
Damnit, Saints – pull this one out! I need both you and Indy to run the table, that way the Giants can give the Saints their first loss in the NFC Championship game, and then the Colts their first loss in the Super Bowl!