Category: NFL

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NFL Halloween Special

We’re in Week 8 of the NFL season and it’s also Halloween weekend. So that feels as good a time as any to take stock and assess how everyone’s doing. Who’s scaring the living daylights out of the opposition? Who is spooking us out with their unexpected success? Who’s full of tricks and treats? For a bit of fun, I’m seeing which costume some of our favourite players and coaches should be dressing up in this weekend…

WEREWOLF – Carson Wentz

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On a normal Sunday afternoon, one particular quarterback is a mild-mannered individual and doesn’t really get – or deserve – much of our attention. But at night, under the bright lights of a primetime night game, he’s a man possessed, a beast howling at the full moon. And I’m talking about Washington’s Carson Wentz.

Wentz’s all-round stats are fairly middle of the road so far. After six games, he’s 18th in passing yards and 9th in touchdown passes, and he has thrown the fourth-most interceptions. But back in Week 6, on Thursday Night Football, the Commanders beat the Chicago Bears 12-7. As the score suggests, it was an absolute dog of a game and Wentz only mustered 12 of 22 for a measly 99 yards. However, don’t let that take away from the fact that the victory took Wentz’s record on TNF to 7-0: that’s the best Thursday night stats across any career in NFL history!

His previous six Ws all came while at Philadelphia, with whom he beat the Giants (x3), Jets, Panthers and Packers – averaging over 240 yards and boasting an impressive 15:2 touchdown to interception ratio. So Carson Wentz is the GOAT (of Thursday Night Football). Barking.

WIZARD – Joe Burrow

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The Cincinnati offense got off to a slow start this year, dropping to 0-2 with an all-new O-line that needed time to gel and a quarterback recovering from an urgent off-season appendectomy. But the 4-3 Bengals have taken four wins from the last five, and are now starting to look more like last year’s model than the less-impressive 2019 and 2020 editions.

The latest two-game spell, in which they scored 65 points against the Saints and Falcons, has seen Burrow in magical form, going 62 of 79 (78.4%) for 781 yards, six passing touchdowns and two rushing scores. Four of those passing TDs went for over 30 yards, with two going for 60.

Like a professor at Hogwarts, one flick of Burrow’s wand seems to make amazing things happen at the moment, so let’s see what sorcery he can provide against divisional rivals Cleveland on Monday’s Halloween Night special. He could conjure up another high-scoring win or it could all go up in a big cloud of smoke now that Ja’Marr Chase is out with a fractured hip.

ZOMBIE – Nathaniel Hackett

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Poor old Nathaniel. Everyone has such high hopes for Denver this year, with their high-octane attack being rounded out with the arrival of Seattle QB Russell Wilson in a blockbuster trade. But things have not gone well and, at the time of writing, there’s a real chance they could fall to 2-6 with a loss to the Jaguars at Wembley today.

Hackett is an offensively minded coach, having been an OC at Green Bay, Buffalo and today’s opponents Jacksonville, yet his offense has spluttered and fizzled. He’s taken stick for bad clock management (I wonder if he remembered to change his clocks last night) and his team rank dead last in points scored per game.

Broncos GM George Paton publicly gave his “100% support” a few days ago but more worryingly, CEO Greg Penner stopped short of guaranteeing the under-fire first-time HC will see the season out. Unless things turn round dramatically, Hackett feels like a dead man walking.

GHOST – Micah Parsons

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If you’re an opposing HC or OC, the last thing you want to see is Micah Parsons appearing out of nowhere to take your QB down. The Dallas Cowboy won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 and earned First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. His speed and strength helped him tally 13 sacks, 30 QB hits, 20 TFLs, three forced fumbles and three passes defended last years, and he’s already on pace to improve all those marks this year, with eight sacks, 14 QB hits, nine TFLs, two forced fumbles and two passes defended in just seven games. The guy’s a banshee.

His positional versality means that Parsons has a spooky habit of ghosting in undetected. This weekend, the interior linebacker goes in search of Bears rockslinger Justin Fields, the most-sacked QB in the league (27 in seven games). I have a feeling Fields will be haunted by Parsons all night.

DR FRANKENSTEIN – Brian Daboll

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There’s no doubt that Brian Daboll, the first-year Head Coach of the New York Giants, has had a monster start to the season. After the departures of GM Dave Gettleman and HC Joe Judge, it seemed like the former Bills OC was inheriting a bit of a mess. And yet he’s managed to take all the disparate components that were lying about and cobble them into a 6-1 team, their best start in 13 years. Other than Saquon Barkley, the cast is hardly stellar – Daniel Jones, Sterling Sheppard, Darius Slayton, Richie James, Daniel Bellinger – and yet he’s made the whole noticeably greater than the sum of its parts

Admittedly, he didn’t have to do much to be an improvement on Judge, but it appears his communication and relationship-building skills lie at the heart of the team’s transformation. Remember, this franchise went 4-13 last year, their fifth straight season with double-digit losses, and finished dead last in the NFC East.

With four 4th-quarter comebacks under his belt already, he’s definitely given this corpse of a franchise a jolt. No wonder he’s second favourite in the Coach of the Year stakes, just behind the (unbeaten) Eagles’ Nick Sirianni.

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5 things to look out for in Week 8

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Week 8 sees Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers meet on SNF, and the Jacksonville Jaguars return to London

1. Russell Wilson will start for the Broncos against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley

Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson is good to go on Sunday in London, after missing last week’s home game against the New York Jets with a hamstring injury.

Both the Broncos and the Jaguars are 2-5 but aren’t out of the playoff hunt just yet, one win may be the catapult needed to make a late push.

The Wilson-less Broncos were second-best in Sunday’s loss, whilst Jacksonville fell short in a close game at home to the Giants.

2. The New York Jets – New England Patriots rivalry is back!

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For the first time in years, the Jets-Patriots rivalry is meaningful, 2022 is the first time since 2001 that the Jets have had more wins than their rivals over in Boston at this point in the season.

New England has got a QB competition on its hands after Bailey Zappe’s impressive play whilst Mac Jones was injured, the latter is expected to start again, but don’t be surprised to see the former when things are going south, like on Monday night.

All signs are pointing towards a tight, low-scoring affair, exactly as the in-form Jets like it, their defense has been one of the best in the league so far this season.

3. Reigning Super Bowl Champions looking to get right against a division rival

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Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams come back from their bye at 3-3 but are in desperate need of a win against the 49ers if they want to be crowned NFC West champions, for the second season running.

The 49ers currently hold the tie-breaker over the Rams having already beaten them this season back in Week 4, if they drop another loss in this one it may come back to bite them in a tight division race.

Kyle Shanahan has beaten McVay’s Rams in eight of the twelve meetings since both became head coaches in 2017, last year the Rams were swept by the Niners, but won in the NFC Championship game.

4. Will Geno continue his outstanding season against the 6-1 Giants?

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Every single New York Giants game has finished within one score this year, expect that to continue as they visit the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Both Geno Smith (SEA), and Daniel Jones (NYG), have been impressive so far this season, especially when helped out by both teams’ efficient rushing attacks, being two of the best teams to watch in the NFC.

Two top 10 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft will collide in this game as Kayvon Thibodeaux and Charles Cross battle in the trenches.

5. Josh Allen and Aaron Rodgers meet on SNF

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Sunday Night Football sees the 3-4 Green Bay Packers travel to Orchard Park to play the 5-1 Buffalo Bills.

It’s not looking pretty in Green Bay now that the Packers have lost three straight for the first time since 2018.

Buffalo are fresh and were on a three-game win streak before their bye, the most impressive victory was their last, beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

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F10Y Betting; Week 8 Best Bets

We did it! We finally did it! Week 7 of the season produced the first 4-0 week for the boys on the betting podcast as all 4 of their selections came in, and all without too much bother or stress as well, which was nice.

Callum chose the Cardinals on Thursday night to get us off to a flyer, Adam took the under in the Giants and Lions game and 30 points is definitely under the 49 which was on offer, Jack’s team lost the game but covered the 6.5 spread as the Browns kept it tight against the Ravens and Liam won again to take himself to 6-1 on the season with the Chiefs destroying the 49ers on Sunday Night.

An excellent night after a rough few weeks for the Betting guys. Onwards and upwards on the season now!

You can of course give a listen to the podcast and find out what they think of every game this weekend as well as a little more information on the best bets listed below, as well as all the other fantastic podcasts that the Full10Yards crew put out each week at the Full 10 Yards feed wherever you find your podcasts.

https://anchor.fm/full10yards/episodes/F10Y-Betting-Week-8-Best-Bets-e1pt8pq to listen to this weeks pod.

Titans -2.5 @ Texans

Liam (@_LiamHorsley)

The top of the AFC South Titans are giving up less than a field goal against the 1 win Texans? That seems a little off to me. Ryan Tannehill is nursing a probable high ankle sprain so may not be as mobile, but why would the Titans care? They don’t throw the ball anyway so expect 150 yards and 2 TDs from Derrick Henry and a stout defensive performance from the Titans to get the win here.

The Texans may well be sellers come the trade deadline so won’t want to get their star(s) injured, so Brandin Cooks may not get too involved in this one, other than him they’re mainly Dameon Pierce and hoping for deep shots. It’s a talent-poor roster which is likely to get poorer.

Bengals -3 @ Browns – 8/11ish

Jack (@JackT_95)

It looks like the Bengals have found their groove again as they put up 35 points against the Falcons last week, mainly in the first half after they coasted to the win. It could just be the defenses their facing but they have moved to Shotgun snaps for over 95% of the game now and it seems to be paying dividends as they’ve been far better throwing and running. The Bengals defense is still yet to allow a second-half TD from any team this year and will look to keep that up here.

The Browns have had good success against the Bengals, and that’s mainly through Nick Chubb on the ground. Expect him to get 20+ carries this week as they look to trade Kareem Hunt. Other than Chubb they’ve been relatively inept with Jacoby Brissett at QB, there’s no real connection with anyone other than David Njoku and it seems unlikely he’ll suit up for this through injury.

The Bengals are the class here and should cover.

Cardinals +3.5 @ Vikings

Callum (@CallumJDSquires)

I love Kyler Murray. I hate Kirk Cousins – What more is there to say about this game?

The Cardinals finally put up a good performance last Thursday so get a mini-bye coming into this game against a team who had their proper bye week last week. Deandre Hopkins is back and was installed immediately as the leader in receptions and yards, Eno Benjamin looked great on the ground and Keontay Ingram looked a lot better in his second game as well. It was their defense that bamboozled Andy Dalton in their previous match and they should create turnovers against Cousins.

The Vikings are a fraud at 5-1, they’ve been very lucky in their games and unless they come out of their bye with some serious changes their luck may well run out here. Cousins is fine, Jefferson one of the best WRs in the league and Dalvin Cook is good but they’re quite shallow outside of those two offensive stars and the Cardinals should be able to slow them down.

Dolphins vs. Lions u51.5

Adam (@TouchdownTips)

I took an Under last week involving the Lions and it was an easy winner so I’ll be taking them to be involved in a lower scoring game again this week against a Dolphins defense who have been very solid, and their offense which while it puts up big yards with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle has struggled to put up points with any of their QBs.

Other than that remarkable comeback against the Ravens, the Dolphins haven’t put up more than 21 points all season, and I think they win here, so by that logic the Lions will score fewer. The Lions were a solid OVER team early in the year but since the goose-egg against the Patriots seem to have been found out a little.

My one worry would be Swift and St. Brown both fully healthy, but even though I trust the Dolphins defense to restrict the scoring against them.

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Analysing Three Key Saints Matchups To Watch in Week Eight

The Saints are thoroughly in win-now mode, yes, they are only one game back from the division lead, but they must start taking advantage of that and winning games.

I think there are three key matchups for the Saints must win on Sunday.

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Hunter Renfrow and Davante Adams Vs Saints Slot Defender/S

With Bradley Roby on IR the Saints options for slot defenders are not great.  Generally, Justin Evans and Chris Harris Jr have been the options.

Per PFF whilst covering the slot, these are their stats:

Justin Evans– 77 coverage snaps, 20 targets, 15 receptions for 165 yards, 85 of those yards have been after the catch. One touchdown allowed, passer rating when targeted of 115.6

Chris Harris Jr– 38 coverage snaps, 8 targets, 8 receptions for 72 yards, 41 of those yards have been after the catch. Zero touchdowns given up, passer rating when targeted 104.2.

That does not make for pleasant reading when the Saints have Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow next up on the schedule. 

When playing in the slot:

Hunter Renfrow– 77.3% of his targets this year have been when he’s is lined up in the slot. 17 targets, 12 receptions for 111 yards, 51 of those yards are after the catch, he’s forced 4 missed tackles so far this year and 5 of his catches have resulted in first downs. 

Renfrow has fumbled twice however and Raiders QB Derek Carr has thrown an interception when targeting him in the slot.   

The key thing with Renfrow is limiting the yards after the catch., which is something this Saints secondary has really struggled with. Renfrow’s average depth of target in the slot is 5.2, if the Saints limit the YAC that number 5 yards a catch is far more manageable.

Davante Adams -is a different situation altogether.

Only 27.6% of his snaps have been played from the slot, but has been targeted 16 times, and made 15 receptions for 169 yards and a touchdown, the one incompletion was an interception.  Adams has been a monster after the catch, 97 of his yards have been YAC. He’s also forced 6 missed tackles from the slot and 9 of these 15 catches have resulted in a first down.

Adams is a different situation because the hope is that Marshon Lattimore will be back and should shadow Adams, even when he goes into the slot. Lattimore doesn’t always follow his man into the slot, but I think that’s a must in this game if Lattimore plays.

I’d also like the see the Saints give rookie Alontae Taylor a run in the slot, ideally you would keep him on the outside, Roby’s injury could force their hand. At this stage you need your best players in the secondary on the field, however, they achieve that it doesn’t matter. 

I can’t face another week of Justin Evans getting picked on in coverage.

Right Side Of The Saints Line Vs Maxx Crosby

Maxx Crosby is a game wrecker, truly one of the elite players in the league at his position. He is everything the Saints want Marcus Davenport to be, big, physical, long, athletic and flat-out dominant.

Per PFF Crosby has totalled 30 QB pressures this season (including sacks) which he has 6 of. His 30 total pressures is the fifth most in the NFL. He’s also a demon in run defense, Crosby has totalled 19 defensive stops in the run game ( Defensive Stops mean – tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense) that is second most in the league across all defensive positions, not just defensive lineman.

He primarily lines up on the left side of the defensive line, which for the Saints would be Ryan Ramczyk and Cesar Ruiz’s side of the line. This should be the stronger side of the line for the Saints and Ryan Ramczyk needs to show why he’s the highest-paid RT in the league this game.

Rookie contract Ramczyk would stonewall his opponent in these matchups which is why the Saints quickly locked up the former first-round pick to a massive contract. However, Ram has struggled more than usual since suffering a significant knee injury that cause him to miss time last season. The repercussion of that was described this offseason. It was explained early in training camp that Ramczyk would likely be on a ‘load management plan for the rest of his career to make sure his knee holds up.

So far that has worked with him taking every Wednesday off in practice, meaning Ramczyk has played every snap for the Saints, however, he has not been as dominant in pass protection as you would usually expect.

Next to him is the new and improved Cesar Ruiz I discussed his massive improvement in more detail here – Three Up/Down After the Saints Dismal Loss on Thursday Night (whodathype.com)

The Saints Offensive Line Is A Sign Of Hope In Dark Season (whodathype.com)

Whether it’s Andy Dalton or Jameis Winston starting at QB it’s shown that pressure can derail this offense and throw off all timing and rhythm. It’s also caused plenty of turnovers.

Either way, you slice it the Saints have the talent to limit Crosby however they must have a plan for him going into Sunday’s game, otherwise, he could be an absolute game-wrecker.

Saints Run Defense Vs Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs has looked like one of the best backs in the league in recent weeks, if not the best. In his last three games, he has rushed for 441 yards and scored six rushing touchdowns.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem for the Saints since 2017 their defense has been a top 2 unit in the league against the run. However, this year that is not the case, so far, they have allowed 4.6 YPC, which ranks 19th in the league.

They have also given up several massive run plays, Kenneth Walker ran for a 69-yard touchdown, Eno Benjamin had a 45-yard run for the Cardinals last week etc… these were plays you simply haven’t seen from the Saints run defense for several years. 

There’s one very easy statistic that shows the issues the Saints are having. Below is the starting defensive line’s average depth of tackle in the run game:

  • Marcus Davenport (3.2 yards)
  • Shy Tuttle (3.8 yards)
  • David Onyemata (4 yards)
  • Cameron Jordan (1.2 yards)

What this shows is three of the starting defensive line are getting pushed back significantly against the run last season all three were around 2 yards. Cam is still doing what he’s always done and playing stout strong run defense the problem is with the rest of the line.

Honestly, I don’t know what the coaches can do to fix this, this stat shows it could be a player problem so without adding more talent this could just be the reality of this season’s unit.

If you want to look at this in a cheerier light, then you could argue they’ve shown before to be a dominant line against the run with the same players, so they could turn it around, I hope that’s the case.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.

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Week 7: Rookie Standouts

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With teams favoured in the offseason like the Packers, Bucs, and Broncos continuing to struggle, whilst the two written-off New York teams are shocking everyone, this NFL season seems to get stranger and stranger. In week 7, these were the rookies that stood out. 

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Kenneth Walker III, Running Back – Seattle Seahawks  

Running back seems to be a position I give a lot of love to, but the numbers some of these rookies are putting up are incredible. Unfortunately, Bryce Hall is now done for the season after his heartbreaking ACL injury, so the rookie rushing title seems to be between previous standout Dameon Pierce and this week’s standout Kenneth Walker III. 

Walker was thrust into the lineup after Rashaad Penny’s unfortunate season-ending injury, and the second rounder out of Michigan State has made the most of his opportunities. Against the Chargers, Walker was steadily working his way towards another 100-plus yard game before his blistering 74-yard touchdown run in the middle of the 4th quarter, which saw him hit 22.09 miles per hour, the fastest speed by a ball carrier this season. 

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Sam Williams, Edge – Dallas Cowboys 

In a defence that already has reigning defensive rookie of the year Micah Parsons, Dorance Armstrong and Demarcus Williams, the last thing the league wanted to see was another Dallas defender breakout, but that’s exactly what Sam Williams did despite playing less than a quarter of the defensive snaps against the Lions   

On a day where the Cowboys shared the wealth around with four different players recording a sack, Williams helped himself not only to his first ever career sack but followed it up with the smoothest strip sack and fumble recovery you will ever see, which effectively sealed the game for Dallas. After beating Penei Sewell around the edge, Williams seemed to literally take the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands before he even realised it was gone. 

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Jaquan Brisker, Safety – Chicago Bears  

Coming into Monday night’s game against the New England Patriots, few thought that the Chicago Bears’ defence would have much luck against the returning Mac Jones (and later Bailey Zappe), but that could not have been further from the truth, and two of the reasons why were Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon. 

The former Penn State man, Brisker, gets the nod here due in part to there being two parts to his incredible interception of Jones that had a slight air of revenge about it. Early in the second quarter, Jones took off on a run, and as he slid down, he curiously raised his foot, which connected with Brisker in a certain sensitive area. Brisker’s revenge was swift and sweet, however, as mere minutes later he recorded his first career interception with a stunning one-handed grab that showed both his athleticism and anticipation skills. 

Honorable Mentions

Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Coby Bryant (Seattle Seahawks), Aiden Hutchinson (Detroit Lions), Chris Olave (New Orleans Saints), Dameon Pierce (Houston Texans)

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Fantasy Recap – Week 7

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Welcome to the fantasy recap and this week we had to survive without the Bills, Eagles, Vikings and Rams so it was a tough week to get through. Throw in a massive trade, some major injuries and strange coaching decisions and it added up to the usual FF mayhem. He’s who thrived, who nosedived and who has arrived on the scene this week.

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

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Fantasy Stars:

Andy Dalton (NO) – 30cmp/361yds/4tds/3int + 4rsh/21yds 30pts

I gave Joe Burrow the nod here last week and he was top dog once again but to switch it up I’ll pick this week’s QB2. That was Andy Dalton. The Red Rifle had a game he’d want to forget when it comes to real life since he threw 3 interceptions and lost the game to Arizona, but his fantasy score was tremendous.

Austin Ekeler (LAC) – 9rsh/31yds/1td + 12rec/96yds/1td 36pts

Ekeler is the clear RB1 on the season currently and in some scoring formats, tied for the league lead. After a mediocre start (we are still talking double digits every week though) he’s not dipped below 24 since week 3. Most receivers would love 12 receptions so his usage there as a running back is incredible, especially when you consider he caught every target he got.   

JaMarr Chase (CIN) – 8rec/130yds/2tds 33pts

Now Joe Burrow is fully mended the Bengals offence looks hard to stop. Chase had the biggest day as you can see but Tyler Boyd was the WR2 and Higgins was still in the top 24 and got 90+yards. Boyd had the most yards at 155 but only made the endzone once. But if you played The QB, RB, 3WR and TE from the Bengals this week, you’d have scored 145pts.

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Surprise Packages:

Justin Fields (CHI) – 13cmp/179yds/1td/1int + 14rsh/82yds/1td 20pts

Fields has steadily increased his fantasy output but is still yet to complete more than 15 passes in a game this season. He’s now has consecutive weeks with 80+ rushing yards but this was the first time since week 2 that he found the end zone on a rushing play. Daniel Jones also deserves a mention here for hitting 29pts with 202 passing yards and 107 rushing yards.

Eno Benjamin (ARI) – 12rsh/92yds/1td + 4rec/21yds 23pts

There were a lot of good running backs this week where you could argue that it’s a surprise but they were predictable. I think the surprise this week has been just how well some of the narratives went for backups ascending to starting roles. Gus Edwards, Raheem Mostert, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kenneth Walker, Travis Etienne, Deonta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard the list goes one. But to me Benjamin stuck out as James Conner had been pretty poor so far and the RB position in Arizona looked a bit suspect. Benjamin ripped up that narrative and made a case to be the long term starter. Also credit Antonio Gibson for being a top 16RB this week despite having Brian Robinson and all the narratives against him.

Mecole Hardman (KC) – 4rec/32yds/1td + 2rsh/28yds/2td 28pts

The Chiefs brought in Juju and MVS and yet this week it was Hardman who had the big day. I say big day, he hit paydirt 3 times despite only tallying 60yards overall. Juju was just behind with 25pts but had 124yds and 1td and MVS had 111 yards to get 14pts. There were so many surprises at WR this week though. Marquise Goodwin stepping in for Metcalf, Parris Campbell becoming a target monster, DJ Moore returning from the shadows, Ray-Ray McCloud, Darius Slayton, Kalif Raymond and Damiere Byrd were all top 24WRs this week. How?

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Disappointments:

Lamar Jackson (BAL) – 9cmp/120yds/0td/0int + 10rsh/59yds 11pts

I was spoiled for choice in the surprises section, but there was no end of options in the disappointment section too. Jared Goff scoring 2pts (with no injury), Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers losing to backups, Mariota coming crashing down after last week, Matt Ryan losing his job, Dak Prescott not returning to a fanfare or even Derrick Carr struggling to start… But this week I have to go for Lamar on a rare down week. No TDs, 179 total yards and yet the Ravens still won.

AJ Dillon (GB) – 4rsh/15yds + 0rec/0yds 2pts

What on earth is going on in Green Bay? They were meant to have a 2 headed monster RB committee with Dillon and Aaron Jones and that would help with their weaker receiving corps. Excluding week 1 he’s not scored double digit fantasy points and this was his lowest total to date. The other notable were Leonard Fournette only tallying 26yrds and 5pts against Carolina. Ouch.

Drake London (ATL) – 1rec/9yds 2pts

I usually ignore players who left through injury, hence why Amon-Ra St Brown and DK Metcalf aren’t featured here. Nor do I put players you’re not likely to have played like Skyy Moore scoring his second -3pt game of the season. Others were banged up or scored in the 5s and 6s but this week’s mention goes to Drake London. The rookie started the season so well and with so much hype, but since week 3 he’s not scored above 7.5pts or had more than 4 receptions or found the endzone.

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Waiver Wire pickups:

BYE Weeks: KC, LAC

QB – Jameis Winston (If Healthy) (NO) – With only 2 bye weeks this week you would think it would be much easier but it really isn’t. The Broncos, Titans, Colts, Browns, Patriots, 49ers, Jets, Falcons, Steelers and Panthers don’t have a playable QB between them for the time being and there are a host more where, without even looking at the matchup, you still cringe and think better of it. Winston has options and a reasonable matchup against the Raiders, but he has to be healthy first.

Other QB Options – Mills vsTEN, Heinicke @IND, G.Smith vsNYG.

RB – Michael Carter (NYJ) – With Breece Hall out for the season with an ACL tear, Carter will now be joined by former Jaguar James Robinson. He will need some time to adapt but Carter began the season well and should see plenty of work, especially when Zach Wilson is doing precious little in the passing game. Gus Edwards, the Panthers RBs and Khalil Herbert also need to be considered.

WR – George Pickens (PIT) – It’s slimmer pickings (excuse the pun) this week at WR but I think it’s your last chance to grab Kenny Pickens off waivers if he’s there as he looks to be the #1 and the Steelers future. Claypool and Johnson are trade candidates so his value will only rise. Alec Pierce, Parris Campbell, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Isaiah McKenzie and Zay Jones are also options.

TE – Harrison Bryant (CLE) – I’ve barely mentioned Tight Ends this week despite it being national Tight End week but really they all followed type this week. The good ones were great and the others were just meh. One major note was David Njoku getting injured and probably missing 2-4 weeks which means Harrison Bryant will see a large uptick in work as it’s a position that sees good usage in Cleveland.    

DST Options – Commanders @IND, Colts vsWAS, Ttians @HOU, Jaguars vsDEN.

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Five Things: Week 7 – New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars

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For the third week in a row, the Giants overturned a 4th quarter deficit to find a way to win and improve their record to 6-1. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out this week:

Coming of Age

Although Saquon Barkley finished yesterday’s game with 110 yards rushing, he made 40 of those yards in the clock-churning final offensive drive that ended in a field goal. For the rest of the game, the Giants’ offensive fortunes rested on one man’s shoulders: Daniel Jones. 

Multiple times this season, Jones has shown the grit, determination, decision-making, and game management that many Giants fans have been waiting to see since he stepped into Eli Manning’s shoes, and it’s not too farfetched to say that this season Jones looks very much like Manning in his breakout season. 

Yesterday, Jones looked the part in both the passing game and the rushing game. Despite six drops from his wide receivers, he completed 19 passes from 30 passing attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown and repeatedly took advantage of open space as he ran for a career high of 107 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first Giants quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in 76 years  

Close Out the Game! 

One concerning part of the game that hopefully isn’t the start of a trend was the inability to close out the game due to lapses in concentration. On both offence and defense, we made avoidable mistakes that would have either settled the game or at least made it much more comfortable than it was. 

The first one was a bizarre play call from our offence on 3rd down that saw Barkley run out towards the side-line. In what should have been an opportunity to run the clock down to 25 seconds before making a field goal attempt, Barkley was pushed out of bounds, which stopped the clock at 1:07, plenty of time for the Jaguars to attempt a comeback  

The refs (more on them later), intent on driving the heart rate of Giants fans through the roof, found two questionable calls that negated two huge plays from the defence and that led to the Jags being able to extend their drive toward the crazy final play of the game. 

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The Final Play(s) 

In what felt like the longest minute and four seconds ever, it all came down to one last set of downs. 

After a long completion on 4th down, coupled with a roughing the passer call, the Jags quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, took his position on the Giants’ 17-yard line and, with sixteen seconds on the clock, had ample time to break Giants fans’ hearts. His first throw thrown towards Zay Jones was broken up by Adoree Jackson, and his second sailed over Marvin Jones’ head. 

With seven seconds left, it all came down to one play, and it almost paid dividends. Lawrence, with an empty backfield, took the ball and almost immediately threw a dart to Christian Kirk. Kirk secured the ball in the air and seemed destined to fall into the endzone before Fabian Moreau, who was having another outstanding game, stopped him dead on the one-yard line. Xavier McKinney and Julian Love both smothered Kirk to keep him out of the endzone as time expired. 

Come On Ref! 

In what seems to be a weekly occurrence in the NFL, the referees decided that they wanted to be a bigger part of the action, and it was the Giants’ turn to see some questionable calls and no calls both for and against them. 

Mistakes were rife throughout the game, but nothing highlighted how inconsistent the officiating crew were more than a pair of hits on the quarterbacks that ended up yielding differing results. In one drive, Daniel Jones, albeit awkwardly slid down and was clearly hit late by the Jags’ Cisco; no flag. Yet earlier in the half, Dexter Lawrence slightly pulled on Trevor Lawrence’s jersey, causing him to stumble to his hands and knees; flag thrown. 

As previously mentioned, there were also questionable calls in the Jags’ final drive, but the worst of the day was the horrendous face mask and eye poke on Daniel Bellinger that was not deemed worthy of a flag despite Bellinger having to leave the game on the cart  

Beyond a Joke 

I feel like this point has been copied and pasted from week to week, but yet again, in what seems to be the norm for the Giants, the injuries are piling up again. 

In the first half alone, we had offensive linemen Evan Neal and Ben Bredeson and tight end Daniel Bellinger leave the game and not return, whilst in the second half, Adoree Jackson briefly left the game for a concussion check that came back negative. 

As mentioned in my previous point, Bellinger had his eye poked, which ended with the rookie heading to the nearest medical facility. After the game, it was revealed that he would have to visit an ophthalmologist and would likely need surgery. Luckily, both Neal and Bredeson seem to have avoided season-ending injuries, but both are being evaluated for MCL sprains that will keep them out for a few weeks at the very least. 

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5 things to look out for in Week 7

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Tua Tagovailoa’s return to action on SNF against his former Head Coach Brian Flores is the highlight of Week 7

1. Will the Baltimore Ravens throw away another game in the fourth quarter?

Baltimore has now lost three close games in the fourth quarter, with last week’s collapse against the Giants with the ball in Lamar Jackson’s hands perhaps being the worst.

They’ve got a big chance to get right when they welcome the 2-5 Cleveland Browns on Sunday, a team who are fighting to stay alive in the race for the AFC North

One thing we do know is it’ll be tight, all of the Ravens home games have been decided by three points or less this year, with them only being victorious once.

2. In form Colts in need of a win as they face off with the Tennessee Titans in key AFC South duel.

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The Indianapolis Colts are welcomed by the Titans for the second of their two annual matchups, this one may well decide the AFC South.

Tennessee got out to an early lead in their Week 4 fixture, managing to hold on for a 24-17 victory after a late Indy comeback, meaning the Colts need to respond to prevent Mike Vrabel’s team from having a tiebreaker.

Matt Ryan had one hell of a game against Jacksonville last week, his Colts offense are now starting to find a groove but a loss here would put them at a real disadvantage of winning the division.

3. Russell Wilson out with a hamstring injury, Brett Rypien will start against the New York Jets

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Nathaniel Hackett’s Denver Broncos’ start to the season is getting worse by the day, as Russell Wilson is now set to miss Sunday’s game at home to the Jets with the hamstring injury he sustained on MNF.

The two top defenses are the stars of the show, as both the Broncos and the Jets defenses are within the top 10 of the league according to PFF (Denver 5th, New York 8th.)

Robert Saleh’s Jets are one of the hottest teams in football right now after back to back wins over the Dolphins and Packers.

4. CMC returns to Southern California as a San Fransisco 49er

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Christian McCaffrey should suit up for his first game in gold and red after he was acquired via a trade from the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night, he’ll be a big boost for a 49ers team that looked off the pace in Atlanta last week.

A second, third, and a fourth round pick is a steep price for the ex-Stanford running back who can’t stay on the field, but if he can stay healthy he’s a real asset and may be the piece San Francisco need to win a championship.

Their opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs, are on the back of a tight loss to Buffalo at Arrowhead where their defense did well to limit Josh Allen and co to only 24 points.

5. Flores and Tua meet again as the Miami Dolphins host the Pittsburgh Steelers on SNF

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Tua Tagovailoa makes his return to the football field for the first time since he left the game in Cincinnati with a horrific concussion, since then his Dolphins have moved from 3-0 to 3-3.

The third year quarterback has his former head coach Brian Flores on the opposite sideline, it’s not secret that they didn’t get on so he’ll be out for revenge.

Mike Tomlin and Flores’ defense stepped up in their win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Pittsburgh defensive line against the Miami offensive line should be a great battle, especially with Terron Armstead looking good to go. 

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5 Takeaways From The Coffin Nailing Saints Loss

The New Orleans Saints are 2-5 after losing 42-34 to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night football.  Their hopes of making the playoffs are slim to none right now, so what is there to takeaway from last night’s monstrosity?

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Cesar Ruiz Is Much Improved

Let’s start with some good, the tales of Cesar Ruiz’s improvement are not just hopeful tales of the odd play here and there that show signs of improvement. Ruiz is playing excellently and looks like a player not only worth a first-round pick but, a player worth building around.

Ruiz was opening holes consistently last night in the running game and was an anchor in pass protection, this is something that has been evident all season, last night was a stiff test for him though with J.J Watt and Zach Allen (two very good interior rushers) across from him, a test previously we would have seen Ruiz fail, he passed with flying colours. 

If you are still sceptical given Ruiz’s first two seasons I could see why, well Ruiz even featured this week in Baldy’s breakdown see here-  Brian Baldinger on Twitter: “.@saints @_OverCees has to be one of the most i@proved players at any position in the NFL. From never playing OG, to becoming a force up front to rebuilding and reshaping his body….and it shows. This league will always be about player development #BaldysBreakdowns https://t.co/s5gggAtPRd” / Twitter 

If Ramczyk’s knee doesn’t derail the rest of his career the Saints have a potential elite right side of the offensive line to build around (including center Erik McCoy in this as well).

Add to Trevor Penning, if he comes back from his toe injury and continues to improve at the rate, he was prior to the injury then the Saints have excellent building pieces across the whole line.

Alontae Taylor Needs to Start Going Forward  

Second-round rookie Alontae Taylor saw his first prolonged game snaps last night and looked like the best player in the secondary, he provided sticky coverage and according to the Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football only gave up one catch on four/five targets.

The secondary outside of Marshon Lattimore has been a huge disappointment this season, leaving the door wide open for Taylor to win a starting job, he did more than enough last night to warrant more starting snaps going forward.

Once one of the youngest teams in the league, suddenly New Orleans is the second oldest in the league. So, hitting on the limited draft picks they have is even more essential. If Taylor continues to show what he did last night, then he will certainly be added to the hit column at a position that is vital in today’s NFL.

The Defense’s Tackling Is Still A Problem 

It’s got to the point where seeing a player get tackled straight away, without gaining extra yards is far more exciting than it should be.

PFF charted the Saints with 12 missed tackles yesterday, honestly, it felt even worse than that. Cardinal players seemed to be slipping past the first Saints tacklers constantly.

On one play that could have been stopped for a short gain, Cardinals’ sixth-round rookie Keontay Ingram forced 4/5 missed tackles and rumbled for 24 yards. It should have been third and medium around the Cardinals 30, instead, it was first and ten at the Cardinals 49.

This is a basic expectation of a defensive player, I fully appreciated it could tackle on high school football player let alone an NFL one, but this shouldn’t be this yard.

Of course, offensive players make incredible plays from time to time where they make the whole world miss, but these plays aren’t that they are normal plays that every other defense is making against the Saints offense and the fact this is still a problem seven weeks in is hugely worrying and simply put, is losing the Saints games.

Andy Dalton May Have Gifted The Starting Spot Back To Jameis

I really believe Dalton had a clear runway to win the Saints starting QB job, at the very least he had a chance to keep Jameis Winston off the field for longer.

I think that ended last night, at least for now.

Dalton could easily be 4-0 as the Saints starter if a few things broke the team’s way. The biggest reason being if the defense would have played anywhere near the expectations we all had for them. The offense has looked its best this season with Dalton under center. He’s managed to get Alvin Kamara fully involved, he’s been better at identifying and combating the blitz and he’s definitely had the offense in a better rhythm. 

Alas, Dalton now sits at 1-3 and was a massive contributing factor for the Saints losing last night. Dalton threw two awful interceptions one in the RedZone after the Saints had driven 65 yards in 15 plays, the Saints were up 7-3 at this stage. 

His second interception I wouldn’t put on him, he threw a perfectly fine and easy pass to Marquez Callaway, that the receiver bobbled allowing the trailing CB to intercept the pass and return it to the house. 

What was inexcusable was four plays later Dalton threw another pick-6 this time on a pass that was his fault, I could see what he was trying to do he was trying to fit the ball behind the LB to Chris Olave who had broken open behind him. But Dalton couldn’t execute it. 

These interceptions reasonably meant a 17-point swing in the Cardinal’s favour. Three of the board from the Redzone interception, and 14 from the pick-6s.

Instead of going into the half level or possibly up three or seven the Saints went into the half down 14. A gap that was too large to overcome in the second half.

Yes, Winston might not be better in fact, he could be worse. But at this stage you have to see what Winston is, if Dalton is going to turn the ball over, which is Winston’s biggest drawback, without Winston’s arm talent for upside, you might as well play Winston and see if that boom or bust potential can steal you some game down the stretch.

This Team Is So Frustrating 

 Last takeaway and this is more of a personal point, holy Sh*t this time is frustrating.

They have all the talent needed to be a contender in the NFC, probably not a Superbowl team but at the very least a competitive playoff team. 

This team has been completely incapable of playing complimentary football. Taking out the crazy win in week one.

The Saints offense failed them in weeks one and two, had they had merely a bang average offense they win both of those games. 

Then weeks four- seven if the defense played how did in weeks two and three they are 4-0 in that stretch as well.  There’s a perfectly plausible situation where you could argue this team could be 7-0, 5-2 worst 3-4. Instead, they sit 2-5, finding new ways to lose every week, struggling to execute basic fundamentals.

The worst part? normally In a bad season you can look ahead and say well at least we should get a high-end talent in the draft and try to rebuild from that, in this year’s draft possibly a new franchise QB to give the future some hope.

Instead, we have to hear about how great the Eagles front office is for pulling off one of the best draft-related trades in recent memory and what player they will be able to add to an already excellent team.

Is the door completely closed on the Saints turning this around? no, they have the talent and the leadership in the locker room to right the ship, but the task ahead is mammoth and will take a near-perfect run.

Rant over, 11 days now without Saints football I would normally hate it, but frankly, right now an 11-day Saints football detox Is what I need and probably the players do too.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.

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F10Y Betting; Week 7 Best Bets

Adam finally got off the schnide and got himself a winner last week as the Vikings took care of business in Miami, there was a scare as Teddy Bridgewater came in early on and put up a fight but the Vikes covered the three points easily enough. Liam took his record to 5-1 for the season after taking the Bengals to win against the Saints, they got themselves in yet another double-digit deficit but came back with Chase scoring twice in the second half.

That was the good of the week, the bad, the Browns lost convincingly to the Patriots while the Jets smashed the Packers at Lambeau meaning they’re off all our lists for the foreseeable future.

You can find our best bets and previews of every game on the slate on the podcast on the Full10Yards feed, found wherever you get podcasts or direct here -: https://anchor.fm/full10yards/episodes/F10Y-Betting-Week-7-Best-bets-and-previews-e1phso5

Cardinals -2.5 vs. Saints

Callum (@CallumJDSquires)

Callum already has his best bet for the week in the books as he took the Cardinals on Thursday night. He loves Kyler Murray and with Deandre Hopkins returning thought they’d have too much for the Saints with Andy Dalton, I believe he predicted a 42-34 win for the home team…

In the end it was the defense of the Cardinals who got them the victory with two pick-6s in consecutive drives turning the tide in the game and taking it away from the Saints.

Browns +6.5 @ Ravens

Jack (@JackT_95)

Jack is a glutton for punishment going in on the Browns getting nearly a TD on the road in Baltimore. Nick Chubb should get a lot of the ball after the failures of Jacoby Brissett last week and that should mean a shorter game, fewer drives and less scoring than many might predict therefore keeping the game relatively close.

The Ravens have somehow found a way to keep games close this year despite having led by double-digits in most of their matches and if they can lose to the Giants then they can lose to anyone.

The Browns have kept the last two matches between the two within 7 points.

Chiefs -2.5 @ 49ers

Liam (@_LiamHorsley)

The Chiefs & Mahomes will be kicking themselves for letting last weeks game against the Bills slip away from them, this is bad news for a banged up 49ers team.

Anytime you can get Mahomes as a favourite of under a FG you simply have to take it, they lead the league in EPA per drop back and welcome back three of their defensive starters for this weeks matchup. Even with the addition of CMC this week I think that Mahomes & Kelce are too good and the 49ers are too banged up. I’d be interested in taking the OVER on the Chiefs team total of 26.5 as well.

Lions @ Cowboys Under 49

The Lions are coming off their bye and should be healthier with Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown both starting, but the Cowboys boast one of the best defenses in the league with arguably the DPOY so far in Micah Parsons and Jared Goff does not deal well with pressure in his face.

Dak Prescott is medically cleared to play and it looks like he will be starting here which is an obvious worry when you’re looking at under on the total, but he looked awful behind the patchwork offensive line in the opener against Tampa before he got injured and you’ve got to think the Lions defense will have worked hard over their bye to get better.