Well, I would’ve gone 5-0 on the wk if not for a career performance from Luck, who apparently did most of his magic w/a broken spleen. DEN is certainly the better team, but IND as of late absolutely owns Peyton Manning. Maybe he can’t bring himself to beat IND. But even DEN’s vaunted “D” allowed Old Man Gore to pound them on the ground. Very odd gm & I’ll just chalk that one up as bad luck (which I’ve been suffering a lot of recently).
POW 4-4-1, Teasers 3-3, Overall 20-23-1
PIT (-6) is off a stinging loss to div rival CIN. Not only did it hurt to likely lose the AFC North, but Ben also went down w/a sprained ankle. He’s listed as questionable, but is expected to sit. In comes the enigma Landry Jones. In relief, he looks unstoppable. When he starts, he looked like a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] yr 4[SUP]th[/SUP] rd draft pick backup. PIT’s top 10 “D” seems to play better w/Jones in, perhaps due to becoming more focused when you know your “O” can’t score on a whim anymore. Jones had a hard time connecting w/Antonio Brown @ KC, but managed to add to Brown’s insane totals vs OAK last wk in relief. So if he can keep that rhythm up, CLE’s depleted secondary will be in trouble. CLE is again w/out talented DBs Whitner & Haden, but are also banged up w/the second stringers. Tashaun Gipson missed practice Friday due to an illness. He’s likely to play, but if he’s not @ 100% that could have a huge impact late in the gm. CLE has been awful on “D” all yr, but are particularly bad on the rd. CLE is giving up 29 ppg on the rd & is the worst in the NFL in ppg period. So CLE will need to score in order to keep this close, esp w/DeAngelo Williams doing more than enough to fill in for Bell. Enter Johnny Football. I’ve NEVER been a fan of him, but I’ll give the devil his due, he’s really controlled the TO’s this yr. But “D”s are getting smarter & keeping him in the pocket as much as possible, which leads to his 50% comp rate. He’ll have 1 good drive the entire gm & that’s about it. McCown will start if he feels better Sunday morning, but the expectation is Manziel will play. CLE kept both gms tight last yr vs PIT, but Shanahan’s zone blocking really caused Tomlin’s “D” trouble which led to huge rushing gms from CLE’s RBs. Shanahan is now in ATL & PIT’s young “D” is much improved, not just from last yr, but from the start of this yr. Ben will be the backup QB according to reports, so if Jones gets hurt that could improve PIT’s “O”. Martavis Bryant should have a field day against CLE’s hobbled secondary. To add on to CLE’s woes, starting LG Bitonio is also out, which puts 1[SUP]st[/SUP] rd pick Cameron Erving against DE Cameron Heyward.
CLE 13
PIT 27
5 Units
GL to all & comments are most welcome.
POW 4-4-1, Teasers 3-3, Overall 20-23-1
PIT (-6) is off a stinging loss to div rival CIN. Not only did it hurt to likely lose the AFC North, but Ben also went down w/a sprained ankle. He’s listed as questionable, but is expected to sit. In comes the enigma Landry Jones. In relief, he looks unstoppable. When he starts, he looked like a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] yr 4[SUP]th[/SUP] rd draft pick backup. PIT’s top 10 “D” seems to play better w/Jones in, perhaps due to becoming more focused when you know your “O” can’t score on a whim anymore. Jones had a hard time connecting w/Antonio Brown @ KC, but managed to add to Brown’s insane totals vs OAK last wk in relief. So if he can keep that rhythm up, CLE’s depleted secondary will be in trouble. CLE is again w/out talented DBs Whitner & Haden, but are also banged up w/the second stringers. Tashaun Gipson missed practice Friday due to an illness. He’s likely to play, but if he’s not @ 100% that could have a huge impact late in the gm. CLE has been awful on “D” all yr, but are particularly bad on the rd. CLE is giving up 29 ppg on the rd & is the worst in the NFL in ppg period. So CLE will need to score in order to keep this close, esp w/DeAngelo Williams doing more than enough to fill in for Bell. Enter Johnny Football. I’ve NEVER been a fan of him, but I’ll give the devil his due, he’s really controlled the TO’s this yr. But “D”s are getting smarter & keeping him in the pocket as much as possible, which leads to his 50% comp rate. He’ll have 1 good drive the entire gm & that’s about it. McCown will start if he feels better Sunday morning, but the expectation is Manziel will play. CLE kept both gms tight last yr vs PIT, but Shanahan’s zone blocking really caused Tomlin’s “D” trouble which led to huge rushing gms from CLE’s RBs. Shanahan is now in ATL & PIT’s young “D” is much improved, not just from last yr, but from the start of this yr. Ben will be the backup QB according to reports, so if Jones gets hurt that could improve PIT’s “O”. Martavis Bryant should have a field day against CLE’s hobbled secondary. To add on to CLE’s woes, starting LG Bitonio is also out, which puts 1[SUP]st[/SUP] rd pick Cameron Erving against DE Cameron Heyward.
CLE 13
PIT 27
5 Units
GL to all & comments are most welcome.
