Another near perfect wk. NE played as expected in Brady’s 1[SUP]st[/SUP] hm gm of the yr, KC dominated a wet day in OAK, NOR barely held on to beat div rival CAR, LAR looked good early but coughed up lead to push in DET, & finally my teaser hit w/no sweat (although BAL/NYG were scoring a bit too much in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] half for my taste).
On to this wk. In a rare midweek post, I saw a GOY potential as well as a Thurs pick & I’m going for it.
POW 3-2-1, Teasers 4-2, Overall 16-10-2.
MIN (-2 ½ @ -115) is off to a torrid start @ 5-0 both SU & ATS. They’re coming off a bye which can act as a momentum killer, just like it did w/their opponent (PHI losing @ DET). But word in MIN is Zimmer is reminding team to stay focused every meeting & they’re having some of their best practices ever. I think being on the rd will only help MIN stay focused since they won’t have the normal distractions of being hm. There’s obviously a very large revenge angle for Sam Bradford returning to the team that supposedly slighted him by trading up to draft rookie phenom Wentz. PHI’s oline & front 7 played exceptional in their 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 4 gms, but the wheels have come off their last 2. Some of it can be attributed to injuries, esp the loss of RT Lane Johnson to suspension last wk. Rookie tackle Vaitai got abused by Kerrigan, allowing 2 sacks & a bunch of hits & hurries. HC Pederson is promising help on the right side, but PHI is not facing WAS again. MIN leads the league in TO differential (+11) & currently have 19 sacks in only 5 gms. To add on more instability for PHI, C Jason Kelce missed practice w/plantar, moving the oline around even more. Kelce will likely play, however the bigger concern is DT Bennie Logan missing this gm w/a groin strain. He is a key piece in stopping the run & was injured vs WAS. PHI struggling vs the run against both DET & WAS (neither known for their strong run gms) should only help Bradford continue his hot performance. McKinnon & Asiata have combined to ably replace AP w/McK between the 20s & Asiata pounding the middle in the redzone. MIN to me is the best team in football rt now. They lost their starting QB, RB, WRs & LT, yet haven’t missed a beat. Their 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 gms were struggles vs TEN & GB, but those were w/Shaun Hill @ QB & Bradford’s 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gm respectively. Now that MIN had 2 wks to practice together w/their current squad, esp on “D” where MIN is playing the best of anyone out there (sorry SEA), they will be ready for PHI on both sides of the ball. To add one more advantage to MIN, Bradford has familiarity w/PHI’s playbook where Zimmer has said it’s not that big of a deal (gamesmanship) & Pederson made it a pt to say he didn’t change anything (sure). My only trepidation w/this GOY is over 70% of the public is on MIN early due to PHI’s recent struggles. But w/the advantages MIN’s dominant “D” will have over PHI’s banged up oline, a rookie QB & lack of a run gm, as well as Bradford’s motivation to beat the team that traded him, I strongly feel they’ll comfortably win by over 10.
MIN 27
PHI 13
8 Units
GL to all & comments are most welcome.
On to this wk. In a rare midweek post, I saw a GOY potential as well as a Thurs pick & I’m going for it.
POW 3-2-1, Teasers 4-2, Overall 16-10-2.
MIN (-2 ½ @ -115) is off to a torrid start @ 5-0 both SU & ATS. They’re coming off a bye which can act as a momentum killer, just like it did w/their opponent (PHI losing @ DET). But word in MIN is Zimmer is reminding team to stay focused every meeting & they’re having some of their best practices ever. I think being on the rd will only help MIN stay focused since they won’t have the normal distractions of being hm. There’s obviously a very large revenge angle for Sam Bradford returning to the team that supposedly slighted him by trading up to draft rookie phenom Wentz. PHI’s oline & front 7 played exceptional in their 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 4 gms, but the wheels have come off their last 2. Some of it can be attributed to injuries, esp the loss of RT Lane Johnson to suspension last wk. Rookie tackle Vaitai got abused by Kerrigan, allowing 2 sacks & a bunch of hits & hurries. HC Pederson is promising help on the right side, but PHI is not facing WAS again. MIN leads the league in TO differential (+11) & currently have 19 sacks in only 5 gms. To add on more instability for PHI, C Jason Kelce missed practice w/plantar, moving the oline around even more. Kelce will likely play, however the bigger concern is DT Bennie Logan missing this gm w/a groin strain. He is a key piece in stopping the run & was injured vs WAS. PHI struggling vs the run against both DET & WAS (neither known for their strong run gms) should only help Bradford continue his hot performance. McKinnon & Asiata have combined to ably replace AP w/McK between the 20s & Asiata pounding the middle in the redzone. MIN to me is the best team in football rt now. They lost their starting QB, RB, WRs & LT, yet haven’t missed a beat. Their 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 gms were struggles vs TEN & GB, but those were w/Shaun Hill @ QB & Bradford’s 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gm respectively. Now that MIN had 2 wks to practice together w/their current squad, esp on “D” where MIN is playing the best of anyone out there (sorry SEA), they will be ready for PHI on both sides of the ball. To add one more advantage to MIN, Bradford has familiarity w/PHI’s playbook where Zimmer has said it’s not that big of a deal (gamesmanship) & Pederson made it a pt to say he didn’t change anything (sure). My only trepidation w/this GOY is over 70% of the public is on MIN early due to PHI’s recent struggles. But w/the advantages MIN’s dominant “D” will have over PHI’s banged up oline, a rookie QB & lack of a run gm, as well as Bradford’s motivation to beat the team that traded him, I strongly feel they’ll comfortably win by over 10.
MIN 27
PHI 13
8 Units
GL to all & comments are most welcome.
