Bold Predictions for Week 8: Get Devonta Freeman some more Capri-Suns

Recapping last week’s picks:

1. Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns line is Ten -6; the Browns not only cover the spread by 6 but cover by 3.5.

Outcome: (Grade: A) Man did it look like Cleveland might pull out a ‘W’ but of course we all know that they are the Browns (boy do I know it so well). Tennessee wins but it fell within the 3.5 points.

2. Jerick McKinnon rushes for 100 yards for the first time this year.

Outcome: (Grade: C) Well, a Minnesota Running Back rushed for 100 yards, 113 and 1 TD to be exact. His name was Latavius Murray which is not Jerick McKinnon. Jerick meanwhile had around the same number of carries (14 to Latavius’s 18) where he rushed for 47 yards.

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3. The Cincinnati Bengals have more all-purpose yards than the Steelers on Sunday

Outcome: (Grade: D). Swing and a miss. Cincinnati 179 all-purpose yards, Pittsburgh 420. As you can tell this game did not go AT ALL like I thought it was going to and I missed something fierce here.

4. The Giants win AGAIN this weekend.

Outcome: (Grade: D). The narrative I was expecting was that the Seahawks had some big wins and were traveling cross country where they are generally weaker and would come out in a lackluster effort against the Giants who would build off a win and rally for 2 consecutive wins without OBJ in the lineup. The actual narrative is that the Giants got one lucky win and will probably be terrible for the rest of the season.

5. Alfred Morris steps into the vacated RB1 spot (as Ezekiel takes a 6 week break) and proceeds to rush for 90 yards or at least 1TD against the San Francisco 49ers (I’m picking him up where I can)

Outcome: (Grade: D) While I would like to claim the Bengals pick as my royal clunker of the week, I managed to extend deeper with this one. Everything I read early last week said Ezekiel was out and the Alfred Morris / Darren McFadden tandum would be stepping in. I need to find new sources or get glasses. Alfred got 2 carries for 15 yards while Ezekiel DID play and went off for 147 yards and 2 TD’s. So much for the 3 leagues I picked up Alfred Morris and started him.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Week 8 Bold Picks:

1. Andy Dalton throws for 300 yards for the second time this season.

Background: Indianapolis Colts are bad. Especially in passing defense where they have allowed 2,105 good enough for 2^nd worst in the NFL. It averages out to just over 300 per game. I’m doubling down on the Bengals who I “THINK” are bad can show a modicum of talent. AJ Green is going to have a potentially big game here.

2. Davonta Freeman rushes for 100 yards for the 2^ndtime this season.

Background: Much like the Colts passing defense, the Jets rushing defense is less than stellar. While they moved the most rushing yards allowed to the 5^th most allowed, that’s a paltry improvement. Allowing 886, the Jets will have to worry about both Davonta and Matt Ryan spreading the ball out to Julio Jones.

3. Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers over/under is 46 points. This will be over 49.5 points.

Background: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home have scored at least 25 points in 2 out of 3 matchups. The Carolina Panthers have scored at least 27 points in 2 out of 3 matchups on the road. Given this and the need for both to get a W this weekend (the frustration at inconsistent play for both club houses has to be at level 100) I think there is a (take out my calculator) 66% chance that this exceeds 49.5 points.

4. Kai Forbath is a top 2 kicker this week in Fantasy Football.

Background: I ‘think’ it will be through FG which should be plentiful in London (between 3-4), Cleveland’s defense is good..enough to slow down teams. If Case Keenum is able to air out the ball a lot then he’ll get a lot of PAT’s either way I think Kai will be used in plentiful fashion this weekend.

5. The LA Chargers cover the 7 point spread against New England.

Background: At first I was inclined to think that the Chargers would have a clunker going cross country against New England fresh off a big win over Denver. Consider this – LAC is 2-1 on the road (New England is only 2-2 at home); LAC has the 4^th most sacks in the NFL, when is Brady at his worst? When he’s being constantly pressured all game. LAC has allowed the 5^thmost passing yards against but guess who has allowed the most (New England). This could be a slug fest airing the ball out all day but the X-Factor could very well be Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram’s abilities to get in Brady’s head. On the surface this looks like New England could run away but digging in deeper I think this match is going to be closer than people think, I was tempted to take the spread within 3.5 but I’ll leave it at the current spread because I’m guessing most people are taking Patriots with the points.

2017 Report card:

A – 6

B – 8

C – 6

D – 10

Here is how I will be grading my Bold picks this year

A – The bold pick happened as I stated

B – The bold pick did NOT happened as stated but the idea behind it was there (example I predicted Jesse James would have 0 TDs and fewer than 20 yards in week 2, he had 27 yards, the general idea to avoid him in fantasy was present.

C – The bold pick did NOT happen and the overall feel for what occurred had you saying “meh”

D – The bold pick was nowhere near accurate