Comics » Vikings 31Atlanta Falcons (3-4) at Washington Redskins

The game-day inactive players this game were unchanged relative to the previous game with the exception of Duke Dawson being added while Josey Jewell was active. The full inactives list included: Adam Gotsis Phillip Lindsay Jersey White , Bryce Callahan, Juwann Winfree, Troy Fumagalli, Duke Dawson, Ja’Wuan James, Calvin Anderson.Offensive Snap Percentages The five starters on the Denver Broncos OL played the whole game together. This is almost six complete games together as a unit. Getting more experience together as a group will only help this unit continue the improvement that I have seen relative to how they played in the first two games of the year. We used Andy Janovich more in this game than we have in the previous two where he was healthy. His 23 snaps in this game almost matched his total (28) from the previous two games. Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay continued to split the RB snaps roughly 50/50 with Freeman getting 61% of the offensive snaps. We used both RBs on a handful of playslast game. We have had them both on the field for 14 offensive plays this year. Devontae Booker was the only offensive player to be active and get zero offensive snaps. Courtland Sutton was the opposite, hardly leaving the field on offense (he got 4 snaps of rest).Emmanuel Sanders’ injury meant that he only played 40% of the offensive snaps. This did not translate into a large playing time increase for DaeSean Hamilton (52 up to 65%), Fred Brown (no change relative to game 5) or Diontae Spencer (3 up to 8%). It would appear that we used more two TEor FB sets in response to Sanders being out. Noah Fant and Jeff Heuerman played 65% of 52% respectively while our 3rd active TE, Andrew Beck was down at 18%. Besides Booker, the other two offensive players who did not get any offensive snaps were both offensive lineman, Austin Schlottman and Jake Rodgers. Defensive Snap PercentagesWe had five “iron-men” this game, playing every defensive snap: Justin Simmons, Chris Harris, Kareem Jackson, Todd Davis and Davontae Harris. Davontae Harris was forced into heavy action last game when we lost De’Vante Bausby to injury. While he did get called for a penalty, he generally held up pretty well. I expect him to get picked on next week though if Duke Dawson can’t play. Will Parks filled in at corner this week with the absence of Callahan, Dawson and Bausby. Jackson was allowed to stay exclusively at safety. This has made a big difference in the play of the defense in the last two games. Von Miller and Malik Reed both played 62 of 70 defensive snaps with Justin Hollins and new addition, Jeremiah Attaochu, each playing the other eight snaps. Neither of our backup ILB’s got a defensive snap. When Alexander Johnson was off the field, we used a single ILB formation. Our defensive lineman saw a very equitable distribution of playing time as Dre’Mont Jones and DeMarcus Walker would come in on obvious passing downs. Derek Wolfe appeared to be much more effective this game and that could have been a result of him being fresher because he only played 66% of the defensive snaps (he was in the 80 range in games one and two). Our defensive lineman who played limited snaps all made significant impacts, with the exception of Dre’Mont Jones. The defensive line combined for 15 tackles (13 solo), seven TFL, five QB hits, 5.0 sacks and one PD on 155 combined snaps. A bevy of defensive players did not get any defensive snaps: Josey Jewell, Corey Nelson, Trey Marshall, Joe Jones and the recently signed, Coty Sensabaugh. I’m not saying that Vegas should give me a job, but Vegas should give me a job! Swung on and missed the Cardinals pulling their heads out and beating the 49ers, and that the Saints would straight up whoop on Kirk Cousins’ Vikings (which I love when the Vikings lose cause Cousins is a natural loser, a real Munson).The trade deadline has come and gone, and we all know that Demaryius Thomas is no longer with the Broncos. I’m saddened by this as I really liked him, and dropped passes aside, he was a great Bronco for 8+ years. With that said, I don’t think his production will be missed as the Broncos have Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick to more than replace him. I’m also kinda happy for DT to get him with a vastly superior QB situation in Houston. I anticipate him having a bit of an impact (maybe a TD or two) against his former team on Sunday. Looks like its time to retire my DT jersey, along side my Talib jersey and Sharpe jersey. But then what in the world will I wear to our games? Onto the picks!Last Week: 12-2Overall: 71-47-2Oakland Raiders (1-6) at San Francisco 49ers (1-7) 6:20pm FOX/NFLN TNFI’m pretty sure the only people who will tune into this game are people who are either a) paid to watch (announcers), b) have skin on the game, or c) friends and family. If you don’t fall into any of the three categories and you still watch this game, you really need to look long and hard in the mirror and ask yourself why your life is so horrible that you can’t find a single thing better to do with a Thursday night than watch this game. And then make some adjustments so your future doesn’t continue to suck the way the Raiders do. Prediction: Who Cares. But also Oakland 6, 49ers 10Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2-1) at Baltimore Ravens (4-4) 11:00am CBSOn offense, the Steelers beat the Ravens like they owe them money. On defense, the Ravens are pretty stout but have been vulnerable. And that’s the key to this game: Vulnerability. Prediction: Steelers 27, Ravens 23Chicago Bears (4-3) at Buffalo Bills (2-6) 11:00am FOXI bet the Bills still wish they had Tyrod Taylor right about now. But they don’t. Just like I bet the Bills wish they’d win this week, yet they won’t. Prediction: Bears 24, Bills 6Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) at Carolina Panthers (5-2) 11:00am FOXOk, serious question time, who are the Bucs starting at QB for this game? They benched Winston, they’ve already benched Fitzmagic Womens Phillip Lindsay Jersey , so who’s left? Or do they go back to Fitzy? And more importantly, does it even matter? Prediction: Bucs 13, Panthers 23Kansas City Chiefs (7-1) at Cleveland Browns (2-5-1) 11:00am CBSWant to know what’s crazy? Even in the “close” game and “Broncos held them down” game, Mahomes still threw for 4 TD’s. Prediction: Chiefs 45, Browns 23New York Jets (3-5) at Miami Dolphins (4-4) 11:00am CBSThis game is disgusting. I want to pick Miami, but I’m scared to do so. Why does Miami have to be so bland? Prediction: Jets 13, Dolphins 17Detroit Lions (3-4) at Minnesota Vikings (4-3-1) 11:00am FOXAs much as I’d love to pick against the Vikings, Detroit just isn’t really all that good. They are one of the worst 3 win teams, and the Vikings are semi-decent even if they routinely find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. For all those pretty stats Cousins has, don’t look now, but just like in Washington, he isn’t producing wins. Unlike Keenum for them last year. Yes, I said it! Prediction: Lions 17, (5-2) 11:00am FOXHere’s the thing about the Falcons: They have talent and have the ability to hang with the big dogs. But they are snake bitten. Meanwhile, the Redskins, armed with Alex Smith, keep on churning out victory after victory all the way into the NFC East lead. What I’m trying to say is that the Redskins are stable. Well, relatively stable if you simply compare them to the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants. But that’s all they have to be, so, job well done. Prediction: Falcons 24, Redskins 27Houston Texans (5-3) at Denver Broncos (3-5) 2:05pm CBSIf recent home history is an indicator, the Broncos will have all the firepower to win this game. They’ve held the Chiefs and Rams to season lows even in defeat. But they also just traded away DT, so there might be some revenge factors going on there for Houston. Most of me thinks the Texans will win because Deshaun Watson is a freak of nature, but the rest of me thinks that if the Broncos can ground the Chiefs and Rams, then they can ground the Texans. Prediction: Texans 23, Broncos 27Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) at Seattle Seahawks (4-3) 2:05pm CBSDon’t get it twisted, the Chargers are a better team than Seattle. But that hopped up on caffeine crowd in Seattle gets LOUD!!! They have a good 12th man (crowd), but it isn’t as good as the Broncos 12th man, which the Chargers are use to playing against, so I think they’re neutralized. Is Joey Bosa back or not? That could be the factor here, and he’s looking to be a game time decision along with Melvin Gordon. Prediction: Chargers, 27, Seahawks 30 Los Angeles Rams (8-0) at New Orleans Saints (6-1) 2:25pm FOXThis is the co-game of the week. The Rams are clearly the cream of the crop, but the Saints with only one loss have something to say about that. It’s also in New Orleans. Is this the week that the Rams finally go down? I love going to Broncos home games, but I might, MIGHT have to fly out to New Orleans to see if the Rams finally lose. Who want’s to come with me? I can think of one I want, well, four so it’s more memorable, but... Predictions: Rams 35, Saints 38Green Bay Packers (3-3-1) at New England Patriots (6-2) 6:20pm NBC SNFThis is the other game of the week. It’s more about the QB showdown than the teams, but that’s kinda the way the NFL is structured these days. How do you ever pick against Rogers (even though apparently you could have correctly picked against him 4 times already)? Then again, how insane do you have to be to pick against Brady at home? And that I think is why we all know who will win this game even if we hate to admit it. Prediction: Packers 31, Patriots 34Tennessee Titans (3-4) at Dallas Cowboys (3-4) 6:15pm ESPN MNFI mean, at least this isn’t Raiders vs 49ers. But I’m not sure I have much more to say. “Meh” team against “Meh” team. Woo Hoo. Color me uninspired. Prediction: Titans 20, Cowboys 22