If you didn’t understand why the Cincinnati Bengals were so dangerous, you got a good primer last night. Their best offensive player, wide receiver A.J. Green, touched the ball just four times for 53 yards and no touchdowns. They beat the Cleveland Browns 31-10 to stay undefeated at 8-0.
The truth is the Bengals are so loaded and so good, especially on offense, that not a single one of their players had a particularly good yardage performance. Yes, tight end Tyler Eifert not only won the week for your fantasy team, but put Rob Gronkowski on notice that he might have some competition in that “best tight end in the league” category, but that still came on just five catches, three of which happened to be touchdowns.
This game didn’t take a special effort because it was the Browns. All the Bengals had to do was show up, but like the professional killers they’ve been all season, they did and won by three touchdowns.
On to the picks. As always, I’ll note survivor pool picks as we go.
Early Games
Green Bay at Carolina (+2.5)
The Panthers are playing out of their minds and Cam Newton is right near the top of the MVP race, but there’s no way the Packers and Aaron Rodgers are losing two games in a row. Packers 24, Panthers 20
Washington at New England (-14)
That’s a lot of points, but the Redskins are a lot of bad. Jay Gruden has done enough so far with this team to keep his name off a lot of “coaches to be fired” lists. That’s all about to change. Patriots 44, Redskins 17 (survivor pool pick)
Tennessee at New Orleans (-8)
The Saints are surging at the same time the Titans are in a tailspin after just firing their coach and Marcus Mariota still not 100 percent. I think the Titans show up to this game, but in New Orleans against Drew Brees, that spread is safe. Saints 38, Titans 24 (survivor pool pick)
Miami at Buffalo (-2.5)
The Dolphins fell to Earth and made a Yucatan-sized crater against the Patriots last week. This Bills team is there for the taking with banged up players all over its roster and a quarteback situation that has suddenly become unsettled. Dolphins 20, Bills 17
St. Louis at Minnesota (-1.5)
We have two mock playoff games this week and this first one could very well be an eliminator, especially with the Packers still coming up twice on the Vikings’ schedule. Todd Gurley was compared to Adrian Peterson entering this season and has done his best to kill that comparison by not only outperforming Peterson since he took over the starting job for the Rams four games ago. The difference in this game will be the defenses and the Vikings haven’t seen anything like this Rams unit this year. Rams 23, Vikings 17
Jacksonville at New York Jets (-7)
Blake Bortles has sneakily improved all season for the Jaguars, along with the rest of his team. It won’t help him against the Jets and two of the best cornerbacks in the game. Jets 17, Jaguars 10
Oakland at Pittsburgh (-5)
Our second mock playoff game shows up in the early games too with the Raiders and Steelers both looking at the same wild card spot right now if the season ended today. Asking Ben Roethlisberger to come off his couch and play like himself last week against the Bengals was too tall an order, even for the giant quarterback. Big Ben will really be back this week. Steelers 27, Raiders 17
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Late Games
New York Giants at Tampa Bay (+2.5)
This is an odd game to see show up in the afternoon and a lot of that has to do with the flex scheduling. The Giants shoved their heads up their asses once again and cost themselves the shootout in New Orleans last week. The Bucs won’t present that kind of challenge. Giants 31, Bucs 17 (survivor pool pick)
Atlanta at San Francisco (+7)
After a couple of tough losses and a scare against the Buccaneers, the Falcons have to be excited to see San Francisco show up on the schedule. The news that Blaine Gabbert will be starting may seem good, but that discounts how horrible Colin Kaepernick was to begin with. Falcons 34, 49ers 9 (survivor pool pick)
Denver at Indianapolis (+5)
The Broncos won Super Bowl 49 1/2 against the Packers last week and played their best game of the season. But here’s what we all have realize; none of these teams are going undefeated. Not the Patriots, not the Bengals, not the Panthers and not the Broncos. I know the Colts are breaking in a new offensive coordinator, but I’m going with my gut on this one. In the words of your favorite internet meme, “it’s a trap!” Colts 31, Broncos 30
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Sunday Night
Philadelphia at Dallas (+3)
You could say this is our third mock playoff game and maybe you’d be right if those wild card spots wasn’t going to come down to the wire between much better teams. Still, the Cowboys can get into the conversation when Tony Romo returns, but they’ll have to win a few games in before Week 11. Cowboys 23, Eagles 20
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Monday Night
Chicago at San Diego (-4)
Another Monday night clunker for Jon Gruden and Mike Terico to try their best to turn into chicken salad. Mike McCoy has continually moved up the “fired coach” Pez dispenser and a loss here will almost guarantee his ejection. He’ll survive another week because Philip Rivers is still Philip Rivers, even when his coach is terrible. Chargers 34, Bears 27
This week
Straight up: 1-0
Against the spread: 1-0
Last week
Straight up: 9-5
Against the spread: 6-7
Survivor pool picks: 4-1
Overall
Straight up: 71-47
Against the spread: 64-54
Survivor pool picks: 28-9
