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| The Cowboys host the Redskins in their 7th Thanksgiving meeting. The Cowboys are 6-0 in the series. Photo credit to noontimesports.com. |
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10. Hits,
Suspensions and Fines. Oh my!
Ed Reed has never been labeled a dirty player by anyone but
Steelers fans. For what looked to me like a good hit with incidental
helmet-to-helmet contact, he received a one-game suspension. Yesterday he got
that suspension reduced to a $50,000 fine, which is better but still pretty
unfair in my eyes. No wonder he said,
“It’s starting to become a flag football thing. It really needs to be discussed – it’s a contact sport.”
9. Injury
Updates
Brady Quinn, who lost his starting job in Kansas City due to
a concussion in late October, will start Sunday against the Broncos. Fred
Jackson has also been cleared to play Sunday against the Colts, though C.J.
Spiller will keep the starting job. Also, the Cardinals activated Beanie Wells
for their game against the Eagles.
It isn’t all good news in the injury world, however. In
Jacksonville, both Blaine Gabbert and Laurent Robinson have been placed on
season-ending IR. Gabbert has a torn labrum and Robinson has suffered four
concussions this season. And in
Pittsburgh, Charlie Batch will start Sunday because Byron Leftwich suffered a
fractured rib in their loss to Baltimore Sunday night.
8. Playoff
Implications
The Thanksgiving game between the Redskins and Cowboys is
very important. The if the Packers beat the Giants this weekend, the Redskins
and Cowboys could both be just a game back with a Washington victory or the
Cowboys could be tied for the division lead with a Dallas win.
Cincinnati plays at home against Oakland, a game that leans
heavily in their favor. With Pittsburgh recent struggles, it stands to reason
that the Browns could upset them and put Cincinnati in a tie with the Steelers
and in the hunt for a second consecutive playoff appearance.
7. Fantasy
Disappointments
There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so
I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.
- Danny Woodhead has been fairly consistent in picking up decent fantasy points. His worst game had been 2 points in Week 1 but usually he can be counted on to get 6 or more. He even had a 19-point outing in Week 10 against Buffalo. Then he barely touched the field and scored nothing in Week 11.
- A week after combining for nearly 30 points, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin combined for just one point in Week 11. Too bad one of the members of my fantasy league had and started both of them. Surprisingly, he still won his matchup.
- Torrey Smith has been great all year and he had back-to-back double-digit performances off Baltimore’s bye. Then he scored just half a point against Pittsburgh.
- Denarius Moore has consistently scored double figured all season. His only two games that he’s played in and didn’t score 10+ were an 8-point performance against Tampa Bay and a 9-point performance against Denver. But he scored just half a point against New Orleans’ shoddy defense.
6. Fantasy Surprises
- Matt Shaub’s 44-point performance pales only to Andre Johnson’s 42-point performance. Johnson has been inconsistent to say the least all year, but that game made it worth it for those who have stuff with him.
- Who knew the Patriot’s defense was that good? They scored 40 on Sunday.
- Perhaps most impressive was Chad Henne’s 38 points against a usually stingy Houston D. With it came a 34.5-pointer from Justin Blackmon, who only had one game with 10 or more fantasy points all season leading up to Sunday.
5. Games to Watch
Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch
in my predictions post tomorrow.
- Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (Thursday, 4:15 p.m.)
- Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
- Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
- San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
- Green Bay Packers at New York Giants (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)
4. Power Rankings
For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the
bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.
1. Houston Texans
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27. Philadelphia Eagles
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2. Atlanta Falcons
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28. Carolina Panthers
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3. San Francisco 49ers
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29. Cleveland Browns
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4. Green Bay Packers
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30. Oakland Raiders
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5. Baltimore Ravens
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31. Jacksonville Jaguars
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6. New England Patriots
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32. Kansas City Chiefs
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The Redskins and Bills both jumped six spots while the Rams
dropped five and the Colts and Dolphins fell four.
The Power Poll is a better representation of where the teams
stack up, in my opinion. Check that out here.
3. New England Patriots
The Patriots make their debut in the top 6 of the NFL.com
Power Rankings after thrashing the Colts. They seem to be coming into gear and
at 7-3 should definitely be considered a force in the AFC. They are right on
the heels of the Ravens and are trying to outrun the Broncos.
2. Houston Texans
Houston’s defense struggled against the Jaguars, but at
least their offense did not. It took two scores in overtime – the Texans are
the first team in history to do so – but they got the win over their division
rival and are 9-1 with six weeks left.
1. Thankful
for Football
Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday of the year. We
get three football games, eat enough to be full until Christmas, and it’s a
Thursday with no school! What could be better? The Redskins and Cowboys play on
Thanksgiving for the first time since 2002, the year my family had lobster for
the holiday. The Redskins lost that matchup 20-27.
The Lions will host the Texans, who are making their
Thanksgiving debut. The Lions have not won a Thanksgiving game since they beat
the Packers 22-14 in 2003.
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