Volume Eleven

Recap
UTSA -14.5 v Rice – HIT!
Steelers -3 v Packers – HIT!
Browns +6.5 at Ravens – HIT!
Chargers +3 v Lions – Push.
Season record 14-8-4
NFL 10-4-3
NCAAF 4-4-1

Penn State -20.5 v Rutgers
Man. Last weekend hurt the confidence. I have to take a breathe and acknowledge this team will go bowling. But with the early taste of winning, I want more. I wanted them to compete with Iowa and I want them to beat Maryland. It’s been 9 years since this team won 6 games and Rome wasn’t built in a day, but last weeks shutout at Iowa hurt.
That being said, Penn State beats and covers vs non ranked opponents. They are off a loss hosting Michigan, and dropped their two marquee games. I expect Penn State to come out angry and do what they do best, beat up on inferior teams. Rutgers is struggling on offense to say the least. We saw Evan Simon play last season. I always want to pause and hate criticizing college athletes. Simon will get a degree and come out dept free, he’s truly winning in life, but he is not a better quarterback than Gavin Wimsatt and I do not need to see him play this season. Gavin has a lot to learn and a lot of room for growth, and I’m rocking with him this season AND next. Penn State has a very strong front, but lets run Monangai, Brown, and Wimsatt and see if we can CHOP to some points. I think Saturday will be ugly for Rutgers, but games aren’t played in a blog, they are played on the field!
Penn State 35 Rutgers 7

Arizona -1 v Utah
Arizona has found their quarterback of the future with Freshman Noah Fifita. His first two starts were competitive losses to Washington and at USC, and he has led the Wildcats to four straight victories after that. He is completing 73% of his passes and has a 16-4 touchdown to interception ratio. Utah has a very talented and physical defense, but I do not think they can keep up with this emerging Zona offense. Utah’s run defense is stifling but Arizona runs it less than 50% which is bottom 25 in NCAA. In the last four games Utah has played they only recorded one interception. The way to score on Utah is in the air, and Fifita should be ready to sling it. He’ll also have the comfort of being home, where he already faced three ranked opponents in his three home starts, throwing for 9 touchdowns and averaging 75% completion. He’s also getting comfortable with a go-to receiver in Tetairoa McMillan who has a touchdown in three straight games. Give me the program on the rise, vs a team who had Pac12 Championship ambitions that never got off the ground with the Cam Rising injury.
Arizona 27 Utah 23

Browns -1 v Steelers
Off of back to back Korner winners for the Steelers, we are ready to go against them. The Steelers just hosted a bad Titans and Packers team and won each game by 4. Wins are all that matters, but the Steelers didn’t look convincing. Now they have to play the best defense in the NFL at Cleveland and I suspect them to score closer to 14 than the 21.5 they got the last two weeks. When news first broke that Deshaun Watson was out for the year I said “alright PJ Walker time!” The Browns will start Dorian Thompson Robinson this weekend and at first I thought that was gross. DTR got embarrassed playing the Ravens, but it’s the Ravens this is what they do. Stefanski sees DTR in practice daily and I trust his judgment that he is ready to start, and is the better option than the serviceable PJ Walker. For as good as Pittsburgh’s defense is, they are giving up 4.5 yards per carry which is 7th worst in the NFL. The Browns will pound the rock with DTR starting, and I have full confidence in Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt to keep the chains moving. Last week, an injured Minkah Fitzpatrick called an audible from the sidelines and the Steelers got a game winning interception on that play. Minkah is THAT special, but he is trending to not play this weekend at Cleveland. So we have the Steelers brain on defense missing and a leaky run defense. Yes, TJ Watt is a sack machine, but when you play the physical Browns, his impact is minimized as they will not sling the ball around that much. The Browns should find the endzone a few times and march to 7-3.
Browns 20 Steelers 14

Chiefs -2.5 v Eagles
The Chiefs and Eagles both come into this matchup off a bye week, but let’s remember Chiefs coach Andy Reid has practically mastered the bye week as he is 28-4 coming off the extra week. This will be the first time in five weeks that the Eagles got on a plane since their October 8th game at the Rams. There are benefits to that, but it’s almost not routine that they haven’t had to fly in that long.
We all know about the daunted Eagles defensive line, but their secondary hasn’t been that sharp this year. They are 8-1, it isn’t causing them to lose games, but the quarterbacks to throw for 300+ against them are Mac Jones, Kirk Cousins, Sam Howell, and Dak Prescott. More than 50% of the time teams are crossing that 300 yard mark. Enter Patrick Mahomes who will have a healthy Travis Kelce and he’ll have his beau in the stands. Look, there’s no correlation but Kelce is averaging 108 yards with Swift in attendance compared to 41 yards when she isn’t, and both scenarios are 4 games each. The Chiefs are a borderline dynasty, they get up for big games. This is Monday night, a Kelce bowl, and Swift will be there. You shouldn’t add emotion in to capping but there’s extra juice and the Chiefs will be up. We also had a needed bye week for the Chiefs receivers, especially Rashee Rice. He has begun to emerge as the #1 option and these extra few days allowed him to reset and really study up on how to make the Chiefs well rounded. The Chiefs have struggled in the past in the redzone but with Pacheco emerging as a legit running back, the big bodies of Rice and Kelce, and the shiftiness of Jerrick McKinnon, I expect the Chiefs to put up numbers. We haven’t had a prime time shootout in a while, but Monday night should be that.
Chiefs 31 Eagles 27

Thank you,
Goose