Maybe Cincinnati isn’t very good. That’s what we can glean from week 6 and beyond.
I started the season concerned with the lack of a second receiver for the Bengals. But after a week 1 victory against the New York Jets where Andy Dalton looked similar to last year, I dismissed that notion.
That was premature. The offense doesn’t do much and Dalton needs more weapons. Brandon LaFell isn’t working as the second receiver and if Tyler Eifert doesn’t hurry and suit up, we may see week 7 becoming closer than many expect against the Cleveland Browns (listen, I know I’m hammering home the Browns, but seriously, they’re going to win a game at some point this season).
So don’t be so sure of the Bengals this week to bounce back after some bad losses. Without further ado, here’s the week 7 Survivor pool picks.
Teams Used: Seattle, Carolina, Miami, Washington, Baltimore (lost) and New England.
Best Bet
Green Bay Packers
I’m assuming Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Green Bay offense is tiring of hearing about how bad they are. If you tune into ESPN or Fox, then you’ve likely heard all about Rodgers’ troubles this season.
They have a point. But at some point the noise becomes too much for the actual problem.
Green Bay is still over .500 and looked pretty good on offense against Jacksonville and Detroit. The offense wasn’t great against New York, Minnesota (who has?) and Dallas, but I’m not fretting as much as the national media.
Rodgers is still one of the better quarterbacks in the league and he has a knack for coming back when all seems lost. And while the offense hasn’t looked normal, it’s still not as far off as many would want you to believe. Turnovers have been an issue, but that doesn’t bother me much. Turnovers always seem to work themselves out, so even though the Packers have a negative turnover-margin, I’m not worried about that problem.
Ultimately this game comes down to the Thursday night matchup. Chicago has to travel on the road and that just doesn’t work out well for the road team in many cases. It’s tough for road teams to get back into the swing of things and after the way Chicago lost again in week 6, it will be tough to come back with a solid outing.
Chicago has struggled this season to get anything going with the running game and Green Bay is one of the best against the run. The Bears’ inability to run the football will allow Green Bay to focus more on the pass, limiting Chicago’s ability to move the ball.
That will come in handy for Green Bay’s offense, which should make a comeback in week 7 after hearing about their demise for the entire week. This is a rivalry game that Rodgers has dominated. I expect him to do the same in week 7.
Sleeper Pick
New York Giants
Maybe I’m looking too much into this, but I have serious concerns about Los Angeles’ recent travel schedule.
In three weeks’ time, the Rams will travel from Los Angeles to Detroit to London. That’s hard on teams, especially as we enter the middle portion of the schedule.
It’s not only the schedule that has me fading the Rams. It’s the fact that they’re posers. Los Angeles was one of the surprises of the early part of the season, going from a dismal failure in week 1 (I’m never picking against San Francisco in week 1 ever again) to a team with wins against Seattle, Tampa Bay and Arizona in consecutive weeks.
However, that success has turned into what we believed the Rams were all along. Los Angeles has turned around and lost against Buffalo and Detroit in consecutive weeks and have looked pretty bad in the process. The defense isn’t pressuring the quarterback and while the offense has looked decent recently, I can’t trust Case Keenum and the rest of the rarely heard-ofs.
And while the Giants don’t do much for me, they can still move the chains at a far better clip than the Rams. New York will fill up the passing attempts stat sheet and if the Rams can’t get to Eli Manning, then he’ll be able to produce yards and touchdowns.
The Giants are a sneaky pick this week and you’ll likely not have many opportunities to utilize the Giants.
Be Careful
Atlanta Falcons
I’m on board the Atlanta bandwagon. Everyone is pointing to last year’s slide, but I’m not buying it. That team faced far easier competition in the early part of last season and it was winning in odd ways.
This season is a completely different story. The Falcons have shown toughness, winning on the road against Oakland, New Orleans and Denver, and has nice offensive showings in several games. That wasn’t the case last season.
So I’m not predicting a collapse. But I am a little concerned with the week 7 matchup against San Diego.
The Chargers are far better than their record indicates. San Diego has had a tough time finishing games, but that makes them a dangerous game against supposedly better teams.
Atlanta’s defense hasn’t been good. It ranks in the bottom-10 in total yards and in the bottom-six in passing yards allowed. That makes me nervous against what appears to be inferior competition.
San Diego can move the chains. And it can do it in long chunks (see the week 6 drives against Denver). If the Chargers can keep the Falcons’ offense off the field, this can be much closer than oddsmakers would have you believe.
Mix in Atlanta being exhausted from two consecutive road trips west and this may not be worth the Survivor Pool pick.
