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Rushing Leaders-Week 3

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The real star of the 2020 season thus far seems to be injuries, as it’s taken down more teams than expected. Of course, we did expect a few injuries due to a lack of preseason and the physical and mental tolls of Covid 19, but this is pretty huge.

Saquon Barkley’s injury was horribly impactful on the Giants, although it looked like he wasn’t fully healthy in that game even prior to the ACL. Devonta Freeman has been picked up, but it’s doubtful if he can make a real impact on the season ahead.

Looking at the top RBs thus far, it’s Aaron Jones in the lead, after a monstrous beatdown of the hapless Lions. Rodgers has used him effectively in pass and run situations, despite the team not really drafting any help on offence.

Henry has been another boom for the Titans, as they take their undefeated record further in week 3. Tannehill has looked better, which takes the heat off of Henry in third down situations. Not sure if he can keep up the pace, but a good start to the season.

Zeke has been instrumental in the Cowboys big start, although he looked like a toy in week 1 when Aaron Donald used him to smack Dak. They will need Zeke to keep up the big numbers if they want to done and dust the NFC East.

Nick Chubb and the Browns started out slow thanks to a drubbing at the hands of the Ravens, but his week 2 performance against the Bengals was smashing. The 1-2 punch of Chubb and Hunt make them formidable for when Baker Mayfield is fromage.

Josh Jacobs is simmering to a good start to the season, and looked good in the Raiders win over the Saints. Gruden has orchestrated some good drives this season for the Raiders, so if he keeps it up, Jacobs will stay in the top 5.

Who do you like this week? Who have you picked up on the waiver wire? It’s a big week ahead, stay healthy everyone.

Wade’s Week 2 Upsets

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Wade McElwain is back with his top upsets for week 2 in the NFL.
Who does he think are the teams that will upset or cover their spread?
Just watch the video and you can see.

Some of his top upsets for this week include:

Falcons vs Cowboys -5

This game looks to be a high scoring and fun affair, as Matt Ryan had over 400 yards in a loss. Will Amari Cooper shut out the Falcons, or will they have a chance? Wade likes the Falcons to cover this one.

Broncos vs Steelers -7.5

Pittsburgh is coming off a great game, despite not having RB James Connor. The Broncos were able to keep in the game last week, but lost after some lazy plays. Wade likes them to cover the 7.5 point spread this week.

Giants vs Bears -5

Wade bet against his Bears? What is he thinking? Well, he’s not impressed with Mitch and was impressed with Jones. Add to this the drama of Allen Robinson, and he likes the G-Men to win this one.

If you want to hear all of Wade’s weekly picks, make sure you check out our podcast.

 

Week 2 Picks

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Wade & Ryan make their predictions for Week 2 in the NFL in the latest podcast. They also break down what happened in week 1, and how that will affect some of the scores this Sunday.
Wade had an impressive record of 10-5-1 last week, where Ryan was a more modest 4-11-1, what does this week hold?

The guys look at some of the key games, some of which they agree on and some that totally do not. Among these:

Falcons (0-1) vs Cowboys (0-1)
Dallas -5 +52.5

Both teams lost last week and will be looking for retribution in week 2. Matt Ryan was able to chuck up 400+ yards in week 1, and still takes an L, of course he was facing the Seahawks, but they will need to show more this week. The Cowboys looked flat in week 1, with Aaron Donald and the Rams beating them up and down the field. Will Zeke finally get his legs back?
Ryan likes a Cowboys beating of the Falcons here, predicting a 31-17 victory.
Wade isn’t so sure, and likes the Falcons to cover the 5 point spread, with a Dallas victory of 28-26.

Rams (1-0) vs Eagles (0-1)
Pick +46

This game is a pick, which means both team have an equally bad chance of losing in this one. Philly looked limp in week 1, with Miles Sanders out with an injury. He’s back this week, but will have a tough job against that fast LA front line. Can old man DeShaun Jackson come back to life and score some points at home?
Ryan predicts an LA beatdown of Philly, with a 24-13 drubbing.
Wade likes Philly to win at home, as their secondary should make some big plays off of Goff. He calls a Philly win 23-20.

Giants (0-1) vs Bears (1-0)
Chicago -5 +42.5

The Bears won a heavy fourth quarter battle with the Lions last week, thanks to the last minute antics of Mitch. Of course it helps when Detroit loses a key member of its D allowing Trubisky to find holes. How will the drama of Allen Robinson on social media affect the locker room?
As for the Giants, they were smacked around by the Steelers, but Jones had some great moments of play, and some great efforts from Darius Slayton.
Both Wade and Ryan like the Giants to upset here, as much as it breaks Wade’s Beary heart.
Ryan has the Giants winning 23-20, and Wade sees it as a 27-24 victory for the G-Men.

Make sure you listen to our podcast for all the NFL tips and news. We are hoping to start hosting NFL viewing parties in the city soon, just watch this space.

Week 2-TNF

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It’s the battle of Ohio, as the winless Browns host the winless Bengals in a ‘who is more shameful to our state’ game for the ages. Will you stay up late in the UK to watch this contest? Yeah, me either.

The Browns were smothered in week 1 by a rampaging Ravens squad who hit them with everything, leaving them bloodied and bruised. The Bengals stayed in tight with a off-kilter Chargers squad, eventually losing when their kicker pulled a hammy mid-kick and saw their chance at OT float away.
How will these two teams fair on TNF?

Bengals (0-1) vs Browns (0-1)
Line: Browns by 6
O/U: 43.5

Cleveland Browns

Baker Mayfield looked lost on Sunday, with the Ravens not only locking down the secondary, but also causing plenty of problems for his o-line. There were times that he looked like he was in control and marching down then field, then making horrible decisions to give up the ball. The Bengals won’t give Baker the same pressure he face on Sunday, but they won’t just roll over and play dead either. Cinci has a pretty good secondary, so they should cause further blockages & messes for OBJ and company. Where they might find success in moving the chains is using Chubb and Hunt to their full running and option potential. Chubb & Hunt. Sounds like either a great 80s cop duo or a cheesy 90s strip club.

Cincinnati Bengals

Oh so close for the Bengals last weekend, as they were able to keep pressure on Tyrod Taylor while avoiding a beating. There were times where Joe Burrow showed potential, and other times when he looked like he was running away from a schoolyard fight. It was his first NFL game, so not a bad result for his first go. The Bengals still suck though, and their O-line is porous and weak. Burrow will spend a lot of time running in this game if he isn’t able to get the ball off to some of his speedy receivers. The Bengals D should be able to keep the pressure on Baker, but stopping that running game will be much trickier.

Prediction: Browns will be looking to pump up their home crowd of puppets and cut-outs to take their first home win of the season. They will make some ugly plays, dumb calls and at times feed it right into the Bengals hands, but they should cover this spread. I won’t be watching this game live, but it should be good to catch up over a few coffees on Friday morning.
Browns 24 Bengals 17

Make sure you follow me on here, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook for all my NFL picks.
I almost nailed the exact score last Thursday in my pick of the Chiefs, let’s see how I do this week.

 

Week 1 Results

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What a topsy turvy weekend in the NFL! Some of the biggest winners lost, and some of the teams that looked to live in Loserville for a long time actually showed some spunk. It was nice to have the game back & to feel a bit of normal again.

Picking Week 1 results against the spread can often be tough given all the time off, but 2020 has made that even more difficult by trashing the preseason and the growth/ injuries that go with it.
Wade & Ryan both took a stab at week 1, with Wade hitting out a respectable 10-5-1, while Ryan managed a more modest 4-11-1.

Let’s take a look at some of the games they got right/ wrong.

Seahawks 38 vs Falcons 25

Wade got this one wrong, siding with past numbers that have Pete Carroll not usually performing well in week 1 since 2013. Of course it was Russell Wilson who performed like a champ, spreading the ball to nine different receivers and running the ball a few times himself. Atlanta didn’t help themselves, dropping balls and getting costly penalties. Atlanta showed rally, but were also very inept on D. Ryan liked the Seahawks to cover, and they were able to do just that.

Bears 27 Lions 23

Who wrote off Trubisky? Wade and other Bears fans did, so it was surprising to see him launch a 4 TD push to overcome the pesky Lions. Mitch was off in the first half, hitting guys on the numbers who should have made some easy catches. Luckily for Bears fans, the biggest drop came in the 4th when the Lions dropped a huge catch which would have been a pretty gimme TD. Wade had the Bears to win, and they came out with a big one. Trubisky played pretty good.

LA Chargers 16 Bengals 13

Wade called a Bengals upset, giving them their first win of the season at home…and it almost happened. Another bad miss from a kicker on  Week 1 (have they all gotten worse) could have sent this game to OT, but alas the football Gods had other plans. Burrow looked good, and Tyrod looked marginal in this low scoring affair. Bengals should be proud of how they played, even if this did end in betting push.

LA Rams 20 Cowboys 17

Wade was a big believer in a Rams upset in this game, and they really came out pumping all cylinders. Goff was on fire, and Robert Woods was an easy target in a game that really underscored the D problems that Dallas has going forward. If the Rams can bully them around like this, then the Cowboys are up for a tough season of potential blowouts. CeeDee Lamb had a respectable first outing, but Zeke looked a bit flat, especially after Aaron Donald picked him up to hit Dak.

Bucs 23 Saints 34

This was the game that everyone was waiting for, and both Wade & Ryan predicted a 33-30 victory for TB12 and the Bucs. In hindsight, not a good call. Tom Brady was picked off 2 times and he couldn’t muster any offence in a game that showed that he still makes some pretty blinding errors. Brees didn’t play great, but looked a lot better than his 40 something counter. New Orleans also made a lot of costly defensive pass interference plays that gouged them for 100 yards+ in penalties. Everyone learned a valuable lesson in this one. The Bucs and Saints both look to roll next week.

Make sure you listen to our podcast so you can hear Wade & Ryan make all of their weekly picks. We will also be starting to promote venues across the UK who would be up for showing NFL games this season.
We know that this new rule of 6 will make things more difficult, but it’s better than a 9pm curfew which would essentially cancel the viewings for an entire season.