Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder was arguably the first celebrity sports prognosticator, but I bring something to the table that he never did:
Accountability.
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Y’see, I’m happy to revisit my screw-ups. If I make a garbage prediction, I own it. (By the same token, when I nail it, I own it even more.) To that end, here’s where I landed on last week’s fantasy football boldies:
1) The Cowboys Defense Could Look Even Worse Than in Week 3
Boom. In their Week 3 31-17 loss to Chicago, the flailing Dallas D allowed 385 yards — 298 through the air, courtesy of my main man, Bears QB Caleb Williams — while in this past Sunday night’s 40-40 tie with Green Bay, they gave up 40 points (obvs) and 489 yards. Newsflash: The Dallas Cowboys defense isn’t great at football.
2) The Ravens and the Chiefs Could Blow Up Some Scoreboards
The teams combined for 57 points, and it probably would’ve been more had Ravens QB Lamar Jackson not jacked up his hammy. So on this baby, I’ll grade myself a solid A-.
3) Facing Houston, Titans QB Cam Ward Could Finally Become a Thing
Yeah, not so much. Ward posted another tick in the bust column, managing just 104 yards passing yards and a 35.4 passer rating. Bruh, seriously?
4) The New York Jets / Miami Dolphins MNF Clash Might Be the Worst Game of the Year
I guess the Dolphins 27-21 win over the Jets could’ve been worse — although it was pretty darn bad for Tyreek Hill — but it wasn’t anything close to scintillating. That said, it wasn’t as boring as the other Monday night outing, the Broncos’ 28-3 snoozefest dub over the Bengals, So this is a whiff for me.
Will my 50% hit rate keep me from getting bold here in Week 5? Welp, not bold enough to include a Cam Ward prediction, but bold nonetheless.
Week 5 NFL Fantasy Bold Predictions
1) We Could Possibly See Carolina QB Bryce Young Be Good for Four Full Quarters
You can’t call Panthers QB Bryce Young a bust. But you can’t not call him a bust.
Here in his third year, the former top pick out of Alabama has flashed moments of goodness — not greatness, just goodness — which has been the case for the majority of his NFL life.
In his 34 career games, he’s averaged 177.4 yards per game, owns a completion percentage of 60.3%, and has tossed a total of 31 touchdowns. As per StatMuse, his 34-game NFL statistical comps are Christian Ponder, Blaine Gabbert, and Kyle Orton, none of whom will be entering the Hall of Fame anytime soon.
In Week 5, his Panthers host a 1-3 Dolphins team that’s coming off of a short week, and kinda stinks, with their defense allowing 407 yards to the Jets on Monday — 307 of which came via the arm and legs of New York QB Justin Fields — so if Bryce is ever going to become a thing, it’ll be on Sunday.
2) The Buffalo Bills Might Not Cakewalk Their Way Through Sunday Night
Outside of the undefeated Bills, the AFC East isn’t what anybody would call scary, with the Jets and Dolphins posting a combined record of 1-7 and New England clocking in at 2-2.
Still, the .500 Pats — who visit Buffalo on Sunday night — are a feisty bunch, with a +21 point differential (eighth-best in the league) and 102 points scored, just 35 points behind the NFL-topping Lions.
For their part, the Bills’ defense hasn’t been super-frightening, allowing a middling average of 22.5 points per game, 16th in the league.
This isn’t to say that New England QB Drake Maye is going to do Josh Allen things to the Bills, but Buffalo can’t take their division rival lightly. They can save those 83% effort games for the Dolphins and the Jets.
3) Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty Might Just Have an Encore Performance… And Then Some
During the Bears/Raiders broadcast on Sunday, CBS analyst Adam Archuleta pointed out that Vegas rookie Jeanty played just 12 snaps in the preseason, which he believed was the primary cause for the mighty-mite’s blah performances in Weeks 1-3, a trio of games in which he totalled 164 rushing yards — as opposed to Week 4, when he racked up 138, and looked scary af in the process.
On Sunday, the Raiders visit Indianapolis to take on a Colts team that, in Week 4, allowed Rams RB Kyren Williams to scamper for 77 yards on just 13 carries (5.9 yards per rush).
Las Vegas QB Geno Smith has been a veritable turnover machine, chucking a league-leading 7 interceptions, so at some point, Raiders OC Chip Kelly could be like, “Eh, screw it, let’s just run on every down.”
And that point could be on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
4) Jaxson Dart Could Be a Top-10 Fantasy Beast
After four games, the New Orleans Saints are firmly planted on the schneid, but their pass defense kinda doesn’t suck.
They’ve allowed 821 yards through the air, ranking them a not-tragic 17th in the league. (This is as opposed to their run defense, which has given up a yucky 475 yards.)
So why am I prognosticating that the Giants’ rookie signal caller — who’s starting just his second NFL game and will be without his WR1 Malik Nabers — will make some fantasy noise against New Orleans on Sunday?
Boldness, baby. Straight. Up. Boldness.
Will this batch of prognostications be an improvement over last week’s less-than-stellar performance? Who the heck knows, but one thing we do know is you can win real money on PrizePicks with your NFL predictions.
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