The Jaguars bye week came at a very good time, as it enabled guys like Leonard Fournette, Brandon Linder, and possibly Cam Robinson to get healthy enough to play and be effective enough to play against Cincy. That's the routine bye week for the most part-injured players get healthier . But the bye week ended in anything but routine fashion, as the Jaguars made a trade before the trade deadline to acquire Pro bowl DT Marcell Dareus from Buffalo for a conditional 6th round pick that could go as high as a 5th. While Houston did not share the Jaguars' bye week, last week was quite eventful for the Texans, as several players walked out of practice after a meeting with Texans' owner Bob McNair, who apparently said something in a way that didn't sit too well with several players, including LT Duane Brown, who just ended his holdout of 8 weeks. Most of the team knelt during the anthem as in protest of McNair, then proceeded to play, by most accounts, an instant classic of a game against Seattle. The next day, the Texans traded Duane Brown to Seattle for 2nd and third round picks. I think that is a case of McNair wanting to get rid of a disgruntled player, because otherwise it makes ZERO sense to declare you just found your franchise QB after going your franchise's entire existence without one, then trade away the stud LT whose job it is to protect him. I think at least in the short term, the Jaguars got better and the Texans got worse. The bye week/trade deadline time frame was uneventful for the tacks, and while there was a lot of speculation that the Colts were willing to deal WR T.Y. Hilton or CB Vontae Davis, nothing materialized on either of those areas, leaving the Colts unchanged and in last place. On a board/personal note, I was finally able to get my record above .500 for the first time. Let's hope I can stay there after this week.
Bengals (3-4) at
Jaguars (4-3)-At face value, the Jaguars seem to match up very well against the Bengals. The Bengals seemingly have struggled with their offensive line after foolishly letting Whitworth leave. Meanwhile the Jaguars have an excellent pass rushing line, and seemingly have bolstered the run defense with the addition of Dareus. The Bengals have stud WR A.J. Green at WR and seemingly little else, as speedy first round pick Ross has yet to make an impact with them. Opposing them is a Jaguars secondary which could easily be considered among the top three secondaries in the game this year along with Denver and Seattle. Offensively, the Jaguars run the ball very well, while the Bengals are middle of the road stopping the run. I think this Jaguars team is very confident going into this game, and I think the
Jaguars win a close game 21-13.
Colts (2-6) at
Texans (3-4)-I indicated above the Texans did not improve themselves by trading away their stud LT. It's not going to matter against the Colts, who are completely incapable of stopping the red hot DeShaun Watson. The return of WR Will Fuller has added a whole new dimension to that Texans passing game. Texans win 27-13. Edit: With the news that the Texans have lost DeShaun Watson for the year with a torn ACL, that changes things for them. I'm not sure how much this team can take this year. The hurricane, the suspension of Cushing, the season ending injuries to Watt and Mercilus, the meeting with McNair and the trade of Duane Brown...now this. I think despite all of that, they are still better than the Colts, but they will be devastated by this. What saves them this week is they are home.
Texans win 17-14.
Ravens (4-4) at
tacks (4-3)-The Ravens go into this game with Flacco suffering from a concussion after a vicious hit from Kiko Alonso. If he doesn't play, that will leave Ryan Mallet to play in his place. I don't think the Ravens have enough on either side of the ball to win this game.
Tennessee wins 23-16.
Last week: 2-0
Overall: 12-11
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
