Quick question: What’s better than skipping church, sitting on the couch in a dark room watching the Red Zone channel for 12 hours avoiding all real world responsibilities, and gambling on grown men who probably have CTE? Doing it for the 8th straight week. Welcome to NFL Sunday.
Get Blake Bortles some help
If you’ve followed this for a while now you know a few of my opinions. I like the Falcons and dislike kickers and the British. For some reason, I became attached to this Jacksonville Jaguars team last season. Maybe because they aren’t the typical NFL powerhouse franchise. Maybe I like their underdog mentality. Or maybe I love watching their defense which is one of the best in the NFL despite the disadvantage of being the only professional football team to wear teal uniforms. After making the AFC championship game last season and nearly beating the Patriots in New England, I expected the Jags to hit the ground running and continue their dominance. Instead they have done the exact opposite losing 4 out of their last 5 games. The Jaguar defense has been solid, but not spirit crushing like they were last year. The Jaguar offense is like taking a trip back in time and watching football from the year 1965. The Jags typically run the ball 3 times for a gain of 5 yards and punt the ball. It is impressive that Doug Marrone has such an appreciation for the history of football that he wants to run an offense from 1965.
The past 3 games the Jags offense has only managed a total of 28 points. Which is a lot of points in 1965. If it were 1965, this Jaguars team would be dominate, they would easily win the Super Bowl. Doug Marrone at this point has 2 choices: get some decent WRs for Blake Bortles to throw to, or build a time machine. Option one seems solid. Its been a big week for the haters and losers who diss Blake Bortles and there are many. Bortles is not Aaron Rodgers, he’s not even Andy Dalton, but he did prove last year that he is capable of getting this team to the AFC championship. Bortles did this by a majority of the time throwing to a WR who was sleeping in his car at the start of the season. The Jags rewarded him with a contract extension this offseason. Did the Jags use their first round pick to take a WR to help out Bortles? No instead they drafted a defensive lineman, a position they did not need help at. This offseason the Jags let 2 of their WRs leave in free agency and did not draft a WR. Now that the offense is terrible and incapable of completing a pass did they go sign a WR? No they traded a 5th round pick for running back Carlos Hyde. It seems like Doug Marrone doesn’t want to see Blake Bortles to succeed at QB for the Jaguars, which brings us to option 2.
If Doug Marrone could put the Jaguars effort and resources into creating a time machine his team will definitely succeed. The type of offense he runs will be perfect in the year 1965 and the Jags will probably rewrite the record books when it comes to champions. Sure Jim Brown is good but Leonard Fournette would be considered an alien in 1965. The Jags run heavy and no pass offense will demolish the weaker competition in 1965. Finding a WR seems easy but is it really tougher than building a time machine and transporting the entire Jags team to 1965 to play football? I think all options should be considered.
Week 8 NFL Picks
All lines used from Las Vegas Westgate Supercontest
Eagles -3
Niners PK
Vikings PK
Eagles -3
Since Doug Marrone is going to keep Blake Bortles in a box and never let him cut it loose, The Jags offense will continue to struggle. This seems like the time the Jaguars will finally turn their season around. They are in need of a win, and everyone on the team knows it. The Jaguars had a players only meeting this week and cleared the air. And this game is being playing in London where the Jaguars play every year and have been very successful. Everything points to taking the Jaguars this week as an underdog except for.. their opponent. The only team with bigger expectations and more desperate to win than the Jaguars is the Eagles. This spot sucks for the Jaguars because the Eagles absolutely cannot lose this game. If the Super Bowl champs drop to 3-5 their chances to win the NFC East might be done. The Eagles let the game last week against the Panthers get away from them and they can’t let it happen again vs the Jags.
Niners PK
3 weeks ago the Niners lost at home to Arizona and gave the Cardinals their first win. Part of the reason the Cardinals won that game was thanks to 5 Niner turnovers. Since then the Niners have been competitive agsinst good teams like the Packers and Rams, and the Cardinals have fallen off the face of the earth, losing at home to the Broncos 45-10. Arizona got their one division win against the Niners thanks in large part to luck and they won’t get another one. The Niners may have lost Jimmy G for the season but they are still a better team than the Cardinals.
Vikings PK
Sunday night football. Rematch from the most incredible playoff game in the history of the NFL. The Saints will be looking for revenge after the Vikings knocked them out of the playoffs last season. New Orleans has also won 5 games in a row and is looking like a juggernaut. Seems like the perfect place to bet on the Saints right? Maybe not that simple. The Saints are in a real tough spot here going on the road for the second straight week to play a difficult opponent. The Saints were lucky to win last Sunday in Baltimore. New Orleans finally returns home next sunday to take on the team with the best record in the league, the LA Rams. The Vikings under Mike Zimmer have been great as a home team going 21-8 ATS since he became head coach. The Vikings are also getting back Everson Griffin after missing the last 3 games. With the Saints in such a difficult position its going to be tough for them to win this game. The line for this game should probably be Vikings -3 or at least -2.5 and its somehow a Pick ’em. Ill take the home team, better defense, and the value.
Double COVERage 