The Packers humiliate the Broncos on Sunday Night Football: The Broncos are the most unimpressive undefeated team of the five remaining. In only one of their six wins have they won by more than seven and only one of those six games was against a team with a winning record. Gone are the days of Peyton Manning throwing for 50 touchdowns and shattering passing records, so let’s stop waiting on that to start happening. The 39-year old has lost a lot of his already weak arm strength, and opposing defenses are feasting on him to the tune of a 7:10 touchdown/interception ratio. For a large portion of this season the defense had actually scored more points than the offense! And while the vaunted Broncos defense has received a lot of (warranted) attention, don’t sleep on the league-leading Packers defense that has only allowed 16.8 points per game. The Packers should be ready to roll coming out of their bye week, with the injured playmakers like Randall Cobb, Eddie Lacy, and Davante Adams getting time to rest and prepare. Bold prediction: Packers dominate in 38-10 win.
The Steelers hand the Bengals their first loss: At this point in this season it’s impossible to call the Bengals impressive start fluky. Andy Dalton actually looks like the real deal and both sides of the ball have stepped up when called upon. However, Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns to the field after going down with an MCL injury in week 3. Roethlisberger has never been spectacular in games coming back from injury, but with a plethora of weapons around him this is a different circumstance. Even though loud crows (Seattle) haven’t phased the Bengals this season, this matchup at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh holds big implications for the AFC North playoff picture, and expect the hometown fans to be as rowdy as ever. Bold prediction: Big Ben returns and dials up 4 touchdown passes as the Steelers have over 500 yards of total offense in a 35-31 win.
Stefon Diggs has a big day against the Bears: Diggs has exploded onto the scene after taking over for the injured Charles Johnson. The once-plodding Vikings offense looks dynamic, 357 yards per game with Diggs involved in the offense as opposed to 294 per game without him. The Bears pass defense has been pretty solid this season, but expect them to emphasize a support to their horrid run defense with Adrian Peterson in town. Diggs now has back-to-back 100-yard performances, and is already drawing comparisons to former-Vikings rookie superstar Randy Moss. Bold prediction: Diggs torches the Chicago secondary and sets news career highs with at least 8 catches for 150 yards and two scores.
Todd Gurley has 200 all purpose yards: It’s hard to say anyone’s surprised by Todd Gurley’s NFL success after such lofty comparisons coming out of college, but his production has been unprecedented. Over a 16 game span, his three games as a featured piece in the offense comes out to over 2,300 rushing yards—over a full 200 yards more than Eric Dickerson’s record—at over six yards per carry. The Rams offense will continue to rely heavily on Gurley, as he’s already looking like the NFL’s best running back. Facing a leaky San Francisco defense this week that’s 20th in the league against the run, Gurley should dominate again. Bold prediction: Gurley tops 175 yards on the ground on only 25 carries, scores twice, and adds 50 yards in the passing game—both setting new career highs.
Keenan Allen continues his historic pace: With the impressive performances of Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins this season, it’s easy to overlook what the best receiver on the 2-5 Chargers has been doing, which is break records. Through seven games no receiver has ever had more than Keenan Allen’s 62 receptions. He’s been an absolute ball magnet this season, catching a dozen or more passes in three games and getting double-digit targets in five. With the Chargers offense leading the NFL, expect the pass game—which put up 500 yards on a respectable Packers secondary—to expose Baltimore’s 28th ranked pass defense.
QBs:
Tom Brady
Phillip Rivers
Carson Palmer
Aaron Rodgers
Matt Ryan
Ben Roethlisberger
Andy Dalton
Cam Newton
Andrew Luck
Drew Brees
Eli Manning
Russell Wilson
RBs:
Todd Gurley
Devonta Freeman
Le’Veon Bell
Adrian Peterson
Chris Ivory
Chris Johnson
Marshawn Lynch
Justin Forsett
Doug Martin
Matt Forte
Dion Lewis
Mark Ingram
WRs:
Deandre Hopkins
Julio Jones
Antonio Brown
Keenan Allen
Odell Beckham Jr.
Demaryius Thomas
AJ Green
Calvin Johnson
Julian Edelman
Brandon Marshall
Stefon Diggs
Larry Fitzgerald
TEs:
Rob Gronkowski
Tyler Eifert
Travis Kelce
Jason Witten
Gary Barnidge
Greg Olsen
Martellus Bennett
Jimmy Graham
Ladarius Green
Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Delanie Walker
Richard Rogers
D/ST:
Seattle Seahawks
Arizona Cardinals
Louis Rams
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
New York Jets
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos
Houston Texans