What? He’s not playing?
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Brady is 11-5 against Manning, 9-3 regular season. Now that Manning is in a walking cast (on the recommendation of Charlotte foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson as a way to speed up the recovery of his torn plantar fascia), he’s giving Osweiler tips he has gained from 17 prior games against Belichick’s Patriots defense dating back to 2000. Then we watched him don a new uniform, and pick up the rivalry with No. 12 right where it left off without missing a beat. The harsh reality is that this rivalry might just be over. Osweiler’s ability to run coach Gary Kubiak’s trademark bootlegs and rollouts, the addition of bruising blocker Richard Gordon, and the increasingly bigger role played by the tight ends, have given the Broncos a more diversified offense than just two weeks ago. The Patriots get a boost in the second quarter of away games, where they average nine points this year.
Vikings (+2.5) over Falcons: Don’t think I could stomach picking a healthy Falcons team over a good Vikings team, and it seems Atlanta will be without running back Devonta Freeman.
If the Patriots have a weakness, it is the offensive line. Brady had time, but the Bills did an excellent job of covering the receivers downfield to give Manny Lawson time to drop Brady. Without their sack leader and against Tom Brady, Denver needs a memorable performance from its secondary. Denver has not been overly effective this season on the ground, but the Broncos will look to run more with Brock Osweiler under center. Broncos lead series, 25-20.
And while Patricia’s troops are trying to keep Osweiler, Demaryius Thomas and the rest of the Broncos in check, Brady will have his hands full with the Denver defense. I am sure Manning could have played a part in that one. Atlanta was 5-0, but has struggled since, falling far behind Carolina in the NFC South. The Falcons will be without injured star running back Devonta Freeman.
BRADY IN TROUBLE?: Brady will be facing the league’s top-ranked defence, one that hounded Aaron Rodgers into the worst game of his career – and he still hasn’t recovered, with Green Bay losing four of five after coming to Denver unbeaten, just like the Patriots. It’s their choice on who they play, when they play them.
Oakland has lost three straight after seemingly having turned around its lagging fortunes; the Raiders have not had a winning season or made the playoffs since 2002. That’s what’s so great about this game is there are different highs and lows for everybody on the field and everyone takes care of each other and goes out and works as hard as they can.
This will be the first time these two teams meet in the Russell Wilson era, which is a good thing for Seattle considering the last two times these teams met the Seahawks were shutout. “Guys change it up and he adapts to different things that defenses do”. They are tied for the league lead with a plus-13 turnover margin.
“Uh… triple-team”, he said, via the Denver Post.
Over the first six games of the season, Denver’s tight end corps averaged a mere three catches for 20 yards.
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The Steelers meanwhile are not only in control of a Wild Card spot but have a legitimate chance to narrow the gap between them and the Bengals for the NFC North crown. Luckily we have some extremely promising OLBs backing him up in Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett, so the loss isn’t completely devastating, but we would of course much rather he suit up and start.
