Your “The Pickens are Rather Girthy” NFL Football Open Thread

TO THE GAMES!

Broncos/Raiders:

Nobody seems to be talking about how efficient Derek Carr is this season. The Raiders O has been helped immensely by his 16/2 TD/INT ratio. That man takes good Carr of the ball, amirite? Guh, bad pun is bad. Denver has struggled through the 5th hardest sked with a 2nd year qb that is learning the ropes and it’s not going to get any better the rest of the way. They have the Fins, Saints, Chiefs and Bills to look not forward to. Oh my.

Chargers/Fins:

Qb Herbert doesn’t fool around-he’s already 10th in the league in attempted long balls despite not starting the year on the field. After his dismal debut Tua turned it around last week. Yes it’s a small sample but he came out of the game with an 8.9 yards per attempt number and created 3 first downs with his wheels. With the way the D is playing the Fins look like a solid wild card playoff team that might be able to steal a game in the first round. All Hail Brian Flores!

Bills/Cards:

Oh, I like this game. The over/under is 56 last I checked-beware of flying balls and rambling qb’s! Murray’s completion rate to Hopkins in a clean pocket and 15+ yards downfield? An astounding 82%! Wow. What’s happened to Drake? He’s been absolutely abandoned in the passing game, having only 7 catches so far on 127(!) routes run. He was projected as a 3 down back. Meanwhile Edmonds is tracking towards 60 grabs this year. Why do teams sour on Drake?

Seahawks/Rams:

D.K. Metcalf is everything N’Keal Harry was supposed to be. Swing and a big miss, Belichick. The former’s 372 yards on deep balls is 50 ahead of the 2nd place wr. As Hippo noted with Goff’s renewed improved play, the O-line that last year placed 28th in pressure allowed is the very best in keeping Jared’s uni clean.

Niners/Saints:

New Orleans provided a glimpse of what their D is capable of when it hit on every cylinder but issues remain. They’ve allowed more 40+ pass plays than any other team and their pass interference penalties(7) 20 yards or more downfield are the most in the league. You may want to sit te Cook down for this one-San Franny has locked down pass-catching te’s and he’s also been averaging 25 yards and 2.7 grabs over the last 3 games.

Bengals/Steelers:

The NFL’s best pass rush should have Burrow wishing he was trodding up a perilous mountain pass with a load of provisions on his back. Perhaps Cincy should play their 4th string qb, the Steelers seem to have problems defending against that type of player. I’m playing Tee Higgins vs this vaunted D because they’ve given up 150+ yards to two separate wr’s and have allowed 11 different players at that position to score a 6 spot.

Start with the jibber jabber.