Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.
The San Jose Sharks have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the past five seasons but there was some element that prevented the team from having success in the postseason.
Each week, the CappersPicks.com fantasy football guru Dave B brings you players you need to be paying attention to – Remember – fantasy football championships are often won by those who live eat and breath fantasy football.
After all of the weekly games are finished be sure to check our waiver wire column, cheatsheets, a who’s hot, and who’s not report plus more in our fantasy football guide.
Date/Time: Sunday, September 25, 4:15 PM ET
Venue: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington
Broadcast: FOX
Cardinals vs. Seahawks Betting Lines from betonline.com:
Spread: Cards -3
Moneyline: Cards -190: Hawks +165
Over/Under: 43 points
The Arizona Cardinal travel to Seattle in Week 3 of the NFL season looking to keep the defending NFC West champs winless on the season. Arizona has looked decent this season and could be 2-0 heading into this game if not for a second half collapse against Washington last week. The Seahawks on the other hand have looked dreadful offensively but have been decent on defense. Sunday’s game will go a long way in determining which team is prime to make a run at the NFC West title and which team is destined to underwhelm this season.
Arizona did what it had to do in the offseason – they acquired the franchise quarterback that had been lacking since the retirement of Kurt Warner. Kevin Kolb has been good – completing 61% of his passes, throwing for 560 yards, four touchdowns and only one interception so far this year. Beanie Wells has been a great surprise as well. He has averaged 5.7 yards per carry, has 183 yards rushing on the season to go with two scores. Larry Fitzgerald caught 7 passes last week for 133 yards and a touchdown. What does all this mean? The Cardinals have a reliable, balanced offensive attack for the first time in years.
Arizona’s defense has been a major issue so far. They are 29th in the NFL allowing 466 yards per game and they have the 29th ranked pass defense allowing Cam Newton to throw for 422 yards in Week 1 and Rex Grossman to amass 291 yards passing last week. Strangely, the Cardinals are 11th ranked in points allowed so far.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
There is not a whole lot to like about the Seattle Seahawks so far this year but one glimmer of good news could change their fortunes. Sidney Rice appears on track to play his first game of the season on Sunday. He should help Tavaris Jackson and an offense that is dead last in the league with an average of 191.5 yards per game and last in scoring with an average of 8.5 points per game. The running game is stuck in the mud as well. The running backs have averaged just 47.5 yards per game this season thanks to underwhelming play and a lack of a quality offensive line. That O-line will be without Robert Gallery for 4-6 weeks – not a good sign for a team that has given up an incredible 10 sacks so far.
Seattle’s defense has been their only bright spot and could give the Arizona offense a challenge. They are 10th in the NFL allowing 313 yards per game and are 5th against the run allowing just 3.1 yards per carry so far. This unit hasn’t generated a turnover yet – an interesting stat considering how much that they have been on the field.
Betting Prediction: The Seattle Seahawks are traditionally good at home – Seattle is a tough building to conquer. The Hawks are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 home game but are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight games overall. Arizona is 0-5 ATS in their last five games against the NFC West including 2 SU and ATS losses last season versus Seattle. The Cardinals are just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as favorite.
Arizona is competitive for the first time in a few seasons, something the Hawks have not been able to show just yet. But at home, in their home opener, Seattle could be a different team. If the defense plays true to their form and the crowd is as big a part of the game as they have been, Seattle could be in line for their first win. Seattle’s offense gets a chance to right the ship against a brutal Cardinals defense in what should be a very close game at very least. The home team is 7-3 in the last 10 games in this series – I like the trend to continue!
Pick: Seattle Seahawks +3
Date/Time: Sunday, September 25, 4:05 PM ET
Venue: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
Broadcast: CBS
Ravens vs. Rams Betting Lines from betonline.com
Spread: Ravens -3 ½
Moneyline: Ravens -195: Rams +170
Over/Under: 41.5 points
Both the Baltimore Ravens and the St. Louis Rams will be looking to rebound from underwhelming performances in losses last week when they square off on Sunday in St. Louis. While the Rams loss wasn’t entirely unexpected, the Ravens loss at Tennessee was shocking to say the least. With redemption on their minds, Baltimore has to be licking their chops at the prospect of facing a Rams team that has been decimated by injuries and has frankly been underwhelming in both of their contests this year.
Baltimore had a bad game last week in Tennessee. The offense gained a total of just 229 yards while committing three turnovers while the defense gave up a staggering 432 yards – 358 through the air. We’ll give them an early season mulligan knowing that Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and the Ravens defense will be fired up to take the field and erase the memories of the huge letdown of last week.
The St. Louis Rams are in familiar territory. They have started 0-2 the last five seasons and judging by their play thus far and the injuries that the team has sustained, there is a realistic chance that the team goes 0-3. Both Steven Jackson and Cadillac Williams are highly questionable for Sunday’s game leaving Jerious Norwood and Quinn Porter as the only healthy running backs in the organization – ugh!. Danny Amendola is still out and his replacement Greg Salas doesn’t quite look ready for prime time. Sam Bradford is a Stud, make no mistake about it. But without tools to work with, his talents are being wasted. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Injuries will affect the Rams again this week on offense but there is one area in which they can improve. They can stay away from penalties for which they have 17 of this season – 8 for a huge 85 yards last week.
Defensively, the Rams looked OK last week, or maybe it was an out of sync Eli Manning that made them look that way. St. Louis will be without its two starting corners once again this week making for a patchwork group on defense to match that of the offense.
Betting Prediction: The Baltimore Ravens have been incredible in responding to a loss. They have won eight straight games following a defeat. The St. Louis Rams are 4-1 SU at home versus the Ravens and 4-2 ATS in their last six overall versus Baltimore. However the Rams are a miserable 5-17 SU in their last 22 games at home and are just 1-5 ATS in their last six on home turf.
To beat a motivated and pissed off Baltimore Ravens squad, a team has to be at full strength and playing at a very high level. The Rams are neither of those. Baltimore’s defense will be strong as ever on Sunday and Ray Rice could potentially have his best game of the year against an undermanned Rams team. This one won’t be close folks! The Rams are in serious trouble.
Pick: Baltimore Ravens -3 ½
The suddenly and uncharacteristically struggling Montreal Argonauts head west this Friday to take on an Edmonton Eskimos club that has regained some of the form that made them the best team in the CFL after five games.
With the NFL Fantasy football nearing the home stretch we encourage you to be checking out our FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEKLY ARTICLES for all your rankings and analysis for the upcoming week.
Week 3 of the NFL season is upon us and the Hot just keep getting Hotter while the Not Hot keep getting cooler. The trend toward scoring in the game cannot be denied and it is nice to see more Hot than Not this year in the NFL.
Date/Time: September 24, 2011, 9pm ET/6pm PT
Venue: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, United States
Broadcast: Pay-per-view
Betting: Bet on UFC 135 at BetOnline.com
Main card:
Jon Jones (13-1): -550
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-8): +400
What a main event! Jon Jones is an absolute nightmare matchup for Rampage in this one. Jones is big, athletic, long, quick, powerful and dynamic while Rampage is the same old one dimensional standup fighter. Expect Jones to easily dodge any of the telegraphed strikes thrown by Rampage and for the youngster to school the veteran in this one. Jones has too many tools and is too young and hungry for Rampage to have a chance. It will be exciting and it will end with a KO.
Pick: Jon Jones -550
Matt Hughes (45-8): +380
Josh Koscheck (17-5): -480
In a battle of legend vs. “wannabe legend“, Matt Hughes will attempt to slow Josh Koschek’s reassertion up the Welterweight ladder. Both men are very well versed, well rounded and can end this fight anywhere, anytime. I like the experience of Hughes and his relentless takedown game to overpower Kos. Hughes`s legacy is on the line here – something that he takes very seriously. In a close fight, take the veteran to prevail in a huge upset.
Pick: Matt Hughes +380
Rob Broughton (15-5-1): +300
Travis Browne (11-0-1): -400
In a Heavyweight clash of heavy handed strikers, one undefeated streak will end. Rob Broughton has won five straight fights while Travis Browne has never tasted defeat. I like Browne as the better technical striker in this one – a KO is almost certain!
Pick: Travis Browne -400
Nate Diaz (13-7): -260
Takanori Gomi (32-7, 1 NC): +200
A classic `clash of styles’ is featured in the Diaz/Gomi bout. Diaz is a submission fighter while Gomi prefers to keep the fight standing. With a lack of striking prowess, Diaz will have a difficult time closing the ground on the heavy handed Gomi. I like Gomi to catch Diaz in the second round ending the fight with a highlight reel KO.
Pick: Takanori Gomi +200
Mark Hunt (6-7): +275
Ben Rothwell (31-7): -350
Ben Rothwell returns to the Octagon after a stint of relative inactivity against kick boxer Mark Hunt. Octagon Rust and the fact that Rothwell has had his issues in the past defending kicks will be the difference in this fight. In an exciting brawl, expect the kick boxer to come out on top.
Pick: Mark Hunt +275
Preliminary card:
Aaron Riley (30-12-1): +240
Tony Ferguson (11-2): -300
A once highly touted prospect Aaron Riley will try to get his career back in order when he takes on dangerous striker Tony Ferguson at UFC 135. Riley has been susceptible to heavy hands recently – Riley has lost 2 of his last 4 fights by KO. That plays into the devastating striking game of Ferguson unfortunately for Riley. [ad-3573245]
Pick: Tony Ferguson -300
Tim Boetsch (13-4): -170
Nick Ring (12-0): +140
Nick Ring puts a perfect record on the line against Tim Boetsch who is coming off a huge win over Kendall Grove. Expect Boetsch`s size (a natural Light Heavyweight fighting at Middleweight) to be too much in this one. In this fight, size does matter.
Pick: Time Boetsch -170
Ricardo Romero (11-2): +130
James Te Huna (12-5): -160
Both of these fighters will be looking to rebound after losses in their last fights. Te Huna has an awful time defending against submissions – 4 of his 5 losses have come by way of submission. Romero on the other hand is very well versed in submissions – 5 of his last 6 wins have come via tapout. Romero wins this fight easily by, you guessed it, submission.
Pick: Ricardo Romero +130
Cole Escovedo (17-7): +160
Takeya Mizugaki (14-6-2): -200
In Bantamweight action, two fighters in desperate need of a win do battle. Mizugaki is known as a bit of a grinder – not scared to go the distance in his fights. Expect much of the same in this one with Cole Escovedo`s serious lack of takedown defense being his Achilles heel once again.
Pick: Takeya Mizugaki -200
Junior Assuncao (13-4-0): -125
Eddie Yagin (15-4-1) -105
Junior Assuncao returns to the Octagon after four years away when he takes on highly touted Eddie Yagin in Featherweight action. Assuncao is a Black Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but he will have a hard time with Octagon rust and with the all around prowess of a confident and recently impressive Yagin. Yagin recently submitted former Bellator champion Joe Soto – that’s enough for me.
Pick: Eddie Yagin -105
If youth and promise were the only measuring stick used when determining the teams that make the playoffs then the Edmonton Oilers would certainly be at or near the top of the list.
The Minnesota Wild recognized a need for change and General Manager Chuck Fletcher accomplished just that this offseason with the acquisition of players that should help cure Minnesota’s Achilles heel, the offense.
For the first time in what seems like an eternity, the Calgary Flame will enter the season not having to answer questions about the ridiculous roster moves that they made in the offseason.
He Colorado Avalanche recognized a need to make some wholesale changes in the offseason.
The Vancouver Canucks will hope to learn from adversity and ice an even better team that was at or near the top of nearly every defensive and offensive statistical category last season. Obviously wholesale change was not necessary for the Canucks.
This is our waiver wire pick-ups column. Dave B scours the free agent pools in fantasy land for the best available talent every week. Availability, of course, depends on the league. We’re using 12 team, 15 roster spot leagues as the median, but we’ll look for roster candidates for leagues of all shapes and sizes.
After all of the weekly games are finished be sure to check our cheatsheets, a who’s hot, and who’s not report plus more in our fantasy football guide.
Each week, the CappersPicks.com fantasy football guru Dave B brings you players you need to be paying attention to – Remember – fantasy football championships are often won by those who live eat and breath fantasy football.
After all of the weekly games are finished be sure to check our waiver wire column, cheatsheets, a who’s hot, and who’s not report plus more in our fantasy football guide.
Two teams looking for their inaugural win of the season do battle in an important NFC showdown on Monday night when the banged up St. Louis Rams head east to play the injury ravaged New York Giants.
