I know I mentioned I HATE Thursday football games, but this is the one week, I LOVE them…how can you go wrong, family (sans inlaws for some of you I’m sure), football and all the food you can stuff into your pieholes!!! I love turkey, but only the white meat. I can’t stand dark meat, so I am going to put a Thanksgiving theme on my picks this week. You should have plenty of players playing tomorrow as some good teams are playing some bad teams, so I wanted to make sure I got this out.
White Meat Plays (guys I like)
- Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and Ryan Grant @ Detroit – Hell, I would probably also throw Jermichael Finley into this bunch…I think GB comes out and stomps Detroit. I know Detroit plays tough on Turkey Day, because it is their birth right to host a game every year, but not this year my friends. GB wins and wins big!!!
- Marion Barber vs Oakland – Shocker, I am picking a RB to light up Oakland, but until they can stop anyone on the ground, I will keep picking against them. The Oakland D is 30th against the run and they have allowed a league high 16 rushing TDs. Surprisingly, they are not so bad against the pass, so I expect Barber to gain > 100yds on the ground and likely 2 TDs.
- Brett Favre vs Bears – There is really no explanation needed. The Beloved are hurting and Favre’s colors have changed, but the song remains the same. Oh, and he has a pretty good running game to support a lot of play action over the top of our vaunted Tampa Two defense.
- Whichever Cincy RB starts vs Cleveland – Whether it is Cedric Benson or Bernard Scott starting for Cincy, they should be starting for you. They will light up Cleveland!!!
Dark Meat Plays (guys I don’t like)
- Kyle Orton vs NY Giants – Ole Neckbeard is still gimpy and the Giants love to play on the road. I expect the front 7 of the Giants to “introduce” themselves to Mr. Orton in the backfield several times tomorrow.
- Matt Forte @ Minnesota – You likely have a better option than Forte this week and while you have probably ridden him all season to this point (as have I on 2 different teams), this is the time to pick one of your other options at RB.
- Beanie Wells @ Tennessee – I usually like to ride the hot players and while I think Beanie will do well for you down the stretch with AZ’s soft schedule, I don’t like him this week. Tenn is 9th against the run and something has gotten into Guppy’s team and playing at home, they will be ready.
- Ben Roethlisberger @ Baltimore – Big Ben has a “head” as in concussion and let’s face it, you have to be able to see straight to navigate the Baltimore defense. Plus Big Ben’s history against Baltimore isn’t so great. In his last 4 games against Baltimore, Big Ben is 64 for 111 for 802 yds with 8 TDs (5 in one of those games) with 3 INTs and he has been sacked 14 times. The Balt D is mean, fast and mean and I think this translates into a poor day for Big Ben.
Other Gibblets to Consider
Ahmad Bradshaw is out tomorrow for the Giants and Brandon Jacobs is probably still a little gimpy, so a sneaky waiver move is picking up Danny Ware who will back up Jacobs and could bust off some long runs against a Denver D that has gone soft in the last 4 games. Another waiver move I like is picking up Jermichael Finley and playing him against Detroit if you are thin at TE. He has become a favorite target of Aaron Rodgers and just returned last week from 3 weeks off with an injury and had a career day. There is also a lot of hub-bub about picking up RB Rock Cartwright for Washington, but Washington stinks and has trouble scoring, so I don’t like Rock’s chances any more than the other RBs Washington has trotted out this season. Another tip for my male readers out there, tomorrow is a long day of eating and football and I know the pants can feel a little tight in the waist by the time you get to the second half of the Dallas/Oakland game…do yourselves a favor and pack some Zubaz to bring to your festivities tomorrow so you can power through the whole day that is Turkey Day Football!!! There is no shame for a man wearing Zubaz to give him the comfort he needs while consuming mass amounts of food. Just keep it healthy and stick to the white meat!!!
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK AND HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Can I get an “Amen” followed by some white meat?
The DeCon has spoken…so let it be written, so let it be done…
I’ll hear your fantasy football confessions at beargoggles.decon@gmail.com.