CINCINNATI BENGALS
11/20/2024

Any team that is 4-7 will have some of those what might have been losses.
But it seems the Bengals have had more than their fair share of those and Sunday’s 34-27 defeat at the hands of the surging Chargers is just another in what appears to be a lost season.
Cincinnati rallied from 27-6 down to tie the game 27-27 only to have the Chargers score in the final minute against a porous Bengals defense.
From an NFL standpoint, there is plenty of blame to go around. PK Evan McPherson missed two field goals to continue his miserable season. The offense struggled mightily in the first half and at times down the stretch. The defense was as bad as it could be in the first half then performed at an extremely high level in the second half … until that final drive when the Chargers shredded them like cheese on a coney dog.
From a fantasy standpoint, QB Joe Burrow and WR Ja’Marr Chase continue their epic seasons. Burrow passed for 356 yards and 3 touchdowns while Chase went 7-75-2. WR Tee Higgins returned to the lineup and posted a 9-148-1 line. RB Chase Brown went 22-86-0 rushing and 5-57-0 receiving. Volume is king and he is the only runner to touch the ball for the Bengals the last three weeks. Will that continue or will RB Khalil Herbert get some play after this week’s bye? Hard to say. Have to believe the Bengals wanted Herbert for a reason and I can’t believe it was just practice reps. WR Andrei Iosivas went 3-46-0 and WR Jermaine Burton went 1-8-0 but did see four targers. The Bengals three tight ends had six targets, caught three and gained 22 yards. UGH! Higgins and Chase combined for 26 targets on 50 Burrow passes. DB Geno Stone had 9 tackles while DB Mike Hilton was in on 7. LB Germaine Pratt and LB Logan Wilson were solid with 8 total tackles. DE Joseph Ossai had a sack.
This game was oh so typical of the Bengals season in recent yeras, slow start then come on, only to fall short. It is highly unlikely, though, this franchise would get rid of Zac Taylor as head coach or Duke Tobin as general manager as many are suggesting.
Maybe the window of opportunity with QB Joe Burrow on board gives them a heightened sense of urgency and things go differently. Recent drafts have been horrible. Game decisions and player decisions have been horrible.
But the Bengals don’t normally operate in the knee-jerk reaction mode. Instead they allow things to play out over time. Maybe Burrow has a talk with the right people and things change. To be honest, it doesn’t have to be a major overhaul despite what some people say. A few of the right moves can make this team a Super Bowl contender again. Deciding which of the moves are the right ones, however, aren’t easy to pick out.
For now, how this team comes out of the bye week will be telling. Do they change the offensive line with OL Matt Lee getting the start? Does the defensive line rotation change to help DE Trey Hendrickson pressure the quarterback more, which in turn helps the struggling secondary cover better? Will WR Jermaine Burton get more looks or will it be the Chase and Tee show to finish 2024?
All worthy questions that we hope find answers and wins in the Bengals 2024 future.

Mark Huber

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HOUSTON TEXANS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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DENVER BRONCOS
11/20/2024

Atlanta 6 Denver 38 QB Bo Nix entered the Atlanta game tied for the 10th-most total touchdowns in the NFL. Nix added four more touchdowns, recording his first 300-yard game (28/37-307-4-0). The rookie was highly effective targeting 10 different receivers. Nix's play gave the Broncos the lead and allowed DC Vance Joseph to orchestrate the defense’s best game of the season against the high scoring Falcon offense, holding it to two field goals. The defense was sparked by LB Cody Barton's interception of Kirk Cousins and Edge rusher Nic Bonitto's two of Denver's four interceptions. Denver rode the hot hand at running back with Javonte Williams (9-59-1; 4/5-28-0) being the hot hand. Sean Payton increased speedy WR Marvin Mims (running back and receiver) and was rewarded with Mim's 12-yard touchdown grab to going along with his outstanding punt return game. FB Nate Atkins and WRs Troy Franklin and Lil 'Jordon Humphry each scored as part of Nix's spread the wealth approach to the passing game. K Wil Lutz hit all his attempts (5/5; 1/1).

LV Raiders @ Denver The Broncos must beat the Raiders on the road as they've already lost two divisional games. The 2-8 Raiders are a mess, but somehow they always seem to play their best ball against Denver. The surging Broncos will be hungry to end their losing streak to the Raider and avenge the early season loss to them at Mile High. WR Devaughn Vele seems to be emerging as Denver's #2 wide receiver in the absence of Josh Reynolds who is about to return. Las Vegas is led by journeyman QB Gardner Minshew, rookie TE Brock Bowers and backup RB Alexander Mattison. Denver opens as a 4.5 favorite on the road at Allegiant Stadium.

Transactions Waived DB Keidron Smith.

Orangeman’s Take The Broncos currently hold the seventh seed in the AFC playoffs. Sunday's victory over Atlanta raised their playoff prospects to 65%. The Indianapolis Colts (5-6), Miami Dolphins (4-6), and Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) are their biggest hurdles (currently) to making the playoffs. Denver plays both Indianapolis and Cincinnati after their week 14 bye. Denver needs to take care of business in their two remaining (win able) game before their bye.

Fantasy Outlook
Quarterbacks PPR Points
Bo Nix 14-17
Zack Wilson 0
Jarrett Stidham 0

Running Backs
Javonte Williams 9-13
Jaleel McLaughlin 3-4
Audric Estime 5-7
Tyler Baddie 0
Blake Watson 0
Michael Burton FB 0-1 Wide Receivers
Courtland Sutton 12-18
Marvin Mims, Jr 4-6
Josh Reynolds 1-5
Lil’Jordan Humphrey 5-8
Michael Bandy 0
David Sills 0
Troy Franklin 4-7
Devaughn Vele 6-10
AT Perry 0
Kaden Davis 0

Tight ends
Adam Trautman 2-4
Lucas Krull 1-4
Greg Dulcich 0
Nate Adkins 0-1
Thomas Yassmin 0
Donald Parham 0

Kicker
Wil Lutz 7-9

DST 6-8

Good luck this week!

Charles Rives

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LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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DALLAS COWBOYS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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NEW YORK GIANTS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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CHICAGO BEARS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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DETROIT LIONS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
11/20/2024

It seemed obvious that the 49ers should have won last week, but Seattle took the game. People may call that the 49ers losing rather than Seattle winning. I do not agree. Now saying it was Coach Shanahan losing it I might agree with. Shanahan chokes frequently and Seattle took advantage of this one. Now comes Arizona who is the surprise leader of the NFC West. Arizona’s defense has played better than expected this year and their offense has tons of talent. Seattle is hard to predict because the team’s performance the last two weeks is vastly different than most of the rest of the year. So who are they? I think we still do not know.

QB-
But we do know who QB Geno Smith is while many are still stuck on who he was. Geno had a solid performance from his team and put the cherry on top by recovering from a nearly game losing mistake and playing smart football to win the game. Fantasy owners did not get to ride this performance though since he only threw for 221 yards, had an INT, and his TD was the game winning scramble capping his 29 total rushing yards. Not fabulous fantasy numbers. Arizona is most likely a tougher defense this week, but Geno has been putting up fabulous yard totals all year. I think you have to keep starting him and expect 280 with 2 TDs.

RB-
Really I do not see RB Ken Walker getting the rock enough in this game either. He had only 54 yards last week and only 5 more in the air. It is always going to be play calling that keeps him from having 100. Give him enough reps and he will be the stud he should be. He did have a TD which always helps, but he has dominating talent. This is tough but I think he now has to be a start with caution kinda guy. I just do not see this coaching staff committing to the run no matter what they say.

WR-
We have a breakout alert for WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Just in time to face a seriously difficult matchup for him. I do not much like the matchup for WR DK Metcalf either. But this might be the first game all season that I really like the WR3 option. WR Tyler Lockett has had a really poor fantasy showing this year. But to me the middle of the Arizona defense looks ripe for a smart route runner to slice and dice. I will pick Lockett as the top starter of the three for the first time this year. I hate not riding JSN’s performances and expecting more, but Arizona is who they are because they can shut down someone like him. And DK just has not been the start that he should be in practically any game this year.

TE-
It is still questionable whether or not TE Noah Fant will be in this game. TE Brady Russell continues to have no stat line. TE AJ Barner is fine, but not someone to start on your fantasy team. So I think we are done here.

K-
Thank goodness that PK Jason Myers did not cost Seattle this game. He was perfect on the day with 2 field goals and 2 extra points hitting on every attempt. Not much from a fantasy perspective, of course, but at least he did not make this go to overtime with a strange miss.

D-
Seriously, this defense is going to be fun to watch. The defensive line gave San Fran fits. I do worry about how the film study is going to help Arizona especially with the linebackers. I think the secondary is solid. The front seven has a big challenge to hold back Arizona’s running attack and if they keep RB James Conner under 100 they will be making a statement. But the secondary is likely able to hold the receivers to very few yards. I do not think this defense is ready to deal with QB Kyler Murray on the run. But I think the list of defenses that are ready to contain him is a pretty short list. At the end of the day I would recommend starting this team D. I just do not see this game as a high scoring one unless Murray absolutely takes it over with his legs.

Prediction:
Yeah. I am a homer. But that perspective let me see the advantages last week against the 9ers that now seem pretty obvious in retrospect. So what about the Cardinals? I will put myself out there right now as saying Seattle is going to win the next 3, not just this one.

Seattle - 24
Cards - 17

Go Hawks!

Rick Watts

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LOS ANGELES RAMS

The report for this week has not yet been released.

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