Thursday 11 December 2014 15:42, UK
Week 14 was a pretty good week for Sky Sports’ resident US sports blogger Alex Ferguson.
He’s still glowing about his decision to put in Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, who made up some of the points that Messrs. Rodgers and Luck didn’t come up with in their games.
Anyway, it’s Week 15 right now, and Alex is suddenly feeling very focused…..
Our decision to put in Aaron Rodgers as our starting quarterback (327 yards and three TDs) was a good one, and after an inauspicious start at Cleveland, Andrew Luck had 294 yards and two TDs. His only problem was the two interceptions and the fumble which cost Indianapolis seven points.
This week we’re staying with Luck – despite the fact that the Colts are playing JJ Watt, who’s the best defensive player in football right now. We’re sticking with Luck because Houston haven’t been great against the pass this year (264 yards per game), and the fact that he’s going to have the crowd behind him.
If you don’t fancy trying your Luck, how about Ben Roethlisberger? He’ll be throwing balls up against the league’s worst pass defence, the Atlanta Falcons. ‘Big Ben’ had a tremendous day against Cincinnati last week in the Steelers’ crushing victory.
The biggest name on the NFLUK.com Wild Card list is one Peyton Manning, who’s been struggling this year. But Julius Thomas is expected to return this week, and Manning has great numbers against the San Diego Chargers.
If you are also feeling wild, Johnny Manziel will start for Cleveland against Cincinnati, although we’d probably go for Andy Dalton or Phillip Rivers over Johnny Football, if we’re honest.
Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell had an unbelievable day, putting 185 yards and two TDs as well as six catches. He was absolutely incredible all day long in the Steelers’ huge victory at Cincinnati. Our decision to go with Denver’s CJ Anderson (at last) put a smile on our face after Anderson’s hat-trick of TDs and 58 yards rushing.
This week, it’s hard not to go with Bell, particularly against a struggling defence like Atlanta’s, which has given up 17 TDs on the ground this season.
If you don’t want to go with Bell, go with Dallas’ DeMarco Murray, who had 179 yards and a TD against an awful Chicago Bears ‘D’, and is playing a Philadelphia defence that struggled against Seattle. Or how about Detroit’s Joique Bell, who has three TDs in the last two games, and is playing Minnesota, a team which hasn’t been great against the rush all season.
On the other hand, CJ Anderson is an interesting one. Anderson’s got a painful ankle, which reportedly kept him out of practice on Wednesday. But would you keep a player as red-hot as Anderson out of your line-up, considering how cheaply he’s priced?
Calvin Johnson was our big-time wide receiver pick last week, and he came good against Tampa Bay, pulling in 158 yards and a TD against the Bucs in a strangely close contest. Our other pick, Odell Beckham Jr, did moderately well for the Giants in a comfortable win over Tennessee (QUESTION: How did Eli Manning & Co not do this against Jacksonville?).
Our tight end bet on Indianapolis’ Colby Fleener was a disaster last week.
As mentioned, we picked Calvin Johnson late over Atlanta’s Julio Jones last week. But if we were soothsayers, we would have gone with Jones, who had a monster day at Green Bay, going 259 yards for one TD – on only 11 catches. The problem with Jones is that he’s got a hip injury, which the US press are still worried about. If it wasn’t for the press, we’d put him in the game – especially against Pittsburgh’s secondary which gave up some huge plays against Cincinnati last week, despite their victory.
Now, all the good money will be on the fact that Johnson’s going to be double-teamed on Saturday by Minnesota (who don't have a very good passing ‘D’, by the way), so why not think about Indy’s T.Y. Hilton, who is on a three-game TD scoring streak (including a last-gasp game-winning one against Cleveland last week), and plays a Houston passing defence that isn’t great? But if Jones isn’t hurt after all, go with Jones.
On the other side, we’ve also replaced Odell Beckham with ‘Downtown’ Antonio Brown, the Pittsburgh WR. Yes, it might seem as though we’re placing all our money on Pittsburgh’s offence (and Big Ben’s prone to big-time mistakes), but Atlanta’s defence is awful against wideouts. If you don’t like the thought of a Steeler in your team, how about going with Hilton?
Oh, and at tight end, the rumour is that Denver’s super tight-end Julius Thomas is going to be back for the Chargers game. We’ll believe it when we see it. For a good deal, we’re going with Chicago’s Martellus Bennett, who had 12 catches, 84 yards and a TD against Dallas, although St Louis’ Jared Cook – who had two TDs last week – might be a fun get.
Our decision to get Houston’s defence against Jacksonville was helped by JJ Watt’s outstanding performance, but it wasn’t the point-gaining extravaganza we were hoping for.
Kicking-wise, Philadelphia’s Cody Parkey had a quiet night against the Seattle Seahawks.
This week Houston – our pick for last week - are playing the Colts, which could be interesting, because although Andrew Luck is good at throwing TDs, he’s also pretty good at giving up fumbles and throwing interceptions. It could be interesting.
We’re going for a Detroit Lions’ ‘D’, which can be suffocating when it wants to be, and is excellent against the rush and in the top 10 against the pass. They will be facing a Minnesota side that is third-bottom in passing yards, second-last in TD passes, and has thrown 14 INTs.
Kicking-wise, Parkey is apparently nursing a groin injury (although Chip Kelly dismissed it), but we’re going to give him another go against Dallas.
