Year: 2013

Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Picks, 2013 Week 15 NFL Picks, Bengals, Steelers, Uncategorized

Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5-8)

The Bengals have been dominant at home this season, winning all 6 of their games by an average of 16.00 points per game, including victories over the Colts, Patriots, and the Aaron Rodgers led Packers. They’ve also covered in all 6 of those games. However, they haven’t been the same team on the road. They are 3-4 on the road, including losses in Cleveland, Baltimore, Miami, and Chicago and a near loss in Buffalo. Their only impressive road games have been in Detroit, where they won by a field goal, and in San Diego, where they won by a touchdown, their only road game of the season where they’ve won by more than a touchdown.

And yet, they’re favored by 2.5 points here in Pittsburgh. They are 1-3 ATS as road favorites this season, including 0-2 ATS as divisional road favorites. They lost in Cleveland and Baltimore, despite beating the Browns by 21 (they haven’t played the Ravens there yet). Why couldn’t they lose in Pittsburgh against a Steelers team that only lost by 10 in Cincinnati earlier this season?

The Steelers are better than their 5-8 record would suggest. They are moving the chains at a 71.18% rate, as opposed to 70.26% for their opponents, a 0.92% differential that is 13th in the NFL. They’ve just been killed by a 1-5 record in games decided by a touchdown or less and a 36.67% fumble recovery percentage. The Bengals are very good as well, moving the chains at a 72.60% rate, as opposed to 66.58% for their opponents, a 6.02% differential that is 4th in the NFL. However, they just aren’t the same on the road. If we were getting field goal protection with the Steelers, it’d be a bigger play, but I still like the Steelers’ chances of winning this straight up.

Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Cincinnati Bengals 13 Upset Pick +120

Pick against spread: Pittsburgh +2.5

Confidence: Low

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Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

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Baltimore Ravens (7-6) at Detroit Lions (7-6)

The Lions lost last week in Philadelphia by the score of 34-20. The Eagles won that game on the strength of a 28-6 margin in the 4th quarter, after the Lions led by 14-6 going into the 4th quarter. However, now the Lions return home where they are 4-2 and outscore opponents by 7.17 points per game, as opposed to on the road, where they are 3-4 and get outscored by opponents by 2.57 points per game.

Furthermore, underdogs who lead by more than a touchdown going into the final period and still lose are 28-16 ATS since 1989 as favorites the following week. There seems to be something to blowing an upset victory late, but still being favored the following week. The Lions’ loss last week was largely snow related and now they can take out all of their frustrations at home against the Ravens.

The Lions’ last 3 losses have all been pretty fluky, as they’ve had -3, -5, and -3 turnover margins in those 3 games. The Lions are 7-6 despite a -10 turnover margin on the season, which might sound bad, but I think it’s more impressive than anything. Turnover margins are very inconsistent. For instance, teams that have a -4 turnover margin have an average turnover margin of about +0.0 the following week, about the same as teams that have a +4 turnover margin. When this team doesn’t lose the turnover battle, they can compete with anyone in the NFL. They are moving the chains at a 74.94% rate, as opposed to 69.33% for their opponents, a differential of 5.61%, which is 6th in the NFL. They’re underrated.

The Ravens are underrated as well. They have been terrible offensively this season, moving the chains at a 66.58% rate, but they have an amazing defense, which allows opponents to move the chains at a 64.49% rate. That’s a differential of 2.09%, which is 11th in the NFL. On top of that, they have Dennis Pitta back from injury, which will help their offense. He played well in limited action in his first game back and he should be even better in his 2nd game back.

However, the Ravens are not the same team on the road. They are 1-5 on the road, as opposed to 6-1 at home. This isn’t a new thing. Since 2008, the Ravens are 41-8 at home, outscoring opponents by an average of 11.00 points per game, as opposed to 29-28 on the road, outscoring opponents by an average of 1.26 points per game.  It’s not a big play, but I like the Lions’ chance of bouncing back at home against a Ravens team that struggles on the road.

Detroit Lions 24 Baltimore Ravens 13

Pick against spread: Detroit -6

Confidence: Low

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Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Picks, 2013 Week 15 NFL Picks, Cowboys, Packers, Uncategorized

Green Bay Packers (6-6-1) at Dallas Cowboys (7-6)

Aaron Rodgers has been ruled out for this one, so the line has been posted. The Packers have opened as 7 point underdogs. You check see all of the NFL lines at https://www.bwin.com/. However, even though Aaron Rodgers is out, that doesn’t mean the Packers will have trouble moving the ball. The Cowboys have one of the worst defenses in the NFL, allowing opponents to move the chains at a ridiculous 77.61% rate and they will be without stud middle linebacker Sean Lee with an injury.

Eddie Lacy should be able to run all over them and make life easy for Matt Flynn, who was much better last week against an equally bad Atlanta defense, completing 24 of 32 for 258 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. He’s the best quarterback the Packers have had since Aaron Rodgers went down and he’s played pretty well, excluding a Detroit game where he didn’t have the playbook down and had to play on short rest on the road after his teammates played essentially a 5 quarter game the week before.

Because of the Cowboys’ terrible defense, they rank pretty far down in rate of moving the chains differential. With their defense allowing opponents to move the chains at 77.61%, their offense, as good as it is, can’t keep up, moving the chains at a 74.13% rate, a differential of -3.38% that ranks 24th in the NFL. They are only 7-6 because of a +12 turnover margin and a 70.0% rate of recovering fumbles that helps fuel it. Both of those things are unsustainable. Their opponents have 63 more first downs and 20 fewer punts on the season.

The Packers obviously aren’t as good as their 16th place rank in rate of moving the chains differential would suggest because so much of the positive was done with Aaron Rodgers under center, but they still don’t deserve to be 7 point underdogs here. According to rate of moving the chains differential, the only team that deserves to be 7 point underdogs in Dallas is Jacksonville. I don’t think the Packers are that bad.

The Cowboys also have had a lot of trouble as big home favorites over the past few years, going 5-12 ATS at home as favorites of 6 or more since new Cowboys Stadium opened in 2009. Most recently, they struggled with Oakland at home on Thanksgiving, trailing early before winning by a touchdown as 9 point favorites. If the Cowboys can’t beat the Raiders at home on a short week by more than a touchdown, they don’t have a good chance of beating the Packers at home on a normal week. In fact, their last win by more than a touchdown game way back in week 7.

The only reason this isn’t a bigger play is because the Cowboys have no distractions, with only a trip to Washington on deck. The Cowboys could easily be favorites of more than a field goal in Washington next week and teams are 63-37 ATS before being road favorites of more than a field goal since 2012. The Packers may or may not be in a good spot here. Usually, non-divisional road underdogs cover before being non-divisional home favorites, going 100-65 ATS since 2008. The Packers host the Steelers next week and would definitely be home favorites if Rodgers were to return and might be home favorites either way. Still, it’s not as sure of a thing as the Cowboys’ situational trend. At the end of the day though, I’m taking the points and hoping for a close game.

Dallas Cowboys 24 Green Bay Packers 20

Pick against spread: Green Bay +7

Confidence: Low

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Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

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Chicago Bears (7-6) at Cleveland Browns (4-9)

Ordinarily, teams dominate after a Monday Night Football blowout win, carrying over the momentum from a big win into next week’s game. Since 2002, teams are 32-13 ATS off of a Monday Night Football win over 21 or more. The Bears only beat the Cowboys by 17, but that was only because of a last second touchdown by Joseph Randle that didn’t matter at all. Even though teams that win by 17 to 20 points are 11-10 ATS the following week, I think we might be able to still apply the logic here. I don’t think a meaningless last second touchdown will kill all of the Bears’ momentum. On top of that, teams that lead by 21 or more after 3 quarters of a Monday Night Football game are 21-12 ATS the following week and the Bears led 35-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

However, while that meaningless late second probably didn’t kill the Bears’ momentum, bringing back Jay Cutler and sending Josh McCown to the bench might. McCown was amazing in 5 starts in place of Cutler this season. His 3-2 record doesn’t tell the whole story considering how bad the Bears’ defense has been this season. I kept waiting for him to shit the bed and remind us why he was a 34-year-old career backup who last posted a quarterback rating of over 70 in 2006, but he never did, bringing back flashes of Rich Gannon. All in all, he completed 66.8% of his passes for an average of 8.22 yards per attempt, 13 touchdowns, and an interception.

Jay Cutler hasn’t been bad this season, but his numbers actually pale in comparison to McCown’s. Cutler is completing 63.0% of his passes for an average of 7.20 yards per attempt, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions on the season. Even worse, he might not be 100% in his first game back from injury, like against Detroit when he completed 21 of 40 for 250 yards, 1 touchdown, and an interception. On top of that, his teammates could slack off knowing their starting quarterback is back, especially for an opponent like the Browns. We’re also not getting any line value with the Bears anymore, as they are 1.5 point favorites here in Cleveland.

You might look at this line and think “how can the Bears possibly not win by 2 or more in Cleveland?” However, they lost in Minnesota just two weeks ago. Their offense has been supporting this team, moving the chains at a 75.94% rate, but their defense allows opponents to move the chains at a 75.60% rate. The Browns don’t have a good offense, moving the chains at a 67.57% rate, but they should have some success against this Chicago defense, so if Chicago’s offense doesn’t do what it’s been doing lately against a sneaky good Cleveland defense, which allows opponents to move the chains at a 70.31% rate, the Bears could easily lose this game. I have this game calculated at a straight up pick using rate of moving the chains, and that’s before you even get to the Bears’ quarterback switch.

The Bears are also in a bad spot as non-divisional road favorites before being non-divisional road underdogs in Philadelphia next week. They could be distracted. Teams are 32-52 ATS in that spot since 1989. The Browns aren’t in a great spot either, as they will be underdogs once again in New York against the Jets next week, as non-divisional home underdogs are 93-112 ATS since 2002 before being non-divisional road underdogs, but it’s not the same. The Browns could also be flat off of last week’s close loss in New England, but I don’t have any trend suggesting they would be. At the end of the day, I’m taking the Bears and hoping their offense can carry them and their momentum from last week will carry over, but I’m not confident.

Chicago Bears 24 Cleveland Browns 17

Pick against spread: Chicago -1.5

Confidence: Low

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Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Picks, 2013 Week 15 NFL Picks, Eagles, Uncategorized, Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles (8-5) at Minnesota Vikings (3-9-1)

Earlier this season, a stat was floated around that the Eagles hadn’t won in 10 straight home games. They ended their home struggles over their recent three game home stand, by winning all 3, but what got lost in that was how good the Eagles were on the road. Since the start of last season, they are 8-6 ATS on the road. That doesn’t sound like much, but consider they are 2-13 ATS at home over that same time period. This year, now that they are actually good, they are 5-1 ATS on the road, with the one loss coming in Denver.

Nick Foles has been incredible on the road this season. He’s been incredible everywhere, but he’s been especially incredible on the road, completing 70.8% of his passes for an average of 11.09 YPA, 16 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. As a result, the Eagles have won all 4 road games in which Nick Foles has led them in passing attempts by an average of 17.3 points per game. Overall, the Eagles are 7-1 on the season when Nick Foles leads them in passing attempts, as opposed to 1-4 in other games.

At first glance, it doesn’t look like we’re getting any line value with the Eagles as 5.5 point favorites here in Minnesota. The Eagles are moving the chains at a 73.56% rate, as opposed to 72.73% for their opponents, a differential of 0.84% that ranks 14th in the NFL. The Vikings, meanwhile, move the chains at a 69.98% rate, as opposed to 76.10% for their opponents, a differential of -6.12% that ranks 29th in the NFL. That suggests this line should be around 4.

However, that doesn’t take into account how good the Eagles have been since Foles took over, how much of a non-factor (at the very least) going on the road is for Foles and the Eagles, and the fact that the Vikings could be without Adrian Peterson in this one. I shouldn’t need to tell you how important he is to this team, but the Vikings are 1-4 ATS without him in his career, with the exclusion of his rookie season.

The Vikings are also in a bad spot because they have to go to Cincinnati next week and might not be focused enough to keep this one close and cover. Teams are 36-71 ATS before being double digit underdogs since 2010 and the Vikings could definitely be double digit underdogs in Cincinnati next week, considering they were touchdown underdogs in Baltimore last week. This would be a bigger play if the public weren’t all over Philadelphia, but they should be the right side. I’m somewhat confident as long as this line stays below 6. Philadelphia is also my Survivor Pick this week.

Philadelphia Eagles 31 Minnesota Vikings 17 Survivor Pick

Pick against spread: Philadelphia -5.5

Confidence: Low

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New York Jets at Carolina Panthers: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Picks, 2013 Week 15 NFL Picks, Jets, Panthers, Uncategorized

New York Jets (6-7) at Carolina Panthers (9-4)

At first glance, the Panthers definitely seem like the right side. By all measures, the Panthers are a top-5 team and the Jets are probably a bottom-5 team. The Panthers’ +110 point differential is 4th in the NFL behind the Seahawks, Broncos, and Chiefs. The Jets’ -111 point differential is 3rd worst in the NFL ahead of Washington and Jacksonville. In terms of DVOA, the Panthers rank 3rd and the Jets rank 26th, including 27th in weighted DVOA.

In terms of rate of moving the chains, the Panthers move the chains at a 76.19% rate, as opposed to 66.57% for their opponents, a 9.62% differential that is actually the best in the NFL. The Jets, meanwhile, come in next to last, allowing opponents to move the chains at a 68.91% rate, while only moving them at a league worst 62.37% rate, a differential of -6.55%. Given that, this line is actually too small at 11. I have this line calculated at 19, which makes sense if the Panthers are a top level team and the Jets are a bottom level team.

The Jets won last week, but needing a blocked punt return touchdown to beat the Raiders at home by 10 is nothing to write home about. The Jets also have been very bad off of a win over the past 2 seasons, going 3-8 ATS in that situation since the start of the 2012 season. They haven’t handled success well. On top of that, Geno Smith has been horrible on the road this season. He hasn’t been good anywhere, part of why the Jets are moving the chains at a league worst rate and have a league worst 18 offensive touchdowns.

However, his road numbers are some of the worst you’ll ever see for a guy who kept his starting job all season. He’s completed 55.5% of his passes for an average of 6.65 yards per attempt, 4 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Even that’s skewed by a 3 touchdown, no interception performance in Atlanta. In his other 5 road games, he has 1 touchdown, and 12 interceptions. As a result, the Jets have lost those 5 games by an average of 21.4 points per game, while the win in Atlanta came by just 2. The Jets are a terrible team, especially on the road.

The Panthers have done a great job of blowing out bottom level teams since the start of the Ron Rivera/Cam Newton era. They haven’t always held their own in close games against top level teams like this year, but they’ve always destroyed bad teams, going 6-0 ATS as favorites of 6 or more since 2011, winning by an average of 20.2 points per game. The Panthers’ defense might be the best in the NFL, allowing 16 offensive touchdowns all season, with 4 of those coming in the Superdome last week. They should completely befuddle the Jets’ dysfunctional offense. I’d actually be shocked if the Jets got out of single digits offensively.

However, there are two reasons why this isn’t a bigger play. One, it’s possible that the Panthers overlook the Jets with a rematch against the Saints coming up next week. Two, the Jets, meanwhile, have no distractions here that would prevent them from covering this spread, as they host the lowly Browns next week. Teams are 49-32 ATS as double digit underdogs before being favorites since 2002, while non-divisional road dogs are 100-65 ATS before being non-divisional home favorites since 2008. The Panthers should still be the right side and get a blowout victory, but I’m not really confident or anything.

Carolina Panthers 24 New York Jets 6

Pick against spread: Carolina -11

Confidence: Low

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Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

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Houston Texans (2-11) at Indianapolis Colts (8-5)

The Texans fired Head Coach Gary Kubiak last week. They probably won’t give any effort this week right? That seems to be what the public thinks as they are all over the Colts as 6 point favorites here. I love fading the public whenever it makes sense, as the odds makers always win in the long run, especially when the public is wrong. I don’t think the Texans firing Kubiak last week will really negatively affect them this week. If anything, it might help them as 6 of the last 8 teams to fire their head coach covered the following week. That’s a small sample size, but definitely seems to disprove the notion that teams who fire their Head Coach show no effort the following week. These are still professional football players and they are now playing to impress a new coaching staff and possibly a new team.

The Texans have shown they’ll get up for important games, almost knocking off both the Patriots and these Colts in recent weeks. The Colts are also in freefall, with a -59 point differential in their last 6 games since the bye. For comparison’s sake, the “lowly” Texans have a point differential of just -28 over their past 6 games since the bye. The Colts are not as good as their record, while the Texans are not as bad as their record.

The Colts got off to a great start to their season, with wins over Seattle, San Francisco, and Denver, but have been terrible of late, as I alluded to in the last paragraph. A lot of people are blaming this on the absence of Reggie Wayne and that has something to do with it, but he’s just one wide receiver. It’s hard to blame everything, including the defense’s ineptitude, on his absence. More likely, the Colts are just regressing back to their 2012 ways, after a fluky strong start to this season.

Last season, they needed 7 wins by 7 points or fewer against teams that finished 7-9 or worse to win 11 games, thanks to terrible defense and offensive line play. I think they’re probably still better this season than last season, but they’re still not as good as their current 8-5 record would suggest. They’re 6-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less, have one win by more than 8 points (over Jacksonville), have a negative point differential, and rank 17th in DVOA, including 19th in weighted DVOA.

The Texans, meanwhile, are 2-8 in games decided by a touchdown or less and haven’t lost by more than a touchdown since week 6. The Texans might not win this game, but they could keep it close once again with a Colts team that has almost exclusively won their games by a small margin this season. That’s relevant to a game with a 6 point line. The Texans have also been killed by a -6 differential in return touchdowns and a -14 turnover differential, two things that tend to be inconsistent.

In terms of purely rate of moving the chains, the Texans rank 18th, moving them at a 68.59% rate, as opposed to 69.59% for their opponents. The Colts, meanwhile, actually rank 19th, moving them at a 72.36% rate, as opposed to 73.54% for their opponents. I don’t think the Texans are a better team than the Colts and you can’t blindly follow that statistic, but it’s worth noting and it makes sense considering both of these teams’ tendencies to play close games and be on opposite sides of them. Finally, the Texans are in a good spot as underdogs on an 8+ game losing streak. Teams are 53-30 ATS in that spot since 1989 as teams tend to be overlooked, undervalued, and embarrassed on a long losing streak like that, as long as they are underdogs.

There three reasons why this isn’t a bigger play on the Texans. One, the Texans have the Broncos up next. I have a strong feeling the Texans will bring their “A game” this week for their divisional rival, but they could be distracted with Denver coming to town next week. Teams are 35-66 ATS before being home underdogs of 3 or more since 2012, which the Texans almost definitely will be next week. They might not be focused enough to keep this one close.

Two, Andrew Luck is 9-0 ATS off of a loss in his career, which is something to take notice of. However, he has only once been favored by more than 3.5 points in that scenario, a 7 point win against an eventual 2-14 Chiefs team last year as 6.5 point favorites on the road. The third and final reason is just the uncertainty surrounding the Texans after losing Gary Kubiak last week. They might be able to bring their “A game,” in spite of that, but there are no guarantees. The Texans definitely seem like the right side, but I can’t be terribly confident.

Indianapolis Colts 23 Houston Texans 20

Pick against spread: Houston +6

Confidence: Low

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Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

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Buffalo Bills (4-9) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9)

The Jaguars have won 4 of their last 5, including 3 straight, which somehow is tied for the losing winning streak in the AFC and the 2nd longest in the NFL behind only Philadelphia (5 games). How can they be underdogs at home against the Bills right? Well, that seems to be what the public thinks as they are all over the Jaguars as a public underdog. I love fading the public at any chance I get, as long as it makes sense, but I especially love it when it’s a public underdog. Whenever the public thinks one team is going to win and the odds makers think another team is going to win, it usually doesn’t end well for the public. Check out the latest NFL free bets.

I especially love it when the public is wrong about loving the underdog. Sure, the Jaguars have 4 wins, the same amount as the Bills, but I’d still argue this is the worst team in the NFL. There’s a reason they are home underdogs here. All 4 of their wins have come by a touchdown or less, while all 9 of their losses came by double digits. Their point differential of -171 is still by far the worst in the NFL, with only Washington (-128) coming close. They are still dead last in DVOA and by a significant margin over 31st ranked Oakland. Even in weighted DVOA, which weighs their more recent successes higher, they are still dead last, though the gap is closer.

In terms of rate of moving the chains, they are also dead last, as they move them at a 63.14% rate, as opposed to 75.70% for their opponents, a -12.56% differential. No one else has a differential worse than -6.55% (New York Jets). They may have 4 wins, but I don’t think they would have defeated any of those teams on a neutral field 51 times out of 100, including Houston, who they beat twice. I don’t think there’s any team in the NFL they’d defeat 51 times out of 100. Making matters worse, Maurice Jones-Drew, arguably their best offensive player, could be out for this one.

Not only do the Jaguars not deserve to be favorites, as the public thinks, but we’re actually getting significant line value with the Bills here. This line is too small. The Bills rank 23rd in rate of moving the chains differential, moving them at a 65.35% rate, as opposed to 68.16% for their opponents, a differential of -2.81%. That suggests this line should be around 6.5 and 7, instead of 1, and that doesn’t even take into account Maurice Jones-Drew’s potential absence or any situational factors.

The Jaguars are also in a bad situation as home dogs before being home dogs, which they almost definitely will be next week with Tennessee coming to town, as the odds makers rightfully don’t respect them. Teams are 68-90 ATS in that spot since 2002. Even worse, they will probably be home underdogs of more than 3, considering they are underdogs of 1 for Buffalo, they were underdogs of 3.5 for Houston, and they were underdogs of 12 in Tennessee a few weeks ago. Teams are 35-66 ATS before being home underdogs of 3 or more since 2012.

They wouldn’t be focused enough to pull this upset even if they were good enough, which they aren’t. I’m just worried that the Bills could be a little distracted by Miami coming to town next week. Teams are 17-29 ATS as non-divisional road favorites before being divisional home underdogs, which they could be next week. However, they also might not be and I like the Bills enough anyway. We’re also talking about a very small road favorite before being a very small home underdog (if they are). Buffalo essentially just needs to win straight up here so I have a good deal of confidence in them.

Buffalo Bills 20 Jacksonville Jaguars 10

Pick against spread: Buffalo -1

Confidence: Medium

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2013 Week 15 Fantasy Football Pickups

stevenlourie 2013 Fantasy Football, 2013 Fantasy Football Pickups, Uncategorized

WR Da’Rick Rodgers (Indianapolis)

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.1%

The Colts might have found their replacement for Reggie Wayne. In the first real action of his career, the troubled but talented Rodgers caught 6 passes for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns, despite not playing even close to all of the snaps. He’ll almost certainly play above the useless Darius Heyward-Bey going forward and play in two-wide receiver sets opposite TY Hilton. He could be inconsistent as an undrafted rookie, but he had the talent to go a lot higher and there will be plenty of opportunity for him to put up big numbers.

RB Daniel Thomas (Miami)

Percent owned (ESPN): 5.1%

Daniel Thomas led the way at running back for the Dolphins against the Steelers, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. He could do so again this week with Lamar Miller dealing with a concussion. Even better, he gets the Patriots’ putrid run defense this week. Assuming Miller is ruled out, Thomas is going to be startable this week.

TE Dennis Pitta (Baltimore)

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.8%

In his first game back from hip surgery, Pitta caught 6 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown despite not playing even close to a full set of snaps. His playing time will only increase going forward, as will his health and comfort level with Joe Flacco. He’s easily Flacco’s 2nd best receiver after Torrey Smith and has a very good chance to be a TE1 throughout the fantasy playoffs if you’re starved for a tight end. Rob Gronkowski owners should take a good look.

RB Jordan Todman (Jacksonville)

Percent owned (ESPN): 1.1%

Jordan Todman only rushed for 14 yards on 7 carries against the Texans, but with Maurice Jones-Drew possibly out for this week’s game against Buffalo, Todman could be the lead back. He’s averaging just 3.2 yards per carry on the season though and the Bills have an underrated defense, but he’s worth a pickup and would be startable in deep leagues and for desperate owners if Maurice Jones-Drew were ruled out.

WR Michael Crabtree (San Francisco)

Percent owned (ESPN): 24.6%

Michael Crabtree’s numbers through 2 games back don’t look great, as he’s caught 6 passes for 108 yards, but he didn’t play a full set of snaps against St. Louis and had a very tough matchup against Seattle last week. He’ll only get more playing time, get healthier, and get more comfortable with the offense going forward. Tampa Bay this week could be a tough matchup, but he has a dream matchup week 16 against Atlanta right in time for fantasy championship week.

WR Andre Holmes (Oakland)

Percent owned (ESPN): 0.6%

Andre Holmes didn’t match his big Thanksgiving outburst, when he caught 7 passes for 136 yards, but 3 catches for 63 yards against the Jets this week wasn’t awful. His numbers over his last 2 games still look pretty good and Denarius Moore doesn’t seem to be anywhere to be found. He’ll continue to start and fellow undrafted free agent Matt McGloin seems to love throwing to him. He’s worth a look in deeper leagues.

RB James Starks (Green Bay)

Percent owned (ESPN): 17.1%

James Starks has proven he can get the job done when necessary, rushing for 346 yards on 65 carries this season, an average of 5.3 yards per carry. It might be necessary this week as Eddie Lacy is shaping up as a game time call with an injury. Lacy is probably more likely to play than not, but it’s a later game so, at the very least, Lacy owners should pick up Starks to protect themselves, especially with a dream matchup against Dallas up next.

RB Chris Ogbonnaya (Cleveland)

Percent owned (ESPN): 15.4%

To this point in the season, Ogbonnaya has almost as many catches (41) as carries (42), but with Willis McGahee possibly out for the season and definitely out for this week with a concussion, Ogbonnaya could see a significant uptick in touches. Projecting 10 carries and 5 catches per week for him wouldn’t be ridiculous and he gets a dream matchup against the Bears this week.

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New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins: 2013 Week 15 NFL Pick

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New England Patriots (10-3) at Miami Dolphins (7-6)

The Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski. How can they function? Well, while it’s very true that Gronk was the 2nd most important player on the team after Tom Brady and that this significantly hurts their Super Bowl chances, the Patriots have proven they can still move the ball well even without Gronkowski in the lineup at times. Remember, they beat the Saints without him earlier this season and last week Tom Brady led two late touchdown drives without Gronk and completed 32 of 52 for 418 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception in the win over Cleveland.

Yes, they needed a miracle to comeback in that game, but they still won despite losing the turnover battle by 2, which only happens about 17.7% of the time. I don’t expect them to make a habit of losing the turnover battle, as that type of thing is very inconsistent and the Patriots are historically one of the best at consistently winning the turnover battle over the past decade.

The Patriots easily won the first down battle last week 30 to 24 and punted just 5 times, as opposed 6 for Cleveland. Having Shane Vereen, who they didn’t have the first time Gronk was out, is going to be very important as he’s turned into their version of Darren Sproles. He caught 12 passes for 153 yards in the win over Cleveland and will be a matchup nightmare for the Dolphins and their terrible coverage linebackers (neither Dannell Ellerbe nor Philip Wheeler have panned out as free agent signings).

The Patriots can definitely still turn it on from time to time even without Rob Gronkowski. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have them so prepared for key situations. I think this is a key situation for the Patriots. Tom Brady has had to hear about how their season is over without Rob Gronkowski all week so he could easily go into pissed off mode, which he does like no one else, except for maybe Peyton Manning (Oh, I’m bad in the cold? Okay. Thanks. Bye). After two less than stellar performances by this team, I expect a very strong effort and for them to not appear to miss Gronk, at least for this week.

The Patriots have been a covering machine with Tom Brady under center when they are not favored by 3 or more points. With Brady under center, they are 41-16 ATS in his career as underdogs or favorites of 2.5 or fewer, as they are here. The Patriots haven’t been winning pretty this season, but they’ve been winning, just like they have throughout Tom Brady’s career. It might not be pretty here. Miami is a decent football team, but any time I can get Tom Brady in a situation where he essentially just needs to win, it’s pretty much an auto bet. The fact that we might be getting pissed off Tom Brady this week is just a cherry on top.

New England Patriots 27 Miami Dolphins 20

Pick against spread: New England -1

Confidence: High

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