REVIEW Week 9 #MoorePicks

This week’s games delivered surprise after surprise. Kind of like 2020... It was a lot of hard games to call and it proved to be an entertaining week of football. Let’s get into this review.

*Note* I did not predict the Thursday night football game this week so it will not be listed below.

My record for this week’s lineup of games was:

8-5

Better than last week. But there are still some games this week which I lost that were hard to swallow.

SUNDAY GAMES @ 1:00

BRONCOS VS FALCONS (LOSS)

MY SCORE: 24-14

FINAL SCORE: 27-34

Despite the ugly INT I really like Drew Lock in this game. Yes he needs to convert on 3rd downs more, early in the game. But his stats next to the veteran Matt Ryan look pretty good. I also want to give Jeudy credit. Lots of dropped passes for the Broncos but he played great. If I’m the Falcons I’m feeling great. They’ve got the same record as the Patriots this year in a better division. That’s bragging rights right there.

PANTHERS VS CHIEFS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 10-34

FINAL SCORE: 31-33

Ultimately the result we expected, but you got to give the Panthers full creds for making it a game. They played clean and in the end just got outplayed as a football team. Not sold on this Chiefs defense yet. Also not sold on the running game, 30 rushing yards just isn’t going to cut it. But I guess it doesn’t matter if you have Mahomes, who threw for 4 touchdowns and 372 yards.

LIONS VS VIKINGS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 27-31

FINAL SCORE: 20-34

If you want to know what shooting yourself in the foot looks like, watch this game for reference. The Lions don’t capitalize on their chances early, go down, then start turning the ball over to kill their chances at a comeback. Not good. Then again Kirk Cousins always has good games against the Vikings. And Cook had a monster game, receiving and running. He’s had an underrated season, with 858 yards.

GIANTS VS WASHINGTON (LOSS)

MY SCORE: 21-24

FINAL SCORE: 23-20

It’s simple math: Throw 3 INT’s, lose the game. That’s what Alex Smith did and the score reflects it. I really had high hopes for Alex Smith and they’re fading fast. The Giants have now won two games this year, both to Washington. If only their entire remaining schedule consisted of Washington... Jokes aside, if you play a clean game of football you have a chance of winning against any team. And that’s how the Giants will have to play if they want to win more games.

TEXANS VS JAGUARS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 27-17

FINAL SCORE: 27-25

THE TEXANS ARE NOT A BAD TEAM. Sure they could use some improvements. Watson gets sacked too much and the offensive line has to step up, the defense is allowing too many points. But they’ve had to play the Packers, Steelers, Titans, Ravens and the Chiefs. That would give any team trouble. And Deshaun Watson has 2,376 yards, 17 TD’s and 5 INT’s against these teams. To put that in perspective Ben Roethlisberger has 1,934 18TD’s and 4 INT’s. Let that sink in.

RAVENS VS COLTS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 34-27

FINAL SCORE: 24-10

The Ravens went out and did what they do best. Lamar led rushing and bagged 170 yards. He played clean, the defense limited the Colts to 10 points and they got the W as a result. It wasn’t “pretty” but it was exactly what they needed this week off of the Steelers lost to give them that burst of confidence. As for the Colts, 2-12 on 3rd down is awful. Gotta find ways to be better on 3rd down and not turn the ball over.

BEARS VS TITANS (LOSS)

MY SCORE: 27-21

FINAL SCORE: 17-24

“If the Bears did they’re homework they can beat the Titans” —me. I don’t know what to attack first... That the Bears were 2-15 on 3rd down, the 2 fumbles, or that the Titans punted the ball 8 times and still beat the Bears. This one’s hard to eat because the Bears held Henry to 68 yards rushing and could do absolutely nothing on offense. Nevertheless, the Titans are back to winning ways, and it’s a good thing because they’ve got the Colts and the Ravens next.

SEAHAWKS VS BILLS (LOSS)

MY SCORE: 31-20

FINAL SCORE: 34-44

I’ve been underestimating the Bills and I’m going to take this moment to apologize. This was the “Josh Allen” game. He was absolutely beautiful to watch, and beat the breaks off of a Seattle team that has to have some questions answered if they want to make the Super Bowl. It was a close game decided by turnovers and Seattle was the team who folded under the pressure while the Bills soared.

SUNDAY GAMES @ 4:00-4:30

RAIDERS VS CHARGERS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 31-24

FINAL SCORE: 31-26

The Raiders record is starting to reflect what this team’s been doing. The Raiders have played the Bills, Chiefs, Bucs, and the Saints this year. The difference between this team and the Texans is they’re winning some of these games. They beat two of those teams, they’re 5-3, and they’re looking like a team you shouldn’t sleep on. The Chargers are crashing, and it’s ugly.

STEELERS VS COWBOYS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 30-7

FINAL SCORE: 24-19

Not what most expected, but this was a “trap game” and it certainly looked like it through most of the game. The difference was the Steelers found a way to pull through and get the W. That sums up their season. No blowouts, sure, but no losses. The Cowboys seem to be polishing brass on a sinking titanic. In other words, it’s not looking promising this year.

DOLPHINS VS CARDINALS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 28-16

FINAL SCORE: 34-31

I was so pumped for this game. Kyler Murray vs Tua Tagovailoa. Two young QB’s who impressed in college going head to head. It didn’t disappoint. This game was so close, and yet the Dolphins improve to 5-3. The Cardinals have to shake this one off as they miss the chance to improve to 6-2, and the Dolphins certainly are not missing Ryan Fitzpatrick.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: SAINTS VS BUCCANEERS (LOSS)

MY SCORE: 27-28

FINAL SCORE: 38-3

Nobody was expecting this. Not a Saints win, but such a disrespectful smackdown. I was concerned at the Bucs close win to the Giants. If you want to win a Super Bowl, you first probably need to win your division. Brady’s going to need to play better and the Bucs have to get more crucial stops in these big games. The Saints did whatever they wanted running and in the air. And Drew Brees looked outstanding with 4 TD’s. Shock of the week, this one.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: PATRIOTS VS JETS (WIN)

MY SCORE: 24-14

FINAL SCORE: 30-27

I didn’t expect it to be this close, kind of like the Dallas, Pittsburgh game but in the end we get the result expected. The most important thing in this game is CAM DIDN’T TURN THE BALL OVER. But to be honest New England’s defense is suffering from injuries and opt outs and it’s not pretty. Meanwhile the Jets managed to lose another one folks, and keep their 0-16 hopes alive.

That’s all for this week’s review. Good games to come next week so I’ll be back soon.