Rest Of The West : Enemy Recon.

[CGI_Ram]

Seattle Seahawks vs. Buffalo Bills Prediction and Preview

A rather intriguing battle of NFL division leaders is on tap in Upstate New York on Sunday as the Seattle Seahawks take on the Buffalo Bills. These two teams

athlonsports.com

Seattle Seahawks vs. Buffalo Bills

A rather intriguing battle of NFL division leaders is on tap in Upstate New York on Sunday as the Seattle Seahawks take on the Buffalo Bills. These two teams last met back in 2016 in Seattle as the Seahawks defeated the Bills 31-25 in a back-and-forth affair on "Monday Night Football."

Russell Wilson got back on track for the Seahawks (6-1), putting together an extremely efficient performance against a San Francisco defense that is pretty rugged even with all of the injuries suffered. Wilson completed 27 of 37 passes for 261 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions as the Seahawks defeated the 49ers 37-27. Another key to the victory was the pressure Seattle's defense put on Jimmy Garoppolo, sacking him three times and intercepting him once.

Garoppolo was pulled in the fourth quarter with the Seahawks leading 30-7 and was later diagnosed with a high ankle sprain. Nick Mullens replaced him and led the 49ers on several garbage-time drives but the game was already decided. Still, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. probably reminded the team about the need to finish out games.

For Buffalo, it wasn't easy but the team finally snapped its home losing streak to New England, beating the Patriots 24-21 last Sunday. The defense stepped up at the right time as Justin Zimmer recovered a Cam Newton fumble at the Buffalo 14-yard line with 31 seconds left to seal the Bills' first home win against the Patriots since 2011. This was a huge mental hurdle for Sean McDermott's team to get over as Buffalo (6-2) is firmly in the driver's seat in the AFC East. Miami is in the mix at 4-3 but with New England (2-5) already four games back in the win column, it sure seems like the Patriots' lengthy reign in the division will come to an end.

But for the Bills, it's about more than just winning the AFC East and if they are going to make any noise in the playoffs, Josh Allen will have to play more like he did at the start of the season than he has lately. Against New England, Allen was 11-for-18 for 154 yards and an interception. Those numbers won't get it done against the elite teams of the NFL, especially if that team has the player who many consider the front-runner for MVP.

Seattle at Buffalo

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Spread: Seahawks -2.5

Three Things to Watch

1. Russell Wilson vs. Josh Allen

Wilson is a top candidate for the league MVP as he has been putting on a clinic throwing the football all season. Allen got off to a great start but has struggled over the past couple of weeks as a passer. He still has the ability to make plays with his legs that can cause havoc for opposing defenses. For the Seahawks, this week will be another opportunity to continue to let Wilson cook on offense using his arm as the health of the running back room is still a bit of a problem. Wilson also should have success moving the chains on third down as the Bills are allowing teams to convert half of their opportunities.

Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will have the challenge of putting Allen in a position to succeed throwing the football against a Seattle defense that will be getting some help this with the addition of Carlos Dunlap up front and the return of Jamal Adams to the secondary. Allen will need to take some early shots down the field to Stefon Diggs to test the Seahawks defensive backs, a group that has had a roller-coaster ride of a season. The Bills don't need Allen to be a superhero they just simply need him to play within himself and take what’s available in the passing game because there will be opportunities to make plays with his arm on Sunday.

2. Buffalo running game vs. Seattle Defense

Devin Singletary and Zack Moss did an outstanding job of grinding out yards on the grounds last week against New England. Singletary rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries while Moss went for 81 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. This was a much-needed boost for a running game that ranks 20th overall in the NFL with 108.6 rushing yards per game at the halfway point.

For the Seahawks, linebacker Bobby Wagner, who had 11 tackles and two sacks against San Francisco, played with a "pissed off" mentality according to head coach Pete Carroll. Following Wagner's lead, Seattle's defense limited the 49ers' normally productive running game to just 52 yards on 22 carries, albeit they scored twice on the ground and were without an injured Raheem Mostert. Still, that kind of effort will need to carry over to this week as Wagner and running mate K.J. Wright have the challenge of slowing down a Bills' ground attack that comes into this game with a little extra confidence following last week's performance. Buffalo's offensive line will be a little shorthanded, however, as center Mitch Morse was ruled out on Friday due to a concussion suffered last week.

3. Seahawks' offensive line vs. Bills' pass rush

Duane Brown and Ethan Pocic are underrated keys to success for the Seahawks offense as both guys have brought a stabilizing effect to the offensive line. Brown currently ranks fourth out of all tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, with a grade of 86.2. The ability to stay healthy has been a big plus for Brown as he battled his fair share of nagging injuries during the 2019 season. Pocic has stepped into the center position this season and has done a nice job of staying on the same page with Wilson to keep things rolling on offense.

The Bills have the ability to cause plenty of problems for opposing quarterbacks with 19 sacks in eight games. So you know head coach Sean McDermott will want his unit to stay aggressive and try and at least make Wilson uncomfortable in the pocket. Of course, Buffalo defenders also have to account for his ability to make things happen if he gets away. Either way, Seattle's front will need to play disciplined and avoid missed assignments or line calls so that the offense can stay on schedule and keep the Bills' D on its heels.

Final Analysis

This game will be a great example of how the lack of a home-field advantage in 2020 can affect the outcome. If Bills Mafia was allowed into the stadium this week at even a reduced capacity, they would have been able to create some problems for Seattle on offense. Unfortunately, that is not the situation for this week as there won’t be fans in attendance and Buffalo is not explosive enough on offense to overcome mistakes by Josh Allen throwing the football against this Seahawks offense. Russell Wilson will put together another high-level performance, throwing the football and churn out about 50 or so yards with his legs on quarterback runs. Finally, the depth at wide receiver for Seattle will wear down the Bills' secondary to allow the visiting team to secure a fairly comfortable victory and improve to 7-1 on the year.

Prediction: Seahawks 38, Bills 28

 

[CGI_Ram]

I will be rooting hard Buffalo... but I don’t trust Josh Allen. He reminds me of Jake Plummer in that he looks great then not great in weird ways... yet “everyone” seems to have a man crush on him.

But, Go Buffalo! They have the ability to beat them.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Miami Dolphins vs. Arizona Cardinals Prediction and Preview

Although they may not be household names yet, perhaps the most intriguing matchup of Week 9 for the future of the NFL will come Sunday afternoon when the Miami

athlonsports.com

Miami Dolphins vs. Arizona Cardinals

Although they may not be household names yet, perhaps the most intriguing matchup of Week 9 for the future of the NFL will come Sunday afternoon when the Miami Dolphins face off against the Arizona Cardinals.

And it all starts under center — or, perhaps, in shotgun — when Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa meet just two years after they shattered college football passing records in a historic Heisman Trophy battle.

Tagovailoa will only be making his second NFL start after taking over for Ryan Fitzpatrick heading into the team's bye week. The Dolphins dismantled the Rams, 28-17, although that was mostly thanks to their dominant defense. Miami would like to see a lot more than 93 yards out of their rookie southpaw, but they didn't need him to do much, and he stuck to the gameplan without a turnover.

Murray, meanwhile, has been lighting up the league with massive yardage totals and only recently has been able to translate that into wins. He's up to 263.9 passing yards and another 62.4 rushing yards per game this season and is one of six players to have totaled at least 20 touchdowns. With some key additions on offense, he's been able to lead the league's No. 1 total offense to a 5-2 record.

This may be the first of many big games between future Pro Bowl quarterbacks, but for now, it remains a cross-conference game for playoff positioning. Can the Cardinals keep up with the Seahawks for the NFC West title and No. 1 NFC seed? Or will the Dolphins pick up a key road win to extend a three-game winning streak and propel themselves into the AFC playoff picture?

Miami at Arizona

Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4:25 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Spread: Cardinals -5

Three Things to Watch

1. What will the Dolphins get when they ask more of Tua?

It's easy to notch your first NFL win when your defense and special teams spot you a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, but Miami won't complain about last week's win. Sure, the rookie southpaw only averaged 4.2 yards per pass attempt, but they didn't put much on his plate.

With a big lead, the Dolphins only gave Tagovailoa 11 second-half dropbacks, and when they did, it was mostly limited to safe plays like screens and quick passes to prevent the dominant Rams front from hitting him too much. Unless they run out to another big lead again, that's going to change this weekend.

Tagovailoa has the potential to be up to the task. He had plenty of welcome-to-the-NFL moments last Sunday — to state the obvious, pro players are far better than even the best SEC defenses — but it's no exaggeration to say that the former Alabama star was the best college football player we've ever seen. His career 10.9 ypa is a record — check out the only other player in double digits — and the gap between his passer rating (199.4) and second-place Murray (181.3) is greater than the gap between Murray and 21st-ranked Jameis Winston.

The Dolphins have an easier assignment this week against a beatable Cardinals secondary, and DeVante Parker should be healthier after battling groin and ankle injuries. Perhaps one goal for the day will be finding chemistry with one of the big three pass catchers — Parker, Preston Williams, and tight end Mike Gesicki — since he didn't complete more than two passes to any teammate last week.

2. Will Miami be the latest team to slow down Kyler?

Murray has been on an absolute roller-coaster ride the last four weeks, alternating between games of less than 200 passing yards and games with more than 350 yards. The good news is that he's seemed to have dialed down the turnovers, with just two in the last four games after throwing five picks through Week 3.

The Cardinals now have enough pieces that they don't need a great performance from him to win, but they still can't withstand his poor showings against the Lions (three interceptions) and Panthers (133 yards, 4.3 ypa). And given what the Dolphins have shown defensively lately, this could be another hard game for the Cards.

With the additions of Byron Jones, Shaq Lawson, Kyle Van Noy, and rookie Noah Igbinoghene, Miami has been able to give some tools for head coach Brian Flores to use. He's quickly shown that he is one of the brightest defensive minds in the game and potentially the best of Bill Belichick's disciples. The Dolphins have held three teams under 200 passing yards already this year, rank fourth in passer rating allowed (81.7), and sixth in completion rate allowed (61.1 percent).

3. Can either team generate a rushing attack without their primary back?

Much of the attention will be on the quarterbacks this week as well because both teams are missing their starting running backs. Arizona's Kenyan Drake did not practice this week because of an ankle injury, while Miami's Myles Gaskin was put on injured reserve on Thursday because of an MCL injury. He will miss at least the next three games.

Drake has made himself into a workhorse back for Arizona in the 15 games since the Dolphins traded him west (1,155 yards, 12 touchdowns, 4.8 ypc). However, the Cardinals have the No. 2-ranked rushing offense in large part because of Murray, who has used his legs to tack on a league-best 6.7 ypc. They should have capable replacements in Chase Edmonds (176 yards on 29 carries) and rookie Eno Benjamin, who has yet to appear after starring at nearby Arizona State.

Gaskin has been a major surprise for the Dolphins after the team brought in Matt Breida, Jordan Howard, and Lynn Bowden Jr. All four of the backs have struggled, with Gaskin leading the pack with 3.9 yards per carry, so if Breida or Howard don't somewhat resemble their old forms with the 49ers and Bears, that will put even more pressure on Tagovailoa. And there's reason to be pessimistic about that since the Dolphins' offensive line ranks 30th in the NFL with just 3.82 adjusted line yards, although the Cardinals' defense is giving up 4.7 yards per rushing attempt, seventh-worst in the NFL.

Final Analysis

All the focus will be on the two quarterbacks, but this game will probably come down to which defense shows up. Brian Flores absolutely had Sean McVay's number last week, just like he did in Super Bowl LIII, and the pressure should shift to Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid to out-scheme this up-and-coming Dolphins team.

The Cardinals have the biggest names in this matchup in DeAndre Hopkins and Kyler Murray, but I like Byron Jones and this sneaky-good secondary to put up a shocker on the road with a cautious offense that doesn't make many mistakes. With four straight wins, the Dolphins' rebuild may be quickly over.

Prediction: Dolphins 26, Cardinals 24

That Dolphin defense wasn’t just good against our Rams. They can slow the Cards... But their offense under Tua... still an unknown.

Go Dolphins!

 

[Mojo Ram]

Wish the Rams didn't need any outside help but they do. It's their own fault for showing up at SF half asleep and going to Miami with an alternate universe gameplan.

Go Dolphins. Go Bills.

 

[Malibu]

Big games for Seattle and AZ both are up against legit opponents. It will come down to who makes the plays can Tua make plays after the Ram game I'm not sure, but he got a game under his belt. Excluding Seattle the other 3 teams will show the NFL if they are for real. Miami is getting better and AZ lost to two mediocre teams in Detroit and Carolina. Buffalo has played okay the last four weeks.

 

[RamBall]

Wish the Rams didn't need any outside help but they do. It's their own fault for showing up at SF half asleep and going to Miami with an alternate universe gameplan.

Go Dolphins. Go Bills.

Rams dont need outside help if they win out. So I will take any outside help we can get, I dont see this team winning out. They are capable, just not likely that they will.

 

[dang]

I hope the Rams are spending every waking moment on figuring out what is wrong with their passing offense (pass protection, Goff’s awareness, WRs hands). I don’t mind Rams losing if they get beat. I can’t stand them giving games away because they are not executing.

 

[OldSchool]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1325456626413936641

 

[CGI_Ram]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1325456626413936641

Damn. 69 years old... Still going like that!

 

[CGI_Ram]

The setup for Sunday November 15....

 

[OldSchool]

View: https://twitter.com/LindseyThiry/status/1325916339542790144

 

[CoachAllred]

Biggest surprises and disappointments this season in the NFC West (2:54)

Interesting look at NFC west from team beat writers


View: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=30293339

 

[CoachAllred]

John Lynch: We have a lot of belief in Jimmy Garoppolo


49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo‘s ankle injury doesn’t require surgery, but it has sparked some questions about his future with the team.

Garoppolo has two years and no guaranteed money left on his contract, which at least opens the door to the possibility of a change in direction for the team this offseason. A recent scouting trip to see BYU quarterback Zach Wilson raised a few eyebrows around the team and led to questions for General Manager John Lynch during a Friday appearance on KNBR.

Lynch said there was no connection to Garoppolo because you have to “prepare for everything” as an organization. He also acknowledged that Garoppolo didn’t play quite as well as hoped this season, but said that he chalked that up to injury and said the team’s belief in the quarterback hasn’t been shaken.

“I think the elephant in the room, everyone wants to know about Jimmy,” Lynch said. “We’re a better football team when he’s out there. We win a lot of games when he’s out there, we’ve struggled to win without him. People can try and pick his game apart. I do believe a lot of this year, Jimmy probably hasn’t played up to his standard. I think a lot of that, he’s been somewhat compromised with his health since he had that high ankle in the New York Jets game. Think about prior to the ankle injury in that game, I believe he was 12-of-14, he was our player of the game. We have a lot of belief in Jimmy.”

Words can fade away when there’s a chance to take action and that chance will come in the offseason for the 49ers and the rest of the league. That’s when the 49ers can fully demonstrate their belief in Garoppolo as the man to lead their offense.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Richard Sherman's Return From Injury Reaching 'Worst Case Scenario'

It's been quite a while since we've seen Richard Sherman take the field for the San Francisco 49ers. A new update has been provided on his current status.

clutchpoints.com

Richard Sherman's Return From Injury Reaching 'Worst Case Scenario'

It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen Richard Sherman take the field for the San Francisco 49ers. A new update has been provided on his current status, however, and while there is some encouragement as to his potential return, it’s actually reached his “worst case scenario” at this point.

In a message to The Athletic, Sherman himself provided a timetable for his potential return:

Sherman said that he’s working hard to potentially return this weekend against the Saints, but he added that he’s eyeing a return for the Nov. 29 game against the Rams as a worst-case scenario. The 49ers have a bye after the New Orleans game and before heading to Los Angeles.

Sherman was placed by the 49ers on the injured reserve back in mid-September after suffering what was diagnosed as a calf injury. It was later announced that the 32-year-old would be held out until late-November, which now coincides with the above update.

Some good news on this front, however, comes in the form of Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, as he provided a positive update on Sherman, who was recently recalled from the IR list:

“He did a good job,” Shanahan said, via Mike Florio of NBC Sports. “[He] was able to practice all three days on scout team. If we had to do it, we could push it, but wouldn’t be the smartest thing. So we’re going to take him into this bye week and feel good about him going versus Rams.”

At this point it appears that Nov. 29 against the Rams will mark Richard Sherman’s return to action. That’s by no means guaranteed, though, and it will all depend on how the veteran’s body responds to practice over the next week or so.

 

[Ramhusker]

The setup for Sunday November 15....

View attachment 40760

View attachment 40761

Does anybody else smell a loss for everybody else in our division again this week??????

 

[Neil039]

This should be (needs to be) the week the Rams take control of the NFC West for good! The match ups, the bye, and of course because that’s what we all want!

 

[Mojo Ram]

This is definitely a 2020 season crossroads type of game for the Rams. Either they travel to Tampa next Monday night as a 6-3(1-1) team in control or the pressure is on after losing three of their last four games and sitting at 5-4(0-2).

Must win.

 

[yrba1]

lmao decided to make a shitpost out of that headline

 

[Merlin]

We have a lot of belief in Jimmy.

 

[Memento]

lmao decided to make a shitpost out of that headline

View attachment 41140

Reminds me of the worker ants from Antz (a PG-13 animated movie from waaay back when. Good times.)