FanEx NFL Week 9 – EasyScore Pick’em Tips

Week 9 of the NFL season is fast approaching and it’s time to take home some cash in the QB Throwdown, RB Rushing Roulette and WR Downfield Threat. Each EasyScore Pick’em game focuses on one position and gives you three tiers from each position to choose from. So in the end you’ll have three players on your team, either QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs or even Kickers!

Here are my three teams for this week:

 

QB Throwdown

Tier 1: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Cam Newton, Tony Romo or Philip Rivers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drew Brees: Cam Newton is my number one quarterback this week, but because the coaching staff is making a point to get him running more. In the pick ‘em game we are looking at passing yardage only and Drew Brees is the yardage king. He takes on a Jets secondary who was just torched by Andy Dalton and the Bengals. Just hope for the Jets to do a bit more on offense to keep Brees and company interested.

 

Tier 2: Robert Griffin III, Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Michael Vick, Joe Flacco or Alex Smith

Robert Griffin: The quarterback picking are a little slim in tier two. I like Andrew Luck, but the Texans aren’t giving up too many passing yards and Reggie Wayne is done. Alex Smith has a great matchup with Buffalo, but he just doesn’t throw the ball enough. So I’m going with RGIII against the Chargers. The Chargers give up the fifth most passing yards per game and don’t have nearly the pass rush that Denver has. I think we’ll see a shootout with RGIII getting more chances in a clean pocket than he did last week.

 

Tier 3: Jay Cutler, Terrelle Pryor, Jake Locker or Tom Brady

Jake Locker: With Jay Cutler out and Terrelle Pryor not know for big yardage games this pick comes down to Tom Brady versus Jake Locker. Choosing Locker at any other time in the world would have been considered the action of a mad man, but the way the two have been playing, coupled with the matchups makes me choose Locker. Brady takes on the Steelers who are giving up an average of 188 yards passing and Locker takes on the Rams who give up 247.

 

RB Rushing Roulette

Tier 1: Jamaal Charles, Adrian Peterson, LeSean McCoy, Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray or Arian Foster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marshawn Lynch: After being shut down by the Rams I think we see Beast Mode in full effect as the Seahawks head home to face a Tampa Bay defense that looks like they’ve decided this season may not be worth the trouble.

 

Tier 2: Giovani Bernard, Alfred Morris, Chris Johnson, Rashad Jennings, Darren McFadden, Lamar Miller, Le'Veon Bell or Danny Woodhead

Alfred Morris: Morris is the best pick here, but scary because he’s not guaranteed as many carries as you would hope, but he is averaging o17 carries over the last four games which is better than most on this list. He’s also averaging 5.2 yards per carry, which is also much better than others here. Let’s just hope they don’t abandon the run like they did in Denver.

 

Tier 3: Darren Sproles, DeAngelo Williams, Zac Stacy, Chris Ivory, Ray Rice, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bilal Powell or Fred Jackson.

DeAngelo Williams: This is an ugly list to choose from. Zac Stacy would be my slam-dunk pick if I knew he would play, but I just don’t. Sproles had zero carries last week so he’s out, Ivory and Powell would be good picks if we knew which one would get the most carries (guessing Powell, but not sure), Ray Rice has been awful this season and takes on a good Browns defense, Green-Ellis splits time with Bernard and isn’t good, and CJ Spiller is expected back this week, which make Jackson iffy. But of course DeAngelo Williams may have an even worse set of circumstances with Mike Tolbert and Johnathan Stewart set to play, but I’m looking solely at matchups here and the Falcons have been awful lately against the run. On the season they are giving up 102.3 yards per game to running backs, but over the last five games they are giving up over 120. Williams should see the bulk of the carries with Stewart just coming back.

 

Downfield Threat

Tier 1: Dez Bryant, T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green, Vincent Jackson or Antonio Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dez Bryant: We have some good choices here, but Bryant against the Vikings pass defense is my choice. The Vikings are giving up the eighth most yards per game to wide receivers and have nobody who can match up with Bryant.

 

Tier 2: Terrance Williams, Josh Gordon, Santonio Holmes, DeSean Jackson, Nate Washington, Brandon LaFell, Roddy White or Mike Wallace

Josh Gordon: The Ravens are a tough matchup to be sure, but Gordon has shown he can be matchup proof like last week in Kansas City.  Gordon is averaging 96 yards receiving per game and only needs a few deep balls to hit that number.

 

Tier 3: Pierre Garcon, Harry Douglas, Torrey Smith, Greg Jennings, DeAndre Hopkins, Lance Moore, Andre Johnson or Darrius Heyward-Bey

Andre Johnson: Case Keenum looked good against Kansas City and was able to connect with Johnson four times for 89 yards. This week the Texans will be hurting at running back and will need to move the ball through the air and Johnson is the way to do that.