Category: 2014 NFL Season

Are you already planning next year’s fantasy football roster? Here we have your top 5 scorers from each week of the 2014 season.

It’s Week 17! Where did the season go? It doesn’t seem that long ago we were getting excited about the first of three Wembley games. Now we’re speculating on who will be getting the boot on Black Monday.

Come the 29th of December there will be 20 teams looking ahead to next year. With a few tweaks here and there franchises will become forces to be reckoned with, or so we hope. Maybe next year.

Though let’s not get ourselves down. Christmas might be over, but there’s still a lot at stake this weekend. Just look at the AFC. Seven of the eight games in this conference involve playoff teams/impact the playoff picture.

If the Broncos beat division rivals Oakland they will be guaranteed the second seed, giving Peyton a week off.

Kansas City, without their starting quarterback Alex Smith, need to beat San Diego and have the Ravens lose and the Texans lose/tie to Jacksonville to stand any chance of making the postseason.

The Chargers just need to beat the Chiefs to secure a berth. Smith’s injury impacts the Ravens, who need a victory or tie at home to Cleveland and hope the Chargers lose or tie to sneak in. The Texans need to win and have Baltimore and San Diego lose to make it into Jan.

The divisional title, and a home game, is up for grabs when Cincinnati travel to Pittsburgh. Both these AFC North teams clinched their places in the play-offs in Week 16. The Steelers are rocking at the minute and have found form at the right time of year.

Another form team will take the top seed in the NFC with a win on Sunday. Seattle, written off by so many at the start of November, are red hot and have swept aside all pretenders to their thrown in recent weeks. They host the St Louis Rams.

The game at Lambeau could see the winner clinch a bye and the loser the 6th seed. The Lions have the defense to stop Rodgers at home and their offense has been clicking. It’ll be a tense night for both sets of fans.

It’s a play-off at the Georgia Dome for Carolina and Atlanta. Whoever wins clinches the number four seed and the losers pack up for another season. Will Matt Ryan and a healthy Julio Jones be too much for the Panthers? Whoever makes it will do so with seven wins for the season. Just how far can either team go in January?

Some might say the NFL is only just heating up now. Thankfully it’s one of those sports where anything can, and will, happen right up to the Super Bowl.

It’s not often that established Quarterbacks get benched. Recently RGIII has had to suffer the indignity of holding the clipboard while fully fit, but this weekend we’ll see a veteran – Jay Cutler – on the sidelines, watching on while Jimmy Clausen stands under centre for the Chicago Bears.

It was only a short 4 months ago that the Bears back-office made Cutler the highest paid player in the league for this season….now, with the Bears looking down the barrel of last place in the NFC North, it’s fair to ask – has it all been Cutler’s fault?

Despite a difficult relationship with the Chi-town fanbase, the answer is no – it’s not all his fault. There are a lot of big names on the Bears’ roster that have either not stood up this season, or have fallen to unfortunate injuries. However, Cutler’s negative body language, combined with his bulging wallet, has meant that all eyes fall on him. He will argue that he’s had a banged up receiver corps – not once has he had both Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery at full strength. He can also argue that he’s had a stuttering Defence that can’t give enough time on the field – the Bears D has fallen off a cliff since Brian Urlacher retired, and the wave of high profile free agent pickups this last summer has not halted the slide.

So now that Cutler is backing up Clausen this week, what can we expect the Bears to do this off-season? One thing is for certain – there are going to be some twitchy seats in Chicago this January – Phil Emery is the executive who said Cutler is worth a 7 year contract. Marc Trestman is the “quarterback whisperer” whose job it was to tap the potential in this elusive gunslinger. Cutler himself is now a man who has failed to live up to the hype – there is clearly a scenario where all 3 are no longer in Chicago come next September.

If the Bears clear house, then they’ll be picking high enough in the draft to start anew. If Emery and Trestman get more time, then Cutler’s contract can only really hurt them if he doesn’t get another starting gig for the 2015 season, which would be highly unlikely. However, if Cutler remains with the Bears, then you have to think its highly unlikely that it’s going to be under the current management, who have just sent the clear message – “you’re not as good as we thought you were”.

It’s a huge weekend for so many teams this week. The Patriots will clinch the top seed in the AFC with a win at the Jets. It’s a divisional game, but Brady and Gronk can enjoy a bit of down time between Christmas and the second week of Jan if they topple New York. Crucially for New England, the win means the AFC title game will go through Foxborough if they win this and their divisional play-off.

Hoping the Patriots slip up will be the Broncos. They travel to Cincinnati for the Monday night game. The Bengals shut out Johnny Football last week and they’re clinging onto top spot of the AFC North. A win will keep the Bengals there ahead of their showdown in Pittsburgh in Week 17.

The Steelers entertain play-off hopefuls Kansas City in Sunday evening’s Sky game. They’ve got a great offense in Pennsylvania, but their D is suspect, so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle Jamaal Charles.

Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Ravens are in fine form and they’re on the road to Houston. The Browns are all but out of the hunt for play-off places. Johnny Manziel will be looking to right his wrongs down in Charlotte against a Panthers team that can still win the NFC South despite their losing record.

There are three teams in the NFC South with losing records who can still gain home advantage in the post season. The Saints top the division and are the only team who can end the campaign without negative season. They’re at home to Atlanta this week. New Orleans have lost their last four at home, but this has the potential to be an entertaining shoot-out.

A key divisional game that’s far from likely to be a shoot-out is the NFC West match-up between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. These two don’t score many TDs and the winner of this one stands a very good chance of claiming the number one spot in the NFC. There won’t be many teams who’ll want to go through Seattle en route to the Super Bowl.

It’s just as tight in the NFC North. Green Bay’s defeat to Buffalo last week meant Detroit took over the top spot in the division. The Packers are at struggling Tampa Bay this week, whilst the Lions take on the Bears at Soldier Field. It’s a Chicago team that has dropped its franchise QB.

The chase is on for the NFC East. Dallas hold top spot after their win in Philly last week. The Cowboys’ defense has to stop Andrew Luck in the AT&T Stadium this time out. The Eagles make the short trip to DC on Saturday evening.

The other Saturday night game sees the 49ers, who are out of the play-off race, at home to San Diego. The Chargers have faint hopes making it to January. Their quarterback is going to have to play through the pain barrier. Meanwhile, San Francisco look like they’ll have to rush it without their two leading running backs.

Bills fans must be pinching themselves. They’ve got a realistic chance of making it to the post season for the first time in fifteen years. They’re on the road this week in Oakland and they end the season in Boston. Should the Patriots win this week, they might be a little less formidable in Week 17.

Christmas has come early for football fans. We’ve got even more live games to enjoy in Week 16! So we thought we’d point you in the right direction:

Saturday 9:30pm – Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Redskins (Sky Sports 4)

Sunday 1:25am – San Diego Chargers vs San Francisco 49ers (Sky Sports 4)

Sunday 6pm – Kansas City Chiefs vs Pittsburgh Steelers (Sky Sports 2)

Sunday 9:25pm – Indianapolis Colts vs Dallas Cowboys (Sky Sports 2)

Monday 1:30am – Seattle Seahawks vs Arizona Cardinals (C4)

Tuesday 1:30am – Denver Broncos vs Cincinnati Bengals (Eurosport 2)

Congratulations to the Jags for their primetime win over their division rivals last night. A special mention also goes to Sen’Derrick Marks who earned himself a nice Christmas bonus by reaching 8.5 sacks. He took down Charlie Whitehurst as time expired, pocketing a cool $600,000 in the process. When asked what he’ll do with it, he cooly replied “I’ll probably give it to my momma”.

There were plenty jokes being made about last night’s game. Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars isn’t quite Green Bay Packers vs Denver Broncos, but we in the UK have a lot to thank the Jags for. They are the team that committed four home games to Wembley. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have seen the Cowboys this year, or the 49ers in 2013. Let’s face it, Jacksonville didn’t have to come over.

The Jags have embraced the UK. They’re not the most attractive team to watch, but they’ve got an exciting coach and they are a young team with some promising players. We’ve got an opportunity to see this team grow and, you never know, they just might become our very own franchise.

So let’s hear it for Jacksonville. Thank them for the all they’ve done for football on our shores and here’s hoping we can finally see them win in October 2015.

It’s finally here! Week 15 is the week we get to see Johnny Football start an NFL game. It looks very unlikely that Cleveland will clinch a play-off spot, last week’s last minute defeat to the Colts shattered any realistic hopes for Browns fans. They can, however, put a dent in their AFC North rivals’ play-off chances if they beat the Bengals at the Dog Pound. Manziel is an unknown quantity so it’ll be interesting to see how Cincinnati handle him. He might make a decent point scorer for fantasy teams entering their postseasons.

Waiting for the Bengals to falter are the Steelers and Ravens. Baltimore will be feeling confident after their impressive win in Miami last week. They’re hosting the Jags whilst Pittsburgh travel to Atlanta. The Falcons are a different kettle of fish in the Georgia Dome, but Big Ben, Bell and Brown might be too strong for their offence.

The Colts will clinch the AFC South title and a play-off berth with a home win against division rivals Houston. The Texans and JJ Watt will put up a fight. Watt’s battle with Luck will be fun to watch.

The 49ers’ hopes of a play-off spot will end with defeat in Seattle. Kaepernick hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in the final quarter of a game all season. He needs to improve his game substantially if he’s to win in the Pacific North West for the first time in his career. Don’t expect many touchdowns in this dog fight. Pete Carroll will probably kill the Jim Harbaugh era in San Francisco with victory on Sunday night.

Another intriguing NFC divisional battle is in the east. Like the 49ers and Seahawks, the Cowboys and Eagles last played each other two weeks ago. Philadelphia came out on top in that contest and a win on Sunday night will pretty much clinch them the division. The Cowboys face a battle for one of the wild card spots, so victory is vital for them at Lincoln Field. This might be a shoot-out.

Despite being 4-8-1 the Panthers are still in the hunt for the NFC South. That division is a peculiar one this year because each team has been poor! Carolina host the Bucs today, but they do so without Cam Newton. Everyone wishes him a speedy recovery after his shocking car accident this week. The Panthers will miss him in their run-in, but they don’t want to rush him back.

The Saints are struggling but they’re still very much in the mix for the NFC South. They’re heading north to a frozen Soldier Field for Monday Night Football. This game might be pounded out on the solid turf, so it should play into Forte’s hands. Mark Ingram has been an impressive back this year and both of these defenses have been poor so we could be treated to another high scoring contest.

The Broncos and Patriots could both secure their bye weeks on Sunday night. There have been question marks over Manning’s throwing arm in recent weeks. He’s heading to warmer climes on Sunday for a divisional encounter in San Diego. Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates are solid performers at home so this will be a tough test for Denver.

Over on the Atlantic conditions will be the antithesis to those in Southern California. Miami tackle the Patriots at Gillette and it’ll be a big ask of Tannehill and Co to topple Brady.

The battle for the NFC North is red hot. It doesn’t look like anyone can stop the Packers at the minute, but Rodgers face a stern test against a strong Bills defense in Buffalo. The game at the Ralph Wilson stadium might be tighter than you’d expect.

Detroit are hot on the heels of Green Bay and they host Minnesota on Sunday night. Calvin Johnson has found some form and the Lions are very tough at home. Their solid defense could be too much for Teddy Bridgewater on his first visit to Ford Field.

It’s the battle for the NFC East’s wooden spoon when the Redskins travel to New York. RGIII might start, but Washington are leaving it until the last minute before making a decision whether to play Colt McCoy – oh how the mighty fall!

One of the league’s form teams travels to the midwest to take on AFC West rivals, Kansas. Derek Carr was impressive in last week’s Battle of the Bay victory, throwing three touchdowns. The Chiefs are running everything through Jamaal Charles, but their leading RB took a few knocks last week. Oakland’s first win of the year was in the reverse fixture so we’ll see if KC get revenge.

The highlights reel might not be long in Nashville. The Jets are travelling to the Titans and these are two of the worst teams in the league. Rex Ryan’s team appear to still be fighting for him and New York have a bit more flair than Tennessee. Don’t expect a classic.

Just what is going on in San Francisco? One of the great franchises is crumbling from the ground up. Yes, you can argue that things were worse at the start of this decade, but the rumblings that we’re hearing from the franchise isn’t the norm for this once classy organisation.

Rumours about Jim Harbaugh’s future have engulfed The Bay all year and now we’re witnessing the effects. The team lacks leadership. It needs direction and it’s desperate for solidarity. Defeat to their archrivals, the Seattle Seahawks, this weekend will end their season. The team that has reached the NFC Championship game three years running under Harbaugh just might finish bottom of their division later this month.

The 49ers have the players to win their next three games and gatecrash the postseason, but what they need is faith in their leadership. You live and die as a team, but are they prepared to die on their sword for their coach? It doesn’t look like it.

The Jim Harbaugh effect has worn off on this group. The youngsters in the squad appear to buy into his college-style leadership, but the others have heard it all before. It’s time for a fresh start. When, not if, Harbaugh goes, the coach who takes over this franchise will have an impressive roster to take over.

How do you solve a problem like Kaepernick?

The offense needs sorting. The receivers look like they’re out of sorts. Their strong run game has gone and the quarterback looks lost.

When Kaepernick burst onto the scene two years ago he had a few of the top pundits predicting that he would be the best signal-caller of his generation. His superb athleticism and strong arm would strike fear into all who faced him. But, look at footage of that raw QB and then play the tape of this campaign and you’ll see that he hasn’t improved. He’s made the occasional big play, but he’s consistently been poor. Sack after sack, pick after pick, missed pass after missed pass. He was supposed to have been working hard on his game in the off season, but what was he doing? His O-line hasn’t helped, but you get the feeling that 2015 will be make or break for him.

Week 15 is also make or break for this franchise. There’s nothing Pete Carroll would like more than to end Jim Harbaugh’s time in San Francisco. The 49ers are capable of beating Seattle, but it depends on whether they’re prepared to fight for the man who appears to be leaving them anyway.

Friday 1:25am – Arizona Cardinals vs St Louis Rams (Sky Sports 1)

Sunday 6pm – Cincinnati Bengals vs Cleveland Browns (Sky Sports 2)

Sunday 9:05pm – Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers (Sky Sports 2)

Monday 1:30am – Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles (Channel 4)

Tuesday 1:30am – New Orleans Saints vs Chicago Bears (Eurosport 2)

Did your team do enough to get you into your fantasy league’s play-offs? Here are this week’s top 5 point scorers.