TEXAS TWO STEP :
COWBOYS AT STEELERS
Two of the most prominent organizations in the NFL will faceoff on Sunday night as the Cowboys travel to the Steel City to play the Steelers. The Cowboys are coming off a win against the Giants. Dak Prescott was solid with two touchdowns, CeeDee Lamb had 98 yards and a touchdown. The defense was fine, but was that them turning a corner or was it just they played the Giants? The defense will be tested this week without Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons.
The Steelers are coming off their first loss of the season, to the Colts. Justin Fields had a crucial fumble, but overall has played very well. If you watched the Cowboys game with the Ravens, the defense struggled with the zone read, so how much will Pittsburgh utilize it. The Cowboys won’t have their game wreckers on defense, but the Steelers will, TJ Watt has been nothing short of sensational and the Cowboys are going to have to help on Watt, especially lined up against Tyler Guyton.
BILLS AT TEXANS :
This has the making of a great game, two great quarterbacks, two great defenses, two teams looking to make a statement. Oh yeah, there’s also the Stefon Diggs stuff.
The Bills are coming off their first loss of the season, a 35-10 whopping from the Ravens. Josh Allen made some plays, but there was constantly a defender in his face. The Bills will be without some key players including Ed Oliver and Kalil Shakir. Josh Allen, is going to have to put on his Superman cape this week.
Speaking of a Superman cape, CJ Stroud wore one last week in the win over the Jags. Stroud went for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. But this is a big test against Buffalo, in the Texans first test a few weeks ago the Vikings beat them good. How will Houston fare this time against an AFC power. Once again the Texans will be minus Joe Mixon this week with an ankle injury.
The other storyline here is Stefon Diggs. Diggs was traded by Buffalo to Houston over the offseason. Diggs in four seasons as a Bill had 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns. There has been a lot of speculation on why Diggs was traded, but now he gets to show his former team they made a mistake.
Bengals vs Ravens
By Bill Murphy
Well it happened , The Bengals won a game. After starting 0-3 , the Bengals defeated Carolina Panthers 34-24 , Joe Burrow was 22-31 for 232 yards and two touchdowns . This week the Bengals are taking on their division rival Baltimore Ravens who defeated the Buffalo Bills 35-10. Last season the Ravens won both meetings.
Keys To The Game
Bengals
Offense
- Offensive Line –The Bengals offensive line is going to have to protect Joe Burrow in this game .So far this season , the Bengals have the third best of pressure allowed in the NFL with pressure on 26.4 percent of opportunities . Last week this nasty Ravens defense sacked Josh Allen three times and was hit eight times, so this o-line will have to be on their game.
- Defense
- Defensive Line- This week the Bengals got some of their key defensive players back such as Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy, BJ Hill and McKinnley Jackson who have all been cleared from Injuries. This probably can help the struggling Bengals rushing defense , last week the gave up a 104 yards and touchdown to Chuba Hubbad. Trey Hendrickson would be an asset to stopping Lamar Jackson , Hendrickson has eight solo tackles and three sacks. Jackson along with Derrick Henry have formed one of the best rushing duos in the league.
Ravens
Offense
- Derick Henry – The addition of Derick Henry has been a huge key for the Ravens offense. Last week Henry rushed for 24 carries ,199 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals run defense ranks 28th in the league. Facing Lamar and Derrick Henry is not a great formula to fix that.
Defense
- Kyle Van Noy- Outside Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is a key to the Ravens Defense in stopping Joe Burrow. Van Noy is currently the AFC defensive player of the Month as he currently has six sacks over the last three games, he can be a huge disruption to the Bengals offense.
Prediction
Ravens 28 Bengals 21
AFC EAST RIVALS CLASH
The Dolphins and Patriots will meet in Foxboro for the first time this season. Both teams are coming off of bad losses, the Dolphins to the Titans and the Patriots to the 49ers. For the Dolphins Tyler Huntley will make his second straight start, and will look to improve on a bad outing. New England has said running back Antonio Gibson as the starter because of Rhmandre Stevenson’s fumbling issue. Points might be at a premium in this one, but someone will win their second game of the season.
The Sports Insanity Network 