SIN BLITZERS WEEK 9 PREVIEW

SIN BLITZERS

DOLPHINS AT BILLS : This will be the second meeting of the season between the AFC East rivals. In week two the Bills dismantled the Dolphins 31-10, and late in that game is where Tua Tagovailoa suffered his concussion, that kept him out the next four games. James Cook had 95 total yards and three touchdowns in the win. Before leaving with injury, Tua threw three interceptions, including a pick six from Ja’marcus Ingram. Josh Allen has crushed the Dolphins in his career with 34 touchdowns and seven interceptions with 110 passer rating. The bright spot for the Dolphins in week two was De’von Achane, who had 165 total yards and a touchdown. He had a strong game last week against Arizona with 147 total yards and a receiving touchdown. 

COWBOYS AT FALCONS : These are two teams heading in different directions. The Cowboys are coming off another loss, this one to the injury riddled 49ers on Sunday Night. The same issues that have plagued the Cowboys were on display Sunday night, Dak threw two picks and the defense gave up 223 yards rushing including 85 and a touchdown to rookie Isaac Guerendo. The Cowboys will look to flip the script against the Falcons, who are coming off a win over the Bucs to take control of the NFC South. Kirk Cousins had four touchdowns, one of which went to Running Back Bijan Robinson who had 106 total yards. This Falcons’ offense has a plethora of weapons, so the Cowboys defense might be in for it. But one advantage could be that Cousins played for Dallas DC Mike Zimmer in Minnesota. If the Cowboys lose this game, it could be a long few weeks. So they need Dak to be great, don’ t be surprised if this is a high scoring affair. 

LIONS AT PACKERS : First place in the NFC North is on the line as the Lions go to Lambeau to play the Packers for the first time this season. The two teams split last season, with each winning on the road. Last year at Lambeau it was the David Montgomery show, as he had 121 yards and three touchdowns rushing. The Packers are entering this game banged up as Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs and Jaire Alexander are all questionable, if Love can’t go, the Packers will turn to Malik Willis for the second time this season. This should be an entertaining one at Lambeau as two of the NFC’S best go at it. 

Bengals Vs Raiders : Preview 

By Bill Murphy 

Coming off a 37-17 loss to the Eagles, the Bengals are desperately trying to look for their first home win of the season against the Raiders .The Raiders are coming off of a 27-20 loss against the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. 

X Factors 

Bengals 

Offense 

 Wide Receiver Corp – Ja’marr Chase last week had nine receptions for 54 yards and touchdown. Chase is currently  the league leading receiver with 674 yards and seven touchdowns . Another big weapon for the wide receiver corp is going to be Mike Geisicki who last week  led with 7 receptions and 73 yards. Geisicki is going to be an important part of the wide receiver corp to have Joe Burrow take the load off of  Chase while Tee Higgins is doubtful for Sunday .  

Linebackers-  Hendrickson , Logan and Pratt are gonna be the key to taking on the Raiders weak  offensive line. Last week  Gardner Minshew was sacked five times against the Kansas City Defense and has taken 25 sacks on the season .  Hendrickson , so far this year 21 tackles and seven sacks .  Germaine Pratt has one tackle for loss 80 tackles and one sack .  Logan Wilson has 78 tackles on the year . 

Raiders 

Offense 

Jakobi Meyers – Last Week Meyers had six receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown. Myers this year has 325 yards , two touchdowns and 43 receptions . I think Meyers is going to be an essential weapon for Gardner Minshew .  As the Raiders have the 18th ranked passing offense in the league . 

Defense 

Secondary – The Raiders defense is tied for 11th in the league.   Their secondary is going to be a real threat to the Bengals wide receiver corp. Since Higgins is out for Sunday , The secondary better double up on Ja’marr chase .  The Raiders pass defense is ranked 7th in the league and a big player is going to be safety Tre’von  Moherig who leads the team with two interceptions. 

Prediction 

Bengals  28    Raiders 17

WEEK 8 RECAP

BY SIN BLITZERS

Bengals vs Eagles Recap 

By Bill Murphy 

Well the Bengals let this one get away. They had a chance to get back to .500, but fall to the Eagles 37-17. 

Stars of The game 

Bengals 

  • Joe Burrow – For the Most Part , Burrow had a good game , He threw  26/37 for 234  yds and one touchdown. He helped the Bengals go 10-13 on third down. A couple of turnovers (one on Burrow) hurt the team. 
  • Ja’Marr Chase – Ja’ Marr Chase had nine receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown.  (2 yard)
  • Chase Brown –  Brown had 12 carries , 32 yards  and scored one touchdown.  . (4 yard)
  • Mike Geisicki – Geisicki didn’t score on National Tight End day. But he had a nice holiday with seven receptions  and 73 yards. He was vital in the absence of Tee Higgins

Eagles 

  • Jalen Hurts – Hurts threw for 16/20 ,236 yds and one touchdown.  His legs were the story as he had 10 carries , 37 yards and scored three touchdowns. 
  • Saquon Barkley –  After having a great game last week against the Giants , Barkley continued today. Barkley ran for  22 carries and 108 yards  which helped move the ball . 
  • Devonta Smith – Devonta Smith had six receptions , 85 yards and one touchdown.  Smith scored that one touchdown on a 45 yard pass from Jalen Hurts . 

Next week 

The Bengals  will face the Raiders

The Eagles will face the Jaguars 
CARDS AT DOLPHINS:  Tua Tagovailoa returned to the Dolphins and the offense looked great, but Kyler Murray got the last laugh. Tua was 28-38 for 234 yards and a touchdown. Tua’s return also helped the run game, that had 150 yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry. De’von Achane had 147 total yards and two touchdowns, and Raheem Mostert had two rushing touchdowns. Tyreek Hill had six catches for 72 yards. For Arizona Kyler Murray was 26-36 for 307 yards and two touchdowns and 19 yards rushing. Marvin Harrison Jr. had six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Trey McBride went for over 100 yards receiving as well.  The key play was a bad snap that went over Tua’s head for a safety.  Next week the Dolphins go to Buffalo to play the Bills and the Cardinals will host the Bears.

SIN BLITZERS : WEEK 8 PREVIEWS

BY SIN BLITZERS

Bengals Vs Eagles

By Bill Murphy 

The Bengals have won two in a row , after beating their AFC  North rival Cleveland Browns 21-14 .This week the Bengals will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles who are coming off a 28-3 victory over their NFC East rival , New York Giants. Both of these teams played the same teams over the last two weeks , The Bengals played the Browns last week and the Giants , the week before , while the Eagles played the Giants last week and the Browns, the week before . 

Keys To Victory 

Bengals 

Offense : Wide Receiver Corp 

The Eagles pass defense does not do well with wide receivers allowing passes to them 98.2% of the time , which ranks them 22nd in the league. To expose this weakness Joe Burrow is going to have to hit his two favorite targets Tee Higgins and Ja’marr Chase.  Last week , Higgins got four receptions 82 yards and a touchdown, while Chase got five receptions 44 yards and a touchdown. 

Defense : Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard 

Trey Hendrickson  and Sam Hubbard are the top defensive weapons for the Bengals. Hendrickson so far this season has seven sacks and three games where he has two sacks or more. Hubbard so far on the year has  18 solo tackles and two sacks , he had one sack last week against Cleveland. Jalen Hurts has been sacked 18 times so far this season. 

Eagles 

Offense : Saquon Barkley 

Saquon Barkley  has been a major asset to this Eagles, this season so far . Last week, Barkley  had 17 carries for 176 yards and one touchdown against his former team, the New York Giants.  I would like to see how he would do against  Cincinnati’s rush defense that gives up over 130 yards per game. Last week they had a solid outing with 21 attempts containing the Browns to 77 yards, 3.7 yards per carry and one touchdown .

Defense : Pass Defense 

Last week , the Eagles defense really did a number on the Giants Offense , the Eagles sacked Daniel Jones eight times and held him to only 99 yards (I know its Daniel Jones). The Eagles have also  held Quarterbacks to only a 60 percent completion rate which is sixth fewest in the league . Burrow has only faced pressure 26 % of the time , which puts him at third lowest of all the quarterback pressure . If the Bengals give Burrow time he should be able to pick this defense a part. 

Prediction 

Bengals 31 Eagles 27

CARDINALS AT DOLPHINS : The 2-4 Dolphins will get their quarterback back as Tua Tagovailoa returns after missing time with another concussion. The Dolphins offense really sputtered without Tua. The most points they scored without Tua was 15. The Dolphins will play a Cardinals team that’s coming off a win over the Chargers. The Cardinals’ ground game has been sensational averaging 150 yards per game, so players like David Long are going to have to be big. If the Dolphins want to make a run, it starts here with a home game against the Cards. 

COLTS AT TEXANS : This is the second meeting of the season between these two division rivals. The Texans won 29-27 in week one. CJ Stroud threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Joe Mixon had 159 yards and a touchdown in his Texan debut. For Indy Anthony Richardson had three total touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush) and Alec Pierce had 125 yards and a touchdown. After last week where the Texans lost in Green Bay and the Colts won against the Dolphins, the Colts are a game behind the Texans in the AFC South. 

Falcons at Bucs : These two teams played a fantastic game in week five, where the Falcons won in overtime. Kirk Cousins threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns in that game, both Drake London and Darnell Mooney both went over 100 yards and scored. Baker Mayfield threw for three touchdowns, but two of those touchdowns went to Mike Evans, who will miss this game with a hamstring injury. Who will take control in the NFC South?

COWBOYS AT 49ERS : A big time rivalry heats up on Sunday night, but the biggest question is who will play? Both teams are dealing with injuries. If the Cowboys lose this game, there will be more turmoil in Dallas, but if the Niners lose this game and fall to 3-5 what happens? This will be a massive game on Sunday Night.

A Stearn Winter

BY : Mike Rifkin

On Wednesday, Mets GM and President of Baseball Ops David Stearns spoke to the media after the Mets were eliminated in the NLCS. Stearns echoed the thoughts of Manager Carlos Mendoza in hoping this season will be the start of continued success. But for that to happen Stearns is going to have to be very aggressive this winter, and with Steve Cohen’s checkbook anything is possible. 

Stearns said the Mets have financial flexibility this winter, and went on to say “ It means that pretty much the entirety of of the player universe is potentially accessible to us. That’s an enormous opportunity. I envision us taking advantage of that opportunity, and being aggressive in certain spaces.” So, how should Stearns approach the winter? The Mets not only have financial flexibility, they also have some positions with an abundance of talent. 

STARTING WITH THEIR OWN

The Mets themselves have 10 players set to hit free agency. Pete Alonso, Harrison Bader, Jose Iglesias, Sean Manea, JD Martinez, Adam Ottavino, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Ryne Stanek, and Jesse Winker are all going to hit the market, so which should Stearns bring back?  

ALONSO : Pete had a down season for his standards, but in the playoffs came up clutch multiple times. Stearns said “Pete’s a great Met, I hope we have him back.” He also said he and Pete have not spoke face to face on his contract, but he was very invested. Most Met fans would like to see Alonso be a Met for life, and if he is he will break all the power records for the organization. 

Manea, Quintana, Severino : The Mets rotation was a massive question mark entering the season, and Stearns took flyers on Manea and Severino and they exceeded the fans’ expectations for them. Severino threw his most innings in six years. Manea threw a career high 181.2 innings pitched. Quintana threw his most innings in five seasons, and all three ran out of gas against the Dodgers, but all three had fantastic seasons for the Mets. 

BADER : One of the things David Stearns said when he was first hired, was to improve the defense. Enter Harrison Bader, who is a former Gold Glove winner. Bader, who in a platoon hit 12 homers and drove in 51 runs, and had some clutch hits for the Mets throughout the season. He also brings a speed element. 

IGLESIAS : The guy who changed the vibes of the team with his “OMG” song. Iglesias plays really good defense, while having a slash line of .337/.381/.448. Iglesias also had some massive hits this season. 

MARTINEZ : The Mets have had a hole at DH since MLB incorporated the universal DH. JD Martinez has been one of the best hitters in baseball the last few seasons, but he didn’t sign until March, so it took a while for him to get going. He ended the season with 16 homers, but he ended the regular season ice cold, and eventually wasn’t playing in the playoffs. 

WINKER/STANEK : Two guys the Mets acquired at the trade deadline and both had some big moments in the playoffs. Winker in the playoffs had a homer and four RBI with a slash line of .318/.531/.636. He also is a tremendous value in the clubhouse. Stanek on the other hand really struggled in the regular season with an ERA over six, but in the playoffs he had a 3.38 ERA, and became the second most reliable reliever behind Diaz. 

WHO WOULD I BRING BACK : ALONSO, MANEA, IGLESIAS, WINKER, STANEK.

SOTO FACTOR : The top free agent on the market will be 26 year old Juan Soto. Soto has shown the ability to play in New York, with what he has done for the Yankees this season. The Mets have gotten close looks at Soto during his days with the Nationals. Soto in 78 games against the Mets is hitting .289 with 19 homers, 46 RBIS and 46 runs scored. Now Soto is going to command an Ohtani like contract, and if it comes down to the highest bidder, Steve Cohen has the checkbook for that, although they will face stiff competition from the Yankees in order to get him. 

PITCHING MATTERS : Stearns said about the rotation “This isn’t new to us, we had a similar task last offseason. Some of that could be from those guys returning. We’re going to have to add multiple starters.” As I mentioned above the trio of Manea, Quintana, and Severino I would only bring back Manea. As good as Severino was, there’s a large injury history there and I am not sure he can stay healthy for a second consecutive season. Quintana, as solid as he was had ups and downs, and he will be 36 years old at the start of next season. 

Corbin Burnes, who pitched for David Stearns in Milwaukee is the top free agent starting pitcher on the market. Burnes, who won a CY Young under Stearns, will finish in the top five of CY Young voting again this season. Burnes along with Braves lefty Max Fried top the market. Blake Snell can opt out of his deal with the Giants, and Shane Bieber is coming off of Tommy John Surgery.  The Mets are also going to have to bring in some more swing and miss out of the bullpen. Even if Stanek is back, they’ll need to address the pen. 

TRADES : The Mets not only have financial flexibility, they have position flexibility as well. With the development of some of their farm talent, does that make players on the Major League roster available. Three names I’d keep an eye on if the Mets were to deal for some pitching are Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte and Brett Baty. Luis Angel Acuna’s development along with the impending return of Ronnie Mauricio could put McNeil’s spot in jeopardy. 

We heard what Stearns said to the media. This winter we’ll have to see what he comes up with to help a team that was on the brink of the World Series and was the best team in Baseball since June first.

EARNED IT

BY MIKE RIFKIN

The Mets lost game six of the NLCS to the Dodgers and now their season is officially over. Now is the time to reflect on what was a surprising and enjoyable season. Prior to the season Owner Steve Cohen along with new President of Baseball Ops David Stearns said they believed this team would be in Wild Card contention. And that’s exactly what happened, but times were bleak when the team struggled in May at 11 games under .500. 

One of the major talking points at that time is what was going to happen to First Baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso, a second round pick by the Mets in 2016 came up with a bang in 2019 with 53 homers, a record for rookies in MLB. Outside of 2020 (where teams played 60 games) Alonso has hit over 30 home runs each season. Currently Alonso ranks third in franchise history with 226 homers only trailing David Wright and Darryl Strawberry. 

Alonso hit 34 homers during the regular season, and at times in big situations did not get that big hit. But, Alonso redeemed himself in the playoffs with some big time hits. 

PETE ALONSO BIG HITS IN THE PLAYOFFS

WILD CARD G3 : Three run homer off Devin Williams in the ninth inning.

NLDS G3 : Solo homer off Aaron Nola

NLCS G4 : Single, stolen base, scored insurance run

NLCS G5 : Three run homer off of Jack Flaherty in first inning. 

Alonso has embraced being a Met and talks about it often in post game interviews. The fans have embraced him as well. Alonso, if he re-signs, could be the greatest homegrown player in franchise history. Pete has earned the contract.

SIN BLITZERS : WEEK 7 PREVIEW

BY SIN BLITZERS

DOLPHINS AT COLTS : The 2-3 Dolphins look to make it two in a row and have a chance to get back to .500 when they visit the Colts. Prior to the Bye week the Dolphins defeated the Patriots 15-10. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. The Dolphins only touchdown was scored by Alec Ingold. Tyler Huntley will get another start in Indy. The Colts are coming off a 20-17 win over the Titans. Joe Flacco threw for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. But Anthony Richardson is expected to return after missing the last couple of games with an oblique injury. Speaking of injuries Jonathan Taylor is expected to miss another game with his ankle injury. This could be a trap game for Indy as they have the Texans next week. 

BENGALS AT BROWNS : Joe Burrow and Chase Brown both had long touchdown runs and that was enough for the Bengals to pick up their second win of the season over the Giants. Now the battle of Ohio against the Browns. The Browns lost 20-16 to the Eagles last week. Last season the two teams split the two meetings. In week one the Browns decimated the Bengals 24-3 and Joe Burrow threw for just 82 yards. With how poorly the Browns are playing this is a must win for the Bengals, even though the Browns will be getting a boost in the return of Nick Chubb. 

LIONS AT VIKINGS : Two of the top teams in the NFC will clash in an NFC North division matchup on Sunday. The Lions are coming off their decimation of the Cowboys. It was a flawless game Jared Goff threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, David Montgomery had 80 yards and two touchdowns and the defense had four sacks and forced five turnovers. The only downside was the injury to Aidan Hutchinson. For the Vikings they are one of the two undefeated teams left. Before the bye week they beat the Jets in London. Sam Darnold has had a renaissance season, and Brian Flores has this defense playing very well. The key to this game will be how the Lions’ young corners play against these Viking receivers. 

TEXANS AT PACKERS :  Two young stud QB’S go head to head when the Texans and Packers meet. CJ Stroud is coming off a three touchdown performance in the 41-21 win over the Patriots. Joe Mixon added 102 yards and a touchdown rushing and the defense had it’s moments against Drake Maye in his first start. Jordan Love is coming off a four touchdown performance against the Cardinals. Love has looked solid since returning from injury. Key to this game might be which running back performs better : Joe Mixon has been really good for the Texans, while the Packers are waiting for Josh Jacobs to break out. 
CHIEFS AT 49ERS : It’s a Super Bowl rematch out by the bay. The Chiefs, who are coming off their bye week are probably coming off their most dominating performance, a 26-13 win over the Saints. Mahomes threw for 331 yards, but rushing touchdowns by Kareem Hunt and Xavier Worthy was enough for KC. Hunt ran for over 100 yards and JuJu Smith- Schuster went over 100 yards receiving. One of the keys for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl was Mahomes’ running ability he had 66 yards rushing. The Niners are coming off a 36-24 win over the Seahawks. Brock Purdy threw for three touchdowns, two to George Kittle and Deebo Samuel went over 100 yards receiving. Good news for the Niners is that Jordan Mason, who left that game should play in this one as will Ricky Pearsall. Pearsall, the Niners first round pick in the draft, missed the first six weeks after getting shot during a mugging. The X factor for the Niners will be Deebo Samuel. He went for over 100 yards last week, and in the Super Bowl was a non factor, if the Niners want to win this game he has to be a factor.

A Fitting End

By Mike Rifkin

Thursday was a special day in New Orleans. At halftime they honored future Hall of Fame Quarterback Drew Brees and former head coach Sean Payton made his return with his new team the Denver Broncos. Brees and Payton were a dynamic duo that took the franchise to new heights, including the club’s only Super Bowl win in 2009. 

While it was fun honoring the past, the current Saints got torched by their former coach and lost 33-10 to the Broncos. The loss marks the fifth straight for the Saints and puts them at 2-5 on the season. The Saints got off to a strong start on the season beating both the Panthers and Cowboys and scoring over 40 points in both. But now with quarterback Derek Carr injured the Saints are struggling on both sides of the ball. The Saints defense has 13 takeaways and have 15 sacks on the season, but they’ve given up the most yards per game (394.9). 

As mentioned above Payton and Brees were a part of the best Saints run as a franchise. But after they left, the Saints thought they were still contenders and kept most of the same roster intact and promoted Dennis Allen, who was the Defensive Coordinator to Head Coach. Allen is currently 18-23 as the Saints head coach. The Brees and Payton duo made the Saints the cornerstone of relevance for a little over a decade, but what last night represented was now it’s time for the Saints to start things over.  Guys like Alvin Kamara and Cam Jordan, as great of Saints as they were, if the team doesn’t see themselves as winners, why are you keeping them around? Sell off some veterans and get draft picks, that should’ve been the idea after Brees and Payton left. But it wasn’t and now the team is just stuck in the middle and really doesn’t have a definitive direction. Last night was a fitting end to the current construction of the Saints, so let’s see how they respond near the trade deadline.

BLAME GAME

By Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Detroit Lions went into Dallas and whooped the Cowboys 47-9 and on Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday. The Cowboys are still winless at home and if you go back to the wild card game against the Packers each game has been a blowout, despite the score of the Ravens game. The Cowboys are on the bye this week, and there’s been speculation of a potential coaching change, but is that what is needed for this team to play better? So, who is to blame for the issues of the Dallas Cowboys? There’s one answer, no it’s not the head coach (although he’s not helping), it’s not the 60 million dollar quarterback (he’s not helping right now either), it’s the guy who put this team together. 

Every year people want to hype up the Dallas Cowboys as they are the same group that Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson coached. The truth is we talk about the Cowboys because of Jerry Jones. Jerry is the singular reason the Cowboys get the national television games, he’s the reason the media talks about his team. Are they a talented team? Absolutely, but every time the Cowboys play a major opponent they fail, and Jerry can talk about how the team won 12 games each of the last three seasons, but at the end of the day that is not how they’re judged. Now Jerry is starting to get testy with the media when asked some questions about what is going on, but the truth is Jerry is to blame and he can’t admit it. 

Last year after the Packers game in the playoffs, Jerry had three major decisions : What was he going to do with Mike McCarthy, What was he going to do with Dak Prescott, and how much money was he going to pay CeeDee Lamb?  

Mike McCarthy should have been let go after the Packers game, because it had been the same story the season before. Instead of extending McCarthy, they’re letting him be a lame duck coach, which means after every loss people will question his job status. Had they fired him, the Cowboys had his replacement in the building in Dan Quinn, now Quinn is leading the renaissance of the Washington Commanders. So if McCarthy coaches the rest of the season and is let go, who is going to coach this team? Would Bill Bellichick want to be the coach of the Cowboys or is he eyeing another job? Mike Vrabel will be out there, but does he want the job, is there a young coordinator Jerry really likes to take over? The answer should be Vrabel, but they had the answer in their building. 

Then there’s what happened with Lamb and Prescott. Lamb held out of training camp until he got his four year 136 million dollar contract. Lamb has been one of the best receivers in the league, and deserved his money, but why did Jerry wait to pay him? The same can be said about Prescott, who became the first 60 million dollar player hours before week one. Dak Prescott is a top ten QB, but the reason he got paid elite money is because of how Jerry has handled his contracts before. Remember when Zeke Elliott went to Cabo? He had two years left on his deal, Dak didn’t and needed to be taken care of. For whatever reason Jerry Jones doesn’t believe in Dak and it’s cost his checkbook. If he doesn’t believe in him he should have moved off just like he should have with McCarthy.

 Another reason taking care of Dak and Lamb earlier could’ve helped the Cowboys, they could’ve signed DERRICK HENRY, who signed with the Ravens and crushed the Cowboys in week two. Henry signed a two year 16 million dollar contract with Baltimore. It was widely speculated that Henry, who has a place in Dallas, would sign with the Cowboys, but Jerry Jones couldn’t find eight million dollars to give him. Now the Cowboys are dead last in rushing yards per game averaging 77.2 yards per game. 

You want to blame McCarthy fine, you want to blame Dak fine, you want to blame Mike Zimmer also fine. At the end of the day all of the Cowboys issues start with the guy who is the real face of the franchise and that’s Jerry Jones. And instead of getting chippy with the media, he needs to take responsibility for why the Cowboys haven’t been to the NFC Championship game since the late 90s. It’s been all downhill since Jimmy Johnson was fired, so Jerry what happens next if this team continues to spiral out?

Rulers Of The Big City

BY Mike Rifkin

It wasn’t pretty but the Bengals came out of MetLife Stadium with a 17-7 victory over the New York Giants. Joe Burrow, who came off a sensational game vs the Ravens, was 19-28 for 208 yards, and added four carries for 55 yards including a 47 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The game was tight until late in the fourth quarter when Chase Brown had a 30 yard touchdown run to ice the game 17-7. Both Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase continued their solid play both went over 70 yards (although Chase had a big drop.) 

The Bengals defense had two sacks on Daniel Jones and an interception in the win. But they still gave up 120 yards rushing and gave up nearly four yards a carry. Jones was 22-41 for 205 yards and an interception. The Giants had the football for over 34 minutes compared to the Bengals 26.

Next week both teams will play division rivals as the Bengals go to Cleveland and play the Browns and the Giants host the Eagles. 

NOTE : LIONS-COWBOYS AND TEXANS – PATS RECAPS WILL BE UP ON YOUTUBE.

WEEK 6 BLITZER PREVIEW

BY SIN BLITZERS

Bengals vs Giants : preview  

By Bill Murphy 

Last week the Bengals lost an overtime thriller against the Baltimore Ravens  41-38. Now the Bengals are traveling to East Rutherford to take on the New York Giants , who are coming off a 29-20 upset over the Seattle Seahawks . 

Keys to the Game 

Bengals 

Offense 

Offensive Line : The Bengals need to protect Joe Burrow from the Giants  red hot Defensive line . The Giants currently have 22 sacks on the year and six of those are from Dexter Lawerence.  The Bengals need to contain Lawrence from getting to Burrow who was sacked three times last week against the Ravens. Now the Giants will be without Kayvon Thibodeaux, who underwent Wrist surgery. 

Defense :  Pass Rush

The defensive key to this game for the Bengals is going to be to pressure Daniel Jones who last week threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. This is going to be up to Logan Wilson who has 52 tackles this year so far , Germaine Pratt who has 51 tackles and Trey Hendrickson has 12 tackles and three sacks. The Giants once again will be without Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary. 

TEXAS TWO STEP

TEXANS AT PATRIOTS : The Texans enter this tilt with the Patriots at 4-1 and are coming off a 23-20 win over the Bills. At one point the Texans led 20-3 in the game, but self inflicted wounds helped the Bills back in. CJ stroud threw for over 300 yards, one touchdown and two turnovers (one fumble, one interception). Nico Collins, who had the touchdown will miss his first of four games after being put on IR. 

As for the Patriots they are 1-4 and are in a complete rebuild. They lost last week to the Dolphins. After that loss the Patriots are turning to rookie QB Drake Maye to lead the charge. Maye, who New England selected third overall in the draft will have his work cut out for him. The Texans defense has 15 sacks on the season, and the Patriots o line has given up 19. The Patriots will also be without running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who will miss the game with a foot injury. 

LIONS AT COWBOYS : Last season these two teams played an entertaining game in week 17. Dallas edged Detroit 20-19. Dak threw for 345 yards, two touchdowns an an interception. CeeDee Lamb went over 200 yards receiving and had a touchdown. Jared Goff threw for 271 yards a touchdown and two picks. The Cowboys are coming off a thrilling win over the Steelers. Dak connected with Jalen Tolbert to win it in the closing seconds. Dak threw for 352 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tolbert had seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. The Lions are coming off the bye week. But their previous game was a 42-29 win over the Seahawks.  Jared Goff was 18-18 for 292 yards and three touchdowns (2 pass, 1 receiving). Jameson Williams had two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. Here is the key to this game for me: The Cowboy run defense has been better the last two games, but that was against the Giants and Steelers. Now they go up against Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but for Mike Zimmer’s sake the defense looks better than they did the last time they were at home (Ravens game)