Judging by the performances of their blockers in the opening week of the season, it’s fair to wonder if there will be more sacks than points in Thursday night’s game between the Texans and Bengals.
Cincinnati allowed Andy Dalton to be trapped five times, half as much as Houston yielded in its loss to Jacksonville. Yes, 10 sacks.
At that rate, AJ McCarron might be on the field soon for Cincinnati because of the battering Dalton is taking.
As for Tom Savage or Deshaun Watson or whoever is taking snaps for Houston, two words of advice: WATCH OUT!
”What we talk to quarterbacks about all the time is put us in the play that you can,” Texans QBs coach Sean Ryan said. ”We preach that all the time to those guys. They always do their best to see what’s going on defensively and get that done for us.
”And then the next thing for the quarterbacks is let’s have that clock in your head. Know when it’s time to get the ball out of your hands or know when it’s time to tuck and go. It’s something that you’re constantly working with the quarterbacks on and we still work on it and always will.”
Looks as if more work is in order.
No. 27 Cincinnati is a 4-point favorite over No. 24 Houston, which also has a slew of people in concussion protocol. It’s difficult to believe the Bengals are really as inept with the ball as the Ravens made them look.
BENGALS, 20-13
KNOCKOUT LEAGUE TIP
The Broncos made us sweat it out in the final game of opening week. We expect OAKLAND will be much kinder to our nerves.
No. 32 New York Jets (plus 13 1-2) at No. 6 (tie) Oakland
Thought about 10 seconds before making this …
BEST BET: RAIDERS, 34-10
No. 23 Washington (plus 2 1-2) at No. 20 Los Angeles Rams
Rams basically had bye vs. Luckless Colts. Redskins more formidable.
UPSET SPECIAL: REDSKINS, 27-16
No. 4 New England (minus 4 1-2) at No. 26 New Orleans
Tom Brady is mad and isn’t going to take it anymore.
PATRIOTS, 30-20
No. 3 Dallas (minus 1 1-2) at No. 14 Denver
Solid early season matchup that a true O-line will win. Bengals and Texans should pay attention.
COWBOYS, 17-14
No. 16 Tennessee (minus 1) at No. 19 Jacksonville
Titans have a quarterback, something Texans didn’t seem to have against Jaguars.
TITANS, 22-17
No. 29 Cleveland (plus 7 1-2) at No. 12 Baltimore
Can’t see Browns winning on road this early, maybe later in season.
RAVENS, 13-7
No. 11 Philadelphia (plus 4 1-2) at No. 2 Kansas City
Two of the NFL’s impressive teams in Week 1.
CHIEFS, 23-17
No. 1 Green Bay (plus 3) at No. 5 Atlanta
If Packers win this, stamp them as NFC favorites.
FALCONS, 31-30
No. 9 Minnesota (plus 7) at No. 6 (tie) Pittsburgh
Steelers looked rather blah in their win over Browns. Vikings looked terrific vs. Saints.
STEELERS, 24-20
No. 25 Buffalo (plus 7) at No. 10 Carolina
Don’t be fooled by Bills’ home win vs. Jets.
PANTHERS, 28-13
No. 22 Arizona (minus 7 1-2) at No. 31 Indianapolis
A shame this game is missing David Johnson and Andrew Luck.
CARDINALS, 24-7
No. 28 Chicago (plus 6) at No. 15 Tampa Bay
Will Bucs be rusty or chomping at the bit? Go with the latter.
BUCCANEERS, 23-13
No. 18 Miami (plus 4) at No. 21 Los Angeles Chargers
Will Dolphins be rusty or chomping at the bit. No matter.
CHARGERS, 28-27
No. 30 San Francisco (plus 12 1-2) at No. 8 Seattle
Seahawks will show some offense this week.
SEAHAWKS, 23-6
No. 13 Detroit (plus 5) at No. 17 New York Giants
Betting on Beckham returning, making huge difference for Giants.
GIANTS, 21-17
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2017 RECORD:
Season Totals: Against spread (6-9). Straight up: (9-6)
Best Bet: 1-0 against spread, 1-0 straight up.
Upset special: 1-0 against spread, 1-0 straight up
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL
Watch Out: Sacks galore likely in Texans at Bengals
