The 1st game on Sunday is a heavyweight clash that sees the 6-1 Seattle Seahawks travel cross-country to Upstate New York to face the Buffalo Bills who sit at 6-2. Both sides lead their respective divisions and will be looking to stay ahead as we pass the half-way point of the season. Seattle come armed with arguably the most high-powered offense in the league right now but their defense has problems that Josh Allen will feel he and his receiving crew can take advantage of. This is set to be an explosive encounter.

Betpat NFL Betting:
Money line: Seahawks 4/7 Bills 7/5
Points Spread: Seahawks -3
Over/Under: 54.5

You can get 17/2 on DK Metcalf to grab a TD in each half. You can get the same odds for Smokey Brown to rack up 100+ Yds and a TD.

Fantasy Football:
Seahawks:
With Running backs Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde both out the running game will be centered around the ex-Miami Hurricanes duo of Travis Homer and rookie DeeJay Dallas who acquitted himself well last week. The Buffalo Defense has shown weaknesses stopping the run in recent weeks and there could be points to be had out of Homer if he gets the lions share of the reps.

As per usual, the Seahawks passing game will see Russell Wilson look to get monster receiver DK Metcalf involved early and often and Tyler Lockett will provide a deep threat. With outstanding Corner Tradavious White likely to be shadowing Metcalf, Lockett might carry an even higher value than usual.   

Bills:
QB Josh Allen and WR Stephon Diggs are the major figures for Buffalo and will fancy their chances of big days against a Seahawks defense who are dead last in the league for Yards Allowed per game. This game also provides opportunities for John Brown and Cole Beasley to be relevant in fantasy terms this week.

Devin Singletary holds down the Running Back position for the Bills but don’t expect a high output from him. He’s OK to put in if you’re in a bind as he will usually get enough carries to get a handful of points, but won’t rack up game breaking numbers.


My Prediction:
Josh Allen’s Jekyll and Hyde nature makes this a tough game to predict. The dual threat he offers can blow a game wide open, but his arm is erratic and if the Seahawks can make him beat them with his arm, you really don’t know what you’re going to get. I’m going to say we see the confident, accurate version of Allen who leads the Bills to an 8-point win.

Bills by 8

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Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens Preview

Sunday opens with massive clash as 2 of the AFC North’s finest go head to head. Baltimore came into the season as the hot favourites but as we approach the midway stage of the season their 5-1 record is surprisingly only good enough for 2nd behind the 6-0 Steelers, the NFL’s only remaining unbeaten team. An impressive win against the Tennessee Titans last week would have silenced a lot of doubters and knocking off the Ravens this week will surely cement them as legitimate SuperBowl contenders. Can they keep their unbeaten run going or will the Ravens take that ‘0’ away?

Betpat Betting:

Money line: ​​Steelers​8/5​​Ravens​​1/2
Points Spread: ​Ravens –4​
Over/Under:​​45.5

I think 8/5 is excellent odds for the Steelers. The Ravenshaven’t looked all that impressive, despite the 5-1 record and I think the Steelers have more than enough about them to hand them their 2nd loss.

Fantasy Football:

Steelers:
If there was any doubt about this Steelers defense before last week, there shouldn’t be now. They held Derrick Henry to under 4 yards a carry, (even if they gave up a TD to him in the process) and did it without selling out too much to keep Ryan Tannehill and the passing offense in check. The face a different kind of test this week in the read option-based Ravens defense. They won’t win this battle on aggression alone and will need to stay disciplined, especially on the edge. But I trust Mike Tomlin to have a good plan in place and his player’s ability to execute it. If they get ahead and the Raven have to air it out more than they would like, there are turnovers there to be had too.

The offense also faces a very different prospect this week. While the Titans secondary were there to be got at, the Ravens have one of the best, if not the best, cornerback tandems in the league. Big plays will have to be earned by the Pitt receiver group, but they have enough talent there to get it done. I expect to see a lot of short to intermediate passes to Juju in the slot and he is a good option today especially in PPR leagues in my opinion.

James Conner has another tough task ahead of him at running back this week but that seems to be when he shows up the most. He may not ever be a fantasy giant, but he has shown he can keep putting respectable numbers up even against the better defences. I said last week I struggle to have any faith in him, and I’m not abandoning that, but it would be unfair to ignore his steady contribution.

Ravens:
As I already mentioned, the Steelers offense will have to earn every yard they get in this game. The face the no.1 defense in fantasy in the Baltimore Ravens, though they have played against their fair share of anaemic offenses to date. The Earl Thomas drama is in the rear-view mirror at this stage and they’ll be eager to impose their will on the Steelers attack.

Lamar Jackson was widely drafted early in fantasy drafts but so far hasn’t lived up to the billing. He and the Ravens have tried to convince everyone that he is good enough to beat teams with his arm if he has to, but the proof provided hasn’t been overwhelming. I expect the Steelers defense to try to make him do that again in this game, and I would be very apprehensive about starting Jackson unless you don’t have another viable option.

The knock-on effect is that his receivers may see more action than usual, but the question is the quality of those opportunities. Mark Andrews has been a favoured target of Jackson for a while now and should continue to contribute well for fantasy owners. And while Hollywood Brown hasn’t been doing too well as of late, he is always a big play threat.

At RB, whether Mark Ingram plays or not will be a latedecision. He hasn’t practiced all week which usually says he won’t play, although his advanced age and familiarity with the system would make it a lot easier for them to have held him out for precaution. But I think it’s unlikely he plays which puts the tandem of rookie JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards front and centre. That would likely result in a fairly even splitbetween the 2, and Justice Hill may even get a chance to make his way back from the wilderness. I don’t see a reliable option in this group.

My Prediction:

The AFC North games are usually very physical affairs and don’t expect anything different here. These 2 will go to war. If the Ravens can establish a rhythm on offense, they’ll be tough to stop but my gut favours the Steelers to keep them at bay.

Steelers by 10

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