Week 7 Picks (The Late Games): Big Ben looking to find belief in his own offense
2012
New York Jets at New England Patriots
Earlier this week, Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine put the NFL on notice: Guys, your officials need to enforce the rule that allows defenses to substitute their personnel when offenses do the same in no-huddle offenses. Problem is, the Jets can't substitute in Darrelle Revis at any point in time, and though Antonio Cromartie is playing out of his mind right now, New England provides too many matchup options for an average defense -- which is what Pettine has right now -- to deal with under any circumstances. Well, at least the Jets have "threatened" to unleash Tim Tebow as a running back in an awesome response to their offensive issues.
Pick: Patriots 42, Jets 16
Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders
Jags head coach Mike Mularkey has said that he wants second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert to scramble more often. That's what happens when your signal-caller averages 5.45 yards per attempt, the worst figure in the league, and you have to put him on the field anyway. Rookie punter Brian Anger, who leads the NFL in gross average, should get many chances to add to that number. The Raiders are coming off a bye and a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos before that. They're not that good, but they've got the advantage on the Jags, and their defense should be able to validate Gabbert's new scrambling ideal.
Pick: Raiders 23, Jaguars 7
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Both teams go into Sunday Night Football looking to recover from surprising losses. The Steelers will take the field against Andy Dalton and A.J Green with an injury-depleted defense, but the primary issue in the Steel City seems to be Ben Rothlisberger's inability to buy into new offensive coordinator Todd Haley's offensive schemes. "Haley's offense is not a big-play offense," the quarterback said on Friday. "It's kind of a dink-and-dunk offense." Given the problems Cincinnati has in its secondary, Big Ben would be wise to fling it deep, even he goes off-script to do so. We, however, have Dalton and Green matching up more often and the Bengals' front four making life almost as difficult for Roethlisberger as Haley seems to these days.
Pick: Bengals 27, Steelers 21
Outside the Game: Jags cornerback Aaron Ross has learned a lot from his Olympic wife
2012
After five years in the Big Apple, and two Super Bowl wins with the New York Giants, cornerback Aaron Ross has moved on to Jacksonville. It's now there that he lives with his wife, fellow athlete and sometime competitor, Olympic sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross.
"We met in our freshman year," Ross told Yahoo! Sports of his wife -- they both attended the University of Texas. "It was love at first sight."
"We became like the first couple around UT," Richards-Ross added. "I won my first Olympic gold medal in 2004, and he won the national championship [the next season]. He won the Thorpe Award for the [NCAA's] best defensive back, so we had a wonderful experience."
Ross was the Giants' first-round draft pick in 2007, and those two rings he has would carry a lot of weight in most families. In Ross' case, however, he plays a very happy second fiddle when it comes to athletic exploits. His wife has run in three Olympic games and won four gold medals in the process.
"I believe that relationships are built on great experiences," Richards-Ross said. "This is what I had dreamed of -- to win the gold medal and share it with the people who matter to me the most."
"She was there for both of my Super Bowls -- that's the top point of my life," Ross added. "And to be there for hers ... you really can't explain it."
One obvious effect of a relationship involving two natural competitors is that there's always something to compete about in the Ross household.
"He's an NFL player, but whenever he's home, you'd think he was in the NBA," Richards-Ross said of her husband. The two played a bit of living-room basketball for the benefit of Yahoo correspondent Angela Sun, and Richards-Ross "fouled" her husband for dunking on her.
"We're friends first, and we can talk to each other about pretty much anything," Ross said of Sanya, whom he married in 2010. The conversations got more complex when Ross made the decision to head to Jacksonville when the Jags offered the free agent a three-year, $9.75 million contract in March.
"Making the transition from a Giant to a Jag is kind of bittersweet. It was a new start, but Jacksonville really welcomed us in with open arms."
The Jaguars showed their commitment to family by allowing Ross to travel to London during training camp to watch his wife compete in the 2012 Olympics. Richards-Ross won gold in the women's 400-meter final.
"They talked about it and came to an agreement that I could miss a couple of days to go watch my wife run," Ross said then. "They preach family first here, so that was a big part of it."
Both of these athletes are used to that feeling, because they give it to each other -- on and off the field of play.
"To be able to cheer him on when he's doing what he loves to do, and vice versa ... I wouldn't want to be married to anybody else," Richards-Ross said.
As far as children, it would seem that any future Rosses would have quite the athletic head start.
"The running joke about our kids is that they already have a full scholarship to UT, and they already have a sports agent," Richards-Ross said.
Aaron Ross agreed. "We'll allow them to do what they want to do ... but hopefully, they'll be athletes."
2 Dolphins vs Jaguars Tickets $18
2012
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It’s buy week for Maurice Jones-Drew
2012
Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew ran well in a lopsided loss to Chicago on Sunday, gaining 4.7 yards per carry against one of the NFL's better run defenses. In fact, this run was one of the day's absolute best, as Jones-Drew dragged a helpless Chris Conte over the final eight yards. That's badass. It's also vintage MJD.
However, Jones-Drew was a dud for fantasy purposes in Week 5, as he was limited to just 13 touches. The Jags offense only possessed the football for 24 minutes, gaining just 189 total net yards. Blaine Gabbert was dreadful, posting a passer rating of 37.7 and tossing two pick-sixes.
But MJD has overcome poor quarterback play before, of course. The dude led the league in rushing last season, when Gabbert was a punchline. There's no reason to think that Jones-Drew won't be a terrific fantasy asset following his team's Week 6 bye. The forecast here remains sunny.
Just take a quick look at Jacksonville's upcoming games...
...and tell me you don't like what you see.
Five of the next seven defenses on MJD's schedule currently rank in the bottom-half of the league against the run. Tennessee and Buffalo are uncommonly generous, allowing 144.2 and 171.8 rushing yards per game. There's simply no way Jacksonville won't lean heavily (if not exclusively) on Jones-Drew when they return from the break.
So if you're well-positioned in the fantasy standings on Tuesday morning — let's say your team is 3-2 or better — and your league's MJD owner is scuffling ... well, you know what to do. Make your move. You probably don't need a fantasy expert to point you in the direction of this bye-week buying opportunity.
2 Bills vs Jags Tickets $25
2012
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Jones-Drew totals 193 yards, TD as Jags win – Maurice Jones-Drew | JAC
2012
Gabbert starts for Jags; Colts’ Freeney inactive (Yahoo! Sports)
2012
4 Jags vs Bengals Tix for only $13
2012
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2 Colts vs Jags Tickets $20
2012
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