Welcome to NFL Week 13 Hot Takes. This Thanksgiving Week, we are going to be eating… hopefully in our fantasy football matchups. Here are some bold claims that may happen this Thanksgiving.
Hot Take #1
Bengals End Ravens Hot Streak
The Cincinnati Bengals are absolutely terrible except for about 4.5 players on the squad. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown, Evan McPhereson, and Joe Flacco. These are the 4.5 reasons they win or are involved in competitive games, but Joe Burrow is potentially back this week. This is a massive boost for the Bengals. Burrow takes this team from a 3-win team to a 10-win team instantly. There is no player more valuable to their team than Joe Burrow. In baseball, there is a stat called WAR (Wins Above Replacement). If that stat existed in football, Joe Burrow would be the leader in the clubhouse for 6 straight seasons. Do not get me wrong, Joe Flacco has been a really good replacement, but to mitigate the terrible disaster that is the Cincinnati defense, you need Joe Burrow.
The Baltimore Ravens have been stagnant since Lamar Jackson’s return. They put up a 28-0 victory against the Miami Dolphins, and after that, it has been shotty at best. Although they are winners of 5 straight, I worry about the streak staying alive with the faultiness of their offense and defense that can be had. I think long-term, the Baltimore Ravens will be okay, but the boost the Bengals will get from a Joe Burrow return will be too much for the Ravens to handle. The Bengals win 21-17 on Thursday.
Hot Take #2
Cowboys Heater Continues
The Dallas Cowboys just beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Now it took a 21-point comeback to do so, but they still did it. Their offense is still great, and their defense is still shotty, but anyone who watched that game knows that the Dallas defense has gotten much, much better since week one.
George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb are the best 1-2 punch in football this year, and oddly, Pickens may be the one. Dak Prescott also looks like he can dial it up and be one of the best QBs in the NFL on any given Sunday. You know very early on what you are getting from the 10-year veteran out of Mississippi State. Javonte Williams is also just a steady back who can help win you football games. It has been fun to watch his success after an injury-riddled beginning to his career in Denver.
The Cowboys will have to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving this year, and this is a big game for both teams. There is a real chance that the Kansas City Chiefs have a worse record than the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving night. The Chiefs narrowly escaped by the skin of their teeth against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. This last-second win was fueled by an explosion by Rashee Rice. He had over 120 receiving yards in the second half. He has absolutely been the X-Factor for the Chiefs since his week seven return. If it were not for Rice, they would be one of the least dynamic teams in the NFL. I think that the Chiefs could be for real, but they need to be consistent. Their Houdini act can =only last so long. It has barely carried through this year, as they are only 6-5. The Cowboys should have a real shot at staying hot, and if they are coming off of back-to-back wins against the class of the NFL, watch out down the stretch.
Hot Take #3
Giants Run it Back with Jameis?
Last week, I predicted that the Cincinnati Bengals would upset the New England Patriots in a classic let-down spot. I was right… for about two quarters. The New England Patriots are a very good team, but all-in-all I just can’t see them finishing out the year with 3 or fewer wins. That is why I predict that Jameis Winston will do what Joe Flacco could not this week.
Jameis Winston, we all know, is a fiery QB that the team can rally around, and I believe that Jaxson Dart is an extremely similar player. The team fights when those two quarterbacks are in the game. The New York Giants are better than their record says they are, and they absolutely can win this game. Now, it is rare for a QB to miss a 3rd straight games with a concussion, so odds are that if Jaxson Dart is ready to play, he will get the nod, but I would argue that Jameis should get another shot.
The Giants almost beat the Detroit Lions this week, which is a huge accomplishment in its own right. Taking the Lions to the brink of overtime in their first game with Mike Kafka as their head coach should be a massive boost to team morale. The Patriots have also teetered the last couple of weeks, and I think that they have a real shot of knocking them off their feet in a week 13 stunner.
