| |
|
| Tuesday, October 13, 2020 |
| Guys, I'm not sure where today is going to rank on the greatest Tuesdays in human history, but I have to think it's going to be in the top five. |
| Not only is it Amazon Prime Day, which is my wife's favorite day of the year, but we're also getting "Tuesday Night Football." I'm not sure if anyone has trademarked that yet, but if not, I'm getting that done tonight. That way, going forward, I'll make at least five cents per spoken word anytime someone says any combination of "Tuesday," "Night" or "Football." I'm going to be rich. Well, not that rich, because if my wife's purchases on the first few hours of Prime Day are any indication, Amazon will be getting all my money. |
| Anyway, we've got a big newsletter today that includes a Chargers-Saints recap and a preview of the Tuesday night game between the Bills and Titans. And remember, this is only the second time in 70 years that the NFL has given us a Tuesday game, so please savor it. |
| Let's get to the rundown. |
| 1. Today's Show: Chargers-Saints recap |
| |
| When Drew Brees leads a miraculous 17-point comeback, he's usually the story of the game, but that wasn't the case on Monday night following the Saints' 30-27 overtime win over the Chargers. It was a crazy game and we recapped it all on Tuesday morning's edition of the Pick Six Podcast with me, Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson. |
| Instead of talking about Brees, we spent a big part of the podcast fawning over Justin Herbert. Not only did he throw for 264 yards, but he became the first rookie in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in a Monday night game. We also spent some time ranking the four starting quarterbacks in the NFC South, which isn't as easy as it sounds. We even made the argument that Jameis Winston might be one of the division's best quarterbacks even though he hasn't played a single snap this year. |
| You're definitely going to want to listen to today's episode and you can do that by clicking here. |
| |
| 2. Mike Tomlin joins the All Things Covered podcast |
| Since I only talk about the Pick Six Podcast here, you might be thinking that that's the only NFL-related podcast we have at CBSSports.com. Although that was the case for a long time, it's no longer the case now, and that's because two-time Super Bowl champion Bryant McFadden is hosting the new "All Things Covered" podcast with Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson. That is not a typo: we got an active player to co-host a podcast and it's pretty awesome. |
| This week, Peterson and McFadden are joined by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who opened up to the two cousins -- yup, they're cousins -- for a rare in-season interview. During the lengthy conversation, Tomlin talks about the Steelers' strong start, having Ben Roethlisberger back and how Pittsburgh keeps finding wide receiver gems in the NFL Draft. Tomlin, who's been the coach in Pittsburgh since 2007, also gets asked about the best defensive players that he's ever coached and he actually answered the question. |
| Besides the Tomlin interview, you'll also hear some unique insight from Peterson, who will be facing the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. Peterson explains what will be changing for him from a preparation standpoint as he gets ready to go up against a Cowboys team that just lost its star quarterback to a season-ending injury. |
| To listen to the entire podcast, and you're definitely going to want to do that, make sure to click here and while you're there, make sure to subscribe. |
| 3. Tuesday Night Football: Bills-Titans preview |
| |
| During the NFL season, Tuesday is usually the one day of the week where I can actually relax, which mostly involves me taking three naps and eating pancakes for dinner. However, I'm going to have to throw those plans out the window tonight, because WE'RE GETTING FOOTBALL. |
| The Bills and Titans will be kicking off from Nashville at 7 p.m. ET in a game that's going to be televised nationally on CBS. My good buddy Jared Dubin worked overtime this week to get out a preview for tonight's game. According to Dubin's stats, this could end up being a big night for Josh Allen and that's because the Titans are allowing an average of 7.3 yards per pass attempt while also having a bottom-five sack rate. If you can't sack Allen and you can't stop him from throwing for more than seven yards per pass attempt, that's a recipe for disaster, which means the Titans could be in trouble tonight. |
| Is there a Bills weakness that the Titans will be able to exploit? Make sure to read Dubin's preview by clicking here so you can find out. |
| If you're like me and you plan on gambling tonight -- because let's be honest, there's nothing better than gambling on a Tuesday -- Jordan Dajani has come up with a bunch of props that he likes for this game. Long story short: You should bet on Derrick Henry to go OVER 101. 5 yards, for Stefon Diggs to go OVER 5.5 catches and for Stephen Gostkowski to OVER 1.5 field goals. I actually like all those picks. If you want to see the rest of Dajani's recommendations, be sure to click here. |
| If you won't be around a television tonight, you can watch this game online if you have CBS All Access. To find out how to stream the game using All Access, be sure to click here. |
| |
| 4. Breech's Week 6 NFL Picks |
| If it's Tuesday, that means it's time for my weekly picks. The confusing part about making picks this week is that I was picking games for Week 6 even though WEEK 5 ISN'T EVEN OVER YET. Although I love to complain about things, I will not complain about that, but only because we're in the middle of a pandemic. Once this pandemic ends, I'm complaining about everything again. |
| Last week, I gave you an upset pick that hit big (Dolphins over 49ers) and a "Lock of the Week" that won straight up, but didn't cover (Saints over Chargers). This week, we're getting Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady for just the third time ever, so that's obviously one of the two picks I'll be featuring here. |
| Green Bay at Tampa Bay (+1.5): The Buccaneers lost a key piece of their defense in Week 5 when Vita Vea suffered a season-ending injury. Vea was a big reason why the Bucs had the top run defense in the NFL this year and without him in the lineup, I think the Packers are going to run wild. Verdict: Packers win and cover. Cleveland a Pittsburgh (-3.5): The Browns have never beaten Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh (0-13) and I don't see that streak ending this week. The Browns are 4-1 for the first time since 1994, but they're only going to have about five more days to enjoy it because they're going to be 4-2 after Sunday. Verdict: Steelers win and cover. |
| Speaking of the Browns, Will Brinson thinks they might be this year's version of the 2011 49ers and his reasoning isn't as crazy as you'd think considering it's coming from Brinson. To check out why he thinks that, be sure to click here and check out his story. Just as a reminder, the 49ers made it to the NFC title game in 2011. |
| As for me, for the rest of my Week 6 picks, including who I think will win the Bears-Panthers and Chiefs-Bills along with a more in-depth look at the two games above, be sure to click here. |
5. Rookie Power Rankings
|
| |
| If had to do power rankings of all the power rankings we do at CBSSports.com, the rookie power rankings from Josh Edwards would be near the top. Last week, Edwards ranked Justin Herbert as his top rookie in the NFL through five weeks, which raised some eyebrows, because, you know, Joe Burrow exists. However, Edwards was vindicated this week as Herbert looked like a star in the making during the Chargers' Monday loss to the Saints. Besides Herbert, the other big winner this week is Steelers receiver Chase Claypool, who went off for FOUR TOUCHDOWNS. Al Bundy once scored four touchdowns in a game against Polk High, but that was in a fictional television show, Claypool did this in real life. |
| The performance by the Steelers receiver vaulted him onto the rookie power rankings for the first time this year. Let's take a look at the top 3 and bottom 3 in this week's rankings. |
1. Justin Herbert (Chargers)
2. Joe Burrow (Bengals)
3. CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys)
....
13. Jedrick Wills (Browns)
14. Mekhi Beckton (Jets)
15. Chase Claypool (Steelers) |
| For a look at the rest of the list of who the top-15 rookies are heading into Week 6, be sure to click here so you can check out it out. |
| 6. 2021 Mock Draft |
| There are currently three winless teams in the NFL (Jets, Giants, Falcons) and if you're a fan of one of those teams, you've probably already given up on the season. The good news for you is that even though your team is trash, we're still producing content that you're going to want to read and this week, that comes in the form of Ryan Wilson's mock draft. |
| Since we want to make sure Jets, Giants and Falcons fans keep reading, here's a look at who Wilson has each team taking in the first round. |
| 1. Jets: QB Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) 2. Giants: OL Penei Sowell (Oregon) 6. Falcons: DL Gregory Rousseau (Miami) |
| If you're wondering why I skipped from two to six, don't worry, I assure you I can count. The reason for the jump is because that's where each team is expected to pick in the first round based on our SportsLine projections. Basically, this means our projection has the Falcons rebounding from their 0-5 start to finish with a better record than five teams. I'll believe that when I see it. |
| You can check out Wilson's entire mock draft by clicking here. |
| |
| 7. The Kicker! |
| It's fitting that our closing section here is called "The Kicker" because the Chargers probably wish they had one right now. The 2020 season has been a rough one for Michael Badgley and he arguably hit rock-bottom on Monday night with huge misses. Not only did he miss a 50-yard field goal off the upright at the end of regulation (which isn't an easy kick), but he also missed an extra point in the first half that proved to be costly. Badgley is proof of how tenuous every kicking job is in the NFL. Over the past two seasons, he had hit on 87.5% of his kicks, but in 2020, he's hitting on just 70%, which is the second-worst conversion rate in the league. |
| Being a kicker in the NFL is a pretty thankless job. Now you know why Ray Finkle went crazy. |
| Finally, I have some very important news: I'm only in charge of this newsletter four days per week -- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday -- which means you'll be getting a full dose of Cody Benjamin tomorrow. Cody handles all things "Hump Day" at CBSSports.com, so it only made sense to also let him handle the newsletter. Cody, please don't burn the place down while I'm gone. |
| |
| | | | | 24/7 Sports News | | Parlay Pick'em | Want your sports news and highlights straight without the noise? Stream CBS Sports HQ on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and more!
Watch Now
| | Enter Parlay Pick'em now for your free chance to win weekly cash prizes and the $20,000 guaranteed season prize.
Play Now
|
|
| |
| |
