Iceman is back to .500 and right in the thick of the playoff hunt. Definitely benefited from some luck here, as my opponent lost his starting QB after one play.
What Went Right
Jacksonville Jaguars defense- This is the defense I originally drafted and here we are eight weeks in and I streamed them again. They came through big time. 5 sacks, 3 turnovers, only 7 points allowed AND a 92 yard TD!
Da’ Bears- It wasn’t a monster week for my triumvirate of Bears, but they did enough. Caleb Williams, Luther Burden III & Colston Loveland are the engines my team runs on.
Waiver Wire Gems- It pays to pay close attention to the league waiver wire. Team owners make strange decisions in fantasy football and I’ve benefited from two. Three weeks ago, I snagged TJ Hockenson off waivers and he’s scored double digits in both weeks I’ve played him. Last week, I scooped up DJ Moore despite him being on bye, he responded with a double digit effort this week.
Lamar Jackson- I might have still won, but Jackson going out after one play and zero points definitely helped me win this one. I hate to see injuries, especially to a player as fun to watch as Jackson, but I benefited from this one.
What Went Wrong
Running Backs- Jeremiyah Love returned after missing two weeks, but left with an injury and is heading to IR. Ashton Jeanty became the second option in the Raiders rushing attack behind rookie Mike Washington Jr. Jeanty’s receiving is the only thing keeping him a viable fantasy option.
Kyle Pitts- Atlanta’s entire passing game suffered in the downpour in Tampa, Pitts included. I should’ve checked weather beforehand and subbed him out for Jaylen Waddle.
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense led the way with 35 points.
Week 9 Preview
Iceman Cometh vs Hung Like Hernandez
Projected Lineups & Reserves
Iceman has clawed their way back to .500, but now we have to face one of the perennial powerhouses in this league. I’ve had mixed results over the years against this team. I’ll need everyone to be at their best if I’m going to pull off this upset.
Keys to Victory
Jacksonville Jaguars defense- The Jags defense had a monster game last week and I’m rolling with them again because they face Baltimore with a hobbled third string QB. I’m not expecting another 35 point outing, but it’s entirely possible.
Caleb Williams- Williams is the straw that stirs the Iceman drink. If he eats, Luther Burden III & Colston Loveland probably eat too.
Tight Ends- Running with my 3 TE set once again. Besides Loveland, Kyle Pitts has a decent matchup for a bounce back game & TJ Hockenson has pretty much become a must start.
Chris Rodriguez or Woody Marks– To pull off a major upset, like this would be, you need to have someone have a big week out of nowhere. Right now, I’ve got Rodriguez starting, but if Bhayshul Tuten goes I’ll probably switch to Marks. A 15-20 point week from one of these guys could be the spark I need.
Fourth year in the league, never had this happen in one of my games and I don’t recall it happening in any others. Tie game, but I win on the tiebreaker (bench points). Pandas needed this one. We’re still alive.
What Went Right
Jahmyr Gibbs- Gibbs has been an absolute beast this season. 27 points against the best defense in the NFL. He’s matchup proof.
Brock Bowers- I’ve called Bowers a cheat code and this is what I mean. Bowers puts up WR1 numbers as a TE, that gives me a leg up in any matchup.
Tyler Bass- 19 points from the kicker always gives you a chance to win a game.
My Bench- Bench points are the tie breaker, so having Chase McLaughlin, Jacob Rodriguez & Justin Herbert put up double digits on my bench was big. Only Herbert actually outscored my starters.
What Went Wrong
Michael Penix Jr- Ouch. Yeah, the weather was awful, but still. Negative points! I would have won outright by playing Herbert, which I never considered or not playing a QB at all.
Jakobi Meyers- I thought Meyers would give me more out of my WR2 than I’ve been getting, but he only managed 2 points.
Zach Charbonnet- Not the kind of return I had hoped for, but since he played my Bears & I still won, I’m okay with it.
Jahmyr Gibbs has been a beast, once again leading my team with 27 points.
Week 9 Preview
Trash Pandas vs The Manhattan Cosmos
The Pandas are a pretty significant favorite in this one as we try to keep ourselves in the race for the playoffs. My opponent made a trade for Bryce Young because they had no active QB on the roster, still looking like a blowout.
Keys to Victory
Michael Penix Jr- Penix had an all time terrible game last week, actually getting me negative points. I survived, but I can’t have that again, even as a heavy favorite.
Jahmyr Gibbs- When you’re a heavy favorite all you need is for your big guns to hit their projections. There’s no bigger gun on the Pandas than Gibbs & he’s got a great matchup.
Chase Brown & Woody Marks- Brown hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status, but he had a decent game last week. He has a decent matchup this week. Marks will once again be the lead back for Houston in a pretty good matchup.
Brock Bowers- Jahmyr Gibbs is my biggest gun, but Bowers is #2. He doesn’t have a great matchup, but he’s pretty much matchup proof. If he hits his projection, I should roll.
Some things I’m thinking about after week eight of the NFL regular season:
Force Multiplier
I was super excited when the Chicago Bears acquired Jeffery Simmons from the Tennessee Titans. I knew how much he would help our defense, but I might have underestimated it.
He’s been with the team for basically three days. I wasn’t sure what kind of an impact he could make when he didn’t fully know the scheme. What a debut! He was a force to be reckoned with.
Constantly pushing the pocket back, plugging running lanes and eating up two blockers, freeing the likes of Montez Sweat, Devin Bush & James Lynch to wreak their own havoc.
Jeffery Simmons has already proven to be worth every penny the Bears spent to land him, the best is yet to come. This team could be super.
Trade Deadline
The Bears already made their blockbuster move, but I still think some smaller moves could be coming. I’d love a reunion with Khalil Mack but for some reason the Los Angeles Chargers, despite being 0-7, are insisting they aren’t selling. That’s fine, the addition of Jeffery Simmons might be the only addition the defensive line and pass rush needed.
The Bears still have a need at cornerback, though. A better pass rush helps the corners, but Jaylon Johnson & Tyrique Stevenson have been well below par this season.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are cooked after losing Lamar Jackson, possibly for the season, and Snoop Huntley for an indefinite period. Joe Fagnano was never meant to take a snap in an NFL game. Baltimore cannot win a single game with him under center.
The Ravens are 4-4, they’re still in the mix in the AFC playoff race, do they throw in the towel on the season and trot Fagnano out there or do they try to make a move before the trade deadline?
A couple names to watch are Jacoby Brissett, who was demoted to third string by the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears backup Tyson Bagent, who worked with Ravens OC, Declan Doyle last season and has some familiarity with the system.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers became the first team to win an NFL game without completing a single pass since 1974, that’s 52 years! You have to go back to 1945 to find the last team to win by 10 or more points without completing a pass.
Yes, the weather was terrible, but the fact is that in the two games since he returned from injury, Baker Mayfield has yet to throw for 100 yards, COMBINED!, and Tampa has still rolled to two easy victories over division rivals.
The Bucs were dead in the water. I had Todd Bowles on hot seat watch, thinking he might not survive until Thanksgiving. Just last week, I was sure that he would not be coaching this team in 2027.
Now, they might just be the favorites in a very, very bad NFC South. They’ve found a dominant running game and their defense has become a ball hawking wrecking crew.
I don’t know if they can hang with the truly great teams, we’ll find out when they travel to Chicago next Sunday night, but they can certainly hang in their division and that might be enough to give Bowles another season.
Jonathan Taylor
Taylor will be playing for somebody other than the Indianapolis Colts in the next two weeks, that’s a foregone conclusion. The Colts need to strip this thing down to the studs and get as much draft capital as they can. Taylor offers their best chance to acquire some.
All I ask is that the Colts ship him to Cincinnati, Denver or anyplace other than Minnesota. I do not need to see Taylor in the NFC North. Minnesota is putrid offensively, with an outstanding defense, if they can get some semblance of a running game, they might become a legitimate contender. I don’t want that.
I want the Minnesota Vikings to turn into the pumpkin I’ve long suspected them of being. They were 6-0, playing a mostly cupcake schedule and barely squeaking by. The finally played a decent team in a non monsoon and while the defense remains impressive, the offense remains bad.
The Vikings are 6-1, with Buffalo, Green Bay & San Francisco due up next. I think it’s a very real possibility that Minnesota is 6-4 by Thanksgiving and no better than third in the NFC North.
Running Backs
There’s been a resurgence in the valuation of running backs in the last couple drafts. There has been a running back taken in the top ten in the last two drafts and two taken in the first round of each. I think that might come to an end.
Ashton Jeanty, taken sixth overall in 2025 by the Las Vegas Raiders has been usurped by fourth round rookie, Mike Washington Jr. Omarion Hampton, drafted in the 2025 first round by the Los Angeles Chargers hasn’t come close to justifying that lofty draft position.
The Arizona Cardinals took Jeremiyah Love third overall in this past year’s draft. He’s battled injuries, but even when healthy hasn’t flashed any upside. The same can be said for Jadarian Price, taken in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks.
Only two of the top ten rushers in the NFL, at this point in the season, were first round picks. Coincidentally, both Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs were drafted in the first round of the 2023 draft, which might have contributed to teams being more willing to use a premium pick on a running back.
The 2025 draft was considered one of the deepest running back drafts in recent memory. Of the six running backs drafted in the first three rounds, in addition to the aforementioned Jeanty and Hampton, Quinshon Judkins has been average for the Cleveland Browns, TreVeyon Henderson has basically been demoted to third string by the New England Patriots, same with RJ Harvey and the Denver Broncos. Kaleb Johnson has already been traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Green Bay Packers, where he is buried deep on the depth chart.
The three best running backs from that vaunted class are, arguably, Bhayshul Tuten, Kyle Monangai & Jacory Croskey-Merritt. They were a fourth round pick and two seventh round picks, respectively. All this is to say, good running backs can be found throughout the draft. Teams need to be sure they’re getting a Bijan or Jahmyr before using a first round pick on one.
Minshew Mania
Gardner Minshew added another chapter to his amazing NFL story when he replaced Jacoby Brissett and led the Arizona Cardinals to an epic comeback victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The win kept the Cardinals undefeated at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys home stadium since 2009.
Minshew has never been more than average starting quarterback in the NFL, but he’s had his moments. If nothing else, he’ll bring a level of excitement to the Cardinals for the remainder of the season.
As for the Cowboys, I just shake my head. Every year, some national pundit, besides Skip Bayless, picks Dallas to go to the Super Bowl and every year this is what they are.
Dallas had a golden opportunity to run away with the NFC East. The Philadelphia Eagles have had a multitude of injuries, including losing Jalen Hurts for the season. The New York Giants lost Jaxson Dart for the season and the Washington Commanders have had to play multiple games without Jayden Daniels and lost perhaps their best player in Terry McLaurin for the season.
But, Dallas continues to stumble. They’ve now lost home games to Arizona and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without Baker Mayfield. I’ll flat out say it, the Dallas Cowboys are a joke and not a contender, at all.
Steel Curtain
I should know better than to underestimate the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I really didn’t think that Mike McCarthy would have the same mojo as Mike Tomlin. I didn’t think he could will this team to the playoffs despite a talent deficiency compared to others in their division and the AFC as a whole. I was wrong.
What McCarthy has done for the Steelers is given them an offensive identity and one that fits Pittsburgh perfectly. The Steelers have always had a tough, physical defense and now they have the offense to match.
Aaron Rodgers has limitations at this point in his career, but he can still be super accurate and pick defenses apart, so long as he isn’t shouldering the whole load. The Steelers have developed an elite rushing attack led by Jaylen Warren. This is an old school, smash mouth football team that has a savvy Hall of Fame quarterback that can make you pay if you overcommit to stopping the run.
I really believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers might be the most complete team in the NFC North and they’re knocking on the door of the conference elites.
Jim Harbaugh
Despite being 0-7, my instinct tells me that Jim Harbaugh is not on the hot seat with the Los Angeles Chargers, but I’m thinking that maybe he should be.
I’m starting to believe that Harbaugh is a coach better suited to the college game. I think that after a bit, Harbaugh’s schtick wears thin with NFL players.
He had great success in San Francisco for three years, then the bottom fell out. He’s had marginal success with the Chargers through two years and now the bottom has fallen out.
I thought the Chargers could’ve been a strong contender in the AFC, but now they’re looking at a top five draft pick and big decisions to make.
Things have to change. Maybe it’s Harbaugh, maybe it’s offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel or maybe it’s time to move on from Justin Herbert, who honestly looks more like Daniel Jones than a franchise quarterback.
If the Pandas end up missing the playoffs by one game, this is the one we’re circling. This is a tough loss, no other way to spin it. We should have won this game.
What Went Wrong
Chase Brown- First round draft pick. Brown has been utterly terrible, and now he’s losing red zone touches to Samaje Perine. Brown is going to find himself on my bench very soon.
Xavier Worthy- The entire Chiefs offense got throttled, Worthy included. I had a chance Sunday night, but one point from Worthy doomed me.
Jacob Rodriguez- I opted for Rodriguez over Carson Schwesinger and it cost me the game.
Jahmyr Gibbs- Gibbs had a good week, even if it was below his lofty standards. I’m putting him here, though, because he was too smart a player for fantasy purposes. Twice the Packers basically parted the seas to let him score, but he wisely slid to the turf to let Detroit work the clock both times. It was the right football move, but that TD would have won this matchup.
What Went Right
Michael Penix Jr- Penix had another great week. He bested CJ Stroud and gave me a chance to pull off the upset.
Luther Burden III- Burden had the breakthrough game I’ve been waiting for. I drafted him to be a WR1 because I envisioned performances like this.
Jahmyr Gibbs- Yes, Gibbs lands on both lists. He’s been such a stud this year that 19 points feels disappointing, but 19 points without scoring a TD is still damn impressive.
Michael Penix Jr led the way with 30 points.
Week 8 Preview
Trash Pandas vs Township Gilmores
Projected Lineups & Reserves
We’ve reached must win territory for the Pandas, and we’ll probably be the for the rest of the season. We’re a pretty strong favorite in this one, even after my opponent replaces their players on bye in their starting lineup.
Keys to Victory
Michael Penix Jr- Penix has been on a hot streak, lately. I need him to keep it rolling.
Chase Brown- I’m giving Brown one last chance, only because he has a very good matchup.
Jakobi Myers- I was able to snag Myers off waivers and he slots right into a starting role. He should be an upgrade over the disappointing Xavier Worthy.
Flex Position- Right now, I have Zach Charbonnet slotted into my flex, but I’m not entirely sold on that. Very likely that I’ll flip Keon Coleman into that spot by Sunday. Either way, I need a good week from one.
Iceman is back in the hunt. We got out to a big lead in this one, and led wire to wire, though it did get a little closer than I expected on Monday night.
What Went Right
Caleb Williams- This is just a different team when Williams is healthy. Not only did he lead us in points, but he pulled Colston Loveland & Luther Burden III with him.
Tight Ends- I went with a three TE lineup, and all 3 scored touchdowns. All 3 of my TEs outscored my opponent’s. The aforementioned Loveland, Kyle Pitts & TJ Hockenson helped make up the deficit I had a WR.
Luther Burden III- Burden had his breakout game. He put up WR1 numbers. If he can keep this up, Iceman has a real shot at the playoffs.
Ka’imi Fairbairn- When your kicker makes only three kicks, in game where his team only scored 21 points, you don’t expect much. Unless 2 of those kicks are field goals longer than 55 yards.
What Went Wrong
Jaylen Waddle- Waddle has been a disappointment this season and he disappointed again in a plus matchup. Waddle is probably heading to my bench until he forces me to play him again.
Woody Marks- This is splitting hairs because Marks didn’t have a bad game, but I opted for him over Emmanuel Wilson, who once again went off whilst on my bench.
Caleb Williams led the way with 24 points.
Week 8 Preview
Iceman Cometh vs Sad Dolphins
Projected Lineups & Reserves.
Iceman looks to reach .500 and get themselves firmly in the playoff mix. Pretty significant underdog here, but I think it’s because a certain position group isn’t getting the projections they should.
Keys to Victory
Da’ Bears- Not going to lie, I’m wary about the Seahawks defense, but I’m still going to roll at least three Bears out there. If I lose, at least I lose with my guys.
DJ Moore- Snagged him off the waiver wire last week despite him being on bye. Should be an immediate upgrade for me at WR.
Tight Ends- It worked last week, so I’m doing it again. I’m starting all 3 TEs: Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts & TJ Hockenson & I believe their projections are ridiculously low. I need similar results to last week.
Ashton Jeanty- The Raiders have a very good matchup and it would be nice to see Jeanty have a breakout game.
Here’s what I’m thinking about after the seventh week of the 2026 NFL regular season:
Win One for Da’ Coach
In their first home game since the passing of the legendary Mike Ditka, the Chicago Bears faced the defending AFC Champion New England Patriots. After some early season struggles, the Patriots came in on a three game win streak, looking very much like a Super Bowl contender, again.
The Bears led wire to wire, though there were some tense moments. This was a huge win. I think this proves that as long as Caleb Williams is healthy, Chicago is a legit Super Bowl contender themselves.
Williams has taken his game to an entirely different level. If he hadn’t missed three games due to a hamstring injury, he’d be in the MVP conversation, and he still might get there.
Some other thoughts I have regarding the Bears after this game:
We’re still waiting for Rome Odunze to live up to his draft status. His numbers aren’t what you’d hope for from a top ten pick. He seems to have at least one bad drop a game and I think Luther Burden III has supplanted him as the Bears WR1. But, whenever Caleb Williams has a ‘gotta have it’ throw, he looks to Odunze, and Rome always seems to make that clutch catch.
In an age when most kickers are nearly automatic from 50-55 yards, and many are routinely hitting close to sixty yards and beyond, Cairo Santos’ relative lack of a big leg has been a concern. But there’s more to kicking than just having a big leg. You have to have a short memory, you need to put mistakes behind you and do your job. Santos bounced a 53 yarder off the upright earlier in the game, but with less than two minutes left in the game, and the Bears up six, Santos nailed a career long 58 yarder to effectively seal the win for the Bears. What’s more, Santos has mastered the art of kicking in the elements one routinely has to deal with in Chicago (and Green Bay) in December & January. Santos’ perfection in the Wild Card game last season, while the Packers kicked missed two field goals and an extra point, had as much to do with the Bears winning as did Caleb Williams’ Iceman heroics.
I’m gutted by the season ending injury to Cole Kmet. Kmet is such a big part of what the Bears do, even if he’s become the fifth option, at best, in the passing game. His leadership, professionalism and toughness cannot be replaced. Through the darkest days of the recent Bears past, Kmet was a bright spot. He deserves his flowers, and I’m disappointed he won’t be on this journey the rest of the season.
Speaking of bright spots during the dark days, what the hell has happened to Jaylon Johnson? Johnson is a shell of his former Pro Bowl self. He’s actually become almost unplayable, he’s that much of a liability to the Bears defense. If the Bears are going to make a run this year, they need to upgrade at CB (more on that later).
Drake Maye
One final thought from the Thursday night game, I was wrong about Drake Maye. The Patriots have themselves a dude.
I was dismissive of Maye last year as he was the runner up for MVP. New England faced an impossibly easy schedule and an absurdly easy path through the playoffs. Maye wasn’t good in the playoffs and was terrible in the Super Bowl.
The start of this season reinforced my notion that Maye was overrated due to facing a cupcake schedule. Then, he and the Patriots started turning things around.
Thursday night was my first real up close view of Maye, and he was spectacular. His offensive line has been decimated, he’s got no wide receivers he can count on (AJ Brown looks average, at best, right now), yet Maye continued making plays and giving the Patriots a chance in a game that the Bears otherwise dominated.
Drake Maye can make all the throws, and I underestimated his athleticism and toughness. I’m very happy the Bears got Caleb Williams, and I will vociferously defend him and make the argument that he’s the best QB from the class of 2024, but Patriots fans should do the same for Drake Maye.
JJ McCarthy
When the New York Giants acquired McCarthy in the wake of Jaxson Dart’s season ending knee injury, I loved the move. Not just for the Giants, but because I thought it was a stupid move by a Bears division rival, the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings used a first round pick on McCarthy, then let Sam Darnold walk to hand McCarthy the starting job. They gave up on him after two years, and really just one season since he missed his entire rookie year.
McCarthy is another member of the QB class of 2024, he’s still got considerable upside. The conventional wisdom was that if Kevin O’Connell, a renowned quarterback guru, gave up on McCarthy, then there isn’t much there.
I disagree with that notion. O’Connell was part of the brain trust that drafted McCarthy. He was part of the decision to let Darnold walk in favor of McCarthy. Now, he’s hitching his wagon to Kyler Murray over McCarthy. That’s the kind of decision that eventually gets a coach fired.
McCarthy has looked pretty good for the Giants, in a small sample size, but the Vikings are 6-0, so no one is questioning the move right now. But, mark my words, by season’s end, they will.
The Dark Side
After an uneven first six games of the 2026 season, the defending champion Seattle Seahawks made an emphatic statement on Sunday night. The Seahawks, with that defense, may still be the team to beat.
Of course, I’m despairing that Seattle seemed to have found their footing a week before my Bears make a trip to the Pacific Northwest. I had long counted this one as a loss, but recent events had me thinking that maybe the Bears could pull this one off.
Now, I’m just hoping we make it out of this game healthy and we don’t embarrass ourselves. Seattle, with their 12th man, is a tough place to play. If their defense is going to play at this level, the task might very well be impossible.
The Seahawks have some ground to make up in the NFC West and they’ve already lost to San Francisco, but they have the pedigree to go on a run here and remind everyone who they are.
The Hot Seat
I think we have a new coach sitting on the hottest seat. I previously had Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach, Todd Bowles as the most likely coach to be fired during the season. Make no mistake, I am 100% certain that Bowles won’t be coaching the Buccaneers next season, but I do think he will survive the rest of this year.
The same cannot be said for New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. Losing to Miami, at home, is just embarrassing. Time and again Glenn has proven to be out of his depth as a head coach. The Jets have plenty of ammunition in the first round of the 2027 draft, they should land their next franchise quarterback and there is no way you can put him in Glenn’s hands. I will not be surprised if New York gets a jumpstart on the coaching search and lets Glenn go before the end of the season.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn’s seat gets hotter with every passing week and each boneheaded game management mistake. If they lose next week to a depleted Eagles squad, especially if it’s due to another blunder, Quinn could find himself unemployed.
I think this will be the last season that Shane Steichen is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, but the reason I believe that is also the reason why he’ll survive until the end of the season. The Colts have already fired their GM, the new GM will want to pick his own coach, but Indy will also not make that move during the season.
Winter is Coming
There are two divisions where every team is currently above .500; the AFC North & the NFC North.
In the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings are 6-0, the last unbeaten team in the NFL, but I have little to no respect for them. The Vikings needed an epic to beat Green Bay at home, the beat Chicago on the road, in a monsoon and the Bears lost Caleb Williams on a play that he would have certainly scored the likely game winning touchdown. Minnesota’s other four victories were squeakers against bottom feeders; Tampa Bay, Miami, New Orleans & Indianapolis.
Last year, the Colts were the last undefeated team, and I think Minnesota is going to face the same fate. Their schedule gets drastically more difficult starting next week. Of their remaining ten games, I see only 2 as definite wins. I think by Thanksgiving, not only will Minnesota no longer be undefeated, but they won’t be in first place in the division and might even be third or worse.
The NFC North that worries me most, as a Bears fan, is unsurprisingly the Green Bay Packers. The Packers were atrocious through four games, but a beat down at Lambeau of the Bears seems to have rekindled their fire. They lost at Detroit this week, but they have every right to complain about the officiating. It was some of the worst officiating I’ve seen since the replacement referees debacle. Also, Green Bay should be looking for a new kicker.
The Packers will be getting Micah Parsons back soon, and that’s a better addition than any other team in the division can hope to make before the trade deadline.
The Detroit Lions are very similar to the Bears. An elite offense and a suspect defense. I think the Bears defense is actually a little better, and I think Chicago is, overall, the better coached team.
I still think my Chicago Bears will win the North. It won’t be easy. They need to play better against division rivals, and they need to find a way to beat some of the better non-division opponents on their schedule; Seattle, Jacksonville & Buffalo.
I think the Bears need to add some pieces on defense (more on that in a bit), but I think Chicago is the best team in the division, as long as Caleb Williams stays healthy.
As for the AFC North, I still think the Baltimore Ravens have the most talent, but they need Lamar Jackson back, and they cannot afford a stumble when he does return.
The Cincinnati Bengals have an improved defense and Joe Burrow leads a high powered aerial attack. I like the Bengals, but their lack of a running game and their inconsistency gives me pause.
The Cleveland Browns have been the surprise team of the season and they already hold victories over Baltimore & Pittsburgh, but both games were in Cleveland. I just can’t get on the Browns bandwagon, yet.
The Pittsburgh Steelers might be the most well balanced team in the division. They can run the ball, they play great defense. They’ll go as far as Aaron Rodgers and his noodle arm can take them. I don’t think that’s very far, but I also won’t be surprised if Pittsburgh wins this division, again.
Trade Deadline
I’ll start with my Chicago Bears. The Bears need defensive line and cornerback help. I think interior defensive line is more important than edge, but I wouldn’t mind an edge rusher either. Some players I’m keeping an eye on:
Jeffrey Simmons- It would cost a fortune, at least one first round draft pick, to pry him out of Tennessee, but my god would he transform our defense.
DeForest Buckner- It seems almost certain that Indy will trade Buckner and the Bears should definitely be interested. Not quite the impact that Simmons would have, but should be much cheaper, though the Bears could have some competition for him.
Khalil Mack- I’d love to get Mack back in Chicago just so I can wear the #52 jersey again. Beyond sentiment, though, Mack shouldn’t cost more than a day three draft pick and he’d add some juice to our pass rush.
Moro Ojomo- I’m not sure how eager the Eagles are to be sellers, and I’d be wary of making any deals with Howie Roseman, but I’d at least inquire about the asking price on Ojomo.
As I mentioned earlier, Jaylon Johnson has become a liability for the Bears defense. Tyrique Stevenson hasn’t been much better and Malik Muhammad is a rookie, prone to ups and downs. The Bears could use an upgrade at corner, here’s same names I’m watching:
Tariq Woolen- Again, I’m wary of making any trade with Howie Roseman, who seems to fleece everyone, but Woolen fits the Bears profile at corner.
Zyon McCollum- I’m not sure how eager the Buccaneers will be to be sellers. Even at 2-5, they’re not out of it in the NFC South. I’d at least call about McCollum, though.
Alontae Taylor- Titans are certainly going to be sellers and they probably have buyer’s remorse on Taylor. It shouldn’t cost much to acquire him, but his contract might be more than the Bears are willing to take on. Played for Dennis Allen in New Orleans.
Julius Brents- Because of his age, Miami will probably ask more for Brents than any of the other corners on this list. He has the length and athleticism that Allen loves in cornerbacks.
Here’s some thoughts on what some other contenders might do before the deadline:
The Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys & Detroit Lions are likely looking for secondary help.
The New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers & Los Angeles Rams could be shopping for wide receivers.
The Patriots & Chiefs, along with the Green Bay Packers might be looking for offensive lineman.
San Francisco & Dallas might also be in the market for defensive lineman.
The Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings & Seattle Seahawks are teams to watch if Indianapolis is willing to move Jonathan Taylor.
