Do you hear the Vikings coming?
It's bizarre. I never thought that I would be typing out that Dalvin Cook is in possible legal trouble, and that Dakota Dozier is in the hospital after his positive COVID test.
Embrace the suck, Grasshopper.
Nah, I'd rather not. Instead, I am feeling the HYYYYYYYYYPPPEEEEE!, and it's time to watch me work.
Minnesota Golden Elite Rowers of the Boat (+4.5) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes This is a game that both teams need to win to keep pace in the race to Indy. I've been very critical of Row The Boat Fleck over the years as I feel that he pushes his own brand over the Gopher brand, combined with how he doesn't acknowledge that the Gophers were successful on the field under the Kill/Claeys regime. That statement can be debated, and I will admit that Fleck does get results. What can't be debated is that Fleck has won a combined 1 game against Wisconsin and Iowa. He's also never beaten Iowa, and that needs to change if Fleck wants to avoid falling victim to the John Cooper experience. John Cooper won a lot of games at Ohio State, but had a very poor record against Michigan. A lot of Buckeye fans still hate Cooper for that reason only. Last week the Gophers lost a game in disturbing fashion to Illinois. Iowa struggled to put Northwestern away in Evanston last Saturday, but were able to get it done in the end. With this game being at Iowa City and ending under "Kinnick At Night" conditions, look for Iowa to win as they are the "desperate team at home" that we like to bring up around here. Hawkeyes 24, Row Row Row Your Boat Elitely 16.
The Gophers have not won in Kinnick for a long time now. . . checking notes. . . 1999. That's a long time ago. Only a handful of the players on the field were even alive in 1999. So should they care about that? Not really. What they should care about is the Iowa defense. Iowa 19, Minnesota 13.
Northwestern Purple Nerds (+24.5) vs. Beloved Wisconsin Badgers Speaking of the Purple Nerds, this game worries me. Look, I know that the Badgers are playing really great football right now, and that Northwestern isn't very good. But all Badger fans know that Northwestern gives Wisconsin fits every single year no matter the circumstances. I don't know why, but Pat Fitzgerald always seems to have teams that match up well against Wisconsin. Wisconsin looked great against Rutgers, but are a bit banged up coming out of that game. This game is going to be ugly Big Ten football, but the Badgers should get it done after a couple of scares. Badgers 31, Purple Nerds 17.
Northwestern is getting better on defense, which makes this a closer game than it might be otherwise. But the Badgers will win. Wisconsin 28, Northwestern 10.
Minnesota Vikings (+3.5) vs. Los Angeles Chargers This game is going to be U.S. Bank Stadium West, as the Chargers have no fan base. Seriously, just go back to San Diego. Maybe that could take some of the sting off the collapse the Padres had. The Vikings have had a very bad week. Dalvin Cook might be in legal trouble, but as of this writing hasn't been charged with anything or had the league finish their review. Combine that news with the Vikings having issues related to the virus, I would guess game preparation has been disjointed to say the least. I also want to question why the Vikings are playing a road game in LA after playing on the road in Baltimore last week. That is a bad piece of scheduling, as they could have combined the game against the Chargers with either the Niners or Cardinals games. The Chargers are leading a crowded AFC West, and are going to need to win to keep pace. Go Back To San Diego 45, Vikings 24.
Every Minnesotan in the LA area could be in the stadium on Sunday, but the Chargers are getting used to that. Will Dalvin Cook play? Signs point to yes. Will the Vikings defense show up? Not so sure. Tough one for the locals. Chargers 33, Vikings 24.
Seattle Seachickens (+3.5) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers First of all, this analysis assumes that Aaron is going to rejoin the team tomorrow. Jordan Love did give the Packers a chance against Kansas City, but couldn't get it done. Love isn't blameless, as Maurice Drayton's special teams were a complete disaster and cost the Packers at least 9 points. I also believe that Matt LaFleur shouldn't have gone away from the run as much. The good news is that if Aaron can't rejoin the team tomorrow, Love will have had a full week of preparation and will get to play an equal opponent at home. The Seahawks are still in dire straits despite getting Russ back, although his return is much to my delight in fantasy football. I've had terrible injury luck, as I drafted Russ, McCaffery, and Chris Carson. I'll be curious to see how much rust Russ has, and to see how he is going to be throwing the ball with that hand of his. I'm still not going to discuss what I think about Aaron doubling down on his comments to Pat McAfee, as I don't want this post to turn into a debate about the vaccine. But what I will say is that Aaron has lost a lot of trust and credibility that he has to make up to a lot of people. Packers 42, Seachickens 24.
Just so you know, no one cares about your fantasy league team, young fella. But anyway, the last time the Seahawks won at Lambeau was. . . checking notes. . . 1999. It's gonna be cold and maybe snowy at Lambeau. Russ will not be happy. Packers 28, Seahawks 17.
Enjoy your football this week. Ben out.
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