We are four days away from the College Football Playoff bracket being finalized and there is a few interesting scenarios that could play out between then. The CFP committee released its penultimate rankings last night ahead of the conference championship this weekend. While they rank the top-25 teams in the country, we really only need to focus on the top-ten to figure out what the final four will look like this Sunday. Here are the rankings as of last night:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Washington
5. Michigan
6. Wisconsin
7. Penn State
8. Colorado
9. Oklahoma
10. Oklahoma State

Pretty intriguing with how some of these teams stack up against one another. There are a few key takeaways to keep in mind as we approach the conference title games this weekend. The first is the positioning of the Big 12 teams, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Sitting at #9 and #10 respectively, the committee is already telling us that the Big 12 champion won’t even be in the conversation on Sunday. Regardless of who wins between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, there is no chance that they jump all the way up into the top four.

No surprises there since we’ve known since mid-October that this conference didn’t have much of a chance to have a representative this year. The real surprise is the rankings of two teams from the Big Ten, #5 Michigan and #7 Penn State.

We’ll start with Michigan, since this is the ranking that probably turned quite a few heads last night. The Wolverines may not be out of the mix like most thought they would be after losing to rival Ohio State over the weekend. Despite losing two of its last three games, one of those being to an unranked team, Michigan would be the primary beneficiary of upsets in conference title games. Couple the ranking with the clarification from committee chair Kirby Hocutt that there is a “very slim” margin between Washington and Michigan and you can see that maybe a lack of a conference title might not mean all too much in the eyes of the committee.

That bodes well for #2 Ohio State, who will not be playing in the Big Ten championship game, for being a lock to secure one of the playoff spots. Usually where there is good news, there is bad news and these rankings can’t be a good sign for #6 Wisconsin and #7 Penn State. They will be playing for the Big Ten championship and unless there is a dominant performance by one of the teams in that game, it’s unlikely that either gets in.

I’m cautious to use the word impossible though because I believe that Penn State has the best chance to sneak into the playoff. The Nittany Lions are one of the hottest teams in the nation right now and they have the head-to-head victory over Ohio State to pad its resume. Penn State will need some help in the final weekend though.

Currently Ohio State is the only marquee win over a top-ten opponent on the resume for Penn State. A win over Wisconsin would give them two top-ten wins, but they would also need Temple to upset #19 Navy in the AAC title game and hope the Owls end up in the final rankings. That would be a third win over a top-25 opponent, which would be the same number of wins Ohio State has over the top-25 (although the Buckeyes have better wins, namely #5 Michigan). It’s not the most improbable scenario ever considering what we have already seen so far this year. Penn State would have to win convincingly to make any of this possible.

You could make the argument that Penn State or Wisconsin winning the conference championship might help Michigan more than the champion since the Wolverine beat both teams this season. Unfortunately, we don’t know how conference championships would factor into playoff considerations since Hocutt said, “there haven’t been any conference champions yet.”

#3 Clemson and #4 Washington are the teams that will control whether we get chalk or chaos on Sunday. Each will be in their respective conference title game, and will be facing a capable opponent. Clemson is currently a double-digit favorite to beat #23 Virginia Tech while Washington is a touchdown favorite over #8 Colorado. Any upset in either of those games will open the door for all of the scenarios I mentioned before and possibly one that we haven’t even considered yet.

Just about the only thing we know for sure is #1 Alabama is in no matter what happens against #15 Florida in the SEC title game. The Tide played the second-toughest schedule and is the top team in the Strength of Record and Game Control metrics that the committee uses to determine these rankings. Even using just the eye test, Alabama looks like the best team in the country.

The presumptive madness kicks off on Friday night with the Pac-12 championship game between Washington and Colorado. It should be an incredible weekend of football and speculation, as we get closer to noon on Sunday when the final CFP rankings are announced and the top-four is finalized.

That’s it for me today, there are some key injuries that I am tracking so I’ll be doing “Reality of Fantasy” tomorrow along with “No Huddle” covering Week 13 from all angles. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

What a week of football folks. Week 12 certainly had a few surprises for us as we have officially entered the stretch run towards the playoffs. There is a lot to get to in today’s “No Huddle.” I’ll be going over this past week and revealing my latest power rankings. Let’s jump right in and talk about last night’s game between Green Bay and Philadelphia.

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, or at least that is the gameplan the Packers employed last night to get back on track against Philadelphia. Aaron Rodgers was efficient and effective leading Green Bay to a crucial victory, breaking a four-game losing streak.

The Packers held the ball for 35 minutes and converted on a season-high 71% on third down (10 for 14). Philadelphia couldn’t find a way to keep Rodgers and the Green Bay offense off of the field. Rather than the deep attack that we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the Packers, they came out with a quick hitting, up-tempo approach.

Now the biggest question coming out of this game is if Green Bay is back? Well let’s just say the jury is still out there because I still have no trust in this defense. Philadelphia’s offense can make just about any defense look capable so let’s not get too excited about the Packers just yet.

At 5-6 with five games left to play, Green Bay will have to win out in order to get a wild card spot or overtake Detroit for the NFC North title. The two key games down the stretch are a home game against Seattle in two weeks and the season finale in Detroit.

Speaking of the wild card, the NFC just got a new contender for the final playoff spot in the form of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The surprise of the week was easily the Bucs dominant performance defeating Seattle 14-5. Tampa Bay is getting hot at the right time, riding a three-game winning streak.

Jameis Winston has been solid so far in the second half of the season, especially these last three games, posting a QB rating around 100 during this current stretch. It also helps that receiver Mike Evans has been virtually unstoppable all season. The emergence of tight end Cameron Brate has been a welcome addition to this offense since losing veteran receiver Vincent Jackson earlier this season.

Wins over Seattle and Kansas City are certainly impressive, so Tampa Bay is a team to watch down the stretch here. This defense has stepped up in a big way during this three game winning streak. We’ll see if this is a sign of things to come or if this is just a hot stretch of strong play.

Currently Tampa Bay sits one game behind the Falcons in the NFC South and a half-game behind Washington for the wild card. The final five games are not a walk in the park though. The Bucs travel to San Diego this week before getting New Orleans twice, Dallas, and the season finale at home against Carolina. I was a big believer in Tampa Bay before the season started, and they are finally starting to look like the team I thought could sneak into the playoffs.

Over in the AFC, we’ve got some interesting situations brewing with the AFC North, South, and West all up for grabs plus a surging Miami Dolphins team making the Wild Card all the more compelling. Miami is possibly the hottest team in football right now and making a strong push towards the playoffs following a 1-4 start. I have my doubts about the Dolphins though having played the 3^rd easiest schedule in the NFL to this point. Strangely enough, if the playoffs started today Miami would be the sixth seed in the AFC leaving the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos on the outside looking in.

Denver lost a heartbreaker against Kansas City on Sunday night in a game that you feel like they should have won a couple of times. I still question Gary Kubiak’s decision to attempt a 62-yard field goal in overtime rather than pin the Chiefs deep and let his defense make a play. Instead Kansas City got the ball just outside of field goal range and Cairo Santos got one of the breaks of the year knocking in the game-winning field goal by banking the ball off the uprights.

The defending champs have some ground to make up now but will have a prime opportunity to stay in the mix with a trip to Jacksonville this week. The final three games are quite possibly the toughest in the NFL playing New England at home, a rematch with the Chiefs in Kansas City, and the season finale hosting Oakland. I still think Denver is playoff bound, but mostly due to my belief that Miami will fall off down the stretch.

Now that we’ve set the table for the Wild Card entering the final five weeks of the season let’s take a look at my power rankings heading into Week 13.

(1) Dallas Cowboys (10-1) – Last Week: 1

No surprises here, the Cowboys just keep reeling off wins and adding to its franchise-record winning streak which now sits at ten games. Dallas staved off a Washington comeback attempt on Thanksgiving to keep a strangle hold on the NFC East and the top-spot in the NFC ‘s #1 seed. The rookie duo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot are headlining the NFL’s most efficient offense, which will be tough to beat come January. The Cowboys play on Thursday again this week traveling north to play Minnesota with a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win and a loss by either Washington or Tampa Bay.

(2) New England (9-2) – Last Week: 2

It may have been ugly, but the Patriots got the job done against the Jets in what turned out to be a tough divisional game. Health is becoming a concern for the Patriots with Rob Gronkowski suffering a back injury and Martellus Bennett aggravating an ankle injury. Those two have to get back to 100% over the next couple of weeks for New England to overtake Oakland for the top seed in the AFC and hold off the red-hot Dolphins in the AFC East. New England hosts Los Angeles this week in a game that can’t be overlooked.

(3) Oakland Raiders (9-2) – Last Week: 4

Man are these Raiders fun to watch every week. They somehow pulled off another victory out of the clutches of defeat against Carolina last week. Derek Carr came back from dislocating his pinky finger on his throwing hand and vaulted Oakland to a 35-32 win. If I had to vote today, I would put Carr at the top of the list for MVP. Oakland would be a 3-8 team without him. Another interesting matchup presents itself in the form of Buffalo this week for the Raiders.

(4) Kansas City (8-3) – Last Week: Watch List

The Chiefs get a big boost with the huge win over the Broncos on Sunday night. Kansas City just keeps winning games in the regular season and just got its most important piece back in the lineup. The return of Justin Houston couldn’t have come at a better time and boy did he make quite the impact. Houston was a beast with a three-sack performance leading the defensive effort for the Chiefs. Kansas City also may have found the dynamic playmaker this offense has desperately needed in Tyreek Hill. Whenever you get mentioned in the same sentence as Gale Sayers, you’ve really done something special. Hill had a rushing, receiving, and return touchdown, which hadn’t been done since Sayers over 50 years ago. No time to get comfortable for Kansas City as a difficult trip to Atlanta looms this week.

(5) Seattle (7-3-1) – Last Week: 3

When you allow more sacks (6) than you score points (5), you aren’t going to win many football games. Just when we thought that Seattle’s offense was finally making strides in the right direction, they come out and deliver a massive clunker. I cautioned that the crazy back and forth travel might catch up to Seattle and it seems like that could have played into the loss on Sunday. The Seahawks just never looked right on offense as Russell Wilson was under fire all day long. Seattle is going to have to overcome some serious road woes later this year (2-3-1 this season) but will put its unbeaten home record against the Panthers on Sunday night.

Watch List: NY Giants (8-3), Denver (7-4), Miami (7-4), Detroit (7-4), Pittsburgh (6-5), Washington (6-4-1)

That’s it for me today folks. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Reality of Fantasy” and a breakdown of the latest CFP rankings. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I’m keeping today’s “Weekend Recap” short and sweet so let’s get right into it. The big story of the weekend was rivalry weekend in college football, highlighted by the Ohio State’s double overtime victory over Michigan in “The Game.”

It was an amazing contest between two bitter rivals with so much on the line. The Buckeyes should keep them at the #2 spot in the CFP rankings for now, however it sets up an intriguing situation going into conference championship week but I’ll get to that in a second.

First let’s talk about the actual game which somehow lived up to the insane amount of hype that surrounded it. Throughout the entire contest, you had the feeling that Michigan was going to finally break the losing streak in Columbus against its arch nemesis despite the backbreaking mistakes that quarterback Wilton Speight kept making. I hate kicking a guy when he’s down, but if there is anyone to hang the blame on it’s the Wolverines’ quarterback with coach Jim Harbaugh coming in as a close second.

Speight threw a terrible pick-six  while backed up in his own endzone on a questionable play call from Harbaugh. Then later in the game, Speight fumbled a snap at the goal line, which cost Michigan a chance at a touchdown. Just those two turnovers alone cost the Wolverines 14 points on both sides of the scoreboard. Credit Ohio State for hanging in there and capitalizing on the mistakes of a tough Michigan team. In a rivalry game, it’s always going to come down to those crucial moments.

Ohio State now sits in a very precarious position following the win. Despite its 11-1 record, the Buckeyes won’t be playing in the Big Ten championship game due to the head-to-head loss to Penn State. This opens up an interesting conversation about how much a conference championship means to making it to the College Football Playoff.

The Big Ten title game features the #5 and #6 team’s in the most recent CFP rankings (Wisconsin and Penn State), so the winner will have quite the case to make to be one of those four teams. We’ll have a much better idea of how the committee is going to answer that question tomorrow night and I’ll break down all of the scenarios on Wednesday.

Quickly let’s talk about tonight’s game between Green Bay and Philadelphia on Monday Night Football. This one has a playoff feel to it with both teams needing a win to stay in the wild card race with six games left to play. The Packers come into this one riding a rare four-game losing streak, while the Eagles enter having lost three of its last four games.

I’m keeping an eye on how Philadelphia’s defense matches up against Aaron Rodgers and his talented receivers. In my opinion, this game rides on the success or failure of the Philadelphia pass rush. Rodgers is a master of improvisation and if you give him time to throw, he will make you pay dearly. The Eagles don’t have the secondary to allow for that so the crux of this game will fall on the pass rushers. Green Bay may be struggling, but Rodgers is going keep the Pack in just about every single game.

I think the most important aspect of tonight’s game is that it is being played in Philadelphia, where the Eagles are undefeated this season. Philadelphia has been a different team at home, defeating teams like Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Atlanta. That bodes well for the Eagles and rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. He’ll be able to be comfortable in front of the home crowd and try to pick apart a Packers defense that has allowed 30+ points in four consecutive games.

As far as the outcome tonight, I like the Eagles tonight at home but the line for this one is way too high for my liking. I’ll take the Packers (+4.5) against the spread tonight, but Philadelphia wins the game 27-24.

That’s it for me today, I’ll be back tomorrow with “No Huddle” to recap Week 12. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

As we all prepare to sit down with our families for a Thanksgiving feast, college rivals are preparing to tear each other apart this weekend. The stakes could not be higher with less than two weeks until the selection committee announces who is in the College Football Playoff (seriously, we need a better name for this). Last night the committee unveiled the latest rankings heading into rivalry weekend and while the top four remained the same there are some interesting takeaways.

We can safely assume that #1 Alabama is the only lock for the playoff as the only undefeated team left in playoff consideration (sorry Western Michigan, the committee clearly does not respect your undefeated season). The only other team that you could feel safe about getting into the playoff is #4 Clemson.

If the Tigers take care of business against South Carolina and win the ACC title game, they will be in one of the national semi-finals on New Year’s Eve. As we have seen though even the clearest path to the playoff is no easy task.

That being said, the final three spots in the playoff are totally up for grabs. There may only be two weeks left but so much can change between the final regular season games and conference championship games.

My biggest takeaway from these latest rankings is the Big Ten conference will likely decide how the playoff picture will look on December 4^th. The Big Ten currently has two teams in the top four (#2 Ohio State and #3 Michigan) with two more teams in the top seven (#6 Wisconsin and #7 Penn State).

I joked a couple of weeks ago that there were a countless amount of ways that things could play out. Thanks to the Louisville loss last week, that playoff picture is a little less murky but there is still some chaos that could ensue in the coming weeks.

Right now the Big Ten East division is the focus of all of the playoff projections because this is the only conference that could conceivably get two teams into the CFP. Here are the three ways the Big Ten East gets decided this weekend:

• Michigan Wins the East With: Win vs. Ohio State
• Ohio State Wins the East With: Win vs. Michigan and Penn State loss vs. MSU
• Penn State Wins the East With: Win vs. MSU and Michigan loss vs. Ohio State

There is a ton on the line in the Michigan/OSU game on Saturday and most of the Big Ten and CFP scenarios are hinging on this game. Now we can’t overlook Wisconsin here either. They have to take care of business against Minnesota to lock up their spot in the Big Ten championship game, which would give them a chance to get one more top-ten victory and potentially a berth in the CFP.

Another conference to keep an eye on is the Pac-12 title picture. #5 Washington plays #23 Washington State for the Apple Cup this week. The Huskies have the inside track to be the Pac-12 representative in the CFP but they need help. Washington needs Michigan to win out in order to keep a second Big Ten team from getting into the playoff and either #9 Colorado or #12 USC to be ranked inside the top ten for the Pac-12 title game.

Speaking of Colorado, they are likely the only other team that could sneak into the CFP from the Pac-12. The Buffaloes are rooting for the same thing Washington is hoping for in the Big 10. They would obviously need to defeat the Huskies for the Pac-12 championship just to have a chance to slip into the playoffs as the #4 seed.

Despite the fact that the CFP doesn’t take place until New Year’s Eve, these next two weeks are essentially playoff games. So much intrigue and drama surrounds all of these games. Before I wrap this up, here is the full list of games to keep an eye on with CFP implications this week.

Friday

3:30 PM – #5 Washington at #23 Washington State

– #16 Nebraska at Iowa

Saturday

12:00 PM – #3 Michigan at #2 Ohio State

3:30 PM – Michigan State at #7 Penn State

                 – Notre Dame at #12 USC

                 – Minnesota at #6 Wisconsin

                 – #13 Auburn at #1 Alabama

7:30 PM – South Carolina at #4 Clemson

                 – #22 Utah at #9 Colorado

That’s it for me today. Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend! If you are heading out tonight, please be careful and get a designated driver. I’ll be back on Monday fresh and ready to recap the full holiday weekend. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

It is a big day in fantasy football. Many trade deadlines were earlier today, so hopefully you all were able to grab that player who could put you over the top with the fantasy playoffs starting in two or three weeks. Even better news, all 32 teams will be in action this week since there are three games tomorrow for Thanksgiving. No bye weeks to deal with means that everyone’s teams should be at full strength unless you are dealing with things the Andrew Luck or Rob Gronkowski injuries.

There is a lot to get to in this week’s “Reality of Fantasy” with matchups getting a jump-start with the huge Thursday slate of games. So let’s jump right into the best and worst fantasy matchups of the week. It should be a fun week of games filled with fantasy madness in one of the final regular season weeks.

Best Game: Washington vs. Dallas

NFC East games always bring an added intensity, and given that these are two of the best offenses squaring off this has the makings of a great game for fantasy. You can never go wrong when two top-ten offenses get together. We also have the added bonus of Washington facing a must-win game to keep Dallas within striking distance in the NFC race.

I talked at length about this game in yesterday’s “No Huddle” but I’ll reiterate that I think that this is going to be the game of the week in the NFL. Last game came down to the final possession in a 27-23 Dallas victory in Week 2. Ten weeks later, both teams are coming into this game on hot streaks.

Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins have been lighting up defenses week in and week out which sets up a potentially high scoring affair here. Both running games have been great as well. Ezekiel Elliot is the best running back in football this year while Rob Kelley has been a pleasant surprise for Washington since taking over as the starter.

Load up, sit back, and enjoy this one because fantasy points should be as plentiful as your Thanksgiving table tomorrow.

Best Matchup (Tie): NY Giants (vs. Cleveland) and Tennessee (vs. Chicago)

I wasn’t joking when I said this could be a great week for fantasy football. Both the Giants and Titans have incredible matchups this week playing against two of the worst teams in the NFL.

A theme of 2016 in fantasy has been to insert whichever stud plays Cleveland into your lineup. That isn’t going to change this week as the Giants have a chance to finally put up a huge day offensively. Am I worried that the Giants haven’t scored more than 28 points all season? A little, but if there is one team that they can break that streak against it is the Browns. In eleven games this season, Cleveland has allowed 30+ points six times. That is great news for anyone that owns players on the Giants.

Tennessee has been one of the surprises of the season. Coming into the season they looked like a one-trick pony that would solely rely on the running game led by DeMarco Murray. Early in the season that was the case, but Marcus Mariota changed that perception quickly.

He is on fire of late, throwing multiple touchdown passes in seven consecutive games. Delanie Walker, Rishard Matthews, and Tajae Sharpe have all been beneficiaries of Mariota’s hot streak these past few weeks. Even more impressive about Mariota, he is a red zone-scoring machine. In his career he has over 30 touchdowns and no turnovers.

Chicago presents an interesting matchup because they aren’t totally devoid of talent on the defensive side of the ball. The reason I like this matchup is the quarterback situation for the Bears. Jay Cutler, who has a tendency to turn the ball over in bunches, is banged up and if he misses this game that means Matt Barkley gets the nod. I can see the Titans getting extra possessions in this game, and with the way Mariota is playing that bodes well for Tennessee’s fantasy prospects this week.

Worst Matchup: Tampa Bay (vs. Seattle)

Jameis Winston has been pretty good of late in fantasy, scoring 20+ fantasy points in four of his last five games since Tampa Bay’s bye week. I’m not too excited about this game playing against the Legion of Boom though even without Earl Thomas potentially. Seattle terrorizes opposing quarterbacks on a weekly basis and are one of the best defenses in the league.

The Seahawks rank in the top ten in terms of passing yards allowed, which doesn’t bode well here for the Bucs. Outside of Mike Evans, I don’t see anyone on this offense that can win a one-on-one matchup with the Seattle defenders. Better days are ahead for Tampa Bay, so give anyone not named Evans a week off in your lineup.

Good Matchup: Oakland (vs. Carolina)

No Luke Kuechly in the lineup for the Panthers this week is a massive loss for Carolina and a huge advantage for Oakland. Kuechly is arguably the best defensive player in football and the signal caller for the Panthers. The Raiders may be on a short week but I like the potential this matchup presents.

Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, and Michael Crabtree are all in line to have great games here playing against a mediocre secondary. I also think that Latavius Murray and Jalen Richard will be able to get something going on the ground this week despite coming off of one of the worst team rushing performances of the season in Week 11. Don’t go too crazy with this game; there is no need to start Richard since you likely have better options but this is a clear “start your studs” game.

Tough Matchup: Atlanta (vs. Arizona)

This is a very intriguing game on Sunday. You have the second-best passing attack going up against the best pass defense. Julio Jones and Patrick Peterson are going to be an awesome matchup to watch in this one. From Atlanta’s perspective though, I’m very worried about this Arizona defense.

The Falcons average 334 yards passing at home this season, but Arizona allows only 144 passing yards per game on the road. That stat alone gives me cause for concern. Atlanta has been a fantasy darling this season, but I would be careful with this game.

Under-the-Radar Matchup: Philadelphia (vs. Green Bay)

This is not a “homer” pick, Green Bay’s defense is down right awful so don’t tell me to r-e-l-a-x. The Eagles receivers are tough to watch at times, but this matchup is ripe for the picking. Green Bay allows just less than 300 yards per game on the road and Philadelphia is a much better team playing in the city of brotherly love.

Carson Wentz should be able to rack up passing yards against this defense, which bodes well for Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz. Keep an eye on Wendell Smallwood here for the Eagles, he should see a ton of snaps with Ryan Mathews out and Darren Sproles banged up.

I hate sweating out games on Monday nights but this matchup for Philadelphia is one I can feel a little comfortable with given the struggles defensively for Green Bay.

Overrated Matchup: Buffalo (vs. Jacksonville)

You see Jacksonville and you think to yourself, great matchup here for Buffalo, right? Wrong. The Jaguars rank fifth in the NFL in passing yards allowed while Buffalo is dead-last in the NFL in passing. The Bills may have the most rushing yards per game, but the Jags aren’t pushovers in that area either (allowing an average of 85 rushing yards in their last three games).

I wouldn’t get too excited at the potential return of Sammy Watkins to the Bills this week. Typically when players return from injury, that first game is the “ease them into action” game. Considering he is coming back from a setback in his recovery from offseason foot surgery definitely don’t expect Watkins to be force fed the ball.

In injury news, Rex Ryan is not committing to LeSean McCoy’s playing status for Sunday due to a thumb injury. That is a big problem for the Bills if he can’t go in this game. Mike Gillislie is a capable backup, but obviously they would much rather have Shady McCoy leading the way.

Other Good Matchups: Miami (vs. San Francisco), San Diego (vs. Houston), Seattle (vs. Tampa Bay), New England (vs. NY Jets), Carolina (vs. Oakland), Arizona (vs. Atlanta), Green Bay (vs. Philadelphia)

Other Tough Matchups: San Francisco (vs. Miami), Jacksonville (vs. Buffalo), Denver (vs. Kansas City), Kansas City (vs. Denver), NY Jets (vs. New England), Cincinnati (vs. Baltimore), Baltimore (vs. Cincinnati), Detroit (vs. Minnesota)

Good luck to you all this week in fantasy and your playoff hopes. Stay tuned to Shooting the Moon, I will have my CFP Rankings breakdown up a little later this evening. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

Thanksgiving week is upon us folks. That means a full slate of games for the NFL for the holiday weekend and a fantastic day of football on Thursday. Before I get into all of that, I wanted to point out that this is a super-sized “No Huddle” due to the short workweek. I’ll be doing power rankings, matchup previews for the top games, and making all of my picks. First, let’s talk about Monday Night Football between the Raiders and Texans.

How about that game last night? I think we can make an argument that may have been the best international game the NFL has ever had. You had just about everything you could ask for out of this game. Controversy, intrigue, drama, and a highlight reel play that won the game for an up and coming team. In case you missed it, the Raiders defeated the Texans 27-20 with Derek Carr hooking up with Amari Cooper on a 35-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to win the game.

From watching the game, you got the sense that Oakland really had no business winning that game until the fourth quarter. Houston held the Raiders to 30 yards rushing on the night, kept Carr just under 300 yards passing, and limited Cooper and Michael Crabtree to 62 receiving yards (1 TD). If you showed me those stats and asked me to tell you who won, I would’ve said the Raiders coughed up a winnable game.

However, the Raiders just found another way to win a game, which is becoming the calling card of this team. All year Oakland has needed to stay in games with its offense, find a way to get the ball back late with time to take the lead, and Carr engineering a comeback to win the game.

The win puts Oakland in sole possession of first place in the AFC West with Kansas City losing to Tampa Bay. If the playoffs started today, the Raiders would actually have home-field advantage throughout.

Okay so now onto this week’s power rankings, which will look an awful lot like last week’s list. The top four all won this week, but with the Kansas City loss to the Bucs there will be a new team making the list. Here are my power rankings and watch list heading into Week 12.

(1) Dallas Cowboys (9-1) – Last Week: 1

♪Hello Dallas, my old friend. You have topped this list again.♪

For the second week in a row the Cowboys are the top team in the NFL. The rookie duo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott continue to impress during this franchise record nine-game winning streak. This is the hottest team in football right now, but they will have to keep it up with Seattle finding its stride in recent weeks and their NFC East rivals keeping pace only a couple games behind. Dallas gets one of those NFC East rivals this week with Washington coming into Jerry’s World for a Thanksgiving showdown.

(2) New England Patriots (8-2) – Last Week: 2

It may not have been the annihilation that we all expected, but the Patriots got the job done against the 49ers on Sunday. More importantly, New England saw the first meaningful snaps for running back Dion Lewis on Sunday and Gronk is on track to return this week against the Jets. The Patriots are going to be at full strength for the first time all season with the full assortment of weapons all over the field. If you thought this offense looked good before, adding a healthy Gronk and a home run threat like Lewis to the mix is deadly.

(3) Seattle Seahawks (7-2-1) – Last Week: 4

The Seahawks get a bump up in the standings following a dominant performance against Philadelphia on Sunday. Seattle is looking like the dangerous team we all expected to see at the beginning of the year. The combination Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham leading the receiving corps (Graham has always been a glorified receiver playing tight end) is proving to be an extremely difficult matchup for opposing defenses. Health is the key here for Seattle as Russell Wilson looks to be back at 100%. This team goes as far as Wilson can take them. An interesting matchup with Tampa Bay looms this week as Seattle is making a second cross-country trip in the last three weeks.

(4) Oakland (8-2) – Last Week: 3

Tough call for me putting Seattle ahead of Oakland this week, but based on performances it had to be done. I think that Oakland will be a tough out in the playoffs but they have some serious issues that can’t be ignored. Inconsistency in the running game and holes in the secondary on defense are flaws that will be exploited by teams like New England no matter where the game is played. Derek Carr continues to play like an MVP so this team will always be in games. This week the Raiders get the Panthers at home.

(5) NY Giants (7-3) – Last Week: Watch List

They look ugly at times but the Giants have done just enough to make the list this week. The G-men struggled at times against the Bears but ultimately Chicago couldn’t pull off the upset. New York has a great array of options for Eli Manning to get the ball to outside of Odell Beckham, which makes this offense tough to gameplan against. Defensively, the $200 million dollars the Giants invested in free agency has paid off but the real reason they have a formidable unit is safety Landon Collins. He has been all over the field making game-changing plays seemingly every week while leading the Giants in all of the key defensive stats. Collins has played his way into the Defensive Player of the Year discussion over the past few weeks. New York travels to Cleveland this week to take on the Browns.

Watch List: Denver (7-3), Kansas City (7-3), Washington (6-3-1), Atlanta (6-4), Miami (6-4)

Since this is a Thanksgiving week edition of “No Huddle” lets take a look at two those games as our top matchups of the week. We’ll start with the early game in Detroit between the Lions and Vikings in a battle for first in the NFC North. Last time these teams met, Detroit pulled off an incredible comeback victory in overtime to stun Minnesota at home.

This time around I would expect another tightly contested game between these division foes. It is all about the matchup between the Detroit offense and the Minnesota defense as you could probably imagine.

The Lions clearly have the ability to move the ball in this quick strike offense that offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter (still the best name in sports) runs with Matthew Stafford at the helm. Short passes thrown quickly is the only way to neutralize the pressure and coverage that Minnesota brings to the table.

Last time around Stafford was able to get the best of this defense, but the toughest thing in football is beating a good team twice. Expect Mike Zimmer and his staff to concoct some wrinkles to get the upper hand on Detroit. This should be a pretty good way to kick off the holiday festivities.

Let’s move on to the NFC East battle in Dallas between the Cowboys and Redskins in the latest edition of one of the NFL’s oldest rivalries. Dallas edged Washington 27-23 in Week 2 in the first game of the Cowboys’ nine-game winning streak. Both teams are vastly improved since that game early in the season, which should make for an extremely fun game.

Neither defense is really anything special so this will be a battle between these two high-powered offenses. We all know about the success of the Dallas offense with the best offensive line in football and the two best rookies this season. Dez Bryant looks to be rounding into form too, which adds just another layer to this incredibly effective offensive attack.

The real story here is the much-improved play of Kirk Cousins following his abysmal start to the season. Since Week 4, Cousins is completing 68.8% of his passes for 2,102 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Over that stretch Washington is 5-1-1 and now ranks in the top ten in all of the key offensive stats. You might smell turkey and all of the fixings at your dining room table, but I smell a shootout in this game while you wait for dinner to be served.

The night game between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis lost most its luster with the injury news regarding Andrew Luck entering the concussion protocol. That being said it is still a key game in the AFC playoff race.

Another game to keep an eye on this week is the matchup between Kansas City and Denver on Sunday night. A defensive clash that will have a playoff game feel to it, can’t ask for much more in late November. Overall this is setting up to be a great slate of games across the board.

Now let’s get to my picks for Week 12 coming off of my best week of the season. I’m heating up as we make our move towards the playoffs. Let’s keep the good momentum going heading into December. Here are my picks for the week; keep in mind since I’m picking on a Tuesday that this lines will change as the week goes on (Winners in Bold).

Last Week: 9-4-1       2016 Season: 87-73-1

Thanksgiving Day

12:30 PM – Minnesota (+2.5) vs. Detroit

4:30 PM – Washington (+7) vs. Dallas

8:25 PM – Pittsburgh (-9) vs. Indianapolis

 

Sunday

1:00 PM

Tennessee (-5) vs. Chicago

Jacksonville (+7.5) vs. Buffalo

Cincinnati vs. Baltimore (-4.5)

Arizona (+4) vs. Atlanta

NY Giants (-7) vs. Cleveland

Los Angeles (+7) vs. New Orleans

San Francisco vs. Miami (-8)

San Diego (-1.5) vs. Houston

 

4:05/4:25 PM

Seattle (-5.5) vs. Tampa Bay

Carolina vs. Oakland (-3.5)

New England (-8) vs. NY Jets

 

Sunday Night Football

Kansas City (+3.5) vs. Denver

 

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow to break down the latest CFP rankings and this week’s edition of “Reality of Fantasy.” Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

 

Happy Monday everyone! It’s going to be a busy week here at Shooting the Moon with the holiday weekend approaching so stay tuned for all of the usual weekly content over the next few days. I’ll have a super-sized “No Huddle” tomorrow with the power rankings, game previews, and my picks for the week. Wednesday I’ll have “Reality of Fantasy” to get you ready for Week 12 and some college football talk breaking down the latest CFP rankings. I’ve got a good amount of stuff planned and may even throw an extra column if time permits.

Before we get too far ahead, let’s get down to business with today’s “Weekend Recap.” College football didn’t have any surprises this week with most of the top teams taking care of business with all of the conference races and CFP rankings tightening up. The top game and big story for the week came out of the Big 12 conference.

We’ll start with the game between Oklahoma and West Virginia, which had a lot of conference title and playoff implications riding on it. This matchup of high-powered offenses produced quite the exciting second half after Oklahoma jumped out to a 34-7 lead at halftime in a snowy Morgantown.

Despite the Mountaineers best attempts to make a comeback in front of the home crowd, it was not meant to be Saturday night. The Sooners rolled to a 56-28 win over West Virginia. That essentially knocks the Mountaineers out of the Big 12 title picture and national title contention.

The Oklahoma blowout win sets up an epic clash with rival Oklahoma State for the Big 12 championship in two weeks in Norman. While the Big 12 is currently on the outside looking in based on last week’s rankings, there is a lot that can happen to make that game a potential CFP play-in game. If you recall, the committee is on the record recognizing the officiating gaffe that led Oklahoma State’s loss against Central Michigan earlier this year so already there is a bit of intrigue surrounding the game aside from the championship that is on the line.

Before I get to the big news out of the Big 12, I want to touch on the Louisville-Houston game from Thursday night. Houston’s upset of the Cardinals knocks Louisville out of the ACC title race and national title contention. It also makes Houston coach Tom Herman an even hotter commodity in the upcoming coaching carousel, which will kick off sooner rather than later.

I needed to mention that bit of news for two reasons. First, the Louisville loss adds some clarity to the murky playoff picture. The second reason brings us to the big news out of college football this week.

The breaking news out of Austin yesterday rocked the college football landscape. Reports from the University of Texas stated that embattled coach Charlie Strong would be let go at the end of the season. The updated report dialed back a bit on the “fired” status of Strong, and clarified that his job status would be evaluated following the Longhorns’ regular season finale against TCU on Friday.

Texas has the money and prestige to get just about any coach in the country so news of an impending vacancy in Austin is big news. Personally, I don’t agree with the alleged decision of the Texas boosters and AD but given Strong’s 10-11 record against unranked opponents you can’t blame them for having some doubts.

Strong is one of the better coaches and recruiters in the country which is why pulling the plug on him after three years seems a bit sudden. He was tasked with the unenviable job of rebuilding an entire program from top to bottom and changing the culture at one of college football’s most historic programs.

If Strong is fired, I doubt it will be long before he is back on the sidelines with another program. It would open up some interesting speculation about the job status of Houston’s Tom Herman. Since the Big 12 likely won’t be expanding and adding a team like Houston, which would make Herman the highest paid coach in the country through a clause in his contract, it puts Herman at the top of the list of potential candidates for Texas.

Between LSU and Texas, the coaching carousel in college football will be the hot topic following the conference championship games in two weeks all the way up until the national semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.

I’ll save the NFL talk for tomorrow but let’s dive into tonight’s game from Mexico City between Oakland and Houston. This matchup between two potential playoff teams in the AFC figures to be an interesting game from south of the border. Despite some injuries it looks like Oakland will have all hands on deck tonight. That’s not great news for a Houston team that has a good record but a litany of flaws starting with quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Houston’s offense has a ton of talent but Osweiler’s poor play is seriously holding back a potentially potent offensive attack. Osweiler has also shown an inability to throw the ball under pressure and “perceived pressure.”

This is a flaw that is ripe for the picking for this Oakland defense and its star defensive end/linebacker Khalil Mack, who has seven sacks on eleven QB hurries on the season. Mack is heating up and looking like the guy who made both All-Pro teams at two different positions in 2015. He is the key for the Oakland defense tonight, as they will need to get to Osweiler early and often to keep receiver DeAndre Hopkins in check.

On the other side of the ball, I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how Houston will stop Oakland’s offense. We all knew about the success of their three C’s (Carr, Cooper, and Crabtree), but the Raiders showed a new wrinkle against Denver two weeks ago.

The heavy formation with the extra linemen gave running backs Latavius Murray, Jalen Richard, and DeAndre Washington plenty of room to run against Denver. The resurgence of the previously non-existent running game makes this potent offense all the more lethal for Oakland.

An interesting aspect of this game will be the fact that this game is being played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Estadio Azteca sits at 7,280 feet above sea level, which is over 2,000 feet higher than Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. Much is made about the altitude in Denver whenever a team travels to Denver, but there have been reports that the effects of the altitude combined with the pollution levels in Mexico City could be “devastating” to the players tonight and going forward.

This is worth keeping an eye on as the game progresses tonight, so this could come down to the more conditioned team once the game enters the fourth quarter. Look for both teams to go for the early knockout to keep the field conditions out of the equation tonight. As for my pick in the game, I think that Oakland is the better team and coming off of the bye makes them well rested enough to withstand the conditions in Mexico City. I’m going with Oakland (-6) tonight to close out Week 11.

That’s it for me today, enjoy the games tonight. As I mentioned earlier its going to be a busy week at Shooting the Moon so stay tuned tomorrow and Wednesday. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

Anyone else enjoying Thursday Night Football more now that the NBC crew has taken over the broadcasts? Maybe it’s the production value, but these past two weeks have seemed like a better product. Yes, even with that Baltimore-Cleveland game we had to endure. NBC is actually drumming up interest in these games more than CBS has done since these Thursday night games became a thing.

Tonight we get another NFC South showdown between Carolina and New Orleans. This one should be a lot of fun as these two teams put up a lot of points against each other. The last two times these teams have met, they have exchanged 41-38 wins with the Saints getting the more recent victory.

Both of those games were in New Orleans though, so I would temper my expectations. We still might get a shootout, but something in the neighborhood of 35-28. These teams are very familiar with each other so I expect this to be a hard fought game between teams that desperately need a win as both are trying to chase down the Falcons in the division.

I’m interested to see which defense steps up tonight to make a game-changing play. With the offenses presumably having their way for most of the night, this game will hinge on the turnover battle. Drew Brees was uncharacteristically loose with the ball last week against Denver so I wouldn’t be surprised if Brees plays a more clean game tonight.

Both defenses have struggled this season, but the Panthers have been playing better of late. Carolina may not have much of a secondary, but this front-seven can be a difference maker in tough games. I’ve gone back and forth with my pick all day with this game, but I’m going to go with New Orleans (+3.5) to start the week with a bang.

The rest of Week 11 is a bit of a mixed bag with some good games, a couple lopsided matchups, and a bunch of games that could go either way. We don’t have the two marquee matchups like we did last week but I think that we are going to have another good week of football.

We’ll start with a battle in the Northwest between Philadelphia and Seattle. I’m very intrigued by the recent resurgence of the Seattle offense and if this is sustainable. Last season the Seahawks got hot and started scoring at a ridiculous rate. This offense is starting to look like that 2015 team. It all hinges on that offense line though and this matchup with the Philadelphia defense line worries me. I said it yesterday in “Reality of Fantasy” but this is just not a good matchup for the Seahawks.

That’s about the only aspect of the game that I would put in Philly’s favor though. Seattle is the better football team, potentially one of the only elite teams in the league. I don’t see how Philadelphia’s offense moves the ball with consistency against the Legion of Boom.

Russell Wilson’s playmaking ability is a huge difference maker in this game. He’s finally playing at close to 100% after suffering ankle and knee injuries at the beginning of the season. He will need to be in great condition if this game looks anything like the one from two years ago. Wilson had to improvise on the run and convert 20-plus-yard third downs all day in a 24-14 win. Expect that to be a large part of this game’s script on Sunday.

I would say that’s likely the best matchup of the day on Sunday afternoon barring Tennessee-Indianapolis turning into a complete shootout, which is not totally out of the question. Another game that could be entertaining is the Detroit-Jacksonville game, although you might not want to flip in on until the fourth quarter. Both of those teams seem to have a flair for the dramatic.

Sunday night brings in the best of the games that could go either way. Washington hosts Green Bay in a game with two offenses seemingly going in opposite directions. The Packers have had a myriad of issues throughout a rough three-game losing streaking. Washington looked a 0-2 right in the face and rebounded going 5-1-1 since.

Neither defense is really anything special so this will likely be a battle of the offenses. I never thought there would be a day where I would actually lean against Aaron Rodgers in a game that is going to be a quarterback battle. Despite putting up decent numbers this year, Rodgers and this Green Bay offense have dry spells during games that have been killers.

Washington has persevered through various injuries and has been making the best of it. Kirk Cousins looks like he has tapped back into that magic well he discovered last season. Now with Jordan Reed back in the fold, the sky is the limit with this offense. Reed is by far the best and most consistent weapon that Cousins has on this offense.

Now I normally subscribe to the “reverse-momentum” theory in the NFL, which means a team usually pulls a total one-eighty after getting embarrassed the week before. Green Bay has done it before, but that Tennessee loss was pretty pathetic. Plus, I don’t see any way that the Packers slow down the Reed-Cousins connection.

I’m saving the in-depth analysis for next week but I’m also looking forward to the Monday night game between Oakland and Houston in Mexico City. That should be a fantastic way to end what could be a surprisingly compelling week of football.

Now let’s move into my favorite part of the week and that is my game picks. It was an unfortunate week during Week 10 as I went completely cold after a great start. I was 6-3 through the 1:00 PM games and looking at potentially my best week of the year.

Pride, as they say, comes before the fall, and man did that fall hit hard. I lost every single game after that on Sunday, which dropped me to 6-7 on the week. Thankfully the Giants pulled through to salvage Week 10 for me. Obviously we’ll be looking for better results this week, so here goes nothing. Here are my picks for Week 11 (Winners in Bold).

Last Week: 7-7         2016 Season: 78-69

1:00 PM

Pittsburgh (-8) vs. Cleveland

Baltimore vs. Dallas (-7)

Jacksonville (+6.5) vs. Detroit

Tennessee (+3) vs. Indianapolis

Buffalo (+3) vs. Cincinnati

Tampa Bay (+7.5) vs. Kansas City

Chicago vs. NY Giants (-7.5)

Arizona (+2) vs. Minnesota

 

4:05/4:25 PM

Miami (-1.5) vs. Los Angeles

New England (-13) vs. San Francisco

Philadelphia vs. Seattle (-6.5)

 

Sunday Night Football

Green Bay vs. Washington (-3)

 

That’s it for me today folks, enjoy all of the games tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Heat Check,” I decided it’s probably best left as the regular Friday column. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

Here we go fantasy fans. The stretch run of the regular season begins this week. There are three or four games left to get into the playoffs so lets make these games count. How we navigate these next few weeks is going to be crucial.

Do you play matchups or trust your studs? Do you make a last minute trade to help put you over the top? Are you banking on this week’s waiver pickup turns into this year’s Tim Hightower? Is it time to unleash that stashed player that you’ve sat on all season? These are all questions that you need to be asking yourself if you are fighting for a playoff spot.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have any work to do if you are sitting pretty atop your league’s standings. In fantasy football, your work is never done. There is always a little move here or there that can be made to improve your chances of bringing home that coveted championship.

I mentioned at the beginning of the season to keep the playoff weeks in mind when putting your team together. Teams like Tampa Bay and San Diego needed to stay on your radar because of great playoff schedules (don’t think you are simply going to get Melvin Gordon or Mike Evans at this point though). Below are two charts from ESPN Fantasy from last Friday covering strength of schedule broken down by position. Use this to guide you through the rest of the year, also keep in mind that this will likely be updated in the coming weeks.

Which teams have the best fantasy matchups moving forward? @ESPNKenD put together these handy charts to help you make those trades/claims. pic.twitter.com/xqCGQzZ1yo

— ESPN Fantasy Sports (@ESPNFantasy) November 12, 2016

 

Which teams have the best fantasy matchups moving forward? @ESPNKenD put together these handy charts to help you make those trades/claims. pic.twitter.com/xqCGQzZ1yo

— ESPN Fantasy Sports (@ESPNFantasy) November 12, 2016

 

Let’s shift our focus to the goal at hand, and that is winning Week 11. This week we have Atlanta, Denver, San Diego, and NY Jets all on a bye so plan your replacements accordingly. Don’t be like me in my big money PPR league and be forced to replace Devonta Freeman with Paul Perkins or Kenneth Dixon (would’ve been without CJ Anderson too before his injury… poor planning on my part).

There are some very intriguing games from a fantasy perspective that we should look to attempt to exploit. Obviously we can’t account for team’s to lay an egg in a plus matchup (Randall Cobb and Mike Evans owners are still trying to figure out what went wrong last week… oh hey that’s me again… fantasy football right?).

Let’s not the fear of striking out keep us from playing the game though. Here are the best and worst matchups for a crucial Week 11.

(Obvious) Best Matchup: New England (vs. San Francisco)

 The Patriots are coming off of a loss AND playing a 1-8 team? Say no more. This sounds a lot like the Brady return game against Cleveland and that is music to our ears in fantasy. Reports from New England indicate that Gronk did not puncture his long as some had speculated so there is a bullet dodged there. The Pats are a fantasy puzzle so don’t go too crazy with this matchup (cough, Chris Hogan, cough). James White and Dion Lewis owners need to be cautious of the one-yard touchdown machine named Legarrette Blount. Matchups don’t get much better than this though so definitely don’t shy away.

Best Fantasy Game: Tennessee @ Indianapolis

Never did I think that I would be typing that heading in a fantasy column in 2016. The Titans offense has been incredible these past few weeks and has become much more than a one-trick pony with DeMarco Murray. Marcus Mariota is in the middle of a breakout campaign so ride the hot hand if you were fortunate enough to get him on your roster. He has thrown for multiple touchdowns in a franchise record six consecutive games. The Colts defense doesn’t offer much of a reason to think that won’t be extended to seven games.

While the Titans can play a little defense, that won’t be enough to stop this high-powered Colts offense. Andrew Luck and company should be able to put up points in bunches especially at home. Considering the last game was a 34-26 win by the Colts, we should feel good about the fantasy prospects of this game inside the dome at Lucas Oil Stadium.

**Close Second: New Orleans @ Carolina (Thurs.) – Shootout Alert!

 Toughest Matchup: Miami (vs. Los Angeles)

Miami has looked good the past few weeks with improved offensive line play and Jay Ajayi taking absolute control of the backfield. It’s just my gut feeling here, but I do not like this matchup at all for the Dolphins. The Rams defensive line can get after it and cause all kinds of problems in the running game. Since coming off of their bye, the Rams have allowed only 19 points in two games. They shut down the Panthers running game holding them to 59 rushing yards two weeks ago. Miami’s defense also could be an issue for the offensive production if they can get a defensive touchdown off of this porous Rams offense with #1 pick Jared Goff taking over at QB. This is more of a caution than a call to abandon ship. Be conservative with how you play this matchup.

Other Good Matchup: Pittsburgh (vs. Cleveland)

The Steelers came this close to knocking off the Cowboys last week, but to no avail. Luckily they will be able to get that bad taste out of their mouth by knocking around the lowly Browns. Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell are all in line for monster days against Cleveland. No fancy stats here, just a great offense playing against a terrible football team.

Other Tough Matchup: Seattle (vs. Philadelphia)

Seattle is at home in this game which should be a bit of an equalizer in this game. That being said, the Eagles strength lines up directly with Seattle’s weakness. Philadelphia’s defensive line is a problem for a Seattle offensive line that has been inconsistent at best this year. Now the solution there is Russell Wilson’s mobility, which was their saving grace two years ago when these teams last played each other. I don’t love having to rely on Wilson doing his best Houdini impression but in a game like this you might have to. Once again be cautious here, no need to totally abandon the matchup as Seattle’s offense has played well the last two weeks.

Other Good Matchups: Detroit (vs. Jacksonville), Oakland (vs. Houston), Washington (vs. Green Bay), Green Bay (vs. Washington), NY Giants (vs. Chicago)

 Other Tough Matchups: Tampa Bay (vs. Kansas City), Philadelphia (vs. Seattle), Los Angeles (vs. Miami), Arizona (vs. Minnesota)

 That’s it for me today, I’ll be back tomorrow with “No Huddle” and “Heat Check.” Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.

There are usually a couple things you look for in a football game. Momentum swings are always one of the first things you notice. Last night we saw the game reach a point where things good go from “okay” to “awesome.” Unfortunately neither the Bengals nor Giants could really get anything going and the game just kind of clunked away to its finish.

The Giants eked out a win last night to close out a fantastic week of football. While I thought we were getting a weird, but good season of football so far, Week 10 was the best week we have gotten to this point. All of the big games delivered, and we even got a few surprises along the way.

Seattle going into New England gave us a bit of both plus an ending that was all parts compelling, controversial, and ironic. The role reversal of the Super Bowl XLVIIII finish was a beautiful twist ending to a wild game.

I definitely agree that we just saw a potential Super Bowl preview on Sunday night and I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping to see that again in February. As bad as the Seahawks looked in the first few weeks, this team looks like it is turning a corner and becoming an elite team. In a year where “elite” status is rare to see, I definitely think you can consider Seattle up there with the likes of New England and Dallas.

As week make our way down the stretch I doubt we might add another team to that top group but we will definitely be able to start figuring out who are the rest of the contenders. We know that we have the three AFC West teams (Kansas City, Oakland, Denver) and the NFC East teams lurking in that group. Atlanta and Houston lead their division but it almost seems like we’re waiting for another shoe to drop. God only knows what is going on in either of the North divisions. Then there are teams like Miami, Tennessee, and Indianapolis who are all intriguing but we don’t know if any of them are for real.

With seven weeks left in the regular season, the playoff picture is awfully murky. The stretch run will be incredible to watch as the stakes get higher and higher with each passing week. Seven of the eight divisions will likely be coming down to the wire with leaves most of the playoff spots up for grabs.

It is going to be a lot of fun to watch, can’t wait to see how it will all unfold. Now that we’ve caught up a little bit on the state of the NFL just past the halfway point of the season, let’s get into this week’s power rankings and watch list. We have a new number one team this week as you might imagine, and a few other shake-ups as well. Here is the list for this week.

(1) Dallas Cowboys (8-1) – Last Week: 2

Dallas pulled off an incredible comeback on the road to cap off a wild game against Pittsburgh. Coupled with the Patriots loss to Seattle and this move to the top spot is a no-brainer. The Cowboys are playing some of the best football in the NFL and this offense is rolling on all cylinders. Ezekiel Elliot is making his own MVP case behind the best o-line in the game. ESPN writer Bill Barnwell even made the case that Dallas’ o-line should be the league MVP given how dominant they are this year. Even better news this week is Jerry Jones publically going with Dak Prescott over Tony Romo. Not messing with the chemistry of this team is the best for business in Dallas. The Cowboys will be going for the season sweep of the AFC North against Baltimore.

(2) New England Patriots (7-2) – Last Week: 1

A tough loss for the Patriots against a suddenly great Seattle team on Sunday night drops New England down one spot this week. I didn’t necessarily agree with the final sequence of play calls given how effective Blount had been at the goal line all game. Oh well, maybe one time a coach will just trust his o-line to gain one yard in a big spot. The Patriots may have bigger worries though in the form of a Rob Gronkowski injury. He reportedly finished the game with a punctured lung, which could put his playing status in jeopardy. They will be fine this week against the lowly 49ers despite being on the road.

(3) Seattle Seahawks (6-2-1) – Last Week: Watch List 

The biggest move of the week is Seattle going all the way from the watch list into the top three. A hard-fought road win at New England will do those kinds of things to a team’s stock. This offensive line looks to be holding up for the time being and Russell Wilson finally looks like himself again. C.J. Prosise could be an intriguing weapon in this offense too with the way he moved all over the field. There are definitely some good signs here for the Seahawks. The Legion of Boom is going to be tough to beat, especially if they are going to be playing with the lead more often. I’m very intrigued by the matchup this week with Philadelphia coming into town. We’ll see if this offensive line is coming together or not.

(4) Oakland Raiders (7-2) – Last Week: 3

Unfortunately standing pat worked against Oakland this week. They drop one spot in their bye week with the Seattle win. Raiders fans shouldn’t worry though as this is a team that I think is on the fringe of “elite” status. We know how well this offense already is with Carr, Cooper, Crabtree, and the second-best o-line in football. What could make this team elite rests on the play of this defense led by Khalil Mack. He has been turning in unstoppable performances and might be making a turn towards a Defensive Player of the Year run. Oakland gets its second consecutive primetime game against Houston on Monday night in Mexico City.

(5) Kansas City (7-2) – Last Week: 5

I’m going to steal a page out of Bill Maher’s playbook and make a new rule concerning the Chiefs. Don’t go up 17+ against Kansas City and think you’ve won. Just don’t do it, save yourself the heartbreak. There is nothing all that special about the Chiefs but this season’s comebacks have been ridiculous. Kansas City gets down three possessions and suddenly a switch flips. I just don’t get it. Either way this team just keeps finding ways to win, which makes them dangerous on any given week. Tampa Bay comes into town this week, which should be a winnable game for Kansas City.

Watch List: Denver (6-3), NY Giants (6-3), Washington (5-3-1), Philadelphia (5-4), Atlanta (6-4), Houston (6-3), Detroit (5-4), Baltimore (5-4)

 That’s it for me today, enjoy all of the games tonight. NBA, NHL, and college basketball are all on the schedule tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Reality of Fantasy” to preview Week 11. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.