Well, the Lions and Bears match did not go as planned. Matthew Stafford unexpectedly missed his first game since Jan. 2, 2011, and the team also lost six more starters during the game to injuries. The Lions now have a whopping 16 players on their injury report and any playoff hopes the team had are quickly vanishing.
For this week, there is only one game where I could see an upset happening, as we are almost in the final third of the season.
The Indianapolis Colts will host the three-point underdog Jacksonville Jaguars in a must-win divisional game for both teams.
For the first half of the season, Minshew Mania dominated the headlines as Jaguars’ rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II came out of nowhere to keep the team afloat in the playoff hunt.
While Minshew started the season hot, his inexperience as a starter caught up with him and he struggled in three of his last four games.
The Jaguars need another boost and this week they got it as quarterback Nick Foles has been cleared to return from injury.
In the preseason, Foles showed great chemistry with his receiving core, especially with Dede Westbrook. Westbrook has struggled with Gardner Minshew at quarterback, but the reunion with Foles could very well turn this Jaguars’ offense into one of the better squads in the league.
The return of Foles is exactly what this team needs to remain relevant in the tight AFC South race.
The Colts, however, are getting a boost of their own as quarterback Jacoby Brissett is likely to return this week after missing last week’s loss against the Miami Dolphins.
Brissett has been a consistent quarterback for the Colts this season as well and has helped the Colts maintain a solid all-around team. But there is one flaw that could very well prove fatal for the Colts this week: the pass rush.
The Colts have only been able to record 20 sacks this season and rank in the bottom 10 in creating pressure on the quarterback.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, have recorded 30 sacks and rank as one of the best pass-rushing teams in the league, creating quarterback pressure on 28 percent of passing plays.
Brissett will likely be playing this game with a knee brace as his sprained MCL will not be fully recovered. An injured quarterback and an elite pass rush is not a combination that ends with success.
Unless the Colts find a way to create pressure on defense, Foles will kill them all game (just ask the Patriots). I am marking down the Jaguars as winning 30 to 22.