WEEK 7: MONSTER MATCHUP

WEEK 7 MONSTER MATCHUP
BY DR. PIGSKINSTEIN



WEEK 7 MONSTER MATCHUP: ATLANTA AFRICANS VS MINNESOTA ETERNALS

Another week, another wrong Monster Matchup, another loss for the Pigskins. Life is hard in the life of Dr. Pigskinstein. Unfortunately my doctor’s license is under review- apparently the fact that it was drawn in crayon threw off the scanners. Oh well I’ve bulked up on my various medications so I should be good to last the winter. Apparently I’m perfectly average at picking these, as we are now 3-3 on the season. Last week was at least well chosen, as it came down to a 3 point victory for my prediction to be upset. This week we will be returning to analyzing the Dastardly Dozen. This week’s matchup focuses on the showdown between the 3-3 Atlanta Africans and the 4-2 Minnesota Eternals.

The strongest part of the Eternals’ team is their record. Although they are over .500, they are averaging under 300 points a week, and have had 100 points more scored against them over the course of the season than they’ve scored. The Africans are the exact opposite, sitting at .500, but 4th in the power rankings and 2nd in points scored for their conference. However, Atlanta is missing several of his studs this week due to bye weeks. He will be without Matt Ryan, Jamaal Charles, and his highest scoring player at most of his defensive positions. However, we feel that this actually will lead to this being a very close matchup.

The Eternals are sending out a standard lineup of 2 quarterbacks, 2 runningbacks, 5 wide receivers, a tight end, and a kicker. The Africans’ offense is similar, with 2 quarterbacks, 3 running backs, 4 receivers, a tight end and a kicker. Defensively, Minnesota is lining up with a defensive tackle, a defensive end, 5 linebackers, 3 cornberbacks and a sefty. The Africans will counter with more pressure in the trenches, with 2 tackles, 2 defensive ends, 4 linebackers, 2 corner backs, and a safety.

At quarterback, neither team is particularly strong. We see them ending up relatively even in production. Running back production should come down to the health of Bradshaw’s feet, which is never a good sign. If he was healthy, we would give the edge to Minnesota, but with Coughlin claiming that he will be spelling Bradshaw more this week, we see Atlanta having the edge simply due to numbers. Receiver also favors the Africans, due to QB health. With Roethlisberger and Kolb hurting, Brown and Roberts drop in value this week. At TE, neither TE has a great matchup, but we feel Finley will have his once a month outing where he remembers how to play football.

Defensively, this appears to be an instance of quantity over quality. The Africans are missing Dumervil, Nicholas, Ryans, Bigby and Weddle on byes this week. So positionally, we see the team with more players at each position simply taking the edge. On the D-line, Ian has 4 starters to Andy’s 2, and between linebackers and corner backs, Andy is sending out 8 to Ian’s 6. We predict the Eternals to take the defensive numbers as a whole. However, it will not be enough to cover the advantage that the Africans will take offensively. We see the final score with both teams scoring somewhere between 300 and 320, but the Africans taking the edge.

Good luck to everyone not playing the Pigskins this week!