Congratulations to the Oakland Raiders on their first victory of the season! But can I say, I'm most happy for Rod Marinelli and the 2008 Detroit Lions. I'm sure Dan Orlovsky, Roy Williams and Shaun Cody were gathered at Edna's Wing Palace in Grosse Pointe drinking champagne moments after Alex Smith threw his last desperation pass to seal the victory for Oakland. What a great night for the city of Detroit and fans of the Lions. You might not have a Super Bowl, but for one more year, nobody can match your perfect season!
My favorite moment in all of this last night, of course, was the excessive celebration of Sio Moore and Khalil Mack, which almost cost the Raiders the victory. You can't ask the Raiders to act like they've been there before. They clearly haven't, as Moore quipped after the game.
But let's be honest for a moment; how awesome would it have been if Alex Smith and the Chiefs had snapped the ball and thrown a touchdown to win the game? Honestly, I would have probably never watched another professional football game ever because there is no way that could have been topped.
But this needs to be part of the Madden game next year. I mean, if it's in the game, it's got to be in the game, right? I feel that in the unlikely event you're using the Raiders and winning, random players should break out in excessive celebration at the end of the game to force you to take a timeout.
We can make that happen, right?
Moving on up
Mike Evans was on NFL Fantasy Live and was asked if he would rather have the career of Randy Moss or Anquan Boldin. He took Moss, a sure-fire Hall of Fame receiver (but no ring like Boldin). You get a similar feeling when Evans torches dudes on the field. He's now up to an 85 OVR with a monster game looming against the Bears. Can we get him into the 90s?
Jonas Gray moved up six points to a 71 OVR after he scored four touchdowns against the Colts and rushed for over 200 yards. I feel that Bill Belichick not only hates your fantasy team, but also the Madden ratings, so he brought in LeGarrette Blount to bring him down.
Alfred Blue was another player who made the most of his opportunity when he filled in for injured starter Arian Foster. He gained three points this week to a 74 OVR.
Is it weird to think Le'Veon Bell wasn't in the 90s? He's up three points to 92 OVR. I would have sworn that Bell was in the 90s prior to the 200 he put on the Titans last week.
Andy Dalton is up two points to 85 OVR. Yeah, we'll go ahead and hold your 83 OVR over here, because we know Bad Andy is lurking in the orange and black.
Moving on down
LeSean McCoy continues to hang on to his status in the 90s. He did lose a point, however, to drop to 90 OVR. He's getting close. Mark Sanchez lost a point, too, down to 77 OVR.
Calvin Johnson is down a point to 97 overall. I get it, he took a three-point deduction in INJ, which would have made sense about six weeks ago. But now, it seems a little extreme. He was good last week. I'm not sure I agree with this.
Great Caesar's Ghost
T.Y. Hilton lost a point to drop to 90 OVR? His catching took a one-point hit? Come on, guys, Hilton has been the truth this season. One bad stat line against a pretty great defense shouldn't drop you so heavily. That's just not right.
Six bold predictions for Sunday
EA Sports
6. It's hard to imagine an upset that would shock the NFL ranks like the Raiders did on Thursday night. The closest might be the Buccaneers, who take on the Bears in Chicago. This seems like a perfect revenge type of scenario for Lovie Smith and Josh McCown. So maybe it will seem like an upset when the Bears actually end up winning this thing.
5. The New England Patriots will continue their dominance with a huge win over the Detroit Lions. I'm sure you've seen the stats, but I think Matthew Stafford is what, 0-492 against teams with a .500 record or something like that? I know some teams run into trap games and such, but I can't see it. Plus, Darrelle Revis has shutdown Megatron a lot during his career.
4.Robert Griffin III dropped a point to an 80 OVR this week. But he's not concerned about that because he's just focused on the 49ers. No Madden rating is going to push him off his laser-like focus because he's only thinking about the 49ers. I wish some reporter would have just started asking him non sequiturs about his dinner plans and such. "Hey, RG3, do you like Flame Broiler or Del Taco?" "Sorry, I'm just focused on the 49ers. I can't even think about eating ever again." Not that any of this will matter since the 49ers win this game.
3.Eli Manning won't throw five interceptions this week. To be honest, this is the prediction I feel the worst about. This is the shakiest one of the group.
2. At some point during the Bills and Jets game, Geno Smith is going to look up, notice that there is a roof over the building and think to himself, "When did Buffalo move to a dome?", and not know that he is currently in Detroit.
1. The poor Cardinals. Last week was a nice win with Drew Stanton at quarterback. (To bring this full circle, Stanton was on the 2008 Lions.) But this club is walking into a trap. I'm talking an Admiral Ackbar-freakout trap. "Green group, stick close to holding section MV-7!" Not that it will matter. In this league (and maybe the NBA), when two teams are relatively equal, the desperate team always seems to get the win. The Seahawks need this game a lot more than the Birds do. Oh wait, they are both birds. But in any event, the Seahawks need it, so they will get it.
I know this was six predictions for Sunday, but I'm going to throw in a bonus prediction: Jimmy Graham is going to have three touchdowns this week. After Zach Ertz said Graham wouldn't see the field for the Eagles, I have a feeling Drew Brees is going to show him what's what.
You can follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank. Gamer tag: KickedBoar591 *
