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Good news for fans of the Oakland Raiders. No, it's great news, rather. I'm ready to take over the Raiders organization. Not just the coach, but I'm going to need to be in control of the whole thing. Sorry, that's the only way I could consider such an endeavor.
Now you might ask yourself what my qualifications are, and that's fair. But ever since news broke that Dennis Allen was getting canned, I've started a Raiders dynasty, and I'm not too shy to throw it out there that I started 3-0!
Of course, I dropped to 3-1 because my neighbor, Grant, runs the Miami Dolphins franchise and beat me. But wouldn't Raiders fans take a 3-1 record right now?
And I know, I've always floated this idea out there of a gamer to take over a team, but I really feel this is the proper fit right now. As I said when the Cleveland Browns were looking for a coach, these teams keep looking for guys with "real" NFL experience. How has that worked out? Allen and Reggie McKenzie have spent their entire lives devoted to NFL football. Are the Raiders any closer to making the Super Bowl?
Hell, the Super Bowl is a lofty goal. Are they any closer to .500? Plus, I would bring a lot of positive buzz.
But enough about that. Who are the biggest movers and shakers this week?
Moving on up
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Larry Donnell famously failed to play himself in fantasy, but he did receive some love from the fine folks at Madden. Donnell is up four points to 85 OVR. He figures to keep trending up, too. Eli Manning has looked for him almost repeatedly when they get near the end zone.
The Minnesota Vikings have been able to run the ball without their starter, and Jerick McKinnon had a breakout performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4 and was rewarded with a four point boost to 71 overall. I guarantee you, if you use the Vikings while playing, you'll end up swapping him out and using him. He's a lot of fun. His CTH improved +3 to 66, which is good. He needs to work on that in real life, too. Unfortunately, Christian Ponder started for them Thursday night.
Travis Kelce had a mini-breakout against the New England Patriots on Monday night, and he's up three points to 84 OVR. His SFA is up nine to 79. And let's be honest, this dude is athletic as hell, so I have a feeling he's going to keep moving upwardly.
Martellus Bennett is up two points to 91 OVR. If you look at Bennett's history, he's been a strong September player, but has faded in the past. But Jay Cutler continues to look his way. I mean, a lot. Almost to the point where I fear Brandon Marshall is going to get jealous.
Moving on down
Remember when Danny Amendola was a thing? He's fallen off the map and he's taken another hit with a four-point drop to 78 OVR. Which is surprising. That he's still in the 70s. Seriously.
Tom Brady has looked awful this year. It hasn't been good, and Monday night was almost sad. Well, sad until you remember Brady has made millions, has three Super Bowl titles and he's married to Gisele. So I can't feel too badly that he's down two points to a 90 OVR. He's at 90! Can he break the 90 point barrier next week if he has another poor performance? Seriously, I'm tingling here.
Six predictions for Sunday
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6. The Dallas Cowboys continue to improve with a win over the Texans. I know, I'm as shocked as you. Think about this. Rod Marinelli was 0-16 as an NFL head coach. He lost every game one season. Yet, he's the No. 1 reason why the Cowboys are playing so well. He's taken a depleted defense and made it something special. Increase the awareness of every Cowboys player, stat!
5. Amar Shah's pick of the week: Michael Vick will score two rushing touchdowns. Now, Amar is my editor and I've erased this entry from the record. So if you're reading this, know that this has been added under my objection. Unless this prediction comes true, then I'll take full credit for it.
4.Eli Manning will continue his domination with three touchdowns against the Falcons. I'm not sure how I feel about the Accurate Eli era. I mean, remember when we laughed about him completing 70 percent of his passes. Who is laughing now?
3. The leading receiver for the Bills this week? Bobby Woods. It's finally time.
2. It seems impossible for the Pittsburgh Steelers to lose back-to-back games to Florida teams. But guess what? It's happening! The Jaguars will knock off the Steelers this week. And this will be considered the true start to the Blake Bortles era!
1. I know the New England Patriots are a trendy pick, because you know if they have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, they're always in it! But that's the same stuff they said at the end of the Cowboys era. I can remember Pat Summerall and John Madden saying that stuff. Well, guess what? It's over. The Bengals are going to win this one going away.
You can follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank. Gamer tag: KickedBoar591 *
