NFL Week 11 Predictions

A poor week for predictions by my usual standards, a few shock victories didn’t help, but I’m hoping to improve this week.

Last week’s record = 10-6

Overall record = 19-11

Thursday Night Football

NY Jets @ DEN Broncos

For two straight weeks I’ve predicted Tim Tebow to lead the Broncos to a victory and he has. The Jets defence is at its best when all of the DBs can shut down the opposing teams receivers, but with the Broncos offence no longer passing as often it will be interesting to see if the Jets can stop the Broncos rushing attack.

After their loss to the Patriots, the Jets really need a win if they want to stay in the hunt for the AFC East.

Dbl Coverage Prediction: We’re keeping the faith with Tim Tebow, Broncos to win by 6. 

6PM GMT Games 

CIN Bengals @ BAL Ravens

Oh Baltimore, one week you’re beating the Steelers the next you’re losing to the Seahawks! This week the 6-3 Ravens face the 6-3 Bengals to try and gain an advantage as they head towards the playoffs.

If A.J.Green is fully fit for this game then the Bengals offence should continue to click and could pose a problem for the Ravens D, but we think the strong defence will put too much pressure on Dalton and Co.

Dbl Coverage Prediction: Ravens to win by 10. 

JAC Jaguars @ CLE Browns

Two of the worst teams in the AFC Jags and Browns get the opportunity to face each other in this battle for a 4-6 record (the loser will end up on 3-7). With Jacksonville scoring 10 touchdowns so far and the Browns only scoring 12, don’t expect a high scoring affair.

Hopefully if the Browns kicker gets a chance to win the game again, he won’t shank it into the fans…

Dbl Coverage Prediction: We’re going to say Jags to win by 7 

BUAFL Week 3 Predictions

Border Conference

Glasgow Tigers @ UWS Pyros

Granted, the Pyros were playing the Clansmen last week who are on excellent form, but the Pyros are still 0-1 and yet to score a point this season. The Tigers haven’t got off to the best start at 1-1 but with the 50-0 win they had over the Pyros last season, things look good for the Tigers this week.

Tigers to win.

Teeside Cougars @ Durham Saints

Neither team have won a game this season, however Durham got off to a better start since Teeside lost their first game 84-0. Look for Teeside to bounce back this week and try to make this a close game.

Teeside to win.

Newcastle Raiders @ Sunderland Spartans

The Spartans have had a good start to the season and are also playing at home, but there’s no overlooking the difference in these two teams with Newcastle easily within the top ten teams in the BUAFL.The Raiders haven’t given up a point this season and the Spartans will do well to break that streak.

Raiders by a lot

Edinburgh Predators @ Stirling Clansmen

Similar situation to the Raiders and Spartans; the Predators have got off to a good start but the Clansmen should take this easily.

Clansmen by a lot.

Northern Conference

Lancaster Bombers @ Sheffield Hallam Warriors

The Warriors are the comfortable favourites going into this matcharguably as one of the strongest teams in the league. The Warriors looked strong last week, not conceding and putting up 58 against Leeds who should’ve put up more of a fight. The Bombers have had a poor start to the season at 0-2 and will struggle this week as well.

Warriors to win.

York Centurions @ Sheffield Sabres

After Sheffield’s tight win over the Hawks at the end of last season, it was surprising to see them win 50-0 last week. They have come out strong this season with York having less convincing wins.

Sabres to win.

Bradford Bears @ MMU Eagles

Both teams are in their first season of BUAFL. With Bradford at 1-1 and having got points on the board against the Sharks last week, they look the better of the two teams.

Bears to win.

Bangor MudDogs @ Manchester Tyrants

After their winless season, Bangor have come out strong this season with two wins off the bat. The Tyrants have struggled in their first two games so it looks good for Bangor.

Bangor to win.

Liverpool Fury @ Leeds Carnegie

New-boys Fury will really struggle this week coming off their bye. Leeds are an established team and Liverpool just don’t have the experience yet.

Leeds to win.

Top 5 Rushing QB's

In honour of the Denver Broncos completely changing their offence to suit Tim Tebows skill set, we’ve decided to dedicate this week’s top 5 on the best rushing quarterbacks in the NFL at the moment.

The ability of the QB as a passer isn’t taken into account for this list otherwise the number one player would be an obvious answer.

Without further ado, let’s move onto the list...

5. Aaron Rodgers

The decision for the number five choice was pretty tough with solid competition from the likes of Josh Freeman, Ben Roethlisberger and Tavaris Jackson but we ultimately settled with Aaron Rodgers.

On course for a monster year slinging the ball to all parts of the field, Rodgers running ability has been over looked during this magnificent season. When required to, Rodgers has the ability to scramble out of the pocket and has rushed for 148 yards on 43 attempts with 2 touchdowns this season.

Before someone at Green Bay decided it would be a good idea to block their franchise QB, Rodgers had to scramble more often and has rushed for over 300 plus yards in his last two years at a respectable average of 5.4 and 5.6 respectively.

With the ability to tear any defence to pieces passing wise and with the inclusion of his running ability, A-Rod is without doubt the best dual-threat quarterback in the NFL at this current moment in time (sorry Cam).

BUAFL Week 2 Top 10 Power Rankings

Another week of the BUAFL season is done and dusted which means it’s time for Double Coverage’s BUAFL top 10 power rankings.
The number of postponements has already increased from week one to week two and we are hoping that every team will complete all of their games this year.

Herts and London Blitz RB Temi Oduyemi - Photography by Gary Neesam

1. Hertfordshire Hurricanes (2-0)

Another game and another 50 points scored by the ‘Canes offence. This week’s unfortunate recipients were the UEA Pirates who finished ranked #21 nationally last year. If the team continues on this current form we believe no team will be able to keep pace with Hertfordshire this season.

2. Portsmouth Destroyers (2-0)

We had the Destroyers game against BNU as our Double Coverage game of the week and it didn’t disappoint. A well-earned 10 point victory over BNU is an impressive feat for the reigning national champs and what’s more impressive is the Portsmouth D holding the potent Buccaneers offence to a measly 16 points.

3. Birmingham Lions (1-0)

No game this week for the Lions, so no movement up or down for last year’s finalists (they did hold a scrimmage vs Worcester, but Worcester forfeited due to injuries). Next week’s game against the Coventry Jets will be the first time these two universities have faced each other.

4. Loughborough Aces (1-0)

We were expecting the Outlaws to give the Aces more competition in this weekend’s matchup but that simply wasn’t the case and the comprehensive 34-0 victory shows that the Aces haven’t skipped a beat since the loss of Coach Jason Scott after last season. Until their matchup with Derby, the Aces should continue to beat their lesser standard of opponents and hold their place in the rankings.

5. Sheffield Hallam (1-0)

No game for Hallam this week which allows the other teams in the Northern Conference sit at the top of the Conference for a week or two. Next week’s opponents Lancaster have currently conceded 98 points in two games so we fully expect a huge victory for Sheffield.

NFL Top 10 Power Rankings

Green Bay Packers (9-0)

The only undefeated team this season and they seem determined to be the first team to win back to back Superbowl’s. Aaron Rodgers is putting up silly numbers spreading the ball around (Favre who?) and the defence has improved with the return of players missing last season due to injury.

San Francisco 49ers (8-1)

With a 7 point victory over the Giants, the 49ers find themselves 2^nd in the first Double Coverage NFL rankings. With Jim Harbaugh working his magic in the Bay area and a stout defence the 49ers should lock up the NFC West in no time and possibly the number 2 seed in the NFC.

Houston Texans (7-3)

Wow just wow, that’s all we can say about the Texans victory over the Bucs. With the number 1 seed in the AFC and no competition in the AFC South it looks like the Texans will be heading to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The news about Schaub being injured shouldn’t affect the Texans chances of winning with a solid run game and the number 1 ranked defence in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints (7-3)

The Saints just keep winning!  With Drew Brees and Sean Payton running the show (plus some help from the Falcons) the Saints earned an overtime victory over division rivals the Atlanta Falcons last weekend. They will be hoping they don’t suffer from the bye week blues that have affected so many teams this season.

Baltimore Ravens (6-3)

You want to beat the Ravens? Play them the week after they play the Steelers! Even though they lost this week to the Seahawks, we still have the Ravens at number 5 in our rankings. A victory this weekend over the Bengals should see them return to the top of the AFC North, surely they can manage that….right?

Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)

The Steelers got a huge victory over division opponents the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, a week after the loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The victory is the main reason the Steelers find themselves on our top 10 rankings, a bye this week followed with a trip to the Chiefs in week 12 should keep the Steelers seated in our top 10 for a while. 

New York Giants (6-3)

Even though they lost to the 49ers, the Giants still had a chance to win going into the final drive of the game. Unfortunately Eli Manning couldn’t pull off another game tying winning drive in a row. The Giants earn the number 7 seed as they are still top of the NFC East and lost to an 8-1 team. A victory next week over the Eagles could see them move up in the rankings purely for ending the “dream teams” playoff hopes and dreams!

New England Patriots (6-3)

“The Patriots can’t defend the pass, the Patriots are ranked 32^nd in defence” Clearly this isn’t holding the Patriots back as they lead the AFC East by a game after manhandling the New York Jets. Analysts and Experts seem to forget that the Patriots lost their last two games to the Steelers and Giants (7-3 and 6-3 respectively). After this week’s victory we expect the Pats to regain their 5-1 form and comfortably win their division.

Chicago Bears (6-3)

Even when Devin Hester is ill he still returns touchdowns for fun! The Bears got a huge victory over the Lions this weekend to extend their win streak to four games. If Chicago can keep up this form they should easily make the playoffs again. (They also need to pay Matt Forte sometime soon).

Detroit Lions (6-3)

The embarrassing loss to Chicago may result in a red faces for Lions players, but hopefully the Lions can re find their focus to avoid a second half collapse. Veteran players need to step up and get this team back to winning ways and someone other than Calvin Johnson needs to make plays on offence.