New York Post - USA (2020-10-25)

New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020

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NFL BETTOR’S GUIDE

ACTION

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reversions to the norm on both sides,
and this could get tight — but the
Raiders’ offensive line issues, due to
COVID-19, are forcing our hand.
Seahawks (-3) over CARDI-
NALS: Arizona took full advantage
of the Cowboys’ crisis-level offensive
line issues, as well as their yielding
defense — but the Cardinals have
more to prove than these hard-hit-
ting, talented visitors, and this fig-
ures to be an acid test for Arizona.
MONDAY
RAMS (-6) over Bears: These
two worthies have split low-scoring
wrestling matches over the past two
seasons. Good defense frequently
travels better than you might expect,
so this is a great opportunity for the
Bears, but the best ’dog spreads dis-
appeared early, and expect Jared Goff
should escape with a win.
LAST WEEK: 6-8. SEASON: 43-
39-4.
Follow Richard Witt on Twitter:
@rich_witt1

Browns

PoSt StandingS

W L T Pct. GB

Stitches 55 33 3 .621 —

Dunleavy 51 37 3 .577 4

Charleen 47 41 3 .533 8

Blezow 46 42 3 .522 9

Kussoy 44 44 3 .500 11

Serby 43 45 3 .489 12

Loftis 42 46 3 .478 13

Schwartz 40 48 3 .456 15

Cannizzaro 39 49 3 .445 16

Costello 37 51 3 .423 18

BeSt BetS

W L T Pct. GB

Dunleavy 16 2 0 .889 —

Stitches 10 7 1 .5835¹/₂

Kussoy 10 8 0 .556 6

Costello 9 7 2 .556 6

Serby 9 9 0 .500 7

Charleen 8 9 1 .4727¹/₂

Schwartz 8 10 0 .444 8

Cannizzaro 7 11 0 .389 9

Blezow 5 11 2 .333 10

Loftis 4 14 0 .222 12

T

ITANS running back Der-

rick Henry enters Sunday’s

AFC showdown against the

Steelers in Nashville as the

reigning AFC Offensive Player of

the Week for Week 6.

If Henry remains on this pace,

he’ll be in line for a much more

prestigious honor by season’s

end: NFL MVP.

For Week 7, though, Henry and

the Titans against the Steelers rep-

resents The Post’s Big Game this

week based largely on the

matchup between Henry, who

leads the NFL in rushing with 588

yards, and the Steelers’ defense,

which is second in the league de-

fending the run, allowing an aver-

age of just 66.2 per game.

The Titans and Steelers are both

5-0, which marks the sixth time in

the Super Bowl era that two unde-

feated teams will have played in

Week 7 or later. In the previous

five meetings, the winner went on

to the Super Bowl with New En-

gland (2004) and Denver (2015)

winning the title. The Patriots

won two of those games in 2007

and Minnesota won in 1973 before

losing the Super Bowl.

The Titans are undefeated

through five games

for the second time

in franchise history

and for the first

time since they

went 10-0 to begin

the 2008 season.

The Steelers are 5-0

for the first time

since 1978, when

they went on to win

the Super Bowl.

This game was originally

scheduled for Oct. 4 but was

postponed because of the Titans’

COVID-19 outbreak. The res-

cheduling by the NFL required

both teams to take their bye im-

mediately in Week 4, the Steel-

ers’ game against the Ravens was

moved from this week to next

week, and the Ravens’ bye was

moved up to this week.

The Steelers’ focus on Sunday

is squarely on the Titans’ 6-foot-3,

250-pound back

who pounds like a

fullback but has the

speed of a sprinter.

Henry is coming off

a 212-yard rushing

performance last

Sunday against the

Texans. The high-

light of that game

was his 94-yard

scoring run in the

fourth quarter, his eighth career

touchdown of at least 65 yards.

Henry became the first back in

NFL history to rush for more than

200 yards in a game in three con-

secutive seasons. Since Week 14 of

the 2018 season, Henry has rushed

for more than 170 yards in seven

of 28 games, including two playoff

games last season. Dating to 2018,

he has seven rushes of 50 yards or

longer (second in NFL).

“It’s really astounding that a

back his size is capable of going

to the house just about every

time he touches it,” Steelers

coach Mike Tomlin told report-

ers this week. “Over the course

of the last 10 or 12 games, dating

back to last year, this guy has a

highlight reel of big runs unlike

which I have never seen over

that type of a time span.”

The Pittsburgh run defense

should provide a stout challenge

for Henry. The Steelers held Gi-

ants running back Saquon Bark-

ley to six yards on 15 carries in

Week 1, and last week they lim-

ited the Browns to 113 yards

fewer than their league-leading

rushing average. The Steelers

also have produced 42 tackles

for losses, most in the NFL.

The Titans won’t be helped by

the fact they lost starting left

tackle and top offensive lineman

Taylor Lewan for the season

with a knee injury last week.

The Steelers also suffered a

key injury last week when line-

backer Devin Bush went down

with a knee injury.

Look for the Steelers to run-

blitz the Titans, which is of one

of its strengths and tendencies

on defense. Pittsburgh clearly is

going to try to make Tennessee

quarterback Ryan Tannehill beat

them, rather than Henry.

“They are extremely well-

coached and talented,” Titans

coach Mike Vrabel told reporters

this week. “It’s been tough for peo-

ple to run the football on them.’’

That’s what makes this a clas-

sic matchup of strength on

strength.

Power Packed

moved from this week to next of 28 games, including two playoff for losses, most in the NFL.

on the run

again: Bruising RB

Derrick Henry (22) and

the Titans will try to

gallop past the stout

Steelers defense when

the two unbeaten teams

tangle Sunday at

Tennessee. Getty Images

By Mark Cannizzaro

MARK’S BIG GAME

Steelers atTitans

1 p.m.

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