The Rubber Duckies and the Goats faced off once before this season, with a Goats’ blowout win with a margin of 40+ points. Will this be the revenge game for the Rubber Duckies or will this be another blowout win for the Goats as each chase the chance to lift up the BFFL trophy for the first time in their career? This matchup did bring up this question: what would you rather fight, 1 duck-sized goat or 100 goat-sized ducks?
Quarterbacks
Patrick Mahomes has been chasing yet another NFL MVP award and is in a tight competition with Aaron Rogers who surprised a lot of people to be in contention for the coveted award this year, especially with how Russell Wilson has not been producing as much as he should be to be in the contention for this award. Mahomes will be playing against a very stout #2 Miami defense who does not give up a lot of touchdowns, but he’ll need to use all of his offensive weapons to overcome that to bring the Goats a victory and himself closer to that MVP award. We’ll have to see what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Coming off a desperately needed bye to help him remember how to count from 1 to 4 and what color jersey his own team is wearing, Tom Brady seems poised to bring up his numbers against the #22 Vikings defense. With the Buccs ground game relatively non-existent (Thanks for nothing Leonard Fournette), Brady should be able to stand in the pocket and make the throws needed to keep the Buccs and the Duckies in the Win category. I give the edge to the Goats, but expect this to be a close matchup.
Running Backs
With a monster of a game last week to help cement a playoff berth for the Goats, David Montgomery has another opportunity to keep it going against the #25 Texans defense. J.K. Dobbins is in a little more of a difficult position for the Goats. Splitting carries with Gus Edwards and Lamar Jackson, I see Dobbins getting a higher number of carries than Edwards which should get him respectable points, but nothing I would write home about. What a great Hallmark movie story for D’Andre Swift to come back right when the Duckies and the Lions both need him for their playoff aspirations. However, we’ll have to see if that ends up being the story, but things are looking good since the Lions need help at the RB position and Swift should be ready to assist against the Green Bay defense. Melvin Gordon had a great game last week against the Chiefs, but we know from experience, there’s good weeks and bad weeks for him and you never know what you’re going to get. Luckily, the #18 Panthers defense is ample opportunity for Melvin Gordon, with the caveat that he’s in a timeshare and the Panthers defense has looked good lately (96 yards allowed against the Vikings and 40 yards allowed against the Lions). I give the edge to the Goats.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Michael Thomas is still being Michael Thomas even with Taysom Hill throwing the ball. He’s been consistently scoring 10+ points in the last three games and is going against an Eagles team that doesn’t know who to support at QB, the guy they paid or the guy they drafted. Mike Evans is getting the ball thrown to him, seemingly by design or because of chemistry between him and Tom Brady. Even with the number of weapons that the Buccs have on offense, Mike Evans is their guy that they go to when they need things to happen. Darren Waller is the only one I don’t really like on the starting lineup for the Duckies. Yes, he had a great game against the Jets, but it’s the Jets, will that continue? We’ll have to see. His consistency is in question for me, but I don’t really see anyone else I’d want to put in. DK Metcalf, whether it’s making plays on offense or defense, he’s a thorn in the side of any team (trust me I know, taking Lockett’s targets). He’s hard to defend. He’s a great catcher and gets those extra yards. I expect to see great things from him against the Jets defense. With Will Fuller out for the season due to his suspension, Brandon Cooks seems to be the next man up. Unfortunately, you can’t be the next man up if he’s susceptible to head issues. He did get cleared during the game and continued to play, but that is a question in the back of every owner. Going through concussion protocol. He does have enough time to get cleared and ready to play and if he does, he should bring in a respectable number of points. I don’t know about Deebo Samuel. The 49ers offense has been a mess and it’s hard to trust anyone on that team. Deebo Samuel is the #1 WR on the 49ers, but against a Washington defense who just beat the Steelers and helped the ‘72 Dolphins pop the champagne, I don’t know if you could trust him. He’ll give you points, just probably not the points you’d think. This is a slam dunk for the Duckies.
| Predictions | |
| QBs | 🦆🤝🐐 |
| RBs | 🐐 |
| WRs/TEs | 🦆 |
Final Verdict: Goats over the Duckies 91 to 89
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