Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six Newsletter!
If you're like me and you've always wanted to own an NFL team but you're not a billionaire, I have some good news for you today: You can become an "owner" of the Green Bay Packers. For just the sixth time in franchise history, the Packers will be selling stock in the franchise, although I'm not sure it technically qualifies as stock, but I don't need to explain that right now because we're going to cover it in today's newsletter.
We're also going to cover the 49ers' upset win over the Rams. The only thing more rare than a Packers stock sale is a 49ers home win. The win over the Rams marked the first time since Oct. 18, 2020 that the 49ers won a home game. In a twist, that last win, which came 393 days ago, was also over the Rams. As a matter of fact, in the 49ers' past 15 home games, they're 3-0 against the Rams and 0-12 against everyone else.
We'll be covering that game in-depth, plus we have a lot more in store for you today, so let's get to the rundown.
As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. I might also start selling stock in the newsletter. Does anyone know someone at the Securities and Exchange Commission?
1. Today's show: Recapping the 49ers' surprising win over the Rams
The 49ers needed a win in the worst kind of way on Monday night and they got it by blowing out the Rams 31-10. The win puts the 49ers right back in the thick of the NFC playoff race. As for the Rams, they're supposedly one of the top teams in the NFC, but they've been playing Lions-level football over the past two weeks, so I'm not sure what to think. Also, that's insulting to the Lions because they're undefeated in the month of November (0-0-1) while the Rams haven't won a game.
Since the game was a blowout, Ryan Wilson, Will Brinson and I felt some extra pressure to record a riveting postgame podcast, so that's exactly what we did. Here are three key things from that game that we touched on:
- 49ers steamroll Rams with their ground game. With the 49ers struggling on offense this season, Kyle Shanahan got the offense back to doing what it does best: Running the ball. The 49ers ran the ball 44 times for 156 yards against the Rams, which is notable because it was the most carries they've had in any game since 2012. On their opening drive alone, the 49ers called 13 run plays during an 18-play, 93-yard drive that spanned just over 11 minutes. The success of the run game opened things up for Jimmy Garoppolo, who picked apart the Rams on a night where he went 15 of 19 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Shanahan and the 49ers have now won five straight games against Sean McVay and the Rams.
- Rams offense still struggling. For the second week in a row, the Rams got embarrassed on national television and for the second week in a row, Rams fans are probably wondering if they actually upgraded at quarterback with Matthew Stafford. This game got off to a disastrous start for the Rams and things didn't get much better after that. Stafford threw two interceptions with those picks coming on the Rams' first two possessions. The second interception, which bounced off Tyler Higbee's hands, was returned for a TD by San Francisco's Jimmie Ward. It wasn't just Higbee dropping passes though, the Rams receivers were plagued by uncharacteristic drops. The good news for the Rams is that they have a bye in Week 11, which means they'll now have two weeks to fix their problems.
- Odell Beckham and Von Miller have no impact on the game. Miller and Beckham have two things in common after last night's game: They both made their Rams debut on Monday night and they both didn't really do anything in the game. Odell caught two passes for 18 yards, but he also caused an interception in the first quarter after a miscommunication with Stafford that led to Beckham stopping on his route. As for Miller, he had three tackles, but it was hard for him to have any impact due to what the 49ers were doing on offense. Miller's specialty is rushing the passer, which isn't easy to do when the other team isn't throwing the ball. The 49ers ran the ball on 69.8% of their plays last night.
Besides those three things, we also spent some serious time debating whether the Steelers will make the playoffs this year. To listen to today's episode -- and to subscribe to the best daily NFL podcast out there -- be sure to click here. You can also watch Monday's episode on YouTube by clicking here.
2. Prisco's Power Rankings heading into Week 11
If you live in South Florida and you heard a crazy sound last night, that was just Pete Prisco sounding the Power Ranking siren to announce that there's a new No. 1 team. Last week, the Cardinals were at the top of the list, but after their blowout loss, Prisco decided they didn't deserve to be there anymore.
With that in mind, here's a look at Prisco's top 5 teams heading into Week 11:
I'm not going to spoil the rest of the Power Rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since last week:
- The biggest jump this week went to the Panthers, who moved up seven spots thanks to a boost from Cam Newton. After beating the Cardinals 34-10, Prisco moved Carolina up from 22nd to 15th.
- The biggest tumble this week went to the Seahawks, who fell four spots after being shut out by the Packers. The return of Russell Wilson didn't exactly impress Prisco, who dropped Seattle from 18th down to 22nd.
- The biggest jump by an AFC team this week went to the Miami Dolphins, who have now won two games in a row after upsetting the Ravens in Week 10. After toiling away at the bottom of the rankings for nearly the entire season, the Dolphins moved up five spots following their win, making the jump from 30th to 25th.
- In news that probably won't surprise you, the Lions are still ranked dead last. Not even tying the Steelers was enough to get them out of the cellar. Sorry, Lions.
If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 11 Power Rankings, be sure to click here. If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you can do that on Twitter by clicking here. I argue with him all the time about everything.
3. Breech's Week 11 picks
It's Tuesday, and that can only mean one thing: It's time for my weekly picks.
If you want to ignore my picks today, I won't blame you and that's because I went 6-7-1 last week. I've basically turned into the Raiders: After a hot start, I'm now in the midst of a midseason collapse and I'm not sure how to make it stop. Through the first eight weeks of the season, I was 79-43 (.648), but over the past two weeks, I'm just 13-14-1 (.482). Although I'm planning to turn things around this week, I'm not sure I can say the same for the Raiders.
With that in mind, here are three of my picks for Week 11.
- Atlanta at New England (-6.5): The Patriots are one of hottest teams in the NFL right now: They've won four straight games and they're destroying everyone in their path during that streak. They beat the Browns 45-7, they beat the Panthers by 18, they beat the Jets by 41. I mean, they are on a scorched earth tour. And then you have the Falcons, who have three losses this year by 23 or more points. I will take the Patriots in a blowout. PICK: Patriots 38-20 over Falcons.
- Miami (-3) at N.Y. Jets: The Jets have surrendered 175 points in their past four games, which is the second-most that any team has ever surrendered in a four-game span since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. That alone is enough to make me pick against them. PICK: Dolphins 24-17 over Jets.
- Dallas (+2.5) at Kansas City: When I look at these two teams, it almost mildly surprises me that the Chiefs are favored. I think the Cowboys offense is better right now. I think the Cowboys defense is better right now. I think the Cowboys everything is better right now. I feel like the Cowboys are going to be able to score at will against the Chiefs defense. I do like Kansas City barbecue more than Texas barbecue, but that's not enough to sway me to take the Chiefs. PICK: Cowboys 38-31 over Chiefs.
To check out the rest of my picks for Week 11, be sure to click here.
4. One thing we learned about each team in Week 10
Now that all 14 games from Week 10 have been played, CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin decided to wade through the aftermath to figure out what we learned about each team.
Here's a look at what we learned about five teams:
- Cardinals: They need Kyler Murray back ASAP. "Colt McCoy was never gonna be a sustainable figurehead for their offensive attack, and he couldn't even survive a full game against the Panthers' defense. Arizona needs a spark for its march toward the playoffs."
- Browns: Baker Mayfield has an unclear future in Cleveland. "It might've been before, but it's even more so now. Kevin Stefanski's offense hasn't helped, but Mayfield was once again uneven and banged up Sunday. Suddenly, the Browns are in last place."
- Broncos: Teddy Bridgewater isn't the answer at QB. "Already obvious in some circles, but he was neither good enough nor motivated enough against the Eagles, refusing to even attempt a tackle on Darius Slay's game-changing fumble return."
- Lions: It's time to move on from Jared Goff. "Detroit was fortunate to escape with a tie against Pittsburgh, because Goff did almost nothing to help them win. He was banged up, yes, but he's now been mediocre at best for most of the 0-8-1 season."
- Raiders: They're fizzling out. "That makes two straight games of pretty lifeless offense from Derek Carr and Co., who got all of one catch and a costly fumble from newcomer DeSean Jackson. Are we in for another late-season collapse?"
If you want to see the one thing we learned about each of the 23 other teams that played in Week 10, you can check out Cody's entire story by clicking here.
5. Want to own an NFL team? Packers offering rare stock sale
For most non-billionaires, it's almost impossible to become an NFL owner, but Packers fans are going to have a chance to own part of their team this week thanks to a public stock offering.
The stock became available for sale on Tuesday and here are a few details about the sale:
- Each share will cost $300. The team will be selling 300,000 shares of stock at a cost of $300 apiece. By the time the sale is over, the team will have raised a total of $90 million that will be used to pay for ongoing construction projects at Lambeau Field.
- The stock is basically worthless. Although you're technically a part of owner of the team, which is cool to brag about, that's about all you're going to get from your stock. The shares don't appreciate in value, they can't be traded and they won't pay out any dividends. Also, buying a share doesn't mean you'll start to have input in the team's decision-making process. For instance, the Packers aren't going to call you on your cell phone to get your take on whether they should try to keep Aaron Rodgers after the 2021 season.
- This is just the sixth time the Packers have sold stock. The current sale marks just the sixth time in franchise history that the Packers have sold stock in the team. The first stock offering came in 1923 with another one in 1935 and then again in 1950. In more recent history, the Packers held a stock offering in both 1997 and 2011. Ten years ago, the cost of a share was just $250. Going into this stock offering, there were approximately 5,009,400 shares of the team owned by approximately 361,300 shareholders, according to the Packers website.
- The stock sale won't be going on forever. The current stock offering will end on Feb. 22, 2022 or when all 300,000 shares have been sold. Also, one person can only buy up to 200 shares.
If you're interested in becoming a Packers owner, then you can start the process of purchasing a share or two by clicking here. Packers running back A.J. Dillon has already bought some stock, which means he is now his own boss. Smart move, A.J. I might purchase one share just so I can annoyingly introduce myself as an NFL owner to everyone I meet for the rest of time.
6. Rapid-fire roundup
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Minkah Fitzpatrick on COVID list. The Steelers are already dealing with Ben Roethlisberger on the COVID list and now Fitzpatrick has also been added after testing positive. The safety is vaccinated, so there's definitely a chance he could play this week against the Chargers, but he'll have to record two negative tests at least 24 hours apart to be eligible.
- Saquon Barkley returns to practice. The Giants running back hasn't played since Oct. 10, but there's a chance that he could be making his return this week against the Buccaneers. According to ESPN.com, the Giants are hoping that Barkley will be healthy enough to play, but it will depend on how his ankle responds this week.
- Packers release Blake Bortles. With Aaron Rodgers back from the COVID list, the Packers have no more use for Blake Bortles, so they cut the veteran quarterback on Monday. Bortles served as the team's backup QB during Green Bay's Week 9 loss to the Chiefs.
- Whitney Mercilus likely out for the season. The Packers linebacker likely won't be able to return to the field this year after tearing his biceps against the Seahawks, according to ESPN.com. Since signing with the team on Oct. 21, Mercilus had recorded 10 QB pressures and a sack in four games.
- Jets coach responds to Rex Ryan criticism. Jets coach Robert Saleh and Rex Ryan are apparently in a war of words. Ryan wasn't happy that people compared Saleh to him and Saleh wasn't happy that Ryan wasn't happy about the comparison. For more details on the feud, be sure to click here.
- Ravens lose Derek Wolfe for the year. The Ravens were hoping to get a defensive boost this year with the return of Derek Wolfe, but it doesn't look like that boost will be coming. Although he was designated to return from IR on Oct. 26, it appears there was some sort of setback because John Harbaugh announced on Monday that Wolfe is now likely done for the season.
