There actually is a reason to tune in for tonight\u2019s lackluster matchup of Tampa Bay at St. Louis: Jameis Winston.<\/p>\n
And maybe the Rams\u2019 fine rookie running back, Todd Gurley, too.<\/p>\n
Both are among perhaps a dozen strong contenders for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and with the Rams (5-8) and Buccaneers (6-7) not likely to find a way into the postseason, watching the kids seems the best attraction.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery exciting,\u201d Winston says of a prime-time opportunity. \u201cI just want to show the world how good this team really is. This is our chance and we have to take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for being the top rookie, well, Winston sees Gurley as the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be awesome to achieve that goal, but that wasn\u2019t on my goal list at the beginning of the year,\u201d he says. \u201cMy goal was to have more wins than last year. We did that, so that\u2019s an important goal for us, not only just for me, but this organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely our team is way more important than my individual success with goals. I don\u2019t focus on that type of stuff, but Todd is having an amazing year and deserves all the credit he is getting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rams (No. 25 in AP Pro32) are a 1 1-2 point favorite over Tampa Bay (No. 18 in AP Pro32). The Bucs have a decent run defense, good enough to keep them in front in what could be the Rams final game representing St. Louis.<\/p>\n
BUCCANEERS, 20-16<\/p>\n
Knockout league tip: <\/strong>Kansas City went down to the wire before holding off San Diego for anyone who followed our advice and had the Chiefs in a survivor pool. This week we\u2019ll wait for Monday night and go with NEW ORLEANS.<\/p>\n No. 31 Tennessee (plus 14) at No. 3 New England<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that the Patriots are getting back some weapons for Tom Brady, they\u2019re back to laying it on opponents.<\/p>\n BEST BET: PATRIOTS 37-16<\/p>\n No. 9 Green Bay (minus 3) at No. 15 Oakland<\/strong><\/p>\n Probably too late for Raiders to make playoff run, but they can hurt Green Bay\u2019s standing.<\/p>\n UPSET SPECIAL: RAIDERS, 21-20<\/p>\n No. 20 Chicago (plus 5 1-2) at No. 11 Minnesota<\/strong><\/p>\n Vikings take advantage of Packers\u2019 stumble in NFC North.<\/p>\n VIKINGS, 20-19<\/p>\n No. 1 Carolina (minus 5) at No. 14 New York Giants<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, the Panthers will remain unbeaten. No, it won\u2019t be a runaway.<\/p>\n PANTHERS, 27-24<\/p>\n No. 2 Arizona (minus 3 1-2) at No. 12 Philadelphia<\/strong><\/p>\n Cardinals secure NFC West, damage Eagles\u2019 playoff status.<\/p>\n CARDINALS, 27-24<\/p>\n No. 5 Denver (plus 6 1-2) at No. 7 (tie) Pittsburgh<\/strong><\/p>\n Fearsome defense in Denver. Overpowering offense in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n STEELERS, 23-17<\/p>\n No. 6 Cincinnati (minus 4 1-2) at No. 28 San Francisco<\/strong><\/p>\n Last time an Alabama QB started and won in NFL was 1987. AJ McCarron changes that.<\/p>\n BENGALS, 20-10<\/p>\n No. 29 Cleveland (plus 14 1-2) at No. 4 Seattle<\/strong><\/p>\n Johnny Football gets to see the master of his style of quarterbacking in Russell Wilson.<\/p>\n SEAHAWKS, 24-13<\/p>\n No. 7 (tie) Kansas City (minus 7 1-2) at No. 30 Baltimore<\/strong><\/p>\n Chiefs\u2019 playoff run built on defense and more defense.<\/p>\n CHIEFS, 17-9<\/p>\n No. 10 New York Jets (minus 3) at No. 27 Dallas, Saturday night<\/strong><\/p>\n End of Jets\u2019 wild-card hopes comes under Saturday night lights in Texas.<\/p>\n COWBOYS, 19-17<\/p>\n No. 16 Buffalo (plus 1) at No. 13 Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n End of Bills\u2019 playoff hopes comes this weekend, too.<\/p>\n REDSKINS, 23-19<\/p>\n No. 23 Atlanta (plus 3) at No. 21 (tie) Jacksonville<\/strong><\/p>\n Jaguars still could win the weak AFC South. This will help.<\/p>\n JAGUARS, 27-20<\/p>\n No. 26 Miami (plus 2) at No. 32 San Diego<\/strong><\/p>\n Lowest-ranked NFL team is favored at home? Actually makes sense here.<\/p>\n CHARGERS, 19-15<\/p>\n No. 24 Detroit (plus 3) at No. 21 (tie) New Orleans, Monday night<\/strong><\/p>\n Can\u2019t trust either team, so going with the hosts.<\/p>\n SAINTS, 33-27<\/p>\n No. 17 Houston (OFF) at No. 19 Indianapolis<\/strong><\/p>\n QB situations are a mess, no betting line here. So backing best player on field, J.J Watt.<\/p>\n TEXANS, 17-16<\/p>\n 2015 record:<\/strong> Against spread: Week 7-8, Season (100-95-5). Straight up: Week 9-7, Season (127-81)<\/p>\n Best Bet:<\/strong> 6-7-1 against spread, 8-6 straight up.<\/p>\n Upset special: <\/strong>7-7 against spread, 4-10 straight up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There actually is a reason to tune in for tonight\u2019s lackluster matchup of Tampa Bay at St. Louis: Jameis Winston. And maybe the Rams\u2019 fine rookie running back, Todd Gurley, too. Both are among perhaps a dozen strong contenders for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and with the Rams (5-8) and Buccaneers (6-7) not likely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-11362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11362"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=11362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}