Jace Amaro vs. Patriots secondary

Watch out, Gronk! Jace Amaro is coming to take the tight end crown from you, bro! [shotguns beer – slaps a stranger on the ass] Ok, kidding. Amaro probably isn’t the next Rob Gronkowski, but the second-round pick out of Texas Tech has flashed a little bit this season. And, heck, he’s 6’5″, 260-plus pounds with 4.74 speed and plenty of collegiate pass-catching experience. He’s eclipsed 50 yards receiving in three of the last four games for New York…the entire offense was asleep at the wheel in San Diego, so Amaro gets somewhat of a pass for that game…and he saw a team-high 12 targets in Week 6’s loss to the Denver Broncos.

Amaro scored his first NFL touchdown against Peyton’s team and reeled in 10 Geno Smith passes. If young QBs begin to rely on a big tight end, they’ll look for him early in often in almost every game. Last week, Bills tight end Scott Chandler exploded with six catches for 105 yards against the Patriots defense, and without Jerod Mayo, New England’s secondary will be ripe for the picking once again.

Don’t be surprised if Amaro has some Gronkowskian moments this evening.

Prediction:

Jace Amaro: 5 catches, 70 yards, 1 TD

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Ben Roethlisberger vs. Texans defense

Ben, what is up? You and Antonio Brown are one of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterback – wideout duos, but the consistency just hasn’t been there on your end. After the stinker against the Browns, the Steelers host the Houston J.J. Watt’s on Monday Night Football this week.

Yes, Watt is that entire team, and to me, the league MVP. There’s no player more valuable to his team than him.

Pittsburgh will form its gameplan around keeping Watt from ruining the game completely, and will utilize a variety of quick passes to Brown and screens to Le’Veon Bell. Also, Big Ben is pretty darn good eluding pressure and finding receivers down the field. Remember that.

Outside of Watt, the Houston defense is certainly susceptible, especially at safety.

D.J. Swearinger is trying to become the NFL’s next Brandon Meriweather, (not a good thing), and he abandons his deep coverage assignments often. Don’t be surprised if the Steelers max protect and look for Brown down the field on a few occasions.

I envision a bounce-back game for Roethlisberger and the Steelers on Monday night.

Prediction:

Ben Roethlisberger: 25-for-34, 275 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT

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Jeremy Hill vs. Colts run defense

What do we make of Bengals rookie runner Jeremy Hill? We all expected Cincinnati’s offense to sputter without A.J. Green against a stout Panthers defense, but, um, it didn’t. The Bengals scored 37 points (should have been 40) and feature-back Gio Bernard ran for 137 yards and a score on just 18 carries. Though Hill wasn’t efficient with the football, he reached the end zone for the third time this season.

Now, if you’re starting Hill, you’re a bold owner, but I can respect that. We all have bye week issues around this time of the season.

Hill appears to be the clear-cut goal-line back, and with his size and Cincinnati’s offense live, he’s going to score touchdowns.

The Colts allow a hefty 4.8 yards per carry and have surrendered seven rushing touchdowns on the season. Only the Falcons have given up more.

I expect Bernard to spring loose on a few occasions, but Hill is a sneaky good play this week.

Prediction:

Jeremy Hill: 6 carries, 25 yards, 1 TD, 3 catches, 19 yards

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Sammy Watkins vs. Vikings secondary

Sammy Watkins has taken fantasy owners on a nice little roaster-coaster ride this season. He had three grabs in the season opener, then he erupted for eight catches, over 100 yards and a score in Week 4. In Week 3, he seemed to be out of Buffalo’s gameplan. In Week 4, he wasn’t great, but he scored a touchdown. Against the Lions, he wasn’t able to reach the end zone, but he had seven receptions (three of the circus variety) for 87 yards. Last week against Darrelle Revis he was held to just two grabs and his first target came in the third quarter.

At this point, with Kyle Orton moving the ball well for the Bills, I think Buffalo’s coaching staff realizes Watkins HAS to be one of the offensive focal points every game. The decoy game is over. Xavier Rhodes, who’ll likely cover Watkins on Sunday, is a big and physical corner, but expect to see Watkins get 7-10 targets at home.

Also, the explosive YAC specialist still has not seen one screen or jet sweep as an NFL’er. That will change soon.

If you drafted Watkins, you believed in his special talent. Trust him to put up a solid fantasy afternoon this week against the Vikings.

Prediction:

Sammy Watkins: 6 catches, 96 yards, 1 TD