I would appreciate it if someone could explain what is happening in the first seven weeks of this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams, which maybe wasn’t much of a surprise except that, once again, the Steelers won by being outgained in yardage, 316-366. Rex Ryan on ESPN stated that they have been outgained by 600+ yards while having an impressive 4-2 record.
The Minnesota Vikings, without Justin Jefferson, beat the San Francisco 49ers, and the offensively deprived New England Patriots beat the juggernaut that is supposed to be the Buffalo Bills.
I think Jonathan Allen explains everything about Washington’s Commanders season and the season as a whole. It is refreshing to have someone explain things as they are and not as they should be.
Speaking of how things should be, they are not attacking Drake London. London finished with seven targets, six receptions, and 54 receiving yards. And yes, back to Allen’s comments, his offense was not one to attack. Brian Robinson had eight rushing attempts for 28 yards. He averaged 2.9 yards per carry, so much for attacking the New York Giants’ defense.
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Defenses to Attack Week 8
Defenses to Attack with Quarterback
C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans -3.0 @ Carolina Panthers, 42.5 o/u
Stroud is currently the favorite to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, with -135 odds. More surprisingly, he is only rostered in 57% of fantasy leagues.
That is surprising because Stroud has thrown two touchdown passes in four of his last five games. He also has two games with 300+ passing yards.
The Panthers have given up 10 passing touchdowns. They also are allowing 342.2 total yards per game. In their last three games, the Panthers have allowed Tua Tagovailoa 262 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, Jared Goff 236 passing touchdowns with three passing touchdowns, and Kirk Cousins 139 passing touchdowns with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
This game between this year’s two first-round draft picks should be close and competitive—more reason for Stroud to solidify his position as the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Defenses to Attack with Running Back
Breece Hall, New York Jets -3.0 @ New York Giants, 36.5
Again, we have a team coming off their bye week and another coming off a surprising win. Also, did everyone know that Hall was on a snap count…only me cool…cool.
The Giants have allowed 137.3 rushing yards a game for the season. In the last three weeks, they have allowed 142 rushing yards. In their surprising win last week, a relative stranger named Chris Rodriguez was the leading rusher for Washington with 31 rushing yards. He did average 4.4 yards per carry. The week prior, Bills’ James Cook rushed for 71 yards against the Giants. Cook averaged 5.1 yards per carry.
In his three weeks before their bye week, Hall has averaged 9.3, 8.0, and 3.3 yards per carry. For the season, Hall is averaging 6.8 yards per carry. He has 12 red zone touches, is third in breakaway runs (6), and is on the field for a 46.8% snap share.
The only potential downside is that the Jets are 28th in team run plays per game (22.3). The upside is that the other two running backs, Dalvin Cook and Michael Carter, are only on the field for 27% of the snaps. Hall dominates this backfield.
Defenses to Attack with Wide Receiver
Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens, -8.0 @ Arizona Cardinals, 43.5
Last week, the Ravens had 16 pass plays and four designed rushes across their first 20 plays. Lamar Jackson completed 21 of 27 passes. He had a 69% pass rate (20 passes and nine rushes) on early downs.
The Arizona Cardinals secondary is in the bottom three in completion percentage when they play man (71.2%) or zone (78.4%). Cornerback Marco Wilson is giving up a 79.5% completion percentage. Wilson is responsible for three of the team’s nine passing touchdowns.
Last week, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo finished with a touchdown against the secondary.
This week, it is time for the rookie domination to continue its run against this secondary. Flowers was tied for second (with Mark Andrews) for targets last week. He finished second in receiving yards. The week before, he led in targets (8). Flowers also was second in receptions and had the lone receiving touchdown.
The downside is Odell Beckham Jr. has recovered. He led the team in targets last week (7) with a 56.7% snap share. The upside is Flowers was on the field for 71.7% snap share.
The Ravens are becoming comfortable with Todd Monken’s offense. Flowers has consistently been second fiddle to Mark Andrews. Against the porous Cardinals secondary, Flowers should attack.
Defenses to Attack with Tight End
Darren Waller, New York Giants v New York Jets, -3.0, 36.5 o/u
I, for one, am waiting patiently for a Darren Waller breakout game. The Jets allow the most fantasy points per game to the tight end position (9.8).
Dallas Goedert had 42 yards against them, while Adam Trautman had 26 yards and a touchdown.
Waller is TE7 in standard fantasy leagues and TE5 in PPR. And last week, he finished with 15.8 fantasy points, the first time he had double-digit fantasy points for the season. Let’s keep it going, Waller.
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