LOGIN

I’m from Iowa and if you’re not you will probably roll your eyes at this. It was a big day in the NFL for former Hawkeyes on Sunday. Adrian Clayborn took advantage of playing against Tyron Smith’s back up and got himself six sacks in one game. Wow, if only the Buccaneers, who struggle greatly to generate a pass rush, would’ve re-signed him after his rookie deal was up. Another great move by Jason Licht. Also, Hawkeye graduate C.J. Beathard earned his first career win in the NFL on Sunday. I figured that Jimmy Garappolo would have taken over the starting quarterback job before that ever happened, but here we are!

Minnesota Vikings Vs. Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins had a very good performance today in a game that was much more high scoring than it was projected to be. Adam Thielen once again outperformed Stefon Diggs catching 8 balls for 166 yards and a touchdown. Diggs wasn’t too shabby himself as he also reeled in 4 catches and a touchdown. Latavious Murray out-touched Jerrick McKinnon this week and he was also able to find the end zone in a pretty solid fantasy day.

Rob Kelley left the game with an injury so Samaje Perine took over his touches pretty early in the game. Perine didn’t do anything spectacular but he did manage a 9-yard carry. Chris Thompson took some carries as well but his 41 receiving yards was where his value was. Doctson caught 4 balls for 30 yards. The good news is that he saw 7 targets including 2 targets in the end zone. On of those targets he slipped on a would-be easy touchdown and on the second target Cousins overthrew him. Vernon Davis continues to eat. Going into the 4th quarter, he only had 2 catches for 15 yards, but after some garbage time with Cousins, he ended the day with 7 catches for 76 yards.

Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Tennessee Titans

Marcus Mariota had one of his better games this season. It helped that Vontaze Burfict got tossed out in the first half and was unable to wreak havoc. He was inches away from a second touchdown pass of the day but Corey Davis lost control of the ball and it ended up being a touch back. Either way, Mariota made up for it by tacking on 51 rushing yards. Derrick Henry gained more yards than DeMarco Murray but Murray was the back who found pay dirt twice. Everyone’s favorite sleeper tight end, Jonnu Smith only caught 2 balls for 20 yards to the disdain of fantasy twitter.

Andy Dalton also had a pretty good day. He was able to find Brandon LaFell and A.J. Green for touchdowns on their way to having nice days as well. Joe Mixon ran in his 3rd touchdown of the season. Mixon is struggling to find yards this year but it is hard to blame him with the lack of run blocking that has been provided for him. Still, one would think that he would be able to rip off more long runs than he has managed this year.

Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Indianapolis Colts

I’m having difficulty forgiving myself for overlooking Ju Ju Smith-Schuster in all five of my leagues. He had another great game catching 5 balls for 97 yards and a touchdown. He had the same amount of targets as Antonio Brown and I think they might have switched jerseys because Brown didn’t look like himself. There was one play that would’ve been about a 30-yard reception, but Antonio must have saw the safety closing in out of the corner of his eye and didn’t position himself correctly to make the catch.

I have never heard of Chester Rogers and I’m probably not going to look too much into it either. But props to him for a fantastic touchdown catch and going over 100 yards in an NFL game. Speaking of big plays, Jacoby Brissett leads the NFL in plays of over 60 yards this season, but you already knew that if you watch the Red Zone Channel all day like I do. T.Y. Hilton, Jack Doyle, and Marlon Mack were all quiet on Sunday.

New York Jets Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Robby Anderson is quietly having a very good season. Anderson scored a touchdown for his fourth game in a row and it doesn’t matter that it was with 28 seconds to go in the 4th quarter on a meaningless drive because fantasy points are fantasy points. Austin Seferian-Jenkins also continued his comeback campaign bringing in 6 balls for 67 yards in the second half.

Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t pile up a ton of yards, but a couple receivers on the Bucs had fantasy relevant days. Desean Jackson caught 6 balls for 82 yards. Chris Godwin, who was starting in place of Mike Evans, brought in 5 balls for 68 yards as well falling just one yard short of having a *nice* day. Cameron Brate was noticeably quiet on Sunday with only 10 yards on 3 targets.

Cleveland Browns Vs. Detroit Lions

Matthew Stafford was off to a slow start on Sunday, but ended up really getting things going in the second half on his way to a three-touchdown day against the Browns. It was also great to see Ameer Abdullah find the end zone. Abdullah is a talented running back, but unfortunately for him, he plays on a pass-heavy offense. Golden Tate turned in another strong fantasy day with 6 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. There was also a Kenny Golladay and Eric Ebron sighting today! On the Browns side of the ball, Isaiah Crowell and Deshone Kizer found the end zone on the ground. Kizer had the best game of his career in a losing effort.

Los Angeles Chargers Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Philip Rivers squeezed out a couple of touchdowns to Austin Ekeler to justify a start from owners who were possibly in a tight spot. Ekeler put an asterisk next to his good game with a costly fourth quarter fumble. Melvin Gordon, Keenan Allen, and Hunter Henry all had quiet days against this top-of-the-line defense. Leonard Fournette lost a lot of playing time in the second half before checking back in during the overtime period. Fournette averaged under 2 yards per carry for the day.

Green Bay Packers Vs. Chicago Bears

Mitchell Trubisky let it fly on Sunday and he almost had his first career 300-yard passing game. I wasn’t expecting the running game to be so quiet for the Bears, both Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen had very quiet days. I’m not in a rush to go pick up Dontrelle Inman, it doesn’t seem like any receivers on the Bears are ever able to string together consecutive relevant games. I think that you’d just be wasting your transactions or FAAB. Adam Shaheen is an interesting stash if you need some help at tight end.

I’m not privy to the length of time that either Ty Montgomery or Aaron Jones will be out for, but if they are missing next week, Jamaal Williams is worth a pick-up with the Ravens coming to town. These receivers are tough to predict on a week-to-week basis, but today was Davante Adam’s day.

New Orleans Saints Vs. Buffalo Bills

The Saints sure do seem to be running the ball a lot lately. What is Drew Brees hiding? Just kidding, hell, he even got in on the action with a rushing touchdown of his own. I know that one of our Razzball readers has the Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara stack so Sunday was a great day for him, I’m sure. The fact that the Saints can put up 47 points in shitty outdoor weather with Drew Brees only throwing for 184 yards tells me that this team is going to bring the pain in the real life football playoffs. Buffalo was unable to respond well to the tough New Orleans defense. Tyrod Taylor was terrible and Kelvin Benjamin only caught 3 passes in his Buffalo debut.

Dallas Cowboys Vs. Atlanta Falcons

I’m very confused. I thought that Dallas had the best offensive line in football. It’s crazy how devastating that it is for the Cowboys to be missing Tyron Smith. Alfred Morris carried the ball 11 times and Rod Smith carried it 3 times but caught 4 passes. It’s no surprise that Dez Bryant led the Cowboys in targets on Sunday, but what is surprising is how quiet he has been this season. If I remember correctly, health has always been the issue with his production, but I think that he has played every game this year. I hope that the Cowboys don’t play the Jaguars this year, I’m sure that Jalen Ramsey would have plenty of thoughts for Dez about his performance this year.

Devonta Freeman only saw one carry before he went into concussion protocol. Tevin Coleman earned fist pumps from owners who started him today as he ran for 83 yards and a touchdown. Matt Ryan had a serviceable game to go along with another rather serviceable season. Julio Jones isn’t helping his cause, he had another quiet game Sunday without a touchdown.

New York Giants Vs. San Francisco 49ers

If Carlos Hyde was finding the end zone more often, we would be talking about a top 10 back from week to week. Hyde is consistently running the ball well and making plays for this sputtering offense. Marquise Goodwin was one and done today, but it was a big one. Garrett Celek had 4 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. If you haven’t caught on yet, if you have a starting tight end on your roster or on your waiver wire that is playing the Giants that week, get them in your lineup. Eli Manning had a good fantasy day, but Giants fans don’t care about that when they are staring at a 1-8 record in the standings. Sterling Shephard took advantage of a great matchup on Sunday and had a huge day. If you can find a way to acquire Shepard, you should do that, because his schedule is very favorable going forward.

Houston Texans Vs. Los Angeles Rams

Todd Gurley piled up the yardage on Sunday, but he wasn’t able to find the end zone, which seems unlikely when you see the final score of this game. Robert Woods is becoming a force with Jared Goff. He’s not only an every week starter, he’s an every week starter that you can be confident in to produce. Sammy Watkins isn’t catching a lot of balls, but he found the end zone for the second week in a row. Will Fuller got banged up on Sunday, so that means more targets for DeAndre Hopkins. His footwork on the sideline continues to be unmatched, if he actually had… never mind, regardless of who is throwing him the ball (outside of Brock Osweiler) Hopkins is one of the best receivers in the league.