NFL Thursday Night Football

There comes a moment in everyone’s life when they sigh deeply and think to themselves, “man, I’m sure not good at football, but I wouldn’t have thrown that pass directly into a defensive lineman’s forehead.” Unfortunately, for many of us, that moment came to fruition last night in the NFL Thursday night football game. With an open Cole Kmet in the front of the end zone, Justin Fields rifled a throw right into the dome of Efe Obada, causing the ball to skyrocket into the air and come down into the hands of Jonathan Allen for an interception.

That proved to be Fields’ lone turnover of the night, but that miscue, coupled with Velus Jones’ muffed punt in the fourth quarter, was ultimately Chicago’s downfall. And once again, we find ourselves wondering if the NFL’s Thursday Night Football could possibly get any harder to watch, and I find myself debating what I did to Donkey Teeth to deserve being stuck with writing about this travesty week after week. But complaining is for the weak, so onward, we trudge into the abysmal abyss!

The Stage NFL Thursday night football

Matchup: Washington Commanders (1-4) @ Chicago Bears (2-3)

Line: CHI -0.5

What Happened: After a touchdown-less first half, Dante Pettis found the end zone in the third quarter before Brian Robinson Jr. scored the eventual game-winner with a one-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth. Fields and Darnell Mooney had their chance at the goal line in the final seconds, but Mooney was ruled down at the one-yard line to seal Washington’s second victory of the season.

Commanders Pregame Outcome vs. Projections (Half-PPR)

QB Carson Wentz – 4.1 (PROJ 16.1)

WR Curtis Samuel – 1.6 (PROJ 11.4)

WR Terry McLaurin – 6.7 (PROJ 10.1)

RB J.D. McKissic – 2.0 (PROJ 7.4)

RB Brian Robinson – 12.0 (PROJ 7.0)

RB Antonio Gibson – 6.8 (PROJ 6.7)

WR Dyami Brown – 0.0 (PROJ 4.9)

TE John Bates – 0.0 (PROJ 4.2)

TE Cole Turner – 3.3 (PROJ 3.9)

WR Cam Sims – 1.1 (PROJ 3.5)

WR Dax Milne –1.0 (PROJ 0.2)

Bears Pregame Projections vs. Outcome (Half-PPR) NFL Thursday night football

RB David Montgomery – 8.5 (PROJ 14.8)

QB Josh Fields – 18.4 (PROJ 12.4)

RB Khalil Herbert – 7.5 (PROJ 6.8)

WR Darnell Mooney – 10.3 (PROJ 6.8)

TE Cole Kmet – 2.0 (PROJ 4.5)

WR Equanimeous St. Brown – 0.1 (PROJ 3.3)

WR Dante Pettis – 16.4 (PROJ 4.9)

WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette – -0.1 (1.8)

WR Velus Jones – 0.3 (PROJ 0.5)

Fantasy Studs

Our branding department is considering changing the name of this section to “Fantasy Not-Duds.” Studs is probably the wrong name for this group, but here’s who didn’t destroy your fantasy lineup last night.

1. Dante Pettis – Four receptions (seven targets), 84 yards, one TD. Projected for just 4.9 half-PPR points and coming in with a season-high of three targets back in Week 4, Pettis led all RBs/WRs/TEs on Thursday with 16.4 fantasy points. That was made possible by seven targets, second only to Mooney’s 12. He’s still a fringe roster add, but it’s clear he’s gaining favor in Chicago.

2. Brian Robinson – 17 carries, 60 yards, one TD, zero targets. Not only was Robinson the lone Commander to break double-digit half-PPR points, but he was the only player on the team to surpass seven fantasy points. And we’re talking about the team that won this game. This was just his second game back, but his 17 carries were three times more than the next-closest Commander — Gibson, with five.

Fantasy Duds

Just about everyone not named Pettis, Robinson, Mooney and Fields was a dud in this one, but only two players utterly destroyed fantasy lineups on Thursday.

1. Curtis Samuel – Two receptions (five targets), six yards. An atrocious fantasy performance, no matter how you slice it. Pizza slices. Orange slices. Slices of pie. Home slice. All bad. Samuel saw a season-low five targets and had two blatant drops — one of which would have been a touchdown. This week, he worked his way into the WR2 discussion, but that was a farce.

2. David Montgomery – 15 carries, 67 yards, one reception (one target), 13 yards. Meanwhile, Khalil Herbert carried the ball less than half as many times (seven carries) and finished with eight more yards (75 yards). Sure, 64 of Herbert’s 75 yards came on one carry, but I didn’t see Montgomery break off any game-breaking plays in his 16 touches. *loud farting noise*

What We Learned

1. There are zero must-start fantasy options on either of these rosters.

2. Pettis has moved ahead of St. Brown in the Chicago pecking order. I wouldn’t necessarily be installing him in lineups yet, but he’s a fringe roster add and worth monitoring on the waiver wire.

3. Robinson’s ceiling is capped by his complete lack of passing game usage, but he’s in weekly FLEX consideration due to his status as Washington’s clear lead back.

4. Fields can salvage fantasy value even in ugly games, but he’s very far away from being a capable NFL passer.

5. Samuel is not a WR2. He is best deployed as a matchup-dependent FLEX at best.

6. Herbert needs to be held in all formats. Even with Monty healthy, he should be touching the football more than he is.

7. I am afraid of Ron Rivera. He scares me.

Lingering Question NFL Thursday night football

1. Can any of Samuel, McLaurin, Robinson, Montgomery and Mooney emerge as a legitimate plug-and-play fantasy starter?

I’d put my money on no, but if I had to pick one, I’d go with Mooney sheerly due to the upside that exists with every incremental improvement Fields makes under center.

That’s all for this week, Razzball fam! As always, I’m happy to take this conversation into the comments section or on Twitter, where you can find me @WorldOfHobbs. NFL Thursday night football NFL Thursday night football NFL Thursday night football