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It looks like we’re going to get week 6 in after a rash of false positives. Let’s enjoy it. As flu season approaches many viruses will share the symptoms of COVID. Our favorite players may miss more games than we’re prepared for. Anywho, let’s pop the hood on the week that was.

  • The next back to get a ride on the Falcons cushy matchup carousel is David Montgomery. Monty has posted back to back weeks of an 80%+ snap share, accompanied by 14 total targets. The groin must be better. He’s the man in that backfield with Tarik Cohen lost for the year.
  • A.J. Brown’s return was one of the few things to go right for Tennessee prior to beating the Bills. Their WR cupboard was bare aside from the sophomore. That led to 9 targets and a productive 7-82-1 line. Even with the full complement of pass-catchers in the opener (the only other game Brown played) Brown still saw 8 targets. He should be good even with other options returning.
  • Alexander Mattison is the RB du jour with Dalvin Cook likely out. He hogged the snaps after Cook went down to the tune of 43/48.
  • As he gets back to full health Laviska Shenault is getting more involved in the offense. He’s handling 6-8 touches weekly. If DJ Chark misses this week’s game it could be a full-on breakout for Viska.  
  • Jonathan Taylor is forcing a missed tackle 11% of the time. That’s third-worst out of 34 backs with 50+ touches. Maybe he’s pressing. Maybe withered Phillip Rivers isn’t getting much respect from opposing defenses. The Bengals should be a cure for all that ails you.
  • Kareem-Hunt out-touching D’Ernest Johnson 17 to 2 before being sidelined with cramps was fairly surprising. Yes, the game was back and forth the whole 60 minutes. That split was a pretty clear showing of the Browns’ hand that they know how much better Hunt is than Johnson.
  • Mecole Hardman seems to be more firmly in the Chiefs circle of trust in his second season. After Sammy Watkins went down he played only two less snaps than Demarcus Robinson with one less target. The volume is still spread around in the KC offense but Hardman takes the top off almost as well as Tyreek.
  • The Tyler Higbee break out is in purgatory at the moment with him running routes on 51.5% of dropbacks. It seems he’s destined to fare similarly to all of their weapons with a yin to his yang in Gerald Everett.
  • Could this be the beginning of an Irv Smith, Jr. revival? It could be a fluke that he got 5 targets to Kyle Rudolphs 2. Still, Smith has played more snaps every game, going from 31 in week 1 to 59 last week. With a possible shootout against the Falcons on tap it’s now or never.