My Bills took it on the chin again (going to be saying that quite a bit the rest of the next two seasons) as the Bears smacked Nathan Peterman around all day in a game that was downright offensive to the modern NFL offenses. I actually watched that entire game and then the New Orleans – LA Rams game and it felt like I was watching two different sports. Let’s get into some of the games from this past weekend…
Bears @ Bills
Jesus Christ this game sucked. Mitchell Trubisky was pretty irrelevant in this one. He only threw for 135 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 UGLY interception. Jordan Howard was only able to muster 47 yards on the ground with a 3.4 YPC, but he did find the end zone twice. Anthony Miller led the team with 6 targets and 5 catches for 49 yards. Trey Burton was only able to muster 28 yards and 2 receptions, but did have a TD so it was worth it for your fantasy teams. Otherwise, this game was hot trash for the Bears offense.
Speaking of hot trash, the Bills also played in this one. At the end of the first half, the Bills had a chance to throw a 40-yard Hail Mary pass. Instead, Nathan Peterman decided he was feeling it with his legs and tried running it… from 40 yards out… with 9 defenders sitting in the end zone. Truly remarkable performance by the Peter Man. He threw the ball 49 times (yikes) and had 3 INT’s and only 189 passing yards (not even sure how that’s possible) while somehow having 46 rushing yards and a TD. No Bills RB did anything of value so we’re not even going to go there. All Bills WR’s were useless in this game as well. Just dreadful. And next week we all get to witness them face off against the Jets… what a barnburner.
Jets @ Dolphins
This game was played in the sloppiest conditions imaginable. For the road team, Sam Darnold threw for 229 and 4 picks, which doesn’t bode well against the Bills next week who actually have a reputable secondary. Isaiah Crowell returned to the tune of 13 carries for 49 yards. Rookie TE Chris Herndon was able to bring in all 4 targets he had for 62 yards. He continues to be a great add for those of you in bye-week hell for TE’s. Elijah McGuire had 30 yards rushing but more importantly had 5 targets in the passing game for 37 yards. He is much more valuable in the PPR leagues.
Brock Osweiler did next to nothing in this game. Frank Gore had 20 carries for a less than impressive 53 yards rushing. There was nothing from Miami worth talking about. They scored all 13 points off turnovers (7 of which were a pick-6 of Darnold).
Texans @ Broncos
This game was a massive disappointment from a scoring perspective for me. Deshaun Watson started out hot and then the second half was just a slow grind of misery for those of us who played the over in this game. Watson ended with 213 passing yards and 2 TD’s to go along with 38 rushing yards. Lamar Miller was a giant waste of a roster spot in this game to the point where it’s not even worth mentioning his awful stat line. DeAndre Hopkins had 10 receptions on 12 targets for 105 yards and a TD. Hopkins had an astonishing 50% target share in this game. I’ve never seen a target share so high in my time covering NFL games. Demaryius Thomas had 3 catches for 61 yards after the first quarter. He then went on to post no stats going forward. No targets. No yards. No receptions. No nothing.
The Mile High Squad was really fascinating to watch mainly because Vance Joseph is an awful clock-management coach and made even Bill O’Brien look competent. Case Keenum was respectable in his performance with 290 passing yards and a TD. Phillip Lindsay had 60 yards on 17 carries and was vultured by Devontae Booker in the red zone. Receiving wise we were all expecting Courtland Sutton and Emmanuel Sanders to dominate out there. Nope. It was Jeff Heuerman who shined brightest with 10 receptions for 83 yards and a score to benefit exactly 0 fantasy owners out there.
Chargers @ Seahawks
Philip Rivers had a decent day at the office. He threw for 228 and 2 TD’s in this one. He only threw the ball 26 times, which makes Keenan Allen having 10 targets rather remarkable. That’s a 38.46% target share (2nd only to Hopkins in Houston) where Allen had 124 yards on 6 receptions and 2 carries for 28 yards. Melvin Gordon had another great day of work coming off the bye and an injury grabbing 113 rushing yards on 16 carries and a TD.
Russell Wilson had 235 passing with 2 TD’s and 1 INT in this one. He also added 41 yards on the ground to supplement his passing stats. In another week of “Who the hell is the lead Seahawks RB?” we now had Mike Davis getting the bulk of the carries. Davis finished with 62 yards on 15 carries and 7 receptions for 45 yards for you PPR players. In the passing game, Doug Baldwin caught all 4 of his targets for 77 yards, but Nick Vannett was the interesting one. He had 63 yards receiving on 6 receptions but had 8 targets in this one. Either Baldwin isn’t 100% healthy or Wilson is spreading the ball more than he ever has in previous seasons.
Rams @ Saints
Jared Goff ended up with monster stats in this one as the Rams were playing from behind for most of this game. Goff had 391 yards passing and 3 TD’s with 1 INT. Todd Gurley had only a modest (for his standards) game with 68 yards rushing and a TD as well as 6 receptions for 11 yards (Seriously. Not a typo. I couldn’t believe it either). All three WR’s for the Rams ate in this one. Brandin Cooks finished with 114 yards and a TD. Cooper Kupp came back from injury with 89 yards and a TD. Robert Woods had 71 yards on 9 targets in this one. Again, you’re starting all of these guys anyways.
The Saints were absolutely delightful to watch after that Bills performance. Drew Brees put on a clinic in this one with 346 passing and 4 TD’s with no turnovers. Alvin Kamara was a beast on Sunday. He had 82 yards on 19 carries with 2 rushing TD’s along with 34 receiving yards and a receiving TD. Michael Thomas was also unstoppable in this game. He had 211 yards receiving on 15 targets with 12 receptions and a TD (capped off by a beautiful celebration involving a flip phone that ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT BE A FLAG COME ON NFL GROW UP). Benjamin Watson turned back the clock yet again with 3 receptions for 62 yards and a TD (ps congrats on the pregnancy B-Wats). Tre’Quan Smith was everyone’s deeper league darling this week and he finally “delivered” with 2 receptions for 23 yards and a TD. It’s about time he find the end zone.
