The Colts' Passing Offense is Officially Nuked with Anthony Richardson
Miami’s been a tough matchup all year for any team, but things weren’t pretty in Indianapolis. Anthony Richardson couldn’t connect with any of his receivers, especially Josh Downs. At this point, we’re simply dealing with Richardson’s developmental season, and we should expect volatility moving forward. There have been some highs and plenty of lows, but the dual threat upside doesn’t just disappear overnight. The biggest problem is that we aren’t going to know when to start these pass catchers given Richardson’s shakiness throwing the ball. Hold Downs, Pittman, and co. on your bench for now until things get better.
Deshaun Watson Tears His Achilles in Week 7 Loss to Bengals
The Browns made Dorian Thompson-Robinson QB2 before the game for whatever reason, and he ended up leaving the game with a finger injury. That prompted Jameis Winston to enter the game. We’re still awaiting DTR’s MRI results, but if he’s healthy enough to play, he will likely be Cleveland’s QB despite Jameis Winston being what’s best for overall production. DTR’s two favorite targets were Cedric Tillman and David Njoku, while Winston’s favorite targets were Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku.
49ers WR Room Faces Shake-Up as Deebo Exits Early, Aiyuk Suffers Season-Ending Injury
The 49ers were banged up at WR, with the most head-scratching being Deebo Samuel running only two routes in the entire game. Jauan Jennings was also out, of course, so Ricky Pearsall made his debut and ran the most routes of any 49ers WR. George Kittle has found his groove as Brock Purdy’s favorite target this year, with five straight Top-5 fantasy finishes. Moving forward, Deebo Samuel gets an upgrade, but Jennings and Pearsall should be prioritized on waivers, as well. We’ve seen Jennings make a big impact earlier this year, and he can do the same again. It’s possible we see Pearsall fill Aiyuk’s role as the X receiver.
Tank Bigsby Performs As Workhorse
Without Travis Etienne, Bigsby came through with 26 carries, 118 yards and 2 TDs. This is the third time he ran for 90+ yards over the last four weeks. At this point, it’s going to be hard to deny Bigbsy becoming the primary runner when Etienne comes back. With that being said, big workloads like this will be less likely to come by in negative game scripts, which is more likely for the Jags in most of their upcoming games.
Demario Douglas Was Dealing With Illness
Ian Rapaport tweets mid-game that Douglas was dealing with an illness when he woke up Sunday morning, and he was never even included on the injury report. Douglas ended up running only 10 routes total, leading to only 2 catches. He was targeted on 30% of his routes. The Seahawks knew Kenneth Walker was going to be hungover on his birthday in Atlanta and still added him to the injury report just in case - that’s the right way to handle it.
Bijan Returns to Workhorse Role
With Bijan Robinson not on the injury report at all this week, he had his best share of Atlanta’s total backfield opportunity. He had 27 total opportunities compared to Tyler Allgeier’s 6 on Sunday. Bijan has had two finishes now in the top 6 each of the last two weeks, which also happens to be his first two top-12 finishes of the season. Trending up.
Amari Cooper Scores in Limited Role
Amari only ran 12 routes in his first week with the Bills but was targeted 5 times for a whopping 42% TPRR. There’s a chance Amari finishes as a Top-12 WR this week depending on how things go tonight, but Top-15 is definitely in the cards despite the limited role. Expect him to be more ramped up next week; start him as a WR2.
Tony Pollard Bell Cow Without Spears
In a great matchup, Pollard had all the opportunity in the world (88% of snaps, 22 opportunities), but couldn’t even come through as a Top-24 RB. Despite the rough outing, Pollard must be started again in Detroit next week if Tyjae Spears is out or limited.
Nick Chubb Scores in First Game Back from Knee Injury
Chubb returned to a 35% snap share, but only produced 22 yards on 11 carries. We shouldn’t be surprised since it’s his first game back from a terrible injury. The hope is he can continue to improve, and the offense eventually turns over to Jameis Winston. Chubb did get all of the carries inside the 5-yard line on Sunday, and it led to him scoring. Nick Chubb is back scoring TDs, you love to see it.
Chase Brown Continues 1A Role for Cincy
The backfield split in Cincy didn’t change this week with Chase Brown receiving ~60% of the snaps and rush attempts. It’s worth noting that Brown is still the one being trusted on passing downs, but Brown was the primary early-down back for the Bengals on Sunday. Brown is a low-end RB2 with upside moving forward.
Joe Mixon is the Texans' Engine
The Texans decided to lean on Joe Mixon despite being down against the Packers. The run game was working, and they decided to give Mixon 25 carries in this one, leading to his third Top-3 finish of the season - in fact, he hasn’t finished outside the Top-3 in games he didn’t get injured in. The game plan led to a dud for the entire Texans passing game.
Tyrone Tracy Leads Giants' Backfield
With Devin Singletary back, Tracy continued to lead the Giants backfield. HC Brian Daboll said that Tracy earned continued work before the game, and he ended up leading the backfield with 67% of snaps and a 68% route participation. The Giants had a terrible Sunday, but if this continues, Tracy can be a low-end RB2 going forward assuming Singletary keeps the role he had this week.
Mattison Dominates the Raiders' Backfield
Even with Zamir White back, Mattison was the clear RB for the second straight week for the Raiders. Over the last two weeks, he’s had 68% of snaps, 76% of rushing attempts, and a 12% target share. That amounted to 26 touches on Sunday and two Top-15 finishes. Tough matchup next week, but it’s possible Mattison has taken over and can become a low-end RB2 moving forward.
Bowers Continues Historic Rookie Season
After another Top-3 finish (pending MNF), Bowers now has five Top-5 finishes this season and is the overall TE1 on the year. He’s earned a 25% target share on the year, and 35% over his last three games (8+ catches in each game) - all Top-5 finishes. Baller.
Jayden Daniels Suffers Rib Injury
X-rays were negative, so this shouldn’t be a long-term injury for Daniels. However, there are still ongoing tests to determine the severity of the injury. The Commanders didn’t need Daniels to destroy the Panthers on Sunday, but will likely need him against Chicago this week at home. Status TBD, so monitor reports.
Kareem Hunt Continues to Dominate Chiefs' Backfield
Hunt is averaging 26 touches/game over his last two weeks and has scored three touchdowns during that span. Hunt basically came off his couch and is able to perform like he never left. His route participation increased after the bye, so we could see more targets go his way, as well. He’s a high-end RB2 right now.
JuJu Re-Aggravates Hamstring Early
It took just a few snaps for JuJu to leave the game, re-aggravating the hamstring he tweaked earlier this week. It’s possible JuJu will miss a few games if this is a real hamstring strain. Xavier Worthy ended up leading the team with a 32% target share on 81% route participation - we just need that to turn into production. Mahomes missed Worthy on a deep pass that would’ve been a TD if he hit ‘em. He’ll be a high-end WR3 with upside if JuJu misses next week.
Brian Robinson Returns to Lead Backfield
With Robinson getting a full week of practice, he returned to become the clear leader of the Commanders backfield. Robinson handled 75% of the carries between him and Austin Ekeler and had almost all of the work in the red zone. It seems like we’re back to high-end RB2 BRob ahead of a solid matchup against Chicago. Let’s hope Jayden Daniels can suit up for that one.
Breece Hall Owns the Jets' Backfield
Since the Jets fired Robert Saleh and switched offensive coordinators, Breece Hall has completely taken over the Jets backfield once again. These past two weeks were the first two weeks since Week 1 where he had more than 80% of snaps, 80% of the rushing attempts, and a 70% route participation. This is ridiculously elite, and it’s no surprise he hasn’t finished outside the Top-8 in any of those weeks, including a Top-5 finish in Week 7. Braelon Allen has had 8 total opportunities over the last two weeks.
Kyle Pitts Trending Up, LaPorta Trending Down
Pitts now has two Top-10 finishes in the last three weeks, and his target share has gone up each of those weeks - 15% to 19% to 26%. Sam Laporta, on the other hand, has been trending down, with a 4% target share each of the last two weeks, resulting in 2 catches total. The Lions have a crowded offense, and LaPorta isn’t being prioritized right now. There’s a good chance you could have better luck streaming tight ends until LaPorta gets it together. Jatavion Sanders, anyone?