Taking a quick rundown of the Sunday NFL games with a fantasy perspective. A few great games and far too many that forgot how to score.
Sunday Snippets
TB 35, ATL 22
Bit of an upset since the Falcons looked like their Week 1 to 9 version instead of the recent defensive juggernaut. Jameis Winston threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns with his two obligatory interceptions. Chris Godwin took his turn this week with seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns while Mike Evans was held to only four catches for 50 yards. No other receiver had more than 44 yards so it was just all-Godwin, all-day. Ronald Jones ran for 51 yards and one score but this game was all about the pass.
The Falcons faced a weak secondary and yet Matt Ryan only passed for 271 yards and no touchdowns. Calvin Ridley (6-85, TD) was the top receiver while Julio Jones settled for just 68 yards on five catches. The rookie Qadree Ollison ran in a touchdown but only gained 20 yards on eight carries. The passing effort should have been more successful since literally every other opponent of the Falcons did better passing against them. A 3-8 team cannot have a “trap game” but the Falcons played far worse than they had in recent weeks, and their defense went soft again.
DEN 3, BUF 20
The Broncos were never in this. Brandon Allen hit a new low passing for just 82 yards and one interception while completely only ten of 25 passes. Drew Lock will be making an appearance soon. All combined, the Broncos totaled just 167 yards of offense and just 134 yards if you deduct their four sacks.
As usual, the Bills had Devin Singletary ran for 106 yards on 21 carries while Frank Gore still took 15 rushes to gain 65 yards. Josh Allen also ran for 56 yards and passed for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Cole Beasley (6-76, TD) and John Brown (2-39, TD) were the top receivers. This was just a defensive matchup with a dash of offense for the Bills. The stats are what a bad weather game looks like… only the weather was fine.
NYG 14, CHI 19
One of the many low-scoring games on the day. Saquon Barkley only gained 59 yards on 17 carries and added two receptions for a net of one yard. Daniel Jones only threw for 150 yards while Darius Slayton (4-67) and Golden Tate (3-33, TD) were the best two receivers. The worst part of this game was that Barkley is stringing together multiple “bad” games and isn’t being used as a receiver as much.
The Bears won thanks to Mitchell Trubisky throwing for 278 yards and a score to Allen Robinson (6-131, TD) who finally had shown up with high production though no other receivers offered much. David Montgomery (13-22) and Tarik Cohen (6-25) struggled with poor blocking and neither had enough work to get into any rhythm. Cohen added seven receptions but only gained 29 yards. It was yet another down offensive performance by the Bears but at least their defense had a better performance than usual.
PIT 16, CIN 10
Yep, winter is here. Mason Rudolph was benched after only completing 8-of-16 passes for 85 yards and one interception. Devlin Hodges took over and threw for 118 yards and one score to James Washington (3-98, TD) who finally came to life only without his college quarterback. No other receiver had over 35 yards. Benny Snell gained 98 yards on 21 carries and Kerrith Whyte Jr. made everyone consult their game program when he ran for 43 yards on six carries. Jaylen Samuels only ran twice for six yards and added just three catches for 26 yards in this game that offense forgot. The Steelers were without JuJu Smith-Schuster but Diontae Johnson (3-29) was able to play.
Ryan Finley was held to 192 passing yards but threw a score to Tyler Boyd (5-101, TD) who was the only remotely productive receiver. Joe Mixon ran for 79 yards on 18 rushes but was never thrown a pass. Finley only completed 12-of-26 passes and their offense did the impossible in making the Steelers look good by comparison.
MIA 24, CLE 41
This is exactly what we want to happen when two bad teams meet. The Dolphins trailed 21-0 in the second quarter but made it into a game before the Browns peeled off 13 points in the fourth quarter. Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 214 yards and two scored between Allen Hurns (4-42, TD) and Mike Gesicki (3-28, TD). DeVante Parker (6-91) was still the top receivers. The rushing effort was as anemic as usual since Fitzpatrick (5-45, TD) was the leading rusher.
Baker Mayfield looked exactly like he was expected during the first ten games. He passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns between Jarvis Landry (10-149, 2 TD) and Odell Beckham (6-84, TD). Nick Chubb ran for 106 yards and one touchdown plus caught three passes for 58 yards. Kareem Hunt gained 37 yards on eight rushes for 37 yards and a touchdown but only caught two passes for nine yards. All of the normal fantasy starts for the Browns turned in good to great performances.
OAK 3, NYJ 34
The Raiders opted to use their Week 12 matchup for their annual trash game since they were never remotely in this game. Derek Carr only passed for 127 yards and one interception. No receiver gained more than 47 yards and Carr threw at least one pass to 11 different receivers. Josh Jacobs only ran for 34 yards on ten carries and caught one pass for two yards. The Raiders fell flat from the start.
The Jets never looked better. Le’Veon Bell was held to only 49 rushing yards but added five catches for 59 yards. Sam Darnold not only passed for 315 yards and two scores, but he also ran in a touchdown as well. Robby Anderson (4-86, TD) ended his funk for at least this week while Ryan Griffin (3-13, TD) is still making the tight end matter for the Jets. The Jets tacked on an interception returned for a touchdown as their final score of the day but both teams were already packing their equipment boxes by the fourth quarter.
SEA 17, PHI 9
And down goes the scoring. Russell Wilson passed for only 200 yards and one score to Malik Turner on his only catch in the game. Tyler Lockett was the lead receiver because his only catch gained 38 yards. Chris Carson was held to only 26 rushing yards and four catches for 31 yards but Rashaad Penney turned in 129 yards and one score on 14 carries as the surprise “hot hand” who had runs of 21, 26, and 58 yards for most of his production. The Seahawks didn’t do much and they didn’t need to with the Eagles unable to get their offense kickstarted.
Miles Sanders ran for 63 yards on 12 carries and added three catches for 23 yards but the Eagles also relied on Jay Ajayi who gained only 16 yards on his six rushes. Carson Wentz passed for 256 yards and one score to Zach Ertz (12-91, TD) but the Eagles were without all of their starting wideouts anyway. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (2-43) was as good as it got. The Eagles couldn’t compensate for the loss of their starting wideouts and Jordan Howard was also out. Both teams sputtered on offense but the Seahawks broke several long runs that helped make the difference.
DET 16, WAS 19
Under, under, under. So many games, so few points. The Redskins broke their four-game losing streak despite never actually scoring an offensive touchdown. They returned a kickoff for a 91-yard score but otherwise, it was just Dustin Hopkins kicking four field goals. Dwayne Haskins only passed for 156 yards and one interception while missing two touchdowns to Terry McLaurin (5-72) because of bad throws. Facing the worst defense versus running backs, Derrius Guice only ran for 32 yards on ten rushes and caught just one pass for six yards. Adrian Peterson was even worse with 27 yards on his ten carries but at least he gained 21 yards on his only catch.
The Lions only passed for 207 yards and a score with Jeff Driskel also running for 63 yards. Kenny Golladay (4-61) and Marvin Jones (5-46) were the best receivers. Bo Scarbrough bought himself a continued start with 98 yards on 18 runs. The Lions haven’t featured a running quarterback in many years. Now we know why.
JAC 20, TEN 42
The Titans won their last two and insist that they are playoff-worthy. The Jaguars likely agree. Leonard Fournette had one of his best games with 87 rushing yards and two scores plus nine catches for 62 yards. But Nick Foles only threw for 272 yards and no touchdowns. Dede Westbrook (8-69) and D.J. Chark (5-38) were the top receivers Chark failed to deliver. Worse yet, the Jaguars’ defense is getting worse as the season progresses.
The Titans produced well whether they ran or passed. Ryan Tannehill threw for 259 yards and two scores that mostly benefited A.J. Brown (4-135, TD) while no other receiver gained more than 29 yards. They didn’t have to because Derrick Henry ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns and even Tannehill gained 40 yards and two scores on his seven rushes. The Titans led 35-3 in the third quarter before they let up and allowed the Jaguars to make it look like it was a competitive game. Which it was not.
DAL 9, NE 13
Unfortunately, this game didn’t really dispell any of the concerns with either team. the Cowboys still cannot beat a team with a winning record although playing at the Patriots is about as tough as it gets. Dak Prescott passed for only 212 yards and one interception, Randall Cobb, amazingly, was the best receiver with 86 yards on four catches but Amari Cooper never had a catch that wasn’t called back on a penalty. Ezekiel Elliott ran 21 times for 86 yards and added four receptions for 40 yards as the Cowboys best, and yet not good enough, weapon.
The Pats offense didn’t do much either. Their touchdown was a product of a blocked punt recovered near the Cowboys endzone. Tom Brady only passed for 190 yards and one score to N’Keal Harry on his only catch in the game. Julian Edelman (8-93) and Jakobi Meyers (4-74) were the only receivers with more than 14 yards. Sony Michel ran for 85 yards on 20 carries as the only back with more than two rushes. It was a very wet and windy game and well suited to the Pats defense. The score says all you need to know about this game.
GB 8, SF 37
There is just no getting around the fact that the 49ers’ defense has been outstanding. And their offense can get the job done, at least at home versus an average defense. The Packers never found their second gear. Aaron Rodgers passed for only 104 yards and one touchdown. Davante Adams (7-43, TD) was the only receiver of any note and that was because of the touchdown (and two-point play). Aaron Jones settled for only 38 yards on 13 carries and never caught a pass. Jamaal Williams fared slightly better with 45 yards on 11 runs plus seven receptions for 35 yards. But the 49ers shut the Packers down. And while playing at home helped, that’s probably what’s going to be happening in the playoffs as well.
Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 253 yards and two scores. George Kittle was limited in practices and a game-time decision because of his foot that kept him out the previous week. No matter – he led the team with six catches for 129 yards and one touchdown. Deebo Samuel ended with just two catches but gained 50 yards and scored. The rushing effort was nothing special with Raheem Mostert (6-45, TD) and Tevin Coleman (11-39, TD) both offered moderate fantasy results. Other than Kittle, this was a total beat down and yet only he had a big game.
The Game-o-the-Week
CAR 31, NO 34
What a heart-breaker. The Saints led 31-18 in the third quarter, but the Panthers made up the difference to tie the game with nine minutes left to play. They had first down at the Saints 3-yard line with 2:21 left to play but then lost a yard on a run, threw an incompletion and then had Allen sacked for six yards. With two minutes left, they shanked the 28-yard field goal attempt wide right. The Saints then marched down to the Panthers 15-yard line where they kicked the winning field goal as time expired.
Kyle Allen passed for 256 yards and three touchdowns that went to DJ Moore (6-126, 2 TD) and Christian McCaffery (9-69, TD) but no other receivers posted any fantasy-relevant stats. McCaffrey also rushed for 64 yards on 22 runs with a second score. For once the offense wasn’t all McCaffrey. It was almost all McCaffrey with a bit of Moore.
Drew Brees passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Thomas (10-101, TD) and Jared Cook (6-99, TD) were the best receivers though Tre’quan Smith caught a 13-yard touchdown for his first meaningful catch of the year. Latavius Murray ran for 64 yards and a score on just seven carries while Alvin Kamara ended up with 54 yards on 11 runs and caught nine passes for 48 yards. The Panthers made this into a far better game than expected and could have won.
The kicker Joey Slye missed two extra points and then the final field goal. He’s probably scared to check his phone.