USA TODAY NFL Power Rankings: Jets jump up 2 spots

Check out where the Jets stand in the latest edition of the USA TODAY NFL power rankings.

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After knocking off their roommates in a come from behind victory at home, the Jets moved up two spots in the latest edition of USA TODAY’s NFL power rankings.

New York moved up from No. 31 to No. 29 after beating the Giants, 34-27, Sunday. After three consecutive losses, one more embarrassing than the next, the Jets bounced back with a much-needed win.

The Jets were able to harass Daniel Jones all game long while containing Saquon Barkley. Gang Green sacked Jones six times, causing multiple fumbles. The Jets’ front seven also held Barkley to one rushing yard on 13 carries. The defense rose to the occasion, including Jamal Adams, who easily had the best game of his young career.

The safety had nine tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and the play of the game when he pick-pocketed Jones, leading to his second touchdown of the season.

Fortunately for New York, its ensuing schedule may allow the team to get back on track. Future rises in the power rankings shouldn’t come as a surprise.

As for the rest of the AFC East, the 6-3 Bills dropped from No. 15 to No. 17 after losing a road game in Cleveland. The No. 28 Miami Dolphins moved up two spots following a surprise win over Indianapolis. Finally, the Patriots moved up two spots like the Jets and Dolphins while on their bye week.

Rounding out the top five are the Ravens at No. 1, the Patriots at No. 2, the 49ers at No. 3, the Saints at No. 4 and the Seahawks at No. 5.

Giants’ Daniel Jones a finalist for Week 10 FedEx Air Player of the Week

New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has been named a finalist for this week’s FedEx Air Player of the Week along with Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes.

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New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones has been named a finalist for this week’s FedEx Air Player of the Week.

Jones completed 26 of 40 attempts (65.0 percent) for 308 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 121.7 passer rating in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the New York Jets.

Also nominated for FedExAir Player of the Week are Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City, two of the NFL’s brightest young stars at the moment.

Jackson completed 15 of 17 attempts (88.2 percent) for 223 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 158.3 passer rating – the highest attainable grade – in the Ravens’ 49-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Jackson became the second quarterback to have multiple games with a 158.3 passer rating in a single season in NFL history.

Mahomes completed 36 of 50 attempts (72.0 percent) for 446 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 119.2 passer rating against the Tennessee Titans.

With four touchdown passes in Week 8, is the fifth rookie quarterback with at least two games of four touchdown passes in NFL history, joining Robert Griffin III (two games in 2012), Marcus Mariota (two in 2015), Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton (three in 1961 with the Vikings) and Deshaun Watson (three in 2017).

Rookie Kyler Murray of Arizona also threw for over 300 yards on Sunday, marking the first time in NFL history in which two rookie quarterbacks each recorded at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes in the same week.

Targets, touches and touchdowns: Week 11

We are on to Week 11, and Thanksgiving – and the fantasy playoffs – are both coming up fast.

No better time than the present to take stock what’s gone down in the fantasy season so far, and we’ll do it today through the lens of 10 surprising statistics.

We are on to Week 11, and Thanksgiving – and the fantasy playoffs – are both coming up fast.

No better time than the present to take stock what’s gone down in the fantasy season so far, and we’ll do it today through the lens of 10 surprising statistics.

Let’s dig right in, starting with …

1. Through play Sunday, Packers’ Aaron Rodgers ranked sixth among fantasy quarterbacks with 220.8 total fantasy points (Huddle Performance scoring) but only has finished among the top 12 QBs in three weeks out of 10 on the season.

And one of those weeks wasn’t Week 10 as Rodgers totaled 12.3 fantasy points in a 24-16 win over the visiting Panthers on the snowy Lambeau Field tundra. That means Rodgers has had his second- and third-worst fantasy weeks of the season the last two games and they’ve come right after a three-week tear in which he averaged 33.7 points while throwing for 1,017 yards and accounting for 11 total touchdowns in Weeks 6-8. The bottom line is that Rodgers’ consistency is far from reliable with as many sub-13-point fantasy games as 30-point plus outings and a full 61.1 percent of his total fantasy points coming in just four of his 10 contests.

2. Since his first start in Week 3 Giants rookie Daniel Jones ranks fourth among all quarterbacks with 190.6 fantasy points.

Jones’ Giants came up short in the crosstown (East Rutherford, N.J.) battle against the Jets on Sunday, but he won the fantasy QB battle outscoring counterpart Sam Darnold 33.4-24.0. Jones’ point total was only topped Sunday by studs Lamar Jackson (35.6) and Patrick Mahomes (34.3) and gave the first-round Duke rookie three games of 33.4 points or more among his eight starts. In his other five starts, though, he hasn’t topped 19.9 points while averaging 16.9. In those three big games, Jones accounted for four TDs in each one with nary an interception. In his other five contests, he has five total TDs and eight interceptions, making Rodgers’ aforementioned swings seem almost normal by comparison. With the right matchup, though, Jones can deliver, making him a prime choice – as we detailed in this space a week ago – if you’re streaming QBs and shooting for elite upside

3. Baker Mayfield came out of Sunday tied for 24th among quarterbacks with nine touchdown passes in as many games played.

As most should remember, Mayfield tossed a rookie single-season record 27 scoring passes in 13 starts a season ago. Those fantasy general managers who selected Mayfield among the first five QBs in fantasy drafts this summer certainly do, but the Browns’ QB only delivered two startable (top 12) weekly QB finishes on the season while throwing three more interceptions (12) than scoring passes.  Sunday’s two scoring tosses marked his first multiple-TD-pass game of the season, but it resulted in 20 fantasy points, ranking him 13th among QBs in Week 10 and upping his season average to 17.7 per game (27th overall).

4. Sticking with the confounding and underperforming Browns, wide receiver Jarvis Landry owns more fantasy points in both standard (78.2-70.2) and point-per-reception (123.2-114.2) formats than fellow wideout Odell Beckham Jr. through nine games.

Many thought the Browns would straighten things out during their Week 7 bye, but Landry has outscored OBJ in each of the three games since then, scoring two TDs in back-to-back weeks, while Beckham remains stuck on one scoring grab, which came all the way back when the calendar still said it was summer (Week 2). In hitting a season-high, Beckham was targeted two more times than Landry (12-10) on Sunday and subsequently has two more on the season (79-77), but Landry has one more catch (45-44), 20 more receiving yards (652-632) and one more score – all to the continuing consternation of those who spent a top-two-round draft pick on OBJ this summer.

5. Packers wide receiver Davante Adams has totaled the second-most targets (57) in the league among players who have yet to notch a receiving TD.

Now, sure, Adams was sidelined with a toe injury and has missed four of the Pack’s 10 games, but this is a player who is coming off a three-year span where he ranked only behind Antonio Brown (36) with 35 touchdown grabs in 45 games – averaging .78 TDs per contest and a score every 11.6 targets. By those metrics, Adams should have around five scoring receptions right now but, instead, his lack of TDs has him ranked 31st among wideouts in terms of (standard) fantasy points per game. That said, Adams is a prime buy-low candidate if your league trade deadline has yet to arrive.

6. Chargers wideout Mike Williams is only one target behind Adams with 56 on the list of the league’s most-targeted players without a receiving score.

Yeah, we had Williams pegged for some serious TD regression after last season when 10 of his 66 targets and 43 receptions resulted in TDs – the only player in 2018 with eight or more receiving TDs and fewer than 57 receptions. But zero TDs on 56 targets and 31 receptions, including only catches on 10 red-zone targets to stand the only player with no scores among the 32 who came out of Sunday with nine or more targets inside the red zone? That’s a shocker for a still-imposing 6-foot-4, 220-pound target who has seen 12 of QB Philip Rivers’ 14 touchdown tosses go to RB Austin Ekeler (six), WR Keenan Allen (three) and TE Hunter Henry (three). We’re now expecting a Williams regression to the mean in the other direction.

7. Through Week 10, the Jaguars own the league’s most lopsided passing-to-rushing TD ratio at 14:1.

We don’t know if Gardner Minshew Mania (his 13 TD passes rank third among the league’s rookie/second-year QBs) or the second-year rise of WR D.J. Chark (six TD catches, tied for fourth among all players) are the culprits. But you can’t blame the Jags’ offensive philosophy (13th run-heaviest team at 41.9 percent) or the usage/effectiveness of RB Leonard Fournette who came out of Sunday tied for seventh in the league with 174 carries while his 4.78 yards-per-carry average ranks fifth among backs with at least 150 attempts. Fournette also was tied for seventh with 17 rushing attempts inside the opposition’s 10-yard line, but those carries shockingly have netted only four yards and his (and the team’s) one TD. It’s also why Fournette, who ranks fifth in rushing (831) and third in yards from scrimmage (1,126), ranks 11th among RBs in total standard-scoring fantasy points (118.6).

8. The Texans’ Duke Johnson leads all running backs with an average of 6.78 yards per touch.

That figure ranks 10th overall among all players, and despite averaging 5.31 yards per attempt on 54 rushes and 10.36 yards per catch on 22 receptions, Johnson ranked only 34th among running backs through Sunday with 91.5 total PPR points. Teammate Carlos Hyde is out-touching Johnson by more than a 2:1 ratio with 155 on the season, but the latter is averaging 2.10 more yards per touch and has the same number of TDs (three) while fumbling four fewer times (4-0) on 79 fewer touches. Perhaps Bill O’Brien and the Texans’ offensive brain trust took note of these very numbers during their Week 10 bye, and Johnson will at last start garnering a deservedly larger share of the team’s backfield workload down the stretch.

9. The Chiefs rank among the top four teams in scoring (28.4 points per game) and total offense (404.7 yards per game) but don’t have any running backs ranking among the league’s top 35 in terms of fantasy points per contest.

Yep, gone are the days of Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Kareem Hunt and Damien Williams – at least 2018 Week 14 through the postseason Damien Williams – when rostering the lead K.C. running back had fantasy owners in near-automatic league-winning contention. Now we’re in a situation when Williams’ ho-hum 8.9-fantasy-point (standard) day led the way in Week 10 and ranked as the seventh-best fantasy outing by any Chiefs back on the season so far. It also upped Williams’ season average to 7.9 points per contest which ranks 36th among all RBs.

10. Through play Sunday, the Falcons’ Austin Hooper and the Texans’ Darren Fells are tied for the league tight end lead with six scoring receptions apiece.

To put that in proper perspective, that duo has as many total receiving scores this season as Travis Kelce, Evan Engram, Zach Ertz, George Kittle, O.J. Howard, David Njoku, Trey Burton, Ben Watson and Chris Herndon – combined. They also each lead their respective teams in scoring grabs by at least two – and no one needs to be reminded that these are teams, which feature WRs Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Calvin Ridley and Kenny Stills. Hooper entered the season with 10 career TDs in three years and is on pace to match that total this year if his knee injury sustained Sunday in New Orleans doesn’t prove serious. The 6-7 Fells also came into 2019 with 10 career receiving scores – doing so in five seasons – but has definitely taken his game up a notch or three with QB Deshaun Watson distributing the rock in MVP-esque fashion.

EXTRA POINTS

  • Drew Brees and Jameis Winston each threw for at least 287 yards Sunday but combined for only one total TD on 106 total dropbacks at home against two of the worst passing defenses in the visiting Falcons and Cardinals. Go figure, on a day that featured plenty of duds from highly ranked players.
  • Since taking the reins in Tennessee in Week 7, the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill ranks third among QBs with 88.58 total fantasy points while rolling up 1,096 yards of total offense and accounting for nine total TDs and four turnovers.
  • It was too late for many of the fantasy GMs who drafted him this summer, but the Bucs’ Howard had 14.7 PPR points Sunday as he recorded his first TD catch of the season in the 30-27 shootout win over the Cardinals. In Tampa’s first eight games, including two Howard missed with a hamstring injury, he had totaled 30.6 fantasy points.
  • In making his 2019 debut with the Browns on Sunday after serving an eight-game personal-conduct suspension, Hunt had 11 touches, including seen receptions on nine targets, for 74 scoreless yards in a 19-16 win over the Bills. Starter Nick Chubb, meanwhile, had 21 yards on 22 touches, including two catches for five yards on four targets. Chubb played 57 of the team’s 70 offensive snaps (81 percent) while Hunt played 38 (54 percent), but it was the latter who finished with more fantasy points (14.7-14.1 in PPR formats.
  • If Raiders pass-catchers Tyrell Williams and Darren Waller seem like they’ve cooled off in recent weeks after hot starts, it’s because they have. After catching a TD pass in each of the first five games with his new team, Williams has been kept out the end zone the last two contests while catching 6-of-9 targets for 73 yards. Waller, meanwhile, was averaged 16.3 PPR points over his first seven games, reeling in 46-of-58 targets for 496 yards and three TDs but has totaled only 14.2 over his last two outings, catching 5-of-7 targets for 92 scoreless yards. Stay the course, though, as Williams and Waller remain the Raiders’ top aerial targets.
  • Ravens CB Marcus Peters leads all defensive players with three TDs and is one of five players – the Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Jets’ Jamal Adams, the Raiders’ Erik Harris and the Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey – with multiple non-offensive TDs through play Sunday. By comparison, OBJ, Fournette, Howard, Brandin Cooks, J. Moore, Adrian Peterson, Robert Woods and Dede Westbrook have each scored one TD apiece while Adams, Mike Williams, Ty Johnson, Dion Lewis, Jalen Richard, Giovani Bernard and Mark Walton are among the contingent still seeking their first foray into the end zone in 2019.
  • As much hype as the Patriots’ fantasy defense/special teams has received, the Steelers have closed the gap in recent weeks after putting forth another dominant game Sunday against the visiting Rams behind continued outstanding play from Defensive Player of the Year candidates T.J. Watt (9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles) and Fitzpatrick (tied for the league lead with five interceptions). Through Sunday, only the Panthers (with 36), had more sacks on the season than the Steelers’ 33, only the Pats (27) had more total takeaways than the Pittsburgh’s 26 and only the Ravens (five), Pats (four) and Jets (four) owned more defensive TDs than the Steelers’ three. Favorable matchups await the Pittsburgh D down the stretch as well, with games against the Browns (twice), Bengals, Bills and Jets among the team’s final seven contests. Swoop up the Steelers D/ST ASAP if they’re available on your league waiver wire.

What we learned from Giants’ 34-27 loss to Jets

The New York Giants lost to the New York Jets, 34-27, in Week 10 and here’s some of what we learned from that loss.

The New York Giants faced the New York Jets on Sunday in a game where the Giants were expected to fare much better than they did. The 34-27 loss was horrific and really hard to watch.

The Giants appear to be imploding at this point in the season, and there are still six games left. That said, here’s what we learned from the Giants loss on Sunday:

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Saquon Barkley should be shut down for the season

Barkley missed three games this season with an ankle sprain and since his return, he hasn’t been himself. Against the Jets on Sunday, he had just one rushing yard on 13 attempts and five receptions for 30 yards, and that’s not even touching his pass protection. He scored zero touchdowns in what was by far his worst game of his career. Now he has a shoulder injury to boot.

The Giants have no shot at making the playoffs this year, and Barkley’s sophomore season isn’t going as planned, so it’s better to just sit him now. Let him heal and be ready for next season instead of risking a serious injury.

Giants vs. Jets: Statistics, numbers and broken records

The New York Giants fell to the New York Jets in Week 10 and here’s a look at some of the statistics, numbers and broken records.

The New York Giants were defeated by the New York Jets, 34-27, on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in one of the true lows for Big Blue in decades. It dropped their record to 2-8 on the season and could, potentially, lead to substantial changes.

With the bye week on tap, we’ll have two weeks to evaluate and discuss that, but let’s take a moment to look back before we look ahead.

Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers, statistics and records from Big Blue’s Week 10 loss:

  • With the loss, the Giants have now lost six consecutive games, which is their longest streak of futility since losing seven straight in 2014.
  • The Giants have surrendered at least 27 points nine times this season, which is a league-high. They’ve also surrendered at least 31 points six times, which is tied for the league lead (Buccaneers).
  • The Giants have lost back-to-back games against the Jets for the first time since 1988/1993.
  • With 61 combined points on Sunday, it was the second-highest scoring Giants-Jets game in history (69 total in 1999).
  • The Giants finished with 281 offensive yards, which is the fifth time in their last six games failing to reach the 300-yard mark.
  • Saquon Barkley rushed for a career-low one yard.
  • Barkley has now gone a career-long five games without eclipsing 100 yards rushing.
  • The Giants totaled 23 yards on the ground vs. the Jets, their lowest total since rushing for 23 yards against the Broncos on September 15, 2013.
  • The Giants converted eight third-down attempts on Sunday, which tied a season-high.
  • With his four touchdown passes, Daniel Jones became the first Giants QB with two four-touchdown games since Eli Manning did it in 2010.
  • Jones now has 187 completions on the season, which sets an all-time rookie record for the Giants (Charlie Conerly had 162 in 1948).
  • Darius Slayton and Golden Tate each scored two touchdowns, becoming the first Giants wide receiver tandem with two or more scores a piece since Odell Beckham Jr. and Dwayne Harris did it in 2015.
  • Slayton is the first Giants rookie receiver with two two-touchdown games since Odell Beckham Jr. did it in 2014.
  • The Giants fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter, which is the third time this season they’ve faced that exact deficit after one quarter. It’s also the first time in franchise history they’ve trailed by at least 14 points after the first quarter three times in one season.
  • Early in the third quarter, Jets safety Jamal Adams “recovered” a Daniel Jones fumble and returned it for a touchdown. This is the first time since the 1970 merger the Giants have allowed a defensive touchdown in each of three consecutive games.
  • The Giants have surrendered four defensive touchdowns this season, which is the most they’ve allowed since 2013 (six).
  • Aldrick Rosas missed a PAT for the third consecutive game and has now gone four straight games with at least one PAT or FG miss.
  • The Giants have now lost three consecutive pre-bye week games.
  • Rookie Corey Ballentine made his starting NFL debut in the loss.
  • Tight end Kaden Smith caught his first career pass in the loss.

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