| SUNDAY SALUTES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | Pass-Rush | TD |
| Deshaun Watson | 344-36 | 3 |
| Justin Herbert | 366-11 | 3 |
| Kirk Cousins | 314-4 | 3 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 311-13 | 3 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 259-35 | 2 |
| Running Backs | Yards | TD |
| Dalvin Cook | 27-115 5-45 |
1 |
| Melvin Gordon | 15-84 | 2 |
| Derrick Henry | 28-133 1-(-1) |
1 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 14-69 1-8 |
2 |
| J.K. Dobbins | 15-70 2-15 |
1 |
| Wide Receivers | Yards | TD |
| Keenan Allen | 16-145 | 1 |
| Adam Thielen | 8-123 | 2 |
| Damiere Byrd | 6-132 | 1 |
| Davante Adams | 7-106 | 1 |
| Tyreek Hill | 11-102 | 1 |
| Tight Ends | Yards | TD |
| Mark Andrews | 5-96 | 1 |
| Dallas Goedert | 5-77 | 1 |
| Robert Tonyan | 5-44 | 1 |
| Darren Waller | 7-88 | 1 |
| Travis Kelce | 8-127 | 1 |
| Placekickers | XP | FG |
| Rodrigo Blankenship | 2 | 4 |
| Stephen Gostkowski | 1 | 3 |
| Justin Tucker | 1 | 3 |
| Mike Badgley | 4 | 2 |
| Chris Boswell | 3 | 2 |
| Defense | Sck-TO | TD |
| Steelers | 2-4 | 0 |
| Colts | 1-4 | 0 |
| Browns | 5-3 | 1 |
| Saints | 8-2 | 0 |
| Football Team | 4-2 | 0 |
Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts
QB Joe Burrow – Knee
QB Tua Tagovailoa – Benched
WR Randall Cobb – Foot
WR Kenny Stills – Leg
RB Rex Burkhead – Knee
TE Jonnu Smith – Ankle
Chasing Ambulances
Another tough week for quarterbacks.
QB Joe Burrow – Initial speculation was that he tore his ACL and likely did other damage. A tough ending for the first pick in the NFL draft who already proved why he was coveted. Now the Bengals revert to their fourth-round pick of 2019 in Ryan Finley. He started three games as a rookie and all were losses with never more than 192 passing yards. This downgrades all Bengals’ players, including Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. With Joe Mixon already on injured reserve, the rest of the season looks bleak.
QB Tua Tagovailoa – Benched in the loss to the Broncos, but he’s already been confirmed as the starter next week at the Jets. The rookie had a down game with only 11-of-23 for 83 yards and one score while being sacked six times. The Fins went with Fitzpatrick looking for a spark. Tagovailoa will look much better this week in New York.
RB Rex Burkhead – Believed to have a serious, season-ending knee injury in the loss to the Texans. Rather than clearing up the Patriot’s backfield, Sony Michel is expected to become active for games and to maintain the maddening three-man rotation that limits each player.
Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables
RB J.K. Dobbins – The rookie was the primary rusher for the Ravens in their loss to the Titans. He ran 15 times for 70 yards and a touchdown while Gus Edwards (3-6) and Mark Ingram (2-2) were mostly spectators. This remains a committee, but Dobbins success spells better things for the rest of the season and more so, next year.
TE Mark Andrews – After marginal use this season, Andrews caught seven passes for 61 yards in Week 10 and then led the Ravens with five receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
QB Matt Stafford – Troublesome that he plays with a damaged thumb on his throwing hand and then only managed 178 yards and no scores on the Panthers No. 27 defense versus quarterbacks. Kenny Golladay was out, as he is often this year, but Stafford couldn’t connect for any points in their shutout loss.
QB P.J. Walker – First NFL start for the former XFL star produced a shutout win for the Panthers but the results were mixed. He threw for 258 yards and two scores with the three wideouts all leading the team. D.J. Moore (7-127) and Curtis Samuel (8-70, TD) were top fantasy players, and Robby Anderson (7-46) ended a bit lighter than usual in yardage. Walker also tossed two interceptions and it was a home game against the Lions who trailed the entire time.
RB Rodney Smith – The Panthers’ undrafted rookie out of Minnesota saw his first action in Week 10 when he ran for 13 yards on three carries and caught a two-yard pass against the Buccaneers. Against the Lions, he ran eight times for 29 yards. Notable that he was the only other back besides Mike Davis.
WR Damiere Byrd – The Patriot’s very fast wideout turned in a team high 132 yards and a score on six catches in the loss to the Texans this week. He recorded five receptions for 65 yards in Week 9 versus the Jets but was blanked against the Ravens in Week 10. At least he shows up when the Patriots face weak defenses.
QB Taysom Hill /Alvin Kamara – Hill beat the Falcons, so Jameis Winston can get used to the clipboard for now. Hill was efficient completing 18-of-23 passes for 233 yards, and he led the Saints in rushing with 51 yards and two scores on ten carries. Based solely on the one start, Michael Thomas (9-104) will be fine with the change in quarterback while Alvin Kamara’s (13-45, TD rush) fantasy value takes a huge hit since he was only thrown one target and ended with no catches. Kamara leads the Saints with 67 catches, which is 18 more than any other NFL running back. And the No. 1 fantasy running back had zero catches.
RB Salvon Ahmed – Matt Brieda returned but only ran twice to gain four yards and never had a target. Ahmed’s second start only saw him with 12 carries for 43 yards in the loss to the Broncos, but he added five receptions for 31 yards.
Colts Backfield – Nyheim Hines blew up for 70 yards on 12 runs and five catches for 45 yards with two touchdowns in Week 10. That was not the start of something new. Against the Packers, Jonathan Taylor was back to being the primary back with 22 runs for 90 yards while Hines only gained two yards on six carries. Hines caught three passes for 31 yards but Taylor ended with four receptions for 24 yards. This committee can go with the hot hand, but in most cases leans on Taylor for whatever that produces.
RB Ezekiel Elliott – Finally broke 100 rushing yards when he gained 103 on 21 rushes and added two catches for 11 yards with one touchdown. This was the first time that Elliott looked like he could return to form since Dak Prescott was injured.
QB Andy Dalton – Over his concussion and COVID-19, the Cowboys quarterback threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Vikings. Encouraging that his top receivers were all wideouts – Amari Cooper (6-81), CeeDee Lamb (4-34, TD) and Michael Gallup (2-29). The Cowboys chances of representing the NFC East in their playoff loss just got better.
Huddle player of the week
WR Keenan Allen – If Allen had any reservations about playing with a rookie quarterback, they are long gone. Allen turned in 16 catches for 145 yards and one score against the Jets for the highest fantasy points in most leagues. And to think he was the No. 24 wideout in Average Draft Position this summer.
Salute!
Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry
| Comedy | Yards | TDs | Tragedy | Yards | TDs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Philip Rivers | 288 | 3 | QB | Matt Ryan | 232 | 0 |
| RB | J.K. Dobbins | 15-70 2-15 |
1 | RB | Todd Gurley | 8-16 1-3 |
0 |
| RB | Carlos Hyde | 14-79 2-16 |
1 | RB | Nyheim Hines | 6-2 3-31 |
0 |
| WR | Damiere Byrd | 6-132 1-11 |
1 | WR | Julio Jones | 2-39 | 0 |
| WR | Tim Patrick | 5-119 | 0 | WR | JuJu Smith-Schuster | 4-19 | 0 |
| WR | Corey Davis | 5-113 | 0 | WR | DeAndre Hopkins | 5-51 | 0 |
| TE | Richard Rodgers | 2-48 | 1 | TE | Hayden Hurst | 0 | 0 |
| PK | Rodrigo Blankenship | 2 XP 4 FG | PK | Matt Prater | 0 XP | ||
| Huddle Fantasy Points = 144 | Huddle Fantasy Points = 39 | ||||||
Now get back to work…