Posted on Leave a comment

Week 7: Rookie Standouts

With teams favoured in the offseason like the Packers, Bucs, and Broncos continuing to struggle, whilst the two written-off New York teams are shocking everyone, this NFL season seems to get stranger and stranger. In week 7, these were the rookies that stood out. 

Kenneth Walker III, Running Back – Seattle Seahawks  

Running back seems to be a position I give a lot of love to, but the numbers some of these rookies are putting up are incredible. Unfortunately, Bryce Hall is now done for the season after his heartbreaking ACL injury, so the rookie rushing title seems to be between previous standout Dameon Pierce and this week’s standout Kenneth Walker III. 

Walker was thrust into the lineup after Rashaad Penny’s unfortunate season-ending injury, and the second rounder out of Michigan State has made the most of his opportunities. Against the Chargers, Walker was steadily working his way towards another 100-plus yard game before his blistering 74-yard touchdown run in the middle of the 4th quarter, which saw him hit 22.09 miles per hour, the fastest speed by a ball carrier this season. 

Sam Williams, Edge – Dallas Cowboys 

In a defence that already has reigning defensive rookie of the year Micah Parsons, Dorance Armstrong and Demarcus Williams, the last thing the league wanted to see was another Dallas defender breakout, but that’s exactly what Sam Williams did despite playing less than a quarter of the defensive snaps against the Lions   

On a day where the Cowboys shared the wealth around with four different players recording a sack, Williams helped himself not only to his first ever career sack but followed it up with the smoothest strip sack and fumble recovery you will ever see, which effectively sealed the game for Dallas. After beating Penei Sewell around the edge, Williams seemed to literally take the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands before he even realised it was gone. 

Jaquan Brisker, Safety – Chicago Bears  

Coming into Monday night’s game against the New England Patriots, few thought that the Chicago Bears’ defence would have much luck against the returning Mac Jones (and later Bailey Zappe), but that could not have been further from the truth, and two of the reasons why were Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon. 

The former Penn State man, Brisker, gets the nod here due in part to there being two parts to his incredible interception of Jones that had a slight air of revenge about it. Early in the second quarter, Jones took off on a run, and as he slid down, he curiously raised his foot, which connected with Brisker in a certain sensitive area. Brisker’s revenge was swift and sweet, however, as mere minutes later he recorded his first career interception with a stunning one-handed grab that showed both his athleticism and anticipation skills. 

Honorable Mentions

Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Coby Bryant (Seattle Seahawks), Aiden Hutchinson (Detroit Lions), Chris Olave (New Orleans Saints), Dameon Pierce (Houston Texans)

Posted on Leave a comment

Fantasy Recap – Week 7

Welcome to the fantasy recap and this week we had to survive without the Bills, Eagles, Vikings and Rams so it was a tough week to get through. Throw in a massive trade, some major injuries and strange coaching decisions and it added up to the usual FF mayhem. He’s who thrived, who nosedived and who has arrived on the scene this week.

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

Fantasy Stars:

Andy Dalton (NO) – 30cmp/361yds/4tds/3int + 4rsh/21yds 30pts

I gave Joe Burrow the nod here last week and he was top dog once again but to switch it up I’ll pick this week’s QB2. That was Andy Dalton. The Red Rifle had a game he’d want to forget when it comes to real life since he threw 3 interceptions and lost the game to Arizona, but his fantasy score was tremendous.

Austin Ekeler (LAC) – 9rsh/31yds/1td + 12rec/96yds/1td 36pts

Ekeler is the clear RB1 on the season currently and in some scoring formats, tied for the league lead. After a mediocre start (we are still talking double digits every week though) he’s not dipped below 24 since week 3. Most receivers would love 12 receptions so his usage there as a running back is incredible, especially when you consider he caught every target he got.   

JaMarr Chase (CIN) – 8rec/130yds/2tds 33pts

Now Joe Burrow is fully mended the Bengals offence looks hard to stop. Chase had the biggest day as you can see but Tyler Boyd was the WR2 and Higgins was still in the top 24 and got 90+yards. Boyd had the most yards at 155 but only made the endzone once. But if you played The QB, RB, 3WR and TE from the Bengals this week, you’d have scored 145pts.

Surprise Packages:

Justin Fields (CHI) – 13cmp/179yds/1td/1int + 14rsh/82yds/1td 20pts

Fields has steadily increased his fantasy output but is still yet to complete more than 15 passes in a game this season. He’s now has consecutive weeks with 80+ rushing yards but this was the first time since week 2 that he found the end zone on a rushing play. Daniel Jones also deserves a mention here for hitting 29pts with 202 passing yards and 107 rushing yards.

Eno Benjamin (ARI) – 12rsh/92yds/1td + 4rec/21yds 23pts

There were a lot of good running backs this week where you could argue that it’s a surprise but they were predictable. I think the surprise this week has been just how well some of the narratives went for backups ascending to starting roles. Gus Edwards, Raheem Mostert, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kenneth Walker, Travis Etienne, Deonta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard the list goes one. But to me Benjamin stuck out as James Conner had been pretty poor so far and the RB position in Arizona looked a bit suspect. Benjamin ripped up that narrative and made a case to be the long term starter. Also credit Antonio Gibson for being a top 16RB this week despite having Brian Robinson and all the narratives against him.

Mecole Hardman (KC) – 4rec/32yds/1td + 2rsh/28yds/2td 28pts

The Chiefs brought in Juju and MVS and yet this week it was Hardman who had the big day. I say big day, he hit paydirt 3 times despite only tallying 60yards overall. Juju was just behind with 25pts but had 124yds and 1td and MVS had 111 yards to get 14pts. There were so many surprises at WR this week though. Marquise Goodwin stepping in for Metcalf, Parris Campbell becoming a target monster, DJ Moore returning from the shadows, Ray-Ray McCloud, Darius Slayton, Kalif Raymond and Damiere Byrd were all top 24WRs this week. How?

Disappointments:

Lamar Jackson (BAL) – 9cmp/120yds/0td/0int + 10rsh/59yds 11pts

I was spoiled for choice in the surprises section, but there was no end of options in the disappointment section too. Jared Goff scoring 2pts (with no injury), Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers losing to backups, Mariota coming crashing down after last week, Matt Ryan losing his job, Dak Prescott not returning to a fanfare or even Derrick Carr struggling to start… But this week I have to go for Lamar on a rare down week. No TDs, 179 total yards and yet the Ravens still won.

AJ Dillon (GB) – 4rsh/15yds + 0rec/0yds 2pts

What on earth is going on in Green Bay? They were meant to have a 2 headed monster RB committee with Dillon and Aaron Jones and that would help with their weaker receiving corps. Excluding week 1 he’s not scored double digit fantasy points and this was his lowest total to date. The other notable were Leonard Fournette only tallying 26yrds and 5pts against Carolina. Ouch.

Drake London (ATL) – 1rec/9yds 2pts

I usually ignore players who left through injury, hence why Amon-Ra St Brown and DK Metcalf aren’t featured here. Nor do I put players you’re not likely to have played like Skyy Moore scoring his second -3pt game of the season. Others were banged up or scored in the 5s and 6s but this week’s mention goes to Drake London. The rookie started the season so well and with so much hype, but since week 3 he’s not scored above 7.5pts or had more than 4 receptions or found the endzone.

Waiver Wire pickups:

BYE Weeks: KC, LAC

QB – Jameis Winston (If Healthy) (NO) – With only 2 bye weeks this week you would think it would be much easier but it really isn’t. The Broncos, Titans, Colts, Browns, Patriots, 49ers, Jets, Falcons, Steelers and Panthers don’t have a playable QB between them for the time being and there are a host more where, without even looking at the matchup, you still cringe and think better of it. Winston has options and a reasonable matchup against the Raiders, but he has to be healthy first.

Other QB Options – Mills vsTEN, Heinicke @IND, G.Smith vsNYG.

RB – Michael Carter (NYJ) – With Breece Hall out for the season with an ACL tear, Carter will now be joined by former Jaguar James Robinson. He will need some time to adapt but Carter began the season well and should see plenty of work, especially when Zach Wilson is doing precious little in the passing game. Gus Edwards, the Panthers RBs and Khalil Herbert also need to be considered.

WR – George Pickens (PIT) – It’s slimmer pickings (excuse the pun) this week at WR but I think it’s your last chance to grab Kenny Pickens off waivers if he’s there as he looks to be the #1 and the Steelers future. Claypool and Johnson are trade candidates so his value will only rise. Alec Pierce, Parris Campbell, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Isaiah McKenzie and Zay Jones are also options.

TE – Harrison Bryant (CLE) – I’ve barely mentioned Tight Ends this week despite it being national Tight End week but really they all followed type this week. The good ones were great and the others were just meh. One major note was David Njoku getting injured and probably missing 2-4 weeks which means Harrison Bryant will see a large uptick in work as it’s a position that sees good usage in Cleveland.    

DST Options – Commanders @IND, Colts vsWAS, Ttians @HOU, Jaguars vsDEN.

Posted on Leave a comment

Five Things: Week 7 – New York Giants at Jacksonville Jaguars

For the third week in a row, the Giants overturned a 4th quarter deficit to find a way to win and improve their record to 6-1. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out this week:

Coming of Age

Although Saquon Barkley finished yesterday’s game with 110 yards rushing, he made 40 of those yards in the clock-churning final offensive drive that ended in a field goal. For the rest of the game, the Giants’ offensive fortunes rested on one man’s shoulders: Daniel Jones. 

Multiple times this season, Jones has shown the grit, determination, decision-making, and game management that many Giants fans have been waiting to see since he stepped into Eli Manning’s shoes, and it’s not too farfetched to say that this season Jones looks very much like Manning in his breakout season. 

Yesterday, Jones looked the part in both the passing game and the rushing game. Despite six drops from his wide receivers, he completed 19 passes from 30 passing attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown and repeatedly took advantage of open space as he ran for a career high of 107 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first Giants quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in 76 years  

Close Out the Game! 

One concerning part of the game that hopefully isn’t the start of a trend was the inability to close out the game due to lapses in concentration. On both offence and defense, we made avoidable mistakes that would have either settled the game or at least made it much more comfortable than it was. 

The first one was a bizarre play call from our offence on 3rd down that saw Barkley run out towards the side-line. In what should have been an opportunity to run the clock down to 25 seconds before making a field goal attempt, Barkley was pushed out of bounds, which stopped the clock at 1:07, plenty of time for the Jaguars to attempt a comeback  

The refs (more on them later), intent on driving the heart rate of Giants fans through the roof, found two questionable calls that negated two huge plays from the defence and that led to the Jags being able to extend their drive toward the crazy final play of the game. 

The Final Play(s) 

In what felt like the longest minute and four seconds ever, it all came down to one last set of downs. 

After a long completion on 4th down, coupled with a roughing the passer call, the Jags quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, took his position on the Giants’ 17-yard line and, with sixteen seconds on the clock, had ample time to break Giants fans’ hearts. His first throw thrown towards Zay Jones was broken up by Adoree Jackson, and his second sailed over Marvin Jones’ head. 

With seven seconds left, it all came down to one play, and it almost paid dividends. Lawrence, with an empty backfield, took the ball and almost immediately threw a dart to Christian Kirk. Kirk secured the ball in the air and seemed destined to fall into the endzone before Fabian Moreau, who was having another outstanding game, stopped him dead on the one-yard line. Xavier McKinney and Julian Love both smothered Kirk to keep him out of the endzone as time expired. 

Come On Ref! 

In what seems to be a weekly occurrence in the NFL, the referees decided that they wanted to be a bigger part of the action, and it was the Giants’ turn to see some questionable calls and no calls both for and against them. 

Mistakes were rife throughout the game, but nothing highlighted how inconsistent the officiating crew were more than a pair of hits on the quarterbacks that ended up yielding differing results. In one drive, Daniel Jones, albeit awkwardly slid down and was clearly hit late by the Jags’ Cisco; no flag. Yet earlier in the half, Dexter Lawrence slightly pulled on Trevor Lawrence’s jersey, causing him to stumble to his hands and knees; flag thrown. 

As previously mentioned, there were also questionable calls in the Jags’ final drive, but the worst of the day was the horrendous face mask and eye poke on Daniel Bellinger that was not deemed worthy of a flag despite Bellinger having to leave the game on the cart  

Beyond a Joke 

I feel like this point has been copied and pasted from week to week, but yet again, in what seems to be the norm for the Giants, the injuries are piling up again. 

In the first half alone, we had offensive linemen Evan Neal and Ben Bredeson and tight end Daniel Bellinger leave the game and not return, whilst in the second half, Adoree Jackson briefly left the game for a concussion check that came back negative. 

As mentioned in my previous point, Bellinger had his eye poked, which ended with the rookie heading to the nearest medical facility. After the game, it was revealed that he would have to visit an ophthalmologist and would likely need surgery. Luckily, both Neal and Bredeson seem to have avoided season-ending injuries, but both are being evaluated for MCL sprains that will keep them out for a few weeks at the very least. 

Posted on Leave a comment

5 things to look out for in Week 7

Tua Tagovailoa’s return to action on SNF against his former Head Coach Brian Flores is the highlight of Week 7

1. Will the Baltimore Ravens throw away another game in the fourth quarter?

Baltimore has now lost three close games in the fourth quarter, with last week’s collapse against the Giants with the ball in Lamar Jackson’s hands perhaps being the worst.

They’ve got a big chance to get right when they welcome the 2-5 Cleveland Browns on Sunday, a team who are fighting to stay alive in the race for the AFC North

One thing we do know is it’ll be tight, all of the Ravens home games have been decided by three points or less this year, with them only being victorious once.

2. In form Colts in need of a win as they face off with the Tennessee Titans in key AFC South duel.

The Indianapolis Colts are welcomed by the Titans for the second of their two annual matchups, this one may well decide the AFC South.

Tennessee got out to an early lead in their Week 4 fixture, managing to hold on for a 24-17 victory after a late Indy comeback, meaning the Colts need to respond to prevent Mike Vrabel’s team from having a tiebreaker.

Matt Ryan had one hell of a game against Jacksonville last week, his Colts offense are now starting to find a groove but a loss here would put them at a real disadvantage of winning the division.

3. Russell Wilson out with a hamstring injury, Brett Rypien will start against the New York Jets

Nathaniel Hackett’s Denver Broncos’ start to the season is getting worse by the day, as Russell Wilson is now set to miss Sunday’s game at home to the Jets with the hamstring injury he sustained on MNF.

The two top defenses are the stars of the show, as both the Broncos and the Jets defenses are within the top 10 of the league according to PFF (Denver 5th, New York 8th.)

Robert Saleh’s Jets are one of the hottest teams in football right now after back to back wins over the Dolphins and Packers.

4. CMC returns to Southern California as a San Fransisco 49er

Christian McCaffrey should suit up for his first game in gold and red after he was acquired via a trade from the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night, he’ll be a big boost for a 49ers team that looked off the pace in Atlanta last week.

A second, third, and a fourth round pick is a steep price for the ex-Stanford running back who can’t stay on the field, but if he can stay healthy he’s a real asset and may be the piece San Francisco need to win a championship.

Their opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs, are on the back of a tight loss to Buffalo at Arrowhead where their defense did well to limit Josh Allen and co to only 24 points.

5. Flores and Tua meet again as the Miami Dolphins host the Pittsburgh Steelers on SNF

Tua Tagovailoa makes his return to the football field for the first time since he left the game in Cincinnati with a horrific concussion, since then his Dolphins have moved from 3-0 to 3-3.

The third year quarterback has his former head coach Brian Flores on the opposite sideline, it’s not secret that they didn’t get on so he’ll be out for revenge.

Mike Tomlin and Flores’ defense stepped up in their win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Pittsburgh defensive line against the Miami offensive line should be a great battle, especially with Terron Armstead looking good to go. 

Posted on Leave a comment

5 Takeaways From The Coffin Nailing Saints Loss

The New Orleans Saints are 2-5 after losing 42-34 to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night football.  Their hopes of making the playoffs are slim to none right now, so what is there to takeaway from last night’s monstrosity?

Cesar Ruiz Is Much Improved

Let’s start with some good, the tales of Cesar Ruiz’s improvement are not just hopeful tales of the odd play here and there that show signs of improvement. Ruiz is playing excellently and looks like a player not only worth a first-round pick but, a player worth building around.

Ruiz was opening holes consistently last night in the running game and was an anchor in pass protection, this is something that has been evident all season, last night was a stiff test for him though with J.J Watt and Zach Allen (two very good interior rushers) across from him, a test previously we would have seen Ruiz fail, he passed with flying colours. 

If you are still sceptical given Ruiz’s first two seasons I could see why, well Ruiz even featured this week in Baldy’s breakdown see here-  Brian Baldinger on Twitter: “.@saints @_OverCees has to be one of the most i@proved players at any position in the NFL. From never playing OG, to becoming a force up front to rebuilding and reshaping his body….and it shows. This league will always be about player development #BaldysBreakdowns https://t.co/s5gggAtPRd” / Twitter 

If Ramczyk’s knee doesn’t derail the rest of his career the Saints have a potential elite right side of the offensive line to build around (including center Erik McCoy in this as well).

Add to Trevor Penning, if he comes back from his toe injury and continues to improve at the rate, he was prior to the injury then the Saints have excellent building pieces across the whole line.

Alontae Taylor Needs to Start Going Forward  

Second-round rookie Alontae Taylor saw his first prolonged game snaps last night and looked like the best player in the secondary, he provided sticky coverage and according to the Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football only gave up one catch on four/five targets.

The secondary outside of Marshon Lattimore has been a huge disappointment this season, leaving the door wide open for Taylor to win a starting job, he did more than enough last night to warrant more starting snaps going forward.

Once one of the youngest teams in the league, suddenly New Orleans is the second oldest in the league. So, hitting on the limited draft picks they have is even more essential. If Taylor continues to show what he did last night, then he will certainly be added to the hit column at a position that is vital in today’s NFL.

The Defense’s Tackling Is Still A Problem 

It’s got to the point where seeing a player get tackled straight away, without gaining extra yards is far more exciting than it should be.

PFF charted the Saints with 12 missed tackles yesterday, honestly, it felt even worse than that. Cardinal players seemed to be slipping past the first Saints tacklers constantly.

On one play that could have been stopped for a short gain, Cardinals’ sixth-round rookie Keontay Ingram forced 4/5 missed tackles and rumbled for 24 yards. It should have been third and medium around the Cardinals 30, instead, it was first and ten at the Cardinals 49.

This is a basic expectation of a defensive player, I fully appreciated it could tackle on high school football player let alone an NFL one, but this shouldn’t be this yard.

Of course, offensive players make incredible plays from time to time where they make the whole world miss, but these plays aren’t that they are normal plays that every other defense is making against the Saints offense and the fact this is still a problem seven weeks in is hugely worrying and simply put, is losing the Saints games.

Andy Dalton May Have Gifted The Starting Spot Back To Jameis

I really believe Dalton had a clear runway to win the Saints starting QB job, at the very least he had a chance to keep Jameis Winston off the field for longer.

I think that ended last night, at least for now.

Dalton could easily be 4-0 as the Saints starter if a few things broke the team’s way. The biggest reason being if the defense would have played anywhere near the expectations we all had for them. The offense has looked its best this season with Dalton under center. He’s managed to get Alvin Kamara fully involved, he’s been better at identifying and combating the blitz and he’s definitely had the offense in a better rhythm. 

Alas, Dalton now sits at 1-3 and was a massive contributing factor for the Saints losing last night. Dalton threw two awful interceptions one in the RedZone after the Saints had driven 65 yards in 15 plays, the Saints were up 7-3 at this stage. 

His second interception I wouldn’t put on him, he threw a perfectly fine and easy pass to Marquez Callaway, that the receiver bobbled allowing the trailing CB to intercept the pass and return it to the house. 

What was inexcusable was four plays later Dalton threw another pick-6 this time on a pass that was his fault, I could see what he was trying to do he was trying to fit the ball behind the LB to Chris Olave who had broken open behind him. But Dalton couldn’t execute it. 

These interceptions reasonably meant a 17-point swing in the Cardinal’s favour. Three of the board from the Redzone interception, and 14 from the pick-6s.

Instead of going into the half level or possibly up three or seven the Saints went into the half down 14. A gap that was too large to overcome in the second half.

Yes, Winston might not be better in fact, he could be worse. But at this stage you have to see what Winston is, if Dalton is going to turn the ball over, which is Winston’s biggest drawback, without Winston’s arm talent for upside, you might as well play Winston and see if that boom or bust potential can steal you some game down the stretch.

This Team Is So Frustrating 

 Last takeaway and this is more of a personal point, holy Sh*t this time is frustrating.

They have all the talent needed to be a contender in the NFC, probably not a Superbowl team but at the very least a competitive playoff team. 

This team has been completely incapable of playing complimentary football. Taking out the crazy win in week one.

The Saints offense failed them in weeks one and two, had they had merely a bang average offense they win both of those games. 

Then weeks four- seven if the defense played how did in weeks two and three they are 4-0 in that stretch as well.  There’s a perfectly plausible situation where you could argue this team could be 7-0, 5-2 worst 3-4. Instead, they sit 2-5, finding new ways to lose every week, struggling to execute basic fundamentals.

The worst part? normally In a bad season you can look ahead and say well at least we should get a high-end talent in the draft and try to rebuild from that, in this year’s draft possibly a new franchise QB to give the future some hope.

Instead, we have to hear about how great the Eagles front office is for pulling off one of the best draft-related trades in recent memory and what player they will be able to add to an already excellent team.

Is the door completely closed on the Saints turning this around? no, they have the talent and the leadership in the locker room to right the ship, but the task ahead is mammoth and will take a near-perfect run.

Rant over, 11 days now without Saints football I would normally hate it, but frankly, right now an 11-day Saints football detox Is what I need and probably the players do too.

For more Saints articles- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/ 

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.


Posted on Leave a comment

F10Y Betting; Week 7 Best Bets

Adam finally got off the schnide and got himself a winner last week as the Vikings took care of business in Miami, there was a scare as Teddy Bridgewater came in early on and put up a fight but the Vikes covered the three points easily enough. Liam took his record to 5-1 for the season after taking the Bengals to win against the Saints, they got themselves in yet another double-digit deficit but came back with Chase scoring twice in the second half.

That was the good of the week, the bad, the Browns lost convincingly to the Patriots while the Jets smashed the Packers at Lambeau meaning they’re off all our lists for the foreseeable future.

You can find our best bets and previews of every game on the slate on the podcast on the Full10Yards feed, found wherever you get podcasts or direct here -: https://anchor.fm/full10yards/episodes/F10Y-Betting-Week-7-Best-bets-and-previews-e1phso5


Cardinals -2.5 vs. Saints

Callum (@CallumJDSquires)

Callum already has his best bet for the week in the books as he took the Cardinals on Thursday night. He loves Kyler Murray and with Deandre Hopkins returning thought they’d have too much for the Saints with Andy Dalton, I believe he predicted a 42-34 win for the home team…

In the end it was the defense of the Cardinals who got them the victory with two pick-6s in consecutive drives turning the tide in the game and taking it away from the Saints.

Browns +6.5 @ Ravens

Jack (@JackT_95)

Jack is a glutton for punishment going in on the Browns getting nearly a TD on the road in Baltimore. Nick Chubb should get a lot of the ball after the failures of Jacoby Brissett last week and that should mean a shorter game, fewer drives and less scoring than many might predict therefore keeping the game relatively close.

The Ravens have somehow found a way to keep games close this year despite having led by double-digits in most of their matches and if they can lose to the Giants then they can lose to anyone.

The Browns have kept the last two matches between the two within 7 points.

Chiefs -2.5 @ 49ers

Liam (@_LiamHorsley)

The Chiefs & Mahomes will be kicking themselves for letting last weeks game against the Bills slip away from them, this is bad news for a banged up 49ers team.

Anytime you can get Mahomes as a favourite of under a FG you simply have to take it, they lead the league in EPA per drop back and welcome back three of their defensive starters for this weeks matchup. Even with the addition of CMC this week I think that Mahomes & Kelce are too good and the 49ers are too banged up. I’d be interested in taking the OVER on the Chiefs team total of 26.5 as well.

Lions @ Cowboys Under 49

The Lions are coming off their bye and should be healthier with Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown both starting, but the Cowboys boast one of the best defenses in the league with arguably the DPOY so far in Micah Parsons and Jared Goff does not deal well with pressure in his face.

Dak Prescott is medically cleared to play and it looks like he will be starting here which is an obvious worry when you’re looking at under on the total, but he looked awful behind the patchwork offensive line in the opener against Tampa before he got injured and you’ve got to think the Lions defense will have worked hard over their bye to get better.

Posted on Leave a comment

Week 6: Rookie Standouts

With this week marking the beginning of the bye weeks ruining many a fantasy football lineup, the NFL landscape remained unchanged as the low and close-scoring games continued. In week 6, these were the rookies that stood out.

Bailey Zappe, Quarterback – New England Patriots

Bailey Zappe might well be starting to cause Bill Belichick a headache. In his two starts thus far for the Patriots, the 23-year-old rookie has looked impressive, which could put Mac Jones under pressure to ensure he performs when he returns from injury.

Zappe had a great day on Sunday, demonstrating his ability to go through his reads promptly and show good poise in the pocket, but most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over. Although the young quarterback didn’t have a perfect day, he did become the first rookie in the Super Bowl era to win and record a QB rating of over 100 in each of his first two starts after finishing with 24 completions from 34 attempts for 309 yards and two touchdowns and an impressive 118.4 passer rating. It’ll be interesting to see who suits up next Monday against the Bears.

Kayvon Thibodeaux, Edge – New York Giants

After missing out on the Giants’ first two games of the season, Thibodeaux has started to increase the pressure on opposing quarterbacks as his snap count has increased, and after multiple close calls last week against reigning MVP Aaron Rogers, this was the game where he was finally rewarded, and ironically, it’s the quarterback he revealed on Reddit in the preseason he most wanted to sack.

With the Giants having just taken the lead, the expectation was that Lamar Jackson would get one more drive to prevent the Ravens from blowing another 4th quarter lead, but Kayvon had other ideas. After blowing past tackle Patrick Mekari, he batted the ball out of Jackson’s hand to record his first sack and forced fumble. It meant a lot to the former duck, as shown by his emotional post-game video.

Tariq Woolen, Cornerback – Seattle Seahawks

After making it into the honourable mentions list last week, it only felt right that Woolen made it onto this week’s, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the defensive rookie of the year conversations started. Fifth-rounder selections are normally a work in progress for a few seasons, and he was even labelled as a project pick, but Woolen is bucking that trend with dominant performances.

In this week’s outing against the Arizona Cardinals, he had five tackles, one stop, allowed four receptions on seven targets, snagged his fourth interception in his fourth straight game, and is now tied for the NFL lead with the Buffalo Bills’ Jordan Poyer. He also recovered a fumble after fellow rookie (and honourable mention) Coby Bryant stripped a scrambling Kyler Murray of the football in the redzone. Are we starting to see the emergence of a legion of boom 2.0? Time will tell.

Honourable Mentions

Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall (both New York Jets), Coby Bryant (Seattle Seahawks), Daniel Bellinger (New York Giants), and Arnold Ebiketie (Atlanta Falcons)

Posted on Leave a comment

Fantasy Recap – Week 6

Welcome to the fantasy recap in what has been an upside down week. The NFL saw a bunch of underdog winners and with some of the up and down fantasy scores, a number of fantasy matchups probably went against the predictions as well. It’s time to wade through the week and look forward to week 7 where we are going to be missing some big names between the Bills, Rams, Vikings and undefeated Eagles.

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

Fantasy Stars:

Joe Burrow (CIN) – 28cmp/300yds/3td/0int + 4rsh/25yds/1td 33pts

Joe Burrow was top of the shop this week and Ja’Marr Chase with 7 receptions for 132yds and 2tds for 32pts was the main beneficiary.

Deon Jackson (IND) – 12rsh/42yds/1td + 10rec/79yds 28pts

With Jonathan Taylor missing once again, Jackson took the reins and the Colts got over their Jags curse. Jackson made a lot of his points in the receiving game but his one TD was on the ground. Matt Ryan and Michael Pittman also had 25+ PPR point games with Ryan having the most passing yards and Pittman the most receptions on the week.

Brandon Aiyuk (SF) – 8rec/83yds/2tds 28pts

Aiyuk is not the kind of player to have a monster game particularly often and in a game where the 49ers lost handily, it’s odd seeing him put up a top 5 WR score, but here we are. 2TDs on 8 receptions will do that for you. Some likely customers like Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill were up there too, but in reality, it was a bit of an odd week.

Surprise Packages:

Marcus Mariota (ATL) – 13cmp/129yds/2td/0int + 6rsh/50yds/1td 24pts

Mariota had not topped 18 points all season until this week and against a top 5 defence and still without Cordarelle Patterson, I’m not quite sure anyone saw him being a QB1 this week. Then again, Teddy Bridgewater, Justin Fields and Bailey Zappe will also be in the top 12 this week…  

Chase Claypool (PIT) – 7rec/96yds/1td 23pts

Claypool had been poor all season but against the Bucs he decided to become unplayable. Mapletron caught all 7 of his targets and made some critical big plays with backup Mitchell Trubisky back in at QB. The Steelers had no right to be competitive in that game, but Trubsiky and Clapypool won it for them.

Mike Gesicki (MIA) – 6rec/69yds/2tds 25pts

If you take away the 2tds it’s a modest stat line but to outscore Andrews and Kelce is worthy of a spot on this list. Another fun note at Tight End was that 3 rookies made the top 12 in Bellinger, Ferguson and Woods, all scoring double digits too.

Disappointments:

Zach Wilson (NYJ) – 10cmp/110yds/0td/0int + 5rsh/1yds 5pts

I was spoiled for choice this week when it came to disappointments. Rodgers, Brady, Stafford, Geno could all have fit here without having to factor in injuries and diminished weapons. Rodgers scored 10 fantasy points against the Jets but the fact Wilson scored half of that and won the game is extraordinary. Additionally there was a theme here that was too good to miss. Russell Wilson would have also been fitting here, just to give you a hint.

Jeff Wilson (SF) – 7rsh/25yds/1fumlost + 0rec/0yds -1pts

The 49ers looked to have a great matchup against Atlanta but their usual weapons did not perform. Wilson had a terrible time and Tevin Coleman didn’t fare much better. Kareem Hunt and CEH were also options here.

Garret Wilson (NYJ) – 1rec/8yds 2pts

In a game where your team wins 27-10 you’d think one of your best WRs must have had a decent game. Well, I mentioned earlier about Zach Wilson, he only passed for 110 yards and Elijah Moore got 0 of them and Wilson only 8. MVS also deserves to be here with 3 targets and no receptions for a goose egg. What a weird week, especially if you are a Wilson.

Waiver Wire pickups:

BYE Weeks: BUF, LAR, PHI, MIN

QB – Ryan Tannehill (TEN) – With bye weeks in full force the ownership rates are somewhat woolly so I’ve dropped them here. Speaking of drops, with the Titans on bye last week a lot of teams dropped Tannehill and in week 7 he plays against a very leaky Colts DST. Maybe go grab Robert Woods while you’re at it if he’s available.

Other QB Options – Winston@ARI, Lawrence vsNYG, Garoppolo vsKC.

RB – Brian Robinson (WAS) – Robinson should be heavily owned but some leagues did not take the gamble and he may well be out there. It’s slim pickings otherwise with the likes of Jamaal Williams and Mike Boone potentially the best you can get.

WR – Wandale Robinson (NYG) – The Giants have needed a receiving option outside fo Saquon Barkley and if Robinson can stay fit he could be the guy to get the work. Against the Jags this week he has a shot to build upon the 3 for 37yds and a td he got against the Ravens.

TE – Cade Otton (TBB) – Cameron Brate may not be seen on a football field for a while and rookie Otton seems to have built himself up as the alternative. The next game is against the Carolina Tankers so there’s a chance to score some decent points. 

DST Options – Patriots vsCHI, Packers @WAS, Raiders vsHOU, Broncos vsNYJ.

Posted on Leave a comment

5 Takeaways From Another Brutal New Orleans Saints Loss

The Saints are on the doorstep of losing their season, there are plenty of games to go but sitting at 2-4 now leaves no margin for error, they need to win every game they should and a couple they shouldn’t if they are going to make the playoffs. Which a team with this much talent should be doing.

What is there to takeaway from this game from a positive and negative view?

Saints Running Game is This Team’s Offensive Identity 

Gone are the days of the high-flying Saint’s passing offense led by Drew Brees (oh how we miss you). This Saints team is built to dominate on the ground and did just that yesterday against the Bengals.

The Saints ran for 228 yards on 34 attempts which averaged out at 6.7 yards per carry. That’s a recipe for winning the game nine times out of ten. This game was unfortunately that one.  To add to the frustration of this dominance on the ground not resulting in a win. It’s the first time since 2005 that the Saints lost a game where they ran for over 200 yards.

All three Saints runners were excellent, Kamara again saw the majority of the rushes with 19, and Ingram (9) ended up with more carries than Hill (5). The Bengals did a good job overall against Hill and ended with 39 yards rushing, 31 of those came on one run. 

But this running identity must include Taysom Hill more, his usage almost disappeared in the second half on Sunday, especially in the RedZone which is where he has been at his best this season.

Hill also managed to pick up two first downs throwing, this is why it was mystifying why he wasn’t used more in the RedZone and on the penultimate offensive drive. On that penultimate drive, the Saints needed a couple of first downs to run out the clock up 2 to win the game. 

There has been a lot of criticism of the playing calling on this drive, the Saints went three and out after a pair of three-yard runs and an incomplete pass. I understand the calls that the Saints were too conservative but, the running game had gotten them to this point and if they hadn’t tried to seal the game using the running game then that would have been malpractice as well.

My bigger issue was the lack of Taysom, on the two runs, they put eight defenders in the box on first down and nine on second down. Having Hill at QB would have allowed the Saints to still run if they wanted but crucially Hill could have exploited the packed box with a pass like he had done earlier in the game.

Saints Falter In The RedZone

This game was ultimately lost in the RedZone.

The Saints offense kicked too many field goals. The Saints defense couldn’t hold the Bengals to any.

It’s that simple. The Saints offense made six trips to the RedZone and scored points on all six trips however, only one of those scoring drives was a touchdown, and five were field goals.

Compare that to the Bengals offense who made three trips to the Saints RedZone and scored a TD on all three.  

Entering the game, the Saints were one of the best RedZone offenses at converting trips to touchdowns and the defense was one of the best at stopping touchdowns in the RedZone.

That all crumbled on Sunday and it completely changed the complexation of the game. If the Saints scored one more TD from their six RedZone trips, on the last drive they would have only required a field goal to win the game rather than a TD. The same goes for the defense, one field goal instead of TD.

The Baffling part of the Saints offensive struggles? Why didn’t they use their main offensive RedZone Weapon more? Taysom Hill has been lethal in this area of the field this year and other than a role out pass that didn’t work he didn’t have any touches in the RedZone. 

Dalton Has One More Chance

Seems almost 100% that Dalton will start again this week @ the Cardinals. It’s a short week and Winston still seems like he needs more time to get healthy.

Dalton could have easily shut the door on Winston returning as the starter. He’s been efficient and with some more competent defensive play, he could very easily be 3-0 as the starter if that were the case I don’t think the Saints turn back to Winston.

Now I’m not saying Dalton has been perfect he’s missed some throws, some that Winston might have made and has not done enough in crunch time to see out some games.  

Also adding QB Jameis Winston back into this team, with this running game is an enticing prospect. Winston is one of the best QBs on play-action, with this running game a credible threat, that only gives more credibility to a play-action fake.

If Dalton losses or doesn’t look hugely impressive on Thursday then I think the Saints return to Winston after their ‘mini bye’ for the game against the Raiders. Is that the right decision? only time will tell.

The Secondary Is A Problem

The Saints pass rush did a pretty good job yesterday yes they need to convert pressure into sacks but if Burrow didn’t get the ball out in rapid time the pass rush was there and would have had plenty of sacks. After the first drive it was clear that the Bengals committed to not letting their o-line lose them the game, by dialling up plays where the ball was out of Burrow’s hands fast.

That plan, in previous years, would have suited the Saints defense, this year it sliced them apart. Burrow diced the Saints defense up with quick game because the secondary couldn’t cover for more than a few seconds before someone was open. 

In theory, that should mean shorter gains, but this Saints secondary misses a tonne of tackles turning what should be short gains into first downs and even touchdowns. See Chase’s 60-yard TD for an example of that- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSHcK9DKGNo .

Yes, they’re down their best cover corner (Marshon Lattimore) but this secondary and its depth were supposed to be the strength of this team. That’s why they basically gave Chauncey Gardner-Johnson away.  

Second-year CB Paulson Adebo was supposed to be taking the next step to becoming great number two corner, two games into his return from injury, he’s not that, he’s not even close, PFF has him chartered as giving up 8 catches from 10 targets for 74 yards and a TD.

Bradley Roby is doing okay but has a huge problem with missed tackles PFF have him missing three tackles in this game alone, one of those being the biggest miss of the game, again see Chase TD.

Then you have Tyrann Mathieu and this may be harsh, but currently looks like a liability. He’s missed his fair share of tackles but also always seems to be in the wrong position when a play could be made. Right now he does not look like the player everyone expected. Maybe he needs more time to acclimate to this defense he missed a fair amount of time in training camp. He may also need time to build chemistry with his safety partner Marcus Maye who’s missed the last three games. Either way, his play needs to improve.

There’s Still Some Room For Hope

Yes, even at 2-4 with all the injuries and that questionable and inconsistent play there is still a slimmer of hope. After the game this Thursday they should get many of their injured players back ( Winston, Thomas, Landry and Lattimore that’s why a win against AZ is essential.

The Saints have 3 winnable games coming up, this Thursday against Arizona (who have their own injury problems) after that its the 1-4 Raiders at home and then after a trip to Baltimore the Saints face either a Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky lead Steelers team.

IF they can win three of those games that would put them 5-5 and that could be good enough to put them first or close to it in a currently poor NFC South.

The margin for error has now gone for the Saints, the loss to a dreadful Carolina team and two games they should have won against the Vikings and the Bengals have eroded that away. There can be no more excuses, a loss to the Cardinals this week ends the slither of hope I have left for this team.

For more Saints articles New Orleans Saints – https://www.full10yards.co.uk/saints/

Please let me know your feedback on this article and the others throughout the season, I’m always looking to improve and add things that people want to read about!

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.


Posted on Leave a comment

Five Things: Week 6 – Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants

The Giants’ confidence was sky high after coming off the massive high that was the shock win against the Green Bay Packers in London. Unfortunately, they once again started slowly and, although they walked away with the win here to take their record to 5-1 it wasn’t without drama. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out this week:

Convincing? No. Deserved? Yes.

Offensively, in the first half, the Giants looked largely off the pace as Balitmore constantly kept us from sustaining a drive. Aside from the touchdown drive, which was sparked by Gary Brightwell’s 47-yard kick-off return, the Giants had 14 plays across four drives, including two 3 and outs and one drive at the end of the half that ended with a fumble and recovery, albeit on a meaningless hail-mary attempt.

Continuing the recent trend, we were much better in the 2nd half of the game on both fronts, with the offence converting in the redzone when needed, but again it was the Wink Martindale-led defence that stepped up to the plate late in the 4th quarter. Time was running out after trailing for most of the second half. The breakthrough was made after the Giants secured their first interception of the season and a forced fumble plus recovery on the following Ravens drive, which ultimately stopped their potent attack from scoring again.

The Achilles Heel

As great as it was to get the win, we can’t ignore that for the majority of the game, the Ravens’ rushing attack and their tight ends were having a field day against our linebackers as they gave up chunk play after chunk play.

The Lamar to Mark Andrew connection was in full flow throughout the game, topped off as Andrews hauled in a touchdown early in the 4th quarter. He finished with 106 yards on 7 passes, for a ridiculous 15.1 yards per reception.

On the ground, both Lamar and Kenyan Drake had our number. The journeyman running back, Drake, sliced through our defensive front time and time again, finishing with 119 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Jackson had 77 yards himself on 7 carries, meaning they combined for almost 200 yards at a rate of 11.5 yards a carry.

Rookies Show Up

It’s been a slow start for some of our rookies thanks to niggling injuries. First rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux only made his debut in week three, and second rounder Wan’Dale Robinson was returning to the line-up after suffering an MCL injury in week one.

Robinson was the first of the rookies to make an impact as he caught a dart from Daniel Jones to tie the game up at 7-7.

Next up was Bellinger, who ended the game as the Giants’ leading receiver with 38 yards on five receptions. He also added a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter, which took his touchdown streak up to two games in a row.

Lastly, Thibodeaux was a menace all game and consistently got within grasping distance of Lamar Jackson but couldn’t get that elusive first career sack. Just when it looked like it wasn’t going to be his day, he got himself a nice double towards the end of the game as he recorded not only a sack but his first forced fumble too. The icing on the cake for him will have been that it was essentially a game-sealing play.

Barkley and Jones Tough It Out

Both Barkley and Jones came into today’s game nursing slight ailments, with Barkley still feeling the effects of the shoulder injury he sustained in last week’s London game and Jones dealing with both a niggling ankle injury and a scabby turf injury on his hand. On the surface, it looked like Jones’s injury barely bothered him, though it was clear he didn’t have that burst of speed he’d shown in the weeks prior, as he failed to take advantage of some of the holes the Ravens’ defence afforded him.

Barkley, on the other hand, was clearly feeling the effects of his shoulder injury as he had a quiet day compared to the lofty standards he has set for himself so far this season. His longest rush of the game was only 8 yards, as although he carried the ball 22 times, he finished with 83 yards and a touchdown against what had previously this season been a porous Ravens run defence.

Love’ly Jubbly

As mentioned before, the Giants didn’t have a single interception coming into today’s game, and when Fabian Moreau dropped what looked like an easy interception after Mark Andrews’ drop/deflection of a Lamar Jackson pass, it looked like it would never come. Enter Julian Love.

The fourth-year safety from Notre Dame, who leads the Giants in tackles this season alongside cornerback Adoree Jackson, had already made an important play in the 1st quarter, denying what looked like a sure-fire touchdown to Demarcus Robinson by launching himself in front of the receiver. The most important play, though, came late in the fourth quarter, with the Giants still down by three points. Lamar Jackson fumbled a snap and after recovering it, he threw an ill-advised pass up into the air, which Love gratefully accepted and returned 27 yards to the Balitmore 13-yard line. Four plays later, the Giants took the lead, and after Saquon Barkley’s smart football play to slide down before the endzone, the Ravens never saw the ball again.