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5 things to look out for in Week 6

Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs rematch and NFC East nail-biter standout in stacked Week 6 slate

1. Ravens travel to the big apple to play in-form Giants

The 4-1 New York Giants pulled off an impressive comeback win over the Packers in London last week, after Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley came in clutch and Wink Martindale’s defense stepped up to shut down Rodgers and co when needed. 

Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens are in town and are hitting form at the right time, having just taken the lead of the AFC North after beating their divisional rival Bengals.

Contrary to their first two home games, the defense was able to eliminate big plays, more of that on Sunday will go a long way towards finding the consistency needed to contend in January.

2. Minnesota Vikings in Miami to play banged up Dolphins

It’s perhaps the perfect time for Minnesota to play Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins, who could be missing multiple starters.

7th round rookie QB Skylar Thompson will make his first start for the Fins, after Teddy Bridgewater joined Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol this week, whilst Terron Armstead and Raheem Mostert are questionable and Austin Jackson and Byron Jones remain on IR.

The Vikings are looking hot right now, having won three close games in a row, righting last years wrongs as the team that lost the most games by one score in 2021.

3. Two LSU legends return to the state to face the New Orleans Saints

LSU Tigers legends Joe Burrow and Jamarr Chase return to Louisiana on Sunday as their Cincinnati Bengals play the Saints at the Caesars Superdome, the very stadium where the Tigers became national champions.

New Orleans’ defensive line will be a tough test for a Bengals pass protection unit that has looked better in recent games, a great time to see where they’re at.

It’ll be intriguing to see what Dennis Allen does with Marshon Lattimore, will he shadow Chase, like he did Jefferson in London, or cover one of Higgins and Boyd, with the superstar WR being double covered. 

4. Chiefs and Bills back to play in rematch of the greatest playoff game

The Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Buffalo Bills to Arrowhead in the rematch of the 2021 Divisional Round game, potentially the greatest contest we’ve ever seen.

Buffalo beefed up their pass-rush with Von Miller to get to Patrick Mahomes this year, whilst the home team used the cap space left after trading Tyreek to upgrade their own defense, one that needs to contain Josh Allen.

This one could be the game of the year, certainly the game of the week, why wouldn’t it be when it features the two most complete teams in the league, it’s a shame they can’t meet in the Super Bowl.

5. Cooper Rush’s Dallas Cowboys out to give rival Philadelphia Eagles their first loss

In what could be Dallas’ final game without Dak Prescott they have a chance to go 5-1 and end their bitter rivals unbeaten start.

NBC has what may turn out to be one of the better primetime games we’ve seen this year, who would’ve thought that when the Cowboys were forced to turn to their backup QB.

With Micah Parsons good to go, Dallas has certainly got the defense to hamper Jalen Hurts and co, he’s turning into one of the best players in the whole league. 

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Week Six- New Orleans Saints Vs Cincinnati Bengals Preview 

The Saints look to be walking into the dome badly wounded but, not dead. Let’s take a look at how this version of the Saints, down many starters, matchup to last season’s Superbowl runners-up the Cincinnati Bengals.

Saints Offense Vs Bengals Defense

It’s expected that the Saints will give Andy Dalton at least one more start this week, Jameis Winston has been limited in practice this week and has looked healthier. It makes sense with how efficient the offense has been under Dalton to give Winston another game or two to make sure he’s as close to full health as possible before inserting him back into the line-up.

Dalton will need to continue his efficient play under center this week as he will almost definitely be without Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry again, there is hope that Chris Olave will be available for the game after returning to practice on a limited basis following his concussion on Sunday Vs Seattle.

Adam Schefter who’s usually a reliable source tweeted last week that the Saints expected Thomas back this week and the fact he is still not practising is concerning, after the debacle of MT’s ankle injury this has shades of how that was reported, maybe it’s just the Saints preserving him going into a short week against Arizona next week on Thursday night, that’s what I’m hoping.

If the Saints have Olave available then that’s good enough for the passing offense to function with a healthy dose of Alvin Kamara mixed too. 

Speaking of Kamara this has to be another strong rushing game, the offense has to play complimentary football, shorten the game and keep a defense without Marshon Lattimore against Ja’Marr Chase fresh.

Kamara had his best game of the season last week and was running was more noticeable burst than he’s had recently, he did have another costly fumble, to continue the theme of the offense needing to play complimentary football that can’t happen this week, nor going forward. The Saints offense needs to be able to rely on its best player not to make killer mistakes so they can feed him because when you do that special things happen.

The Bengals defense has allowed 4.2 yards per carry so far this season, which ranks 10th best in the league. They are without arguably their best-run defender this week with DJ Reader on IR. They managed to bottle up Lamar Jackson last week for only 4.8 YPC last week, which is about as good as you can hope for. That was also a perfect matchup for them to help in the preparation for the Saints own mobile QB weapon.

Enter Taysom Hill, along with Kamara he needs plenty of touches early and often if the Saints are going to win this game. More on Taysom vs the Bengals here- Analysing Three Key Saints Matchups To Watch in Week Six – Full10Yards.

The Bengals defense enters the dome as one of the better units in the league and so far looks like the best defense in this game. Trey Hendrickson returns to New Orleans and leads a stout d-line, Hendrickson has been a force on the edge since his last season for the Saints, which has only continued for the Bengals.  The Saints o-line will have a handful this weekend with him and Sam Hubbard on the edge and B.J Hill on the inside.

The secondary for Cincinnatti is led by another former Saint Vonn Bell, the Saints chose to sign veteran Malcolm Jenkins over Bell in free agency a few years ago, something he hasn’t forgotten, he was quoted this week by Cincinnati media “ they drafted me, yeah, and I appreciate the opportunity. But they moved on from me. You never forget that.” 

Chidobe Awuzie leads the CBs, he’s only allowing 42.4% of the passes thrown his way to be completed with 4 PBUs and a 62.4 passer rating when targeted. He will give the Saints WRs all they can handle this weekend. Opposite him is Saints reject Eli Apple starting opposite, who has played well so far this year but expect New Orleans to target him frequently rather than Awuzie.

Saints Defense Vs Bengals Offense

The Saints defense is expected to be without their best cover CB on Sunday Marshon Lattimore is expected to be out after bruising his kidney against Seattle last week. Every week is a bad week to be without your best CB, this week hurts especially with Ja’Marr Chase making his return to the Superdome for the first time since his days at LSU.

Paulson Adebo will need to step up after a dier showing against Seattle last week. Hopes were high for  Adebo entering his second season, he was widely considered to be the training camp MVP and most improved player on the defense before suffering an ankle injury that sidelined up for the first 2 games of the regular season. 

It’s expected that Bradley Roby will start opposite him this week, Roby had been manning the slot since Adebo’s return. posing the question who starts in the slot? do the Saints return to Justin Evans? who started in the slot at the start of the year. Or do they go with Chris Harris Jr. who was an elite slot CB for most of his career but he is in the twilight of his career at this stage, so who knows how effective he will be at this stage?

Whoever mans the slot will have their hands full with one of the better slot WRs in the league Tyler Boyd. Outside of Boyd and Chase, the Bengals have their own question mark surrounding their number two WR Tee Higgins, an elite big play machine who will be questionable this week after missing practice at the start of the week with a knee injury, before some limited participation today.

The Saints should have safety Marcus Maye back this week which should help this Saints defense defend big plays. More on the secondary’s issues with big plays here- https://www.full10yards.co.uk/analysing-three-key-saints-matchups-to-watch-in-week-six/ .

Having Maye back should also allow HC/defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to use Tyrann Mathieu in the way he envisioned when Mathieu was signed, a more free-flowing playmaker at safety who can line up anywhere, without too many responsibilities. That’s the version of the Honey Badger the Saints need on Sunday.

The Saints also shouldn’t have to stack the box to defend the run this week. Despite having one of the better RBs in the league, the Bengals running game has been stagnant. Joe Mixon is averaging 3.1 yards per carry so far this season. Without having to stack the box the Saints can live in NICKEL (2LBs, 5DBs), which should also help against the pass.

Cam Jordan and the rest of the Saints d-line should have an advantageous matchup this week against a porous Bengals o-line. If the Saints d-line, especially Marcus Davenport doesn’t dominate this week and they need to help limit the big plays against this Bengals passing attack, then I don’t know when they will. More on Davenport and the Bengals o-line here- https://whodathype.com/2022/10/14/bold-saints-predictions-saints-bengals/ .

State Of The Rosters

No surprises for the Saints, Olave being upgraded to full is a huge development, but his status for the game is still up in the air. Fingers crossed he plays, with Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry out the Saints need their standout rookie.

On the Bengals side Tee Higgins and Jonah Williams missed practice all week but practised on a limited basis on Friday, I’m sure they will play, there’s been no reporting on that its just big players, especially WRs always seem to find a way to play when the Saints are the opponent. If Higgins doesn’t play that would be a huge help to the Saints secondary.

Score Prediction 

I’ve predicted the Saints to win every game this season so far, but with the injuries, I don’t think I can this game. There’s a path for the Saints to win if the running game dominates and the defense limits big plays they can win. Of course, I hope they do win, but I think the injuries are just too much to overcome this week.

28-20 Bengals win.

For more Saints articles New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards 

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.


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Analysing Three Key Saints Matchups To Watch in Week Six

The Saints are wounded entering their Week Six matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals but there are still some matchups that if the Saints win should give them the edge on Sunday.

Taysom Hill Vs Everybody

Taysom Hill is an incredible offensive weapon, not just because of his game last week Vs Seattle. Taysom has always been a weapon. Even before last week, he was averaging 5.6 yards per carry in his NFL career.

With the talent Hill has shown in his weapon role in the NFL, it’s confusing why Hill has not been a consistent weapon throughout his career week in and week out. Could It be Fumbles? (10 fumbles in 2020) injuries? he missed 8 games last season. Worried about the starting QB getting out of rhythm? truth is it could be a mixture of all. Either way, New Orleans needs to make him a focal point of what they do week in and week out.

Hill has had dominant games like last week in the past and then inexplicably the next week he’s barely used. At times it’s because he’s been the team’s primary backup at QB. Others the lack of usage has been a mystery.

That lack of consistent usage can’t happen again this week. The Saints have the makings of an offensive identity with a creative running game led by Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara.

The Taysom Hill package is one of the more creative packages in the league and one of the biggest headaches for opposing defenses. What player can make four defenders stare solely at them? Allowing a TE a completely free release up the seam for a touchdown? See the evidence of that in the tweet below:

Sean FazendeFOX8 on Twitter: “Seahawks 6, 57, 56, 26 all staring down Taysom Perfect call at the perfect time by Pete Carmichael https://t.co/9e8bFIRAnx” / Twitter

That identity is even more important this week, as it stands the Saints will not have their top three WRs (Michael Thomas, Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry) available this weekend and the offense needs to continue its efficiency a lot of that efficiency has been built off the run, allowing the play-action passes to be particularly effective.

Since becoming the starter Dalton has had 11 completions from 12 attempts for 131 yards. That may not sound that exciting, but those throws are creating chunk plays in the passing game that are keeping drives alive. Without the top three WRs this weekend the need for play-action passes to be a creditable threat is even more important.

Saints Secondary Vs Big Plays

It’s looking very likely Marshon Lattimore will be out this weekend which is a huge blow for the Saints secondary, they lose their best cover CB and one of their better tacklers at the position as well.

Even with Lattimore available for the majority of last week, the Saints defense gave up a crazy amount of big plays (six plays of 32 yards or more) now one of those was a run however if you watch that I think the secondary is a big part as to why Kenneth Walker ran for 69 yards into the endzone.

This cannot continue to be a factor and this week on paper it shouldn’t, per Marcus Mosher on Twitter, the Bengals offense has the second least amount of big plays on offense so far this season with 21, (eight rushes of 10+ yards and 13 pass plays of more than 20 yards).

Traditionally the Bengals offense with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase has been a big play threat, they road this ability all the way to the Superbowl last season.

Marcus Mosher on Twitter: “Most big plays through Week 5: https://t.co/5eHcwylxkz” / Twitter

What makes the Saints defensive struggles so frustrating is they are dominating in three important metrics (third down percentage, fourth down percentage and red-zone percentage) as pointed out on Twitter by John Sigler (below)

John Sigler on Twitter: “Through 5 games, the Saints have the NFL’s 2nd-best defense on 3rd downs (29.9%, 20-for-67) 4th downs (25%, 1-for-4) Red zone (33.3%, 4-for-12) Winning where it matters most.” / Twitter

If the Saints can keep the big plays to a minimum this defense will dominate and ascend to where they belong (a top 5 unit in the league).

Saints Offense Vs Turnovers

Turnovers are still a massive problem for this Saints offense, even with Andy Dalton at the helm rather than Jameis Winston.

With Dalton starting the Saints offense has three turnovers, two of those have been Dalton (one Interception and a fumble) the other was Alvin Kamara lost fumble last week.

Yes, the offense has looked better and more in rhythm with Dalton leading the charge but they are still plagued with a problem that will cause them to lose a lot of games that they should win.

Kamara also has another fumble against Carolina and Week Three, I don’t bank on this continuing (Kamara has never lost more than two fumbles in a season since he entered the NFL but one of the players you want to give the ball to the most have two lost fumbles already is pause for concern.

The fumbles especially fall on the players of course but also the coaching staff, HC Dennis Allen needs to find a way to rectify one of the team’s biggest issues.

Former HC Sean Payton had some choice words for Mark Ingram on Kay Adams morning show, Up and Adams

With the possibility of being without many key players on Sunday, it’s going to be hard enough for the Saints to beat their opponent let alone having to beat themselves as well.

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.


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Week 5: Rookie Standouts

As we now move into the second quarter of the season, we’re starting to see some rookies start to cement their place in the standings for Defensive and Offensive Rookie of the Year. In week 5, these were the rookies that stood out.

Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans

My first returning player to these rankings, and he’s done it back to back! After last week’s amazing effort against the Los Angeles Chargers, Pierce took a deserved spot on this list despite being on the losing side. This time, however, he drove the Texans to their first win of the season after a low-scoring close affair against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Not only did Pierce punch in the go-ahead touchdown that gave the Texans their first win of the season, but he also had 3 receptions for 16 yards and 26 carries for 99 yards. These are not amazing numbers if you just look at the basic stats, but when you take into account that 97 of those yards were after contact, it’s just ridiculous. In fact, just watch this angry run below.

Sauce Gardner, Cornerback – New York Jets

Sauce has been unlucky to not appear in these rankings yet, but there was no way I could ignore him as he helped the Jets defence dominate the Miami Dolphins from their very first play from scrimmage.

Teddy Bridgewater, who was playing in the place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa, lined up to take his first snap of the game and an unblocked Sauce unloaded on him, driving him to the dirt and forcing an intentional grounding penalty and subsequent safety as Bridgewater threw the ball in the endzone.

Sauce finished the game with 5 tackles, 1 pass defended, and his first career interception. He also finished with an allowed passer rating of 34.2, which is worse than if the Dolphins QB had just spiked it every play.

Breece Hall, Running Back – New York Jets

So not only do I have my first returning player, but I also have two players from the same team for the first time this year. If Sauce helped the Jets dominate the Dolphins defensively, then Hall was the standout on offence as he displayed why he could be the next dual-threat running back weapon.

In what can be considered his breakout game, Hall had a monstrous day, picking up an incredible 100 yards on a measly 2 receptions, as well as having 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, his first in the NFL. The twenty-one-year-old Hall, who was drafted in the second round by the Jets, is now leading all rookies in scrimmage yards and is on the verge of breaking into the top ten among all NFL players.

Honorable Mentions

For the first time this season, I wanted to give a couple of honorable mentions to a trio of cornerbacks who just missed out on a spot. Those are Tariq Woolen (Seattle Seahawks), Jack Jones (New England Patriots), and Derek Stingley (Houston Texans).

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Five Things: Week 5 – New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

The Giants returned to our shores this week and shocked everyone with a 27-22 come-from-behind victory over the Green Bay Packers. Let’s take a look at five things that stood out from London:

London Calling

The Giants must really love coming to London. Not only is the team now 3-0 in the city, but they’re also the only team to win three games in three different London stadiums (Wembley in 2007, Twickenham in 2016 and Tottenham this past weekend).

Despite being 3-1, the Giants opened as 7.5-point underdogs against Aaron Rogers and his Green Bay Packers team, and looking at the rosters, it was totally understandable. The Giants were without multiple starters, including starting defensive player Leonard Williams, and after the first half of the game went the way of the cheeseheads (and their huge following), the Giants rallied at half time. After shutting out Green Bay in the second half despite more injury woes, Big Blue scored two unanswered touchdowns via running backs Gary Brightwell and Saquon Barkley before Oshane Ximines sacked Rogers on the final play of the game.

Box of Tricks

The Wildcat formation was obviously something that the Giants had in their back pocket after successfully running it a few times last week. Due to injuries to both quarterbacks, that was a necessity last week; this week, it was more of an option to unsettle the Packers, and it worked.

Barkley lined up on his own 22-yard line, took the snap and darted through for 40 yards. Suddenly, the tails were up, and Big Blue had started to string something together. A few plays later, they found themselves on the cusp of the endzone. In what looked like a failed Philly special, Daniel Jones tossed it to Barkley, who then did the same to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Bellinger looked like he was going to throw the ball but decided to just barrel into the endzone for the Giants’ first touchdown of the game.

2nd Half Shutout

Wink Martindale seems to use the first half as a learning session before executing his masterplan in the second half, and this time it was Rogers who was in the crosshairs. After Adoree Jackson was ruled out at the half with a knee injury, he was down to Fabian Moreau, Nick McCloud, and Justin Layne, three players who weren’t even on the Giants roster until after the preseason, but all three excelled in their next man up roles.

After completing 18 of 24 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, he was held to a paltry 7 of 15 for 76 yards and no touchdowns. The amazing thing at the end of all of this is that the only points scored by the Packers in the second half were done so by the Giants, as punter Jamie Gillian got to play a little bit of chase in the endzone before stepping out for a safety.

Slayton Shows Up

The Giants’ receivers had been the most underwhelming unit this season, and after the majority of the so-called big names had been ruled out by injuries, the Giants turned to fourth-year outcast Darius Slayton.

Slayton has found himself on the outside looking in since Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen took over and was touted as being an almost certain cut or trade candidate before the season.

Though he saw a return to the line-up last week, again he didn’t start as practice squad elevation Marcus Johnson started the game, but by the end, Slayton showed why it should be him next week. He led the team in both targets and receptions and comfortably had double the receiving yards of any other Giant receiver. With Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson unlikely to take the field together for at least a few more weeks, the Giants won’t think twice next time about relying on Slayton.

Coach(es) of the Year Incoming?

In their first year leading the team, general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and defensive coordinator Wink Martingdale have had quite an eventful start to the season as the team has exceeded expectations to earn their 4-1 start.

Daboll and Schoen have overhauled the culture at the Giants, building a team that not only does the dirty, gritty work but genuinely looks like they are playing for each other. The old cliché is “next man up,” but this is a mantra they are playing by and, to a man, it is working.

The coordinators, as mentioned before, both got the absolute best out of the personnel at their disposal, whether it was Kafka getting creative with his play calling to bamboozle the Green Bay defense or Wink, despite missing key pieces, stifling Rogers’ air attack and holding the Packers’ dangerous rushing tandem of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon to a combined 97 yards.

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Fantasy Recap – Week 5

Welcome to the fantasy recap and this was the last week for a while without teams on bye. Next week it starts to get tricky for fantasy owners as waiver wires become important and there’s much less margin for error. What isn’t helping is just how hard some things are to predict this season. Some big names are putting up tiny scores, lesser heralded names are putting up the odd monster and nobody knows what a good score is anymore. We’re here to recap week 5 and look ahead to week 6.

NB: Scores based on PPR leagues

Fantasy Stars:

Josh Allen (BUF) – 20cmp/424yds/4td/1int + 5rsh/42yds 36pts

Josh Allen made the most of a matchup with a banged up Pittsburgh Defence and put up the biggest score of the week. Gabe Davis helped himself to 171 yards and 2 TDs on only 3 of those 20 completions to be the highest scoring wide receiver and in an unusual turn, none of Allens’ TDs came via his legs.  

Leonard Fournette (TBB) – 14rsh/56yds/1td + 10rec/83yds/1td 36pts

I had my doubts about Fournette pre-season but he seems to be one of the major focal points for the Bucs in both the running and passing game. With the wide receivers often banged up, Fournette is seemingly a constant option for Brady and a ground and an air TD against Atlanta made his managers very happy.

Taysom Hill (NO) – 0rec/0yds + 1cmp/22yds/1td + 9rsh/112yds/3td 33pts

A Tight End is predominantly there to block players or grab low yardage receptions. So the statline above shows just how much of an anomaly Taysom Hill is. A passing TD as a QB (which we know he has in his locker) and 9 rushes (many of which were designed plays) is not normal and the old argument of “should he even count as a Tight End” may resurface. But in a team which had Alvin Kamara back but no Jameis Winston, this was extraordinary.

Surprise Packages:

Tevin Coleman (SF) – 8rsh/23yds/1td + 3rec/44yds/1td 22pts

Coleman was signed to the 49ers practice squad in late September after they lost Elijah Mitchell and this was his first game of the season… An outlet in both the rushing and passing game, he was the kind of player designed to assist Jimmy Garoppolo and he did that well. Jeff Wilson also had a solid day and the 49ers seem to have a trustable tandem again.

Carson Wentz (WAS) – 25cmp/359yds/2td/1int + 5rsh/15yds 20pts

There are sometimes fantasy stat-lines that you look at and have to question their validity. This is one of them. Wentz has been much maligned for the last few weeks and yesterday the interception on the goal line that result in the Commanders losing the game was the overriding memory. However, prior to that he’d had a solid game with his 2nd largest passing yardage and the 2nd highest of all QBs in week 5 (going into MNF). Sometimes even being QB6 on the week won’t change people’s opinions.

Darius Slayton (NYG) – 6rec/79yds 14pts

The Giants have a lot of issues when it comes to receivers. It’s Saquon Barkley or bust but somehow they keep winning. Each week a different receiver seems to be handy for them and in London it was the almost forgotten Darius Slayton. This isn’t a situation where you need to rush to grab him on the waiver wire as it was only his 2nd game with a reception and he still only say 54% of snaps, but if he gets up a head of steam then maybe he could be a bye week flex play.

Disappointments:

Jared Goff (DET) – 19cmp/229yds/0td/1int + 3rsh/7yds/1fum(lost) 6pts

A hero last week, my waiver wire suggestion for this week… oh dear. The Patriots were in the bottom 5 against QBs but they owned the Lions as they shut them out. The Patriots knew the Lions game plan and did not allow for the intermediate crossing routes that have given the Lions so much success this season. If other teams take a leaf out of the Patriots playbook here then the Lions offence may already need to adapt.

Chase Edmonds (MIA) – 1rsh/1yd + 0rec/0yds 0pts

All week, fantasy oweners and content creators have discussed whether Edmonds is cutable and if Raheem Mostert has taken over for good. Well this performance supported both of those theories and a non-existent day against the Jets would suggest that the writing is on the wall for Edmonds.

Christian Kirk (JAX) – 1rec/3yds 2pts

The Jags WR had a nice looking matchup against the Texans but Houston are the Jags bogey team and they shut down Kirk as well as a number of other weapons to somewhat quieten the hype that was building around Jacksonville. I suspect this is a temporary blip for Kirk but it is a concern.

Waiver Wire pickups:

BYE Weeks: DET, HOU, LVR, TEN

QB – Geno Smith (SEA) – 40% owned – Smith seems to be getting more and more comfortable in his QB1 role and this was a 3rd above average week in a row. He is retaining the ball and using it well in often high scoring games. Next week he has Arizona and their struggling defence.

Other QB Options – WinstonvsCIN, Lawrence@IND, Garoppolo@ATL, M.Jones@CLE.

RB – Eno Benjamin (ARI) – 20% owned – Benjamin outperformed James Conner this week and with Conners history of injury concerns this is a useful move now with the potential to be something much bigger were something to happen.  8 attempts and a TD is handy but the 3 receptions for 28 yards could get higher.

WR – Alec Pierce (IND) – 30% owned – For the 2nd week running Pierce outyarded Michael Pittman and sent alarm bells ringing in the fantasy community. The Colts offence has its issues but Pierce recently has been the outlet. They have JAX, TEN and WAS upcoming so it’s a patch where they can turn it around.

TE – Logan Thomas (WAS) – 10% owned – Taysom Hill seems to always be a boom or bust player but you may want to take that chance. Most Tight Ends are a weekly gamble this season so my suggestion here is Logan Thomas. He missed week 5 through injury but should play in week 6. Wentz would have been even more effective with Thomas in the line-up and may have won the game with him available in the endzone.  

DST Options – Chargers vsDEN, Bears vsWAS, Patriots @CLE, Jaguars @IND.

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Week Five; New Orleans Saints Vs Seattle Seahawks Game-Recap

In what was a must-win game on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome, the Saints managed to hold on to a 39-32 victory to keep their season alive and move to 2-3 on the season. Despite the game being ludicrous from start to finish. 

Let’s break down what on earth happened in what will now forever be known as the ‘Taysom Hill game’.

Overview

Saints Offense 

Finally!!!!! Some consistent offensive rhythm and effectiveness were achieved on Sunday. Part of me believes that this is what OC Pete Carmichael Jr has been trying to achieve since the start of the season.

How did they achieve this? Feeding Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill. Between them, they rushed for 215 yards on 32 carries, which averages out at 6.7 yards per rush. 

Kamara looked the best he has all season with 23 of those carries for 103 yards and also added Six receptions for 91 yards, including an incredibly well-executed 54-yard screen play. He did have another costly fumble; this trend sadly is continuing. It went from the Saints driving to end the half with likely a field goal or maybe a touchdown. To Seattle getting the back on the Saints side of the field and scoring a TD.

The fumbles have to stop, period. End of story and they keep coming at costly times It will lose them more games if it continues.

This was the blueprint for using Taysom Hill, He ran nine times for 112-yards and three touchdowns, and he was lethal in short yardage and in the RedZone. Whilst also adding a huge 60-yard touchdown run for good measure. 

Crucially to keep defences honest Carmichael dialled up a perfect passing play for Taysom, which resulted in a 22-yard touchdown pass for Adam Trautman. Hill commented in his post-game press conference “Hey, we really like this play, so don’t be surprised if that’s one of the first plays I get to with you”. Carmichael had seen this was going to work, dialled it up and Hill executed it perfectly.

This game plan might explain the persistence of running on first and second down, much to Saints fans dismay throughout the first 4 games of the year. This was something that ‘Sneaky Pete’ as he’s known by Saints players, knew they could do, and I think he thought the Saints offensive identity could be built around it.

The absence of Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara at the start of this season may be through a spanner in the works of his grant plan.

Now, maybe I’m reading into this too much and this was just a great matchup for this game plan and that’s why the Saints lent into and executed it, and this won’t be the plan going forward, but I firmly believe a version of this is how the Saints offense needs to try and play going forward.

Andy Dalton was again solid, he got the ball out on time and made plays when he needed to. The running game took centre stage and Dalton did what he needed to in the passing game when required.  Dalton’s thrived off play action and throw a dime to Chris Olave for a touchdown on third down in the RedZone.

Olave made an incredible play but got concussed in the process which looked scary! Fingers crossed it isn’t something that lingers A). for Olave’s health and B). because Olave looks like a stud, a true home run pick and a true number one WR in the making.  

Chris Olave’s TD catch and Injury vs. Seattle – YouTube

However, he did turn the ball over again, with a slightly inaccurate throw to Tre’Quan Smith that was picked by Tariq Woolen (I called this in my key matchups article before the game).

Dalton has not done enough to slam the door shut on Winston returning to the starting line-up after healing from his injuries. However, there’s no doubt that the offense has looked its best so far with Dalton under center.

Other Offense Notes

  • Shout out to the o-line, amazing in the run game and only allowed one sack.
  • Tre’Quan Smith again shows inconsistency, he played really well against Carolina and had the chance to make two crucial plays this week but dropped them both.
  • Mark Ingram does not look right, after showing good burst and vision against Tampa, he’s really struggled since in a game where Kamara and Hill averaged 6.7 yards-per-carry he averaged 1.8.

Saints Defense 

Well, where to start?

Let’s start with the good. 

Cameron Jordan was again great. He had 1.5 sacks both on huge third downs and looked to be around the QB plenty throughout the game, ESPN has him with 2 QB hits and 2TFLs. This is now two games in a row Cam has dominated and long may it continue. 

Linebackers Pete Werner and Demario Davis. Werner continues to shine, he’s constantly where the ball is and when he’s there he makes plays. Werner forced a crucial fumble at the start of the second half.

David Onyemata recovers D.K. Metcalf fumble – Saints Seahawks Highlights – 2022 NFL Week 5 (neworleanssaints.com)

Which set the Saints up with a short field which they converted into a touchdown to take the lead.

Davis is still a stud and very rarely on the wrong side of plays, it’s just Werner is standing out so much Davis is merging nicely into the background.

Finally, Marshon Lattimore, after he struggled against Justin Jefferson last week, he looked to have put together a pretty clean game against DK Metcalf. Only looked like he gave up one catch in coverage against D.K and had a PBU on another. 

Something to monitor here throughout the week. Lattimore did not finish the game after injuring his abdomen, hopefully, it’s not serious, not having him next week Vs Cincinnati would be brutal.

The Seahawks were 1-9 on third down, but still scored 32 points, which leads us onto the bad which was how Seattle managed those points with such a putrid stat line on third down.

The rest of the secondary (maybe minus Bradley Roby it was hard to tell). Paulson Adebo got roasted, gave up multiple huge plays in the passing game and really struggled against Tyler Lockett specifically. Lockett is certainly a good WR, but it is disappointing to see a player we all thought was taking a huge leap this season struggle so much. Hopefully, this was just a bad game for Adebo rather than a sign of things to come.

The safeties did not look good and Marcus Maye is definitely more missed than initially realised, they need him back this week desperately, all reports suggest they will, but there was thought he’d be back this week, so fingers crossed. Also doesn’t help not having primary backup P.J. Williams available did not help.

This meant Justin Evans was thrust into the starting role and J.T. Gray, who’s an excellent special teamer but not someone you want playing serious snaps on defense, in this game he had to contribute in this phase of the game.

Tyrann Mathieu looks like a player that is far more effective in the box than back deep at this stage of his career.  Due to injuries, he had to play the deeper role more than you’d like and I think frailties showed. 

The Saints’ defense gave up a massive eight plays of 15 yards or more and six of those were over 30 yards. Many of those were big pass plays that certainly fall on the secondary play, especially the safeties and even Kenneth Walker’s huge 69-yard touchdown run, looked like the secondary did not stay in their lanes to keep the backside contained and Walker exploited that.

Saints Special Teams

Will Lutz was great again going on-for-one on field goals ( a perfect 56-yard kick) and 4/4 on extra points.

Blake Gillikin on the other hand was not. He had four punts, two ended in touchbacks, and another was a 25-yard shank, he had the chance to pin them deep when the Saints needed it most, but that punt ended up on the Seattle 22.

Gillikin hasn’t seemed himself and maybe my expectations were too high after being excellent last season but he needs to return to be a weapon for this team.

Finally, enter the front-runner for the most bizarre play of the week. Seattle lined up to punt at their own 29 it was fourth and nine and well this happened:

https://www.neworleanssaints.com/video/taysom-hill-fake-punt-recovery-saints-seahawks-highlights-2022-week-5

Was it a fake attempt? it looked like it, but it made no sense to do it where and when they did and it had no chance from the word go. Who recovered the fumble? of course it was Taysom Hill.

Hill also had more presence on special teams when he started to return kickoffs after Deonte Harty went out. It was just Hill’s day today on his first attempt after a nice return he fumbled but recovered it himself, otherwise looked good returning kicks.

Conclusion

The Saints had to win this game and they found a way to today. Who knows if this will turn around their season? Penalties and turnovers are still an issue they need to fix or it will cost them games.

To be honest, though, it was just nice to see a win, with some exciting offense. 

Need to keep an eye on the injury report this week, New Orleans needs to get some good news on that front with the Joe Burrow/ Ja’Marr Chase homecoming up next for them in the Dome next Sunday.

Look out for the preview of that game later in the week New Orleans Saints – Full10Yards 

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 @SaintsReportUK, for much more Saints content and discussion.


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F10Y Betting; Week 5 Best Bets

The NFL is over too quickly! We’re already going to hit the quarter point of the season as we go through Week 5, and Adam and the boys are back this week with their favourite bets for the slate.

The host of the pod, the self-proclaimed TouchdownTips is still looking for a win on the season after the Browns did all they could to lose to the Falcons last week while the record for the group as a whole needs some improvement sitting at around 0.500 on the year. Let’s hope for a bit of luck this week and a 4-0 Sunday.

Check out this weeks pod for 45 mins of info on every game this weekend

Steelers +14.5 @ Bills

Adam (@TouchdownTips)

As you all probably know, I am a Bengals fan, so picking this line as my best bet for the week was a tough one, but I just had to. The Steelers biggest underdog the Steelers have been in the last 30 years is 13.5 in 1992… This game was up at 14.5 when recorded the pod, I had to take them getting over two TDs against anyone.

Sure they have a rookie QB who will threw up some interceptions as his name suggests, but he’ll get big plays out of Pickens and Diontae Johnson, and maybe even Chase Claypool.

The Bills played the Ravens last week and have the Chiefs next week, they won’t be too bothered about running up the score against these chumps.

I had to take the Steelers +14.5

Dolphins -3 (3.5) @ Jets

Jack (@JackT_95)

Sure, he’s a Dolphins fan, and it might be a homer pick, but we fully agree that the Dolphins are the correct side at the Metlife on Sunday.

The Jets welcomed back Zach Wilson who performed adequately in what looked like a loss before leading a game-winning drive against the hapless Steelers last week. They’ll be OK, but they’re probably over-rated at the moment after a c couple of miracle wins against AFC North opposition.

The Dolphins are idiots for how they dealt with Tua, but the downgrade to Teddy Bridgewater isn’t significant and he’ll hit those deep shots to Hill and Waddle while their run game should be fine led by Mostert.

The Dolphins blitz a lot and Wilson doesn’t deal with that at all.

Lions +4.5 @ Patriots

Callum (@CallumJDSquire)

Callum loves the Lions, probably more than his Dolphins team in fairness, he’s always on them, and he’s right to do so as the Lions seem to constantly cover the spread. This is the first game they’ve played outside this year but they’re going up against a 4th round rookie QB making his first start with barely any weapons in the passing game.

The run game for the Patriots has been very effective and they’ll put up points but the protection gifted to Jared Goff has him and the offense purring and they’ll be able to match and probably surpass any scoring the Patriots get in this one.

Titans -1.5 @ Commanders

Liam (_LiamHorsley)

Worryingly I like all of our picks this week as this was another line I was interested in. Sure the Titans aren’t exciting or pulling up any trees this year but the Commanders are terrible and even with the return of Brian Robinson from being shot in the pre-season we can’t see them putting up enough points to win against anyone, let alone one of the better coached teams in the league.

Derrick Henry as always will be the focus of the Titans attack and they’ve been getting him increasingly involved in the passing game which makes sense to let him get up a head of steam with the ball in his hands. They did lose Treylon Burks but Tannehill moves the ball well around his team and should be able to do it against a poor Commanders team.

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Five guys named woe

Whether you’re a fan of the NFL as a whole or more of a Fantasy Football aficionado, chances are you want to see the stars of the game perform well. You want the best players to fill the highlight reel week after week but inevitably, sometimes, they struggle.

In contrast to my last article about players who are exceeding our expectations, let’s take a look at a few players who are currently having some problems early doors and how they might get out of their funks.

Matthew Stafford

The issue: Throwing interceptions

Following a 24-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on MNF, the Los Angeles Rams are 2-2 through four games for the first time in the Sean McVay era. Sure, the Niners D looked pretty stout but the Rams offense was also culpable. All three of their red zone trips resulted in nothing more than field goals and inside the 20, Matt Stafford went 1-of-6 for -2 yards. Yikes! He was also sacked seven times and threw a game-sealing pick-six. All “self-inflicted wounds” according to McVay.

The costly interception means that Stafford now has a league-high six, after throwing five in the first two weeks against the Bills (3) and the Falcons (2). In addition, after throwing a scoring pass in every game last season, up to and including the Super Bowl, Stafford has played back-to-back TD-free games for the first time since 2016. Not good numbers for a guy who signed a four-year, $160 million extension this offseason.

In Stafford’s defence, his O-line is populated with back-ups and stand-ins. There’s nothing happening in the run game (Cam Akers had 13 yards in eight rushes on Monday). And his wideouts aren’t getting open (Allen Robinson had two catches from six targets for a paltry seven yards in the same game). All this means he’s trying to force-feed Cooper Kupp. Kupp had 14 catches on 19 targets for 122 yards on MNF; no other WR had more than two catches. But telegraphing everything to his WR1, even when double-teamed in tight windows, means opposing defensive backs are filling their boots.

How to fix it: Spread the targets out

McVay and Stafford need to put their heads together to sort out this misfiring offense. I think it starts with bringing Akers, Robinson et al into the game more, rather than relying on Kupp. Stafford is a good QB on a team chock-full of stars so they just need to let the others shine, starting against Dallas on Sunday.

Melvin Gordon III

The issue: Fumbling the ball

Gordon’s bout of butter-fingers has hit the headlines this year. He’s had four fumbles in five games so far this season and, with a drop in the final game of last year, his current streak is five drops in six. And it’s costing his team points.

His first drop of the current campaign came in Denver’s opener against Seattle, when he tried to stretch to convert a 4th-and-1 on the 1-yard line. The turnover was converted into a TD by the Seahawks, in a game they won by a point. He then had two fumbles in a loss to the 49ers in Week 3 and his most recent misdemeanour was on Sunday against the Raiders, which Amik Robertson took 68 yards back to the house.

Gordon has actually had an issue with ball security for a while now. He had three fumbles last year, and four in each of the two seasons prior to that, so that’s 15 in three-and-a-bit seasons.

How to fix it: Don’t overthink it

Some of this is just down to bad luck. However you protect the ball, it will pop out or get punched away from time to time. The trick now is to put this latest run of the jitters behind him, and play with confidence and freedom. With Javonte Williams going down with a season-ending knee injury last week, the pressure to put it right is on but at east Gordon posted an error-free game against Indy on Monday night.

Justin Fields

The issue: Not throwing the ball

It seems that Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears QB, either doesn’t like throwing passes or his coaches don’t trust him to. OK, he’s a young player in a new offense but among QBs who have played four games, he has the fewest pass attempts (67), completions (34) and touchdown passes (2). He hasn’t thrown for a TD since Week 1 and his passing yards per game have yet to exceed 174; they even dipped as low as 70. And he’s only completed more than 50% of his passes once, leaving him with the worst completion percentage among all starting QBs in the league (50.7%).

The Bears’ 23-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday exemplifies his struggles perfectly. Fields completed eight of 17 passes (47.1%) for 106 yards, took five sacks and threw two interceptions. He himself said he “played like trash” afterwards.

How to fix it: Quicker decision making

Fields could certainly extend plays while at Ohio State. He also takes his time to throw with this Bears team too but with NFL defences hunting him down, hanging on to the ball too long isn’t a good idea. It would certainly help if he had a better supporting cast than just Darnell Mooney. Until that changes, or Fields finds a way to get the ball out quicker, Chicago will continue to lean on the ground game in general, and Khalil Herbert in particular. Let’s see if anything changes in their divisional match at Minnesota in Week 5.

Joe Mixon

The issue: Rushing inefficiency

Last year, even behind a “sub-optimal” O-line, the Cincinnati RB rushed for 13 touchdowns and racked up 1,205 yards (4.1 average), the third-highest across the NFL. This year, with a revamped line, the offense as a whole has started slowly but is beginning to pick up. But something’s still not right with the running game.

Mixon is just not finding the lanes. So far this year, he’s had 82 rushing attempts – second only to Saquon Barkley’s 84 – so his 224 yards (21st in the league) is purely down to volume. According to The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., his average of 2.7 yards per carry places him dead last out of 35 eligible RBs with a mininum of 35 carries, almost half a yard behind the second worst (Austin Ekeler, 3.1). He’s also 35th out of 35 in a host of other metrics including rush success percentage, yards after contact per attempt, PFF run grade and rushing expected points added. However you measure it, it isn’t great.

Sure, the run blocking hasn’t been great yet but Mixon isn’t making the most of what is available to him either. He’s not running downhill, but instead tries to skirt around the edges. He’s always stutter-stepping and cutting rather than just getting his head down and powering forward. And he gets hit behind the line of scrimmage with alarming regularity. Many fans have noticed “tells” in his pre-snap stance as to whether he’s going to be handed the ball or not, and it sounds like opposition defenses know them too.

How to fix it: O-line cohesion

Mixon, 26, isn’t running out of tread quite yet, and he’s had peaks and troughs in rushing efficiency throughout his pro career. I think his current struggles are more about operating behind an O-line with four new players who are taking time to gel. Once they do, they should create the channels for #28 to exploit, but let’s face it, we’re into Week 5… so it’s high time. To expedite this process, Mixon called a meeting with his blockers this week, to work on their chemistry and find ways to get back to last season’s form. I’m just not holding my breath this week: the Bengals will probably lean on their aerial attack on Sunday night at the Baltimore Ravens, who have the worst passing defense in the league (giving up 315 passing yards a game).

Chase Claypool

The issue: The scheme

Pittsburgh’s Chase Claypool is a 6’4” vertical threat but through four games, he’s had just 11 receptions for 79 yards. His 7.2 yards per catch is the equal-lowest of all WRs playing four games (tied with Tampa Bay’s Russell Gage), and that figure wasn’t helped by a Week 4 performance in which he had no targets at all. Pretty poor all round.

To be fair to Claypool (and maybe a bit harsh on his QB), Mitch Trubisky has been the signal caller for three-and-a-half of those games. But Claypool isn’t the sort who does his damage near the line of scrimmage, the environment where Trubisky likes to operate. The guy is more of a downfield threat.

How to fix it: Let Pickett loose

I suspect Claypool’s numbers will start to improve now that Kenny Pickett is under center. From what we saw of the rookie QB during preseason and in half a game last week, we should start to see less dink-and-dunk football, and a bit more explosive, down-the-field offense from the Steelers. Pickett has toughness and timing, and it feels like he could have the necessary leadership qualities to rally his troops, so having the newbie slinging the rock should play (literally) right into Claypool’s hands. They may be playing catch-up for much of the time against the Bills this weekend so let’s see if Chase is on the case.

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5 things to look out for in Week 5

Aaron Rodgers’ Packers completing the London set, and a huge AFC North clash on SNF are standouts in an extra-long NFL Sunday

1. Green Bay Packers become 32nd team to play in London

Aaron Rodgers, Saquon Barkley, Aaron Jones, Rashan Gary, and Jaire Alexander are some of the superstar players on display as the Packers host the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Giants QB Daniel Jones is set to start, after initial fears he’d be out for a while after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s win over the Bears.

This matchup will be the first ever London game to feature two teams with winning records.

2. Can the Miami Dolphins go 3-0 in the AFC East?

Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins team has had an excellent start to the season, going 3-1 with the second toughest schedule so far in 2022.

They’re without their starting QB, Tua Tagovailoa, who suffered a concussion on TNF against the Bengals, just days after stumbling in the win against Buffalo, right now when exactly he’ll be back is unclear.

Their opponent, the New York Jets, had an impressive win over the Steelers on Sunday, Zach Wilson in particular inspired the win in the fourth quarter, another win will see both teams move to 3-2, a great start for New York.

3. 2-2 Falcons and Bucs fight for lead of NFC South

Somehow both of these teams are 2-2, Arthur Smith’s Falcons have a knack of winning games they shouldn’t.

Tampa Bay has played the league’s toughest schedule through four weeks, losing to KC last week, although their offense did get going, scoring more than 20 points for the first time this season.

Atlanta will be without their two best offensive pieces in Kyle Pitts and Cordarelle Patterson.

4. Eagles looking to go 5-0 at Arizona

The league’s only 4-0 team plays PFF’s 30th ranked defense in Sunday’s late window.

Arizona has looked awful these past few weeks, but sit 2-2 due to the individual brilliance of Kyler Murray, he’ll keep this one close.

Jalen Hurts has been a top 5 quarterback so far this season, the battle between him and Murray, two of the league’s most mobile QB’s should be thrilling.

5. Huge AFC North battle on SNF

Cincinnati looks like a different team from the first two weeks of the year, the offensive line is protecting Burrow and the defense has stepped up.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has been lights out this season, but his defense has let him down in the fourth quarter twice.

They’re yet to win at home this season, suffering heartbreaking losses to Miami and Buffalo, whilst a loss for the Bengals will see them go 0-2 in the division.