Week 3 Thoughts & Observations

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Tom Kessenich
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Week 3 Thoughts & Observations

Post by Tom Kessenich » Mon Sep 27, 2021 9:16 am

Here are some random thoughts and observations about Week 3 as I wonder why people hate kickers hate so much when Justin Tucker is so damn awesome.

So, we’re all in agreement that Brandin Cooks is quarterback proof, right?

And none of us are ever taking Christian McCaffrey with the No. 1 pick in our drafts ever again?

Sorry CMC but two years in a row is just two years too many.

The Washington defense was the No. 2 defense taken in the Primetime this year. They’ve been a gigantic disaster so far and were absolutely blasted to smithereens by Josh Allen on Sunday. But here’s some good news if you drafted them. They get the Falcons’ woeful offense in Week 4 so they are actually startable next week. But after that?

Week 5 Saints

Week 6 Chiefs

Week 7 Packers

Week 8 Broncos

Week 9 Bye

Week 10 Bucs

Maybe you’d start them against the Saints. Maybe. And maybe you’d consider them on the road at Denver in Week 8 although that seems like a reach to me right now. Bottom line, I expect WFT to hit the Waiver Wires in a lotta leagues after Week 4 and if not then for sure after Week 5.

What a waste of a draft pick. Even for a defense.

Speaking of Allen, I think he’s OK now.

But we may have been too quick to anoint Devin Singletary the lead RB in the backfield. Here comes Zack Moss.

OK I’ve kinda buried the lead of this week’s column because I wanted to work up to the thing that really had me rankled all day yesterday – Matt Freaking Nagy. Yesterday was supposed to be Justin Fields Day. Everything was set up for the rookie to debut in glorious fashion. After all, Tyrod Freaking Taylor had lit up the Browns on the ground and through the air in one damn half the week before and he’s Tyrod Freaking Taylor and the Texans are a glorious mess of a football team.

It was all there for Fields to step in and showcase his many gifts for the Bears and fantasy players alike.

But all of us forgot the Nagy Factor.

Nagy’s game plan shockingly ignored every single thing Fields does well as a player. Instead, he decided to take Fields and turn him into Andy Dalton. That worked out every bit as well as you might think it would.

Instead of utilizing Fields’ mobility, he reduced him to a pocket passer who would be a sitting duck for the Browns’ relentless pass rush. Nagy called two designed rushing attempt which, for all of you counting at home, were two more rushing attempts than I got sitting on my couch the entire day.

I’m not going to all Oliver Stone on Nagy and suggest his game plan was concocted in such a horrendous fashion intentionally so that Fields would fail in such a way that he could then go back to his preferred quarterback (Dalton). I’m not of the belief that Nagy hates Fields because management forced Fields on him, and he wants the kid to fail and that’s why he has held him back thus far.

I’m not a Nagy fan but I also don’t believe he has that much of a coaching death wish either. It’s clear to everyone with working vision that Fields brings more to the Bears than Dalton does and should be starting. I can’t explain with any semblance of sanity what Nagy was doing on Sunday, but I don’t believe he intentionally sabotaged his own team’s chances for victory although I will admit it does make for a much more intriguing storyline than virtually anything the Bears have produced in the last 30 years or so.

The bottom line is Nagy failed miserably on Sunday and he’s going to hear about it all week long. The good news is up next is a Lions’ defense that for two of the three games this season has been a rather gigantic failure. There’s every opportunity for Fields and the Bears to get well at home next Sunday if Nagy allows Fields to be who he is. It’s my guess he’ll do that.

Speaking of the Lions, talk about your heartbreaking ways to lose. You battle a superior team down to the closing seconds, the officials blow a call at the very end and then Justin Tucker steals your soul doing Justin Tucker things.

I’m not a Lions fan but I feel for you guys. I really do.

Oh, and Hollywood Brown? Catch some balls man.

The Ty’Son Williams thing was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?

I think Frank Reich is a good coach, but he’s got a lot to answer for when Jon Taylor is averaging 6 YPC but only gets 10 carries in a close game on the road with his quarterback basically playing without functioning legs. Not good, Frank. Not good at all. I like Nyheim Hines too. But c’mon man.

I’m pretty sure Andy Reid dialed up a TD catch for Clyde Edwards-Helaire on Sunday just to mock fantasy players.

Oh, and get well Andy. We all love you.

Maybe Mike Williams really is the Chargers No. 1 WR this season.

If the Saints’ defense can stay healthy, they’re gonna be particularly nasty. Tough defense and Al Kamara. That combination is gonna win plenty of games in New Orleans this year.

The Falcons’ offense featuring Cordarrelle Patterson when they have Calvin Ridley and Kyle Pitts is easily one the dumbest things going on in the NFL right now. The Falcons beating the Giants on Sunday with that approach means we’re going to continue seeing it which means more stupidity is coming. Sorry for everyone with Ridley and Pitts shares.

Great to see Saquon Barkley get in the end zone again but 94 total yards against the Falcons isn’t really the kind of day you would’ve expected if you game scripted 20+ touches. Baby steps, I guess.

In case you were wondering about Ben Roethlisberger’s arm strength, Najee Harris had 19 targets on Sunday.

NINETEEN.

That outta tell you something.

You know what it also says? It also tells you how badly Ben missed Dionte Johnson on Sunday.

Logic tells me guys like Ja’Marr Chase, Cooper Kupp and Adam Thielen won’t score touchdowns every week. But then I watch the games and I see each of them running wide-ass open all game long and defenses absolutely refusing to cover them and I’m like – “Hey maybe these guys will catch 40 touchdowns this season.”

The corpse of A.J. Green dropped 112 receiving yards on the Jaguars on Sunday. Dear Jacksonville, this should spur you on to fix your defense ASAP.

Dear Jets fans: How’s the 2022 draft class look?

Still waiting to find out how good the Broncos are. Need to see them play somebody decent first. But I do regret not grabbing more Mel Gordon shares. I kept saying all offseason people were sleeping on him. Didn’t follow my own advice. I did grab a fair amount of Javonte Williams in Best Ball though.

Can’t believe there were people who thought the Rams overpaid for Matt Stafford. Man, people overrate draft picks in the NFL. The sad thing is a lot of those people are NFL GMs.

Handcuffs don’t always work out. But when they do, they’re Alexander Mattison in Week 3 against the Seahawks.

Don’t look now but Brandon Aiyuk has a pulse again.

I know people will rip the 49ers for “scoring too quickly” and that kind of nonsense but touchdowns are not a given. You are not guaranteed to score in the NFL. If you can score you score. I understand stopping Aaron Rodgers isn’t an easy task but that’s what your defense has to do. Don’t tell the offense to stop its job. Its job is to score. They did its job. The defense failed. That’s what happened.

It’s BS to blame the offense for “scoring too quickly.” That’s a lame, lazy argument and I’ve always hated it. If your defense can’t stop an offense with 37 seconds left and no timeouts that’s on them. I understand who the quarterback was and the challenge he presents but the offense did what it had to do. Don’t blame them for “scoring too quickly.” That’s ignorant.

Their job was to score. They succeeded. The defense’s job was to prevent the other team from scoring. They failed.

End of story.

S**t isn’t difficult.

And finally, one of my most difficult draft day decisions was deciding which WR I liked more in the third round – Robert Woods or Chris Godwin. I liked both a lot. Loved both players. Loved both QBs. Loved both offenses. I could make strong arguments for both. I went back and forth over both guys. Agonized over it because I really liked both and in my top league, I knew I’d get a shot at one of them but would only get one.

Then in my draft the third round came and sure enough both were on there in Round 3 just like I envisioned, and I had my choice of two WRs who I really loved. Care to guess which guy I took?

I hate myself.
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich

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