Week 6 Thoughts & Observations

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Tom Kessenich
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Week 6 Thoughts & Observations

Post by Tom Kessenich » Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:12 am

Here are some random thoughts and observations about Week 6 as I wonder why so many NFL head coaches fail at the most obvious things.

Nick Sirianni spent nearly the entire game last Thursday night absolutely refusing to give the ball to Miles Sanders, easily one of the premier playmakers on his team. The result? His Philadelphia Eagles were scuffling on offense and getting buried by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Then late in the fourth quarter he decided to give the ball to Sanders. The result? Sanders touched the ball five times, gained 45 yards, the Eagles scored and briefly got back in the game.

The lesson for Sirianni? This chit ain’t all that hard when you don’t make it that hard on yourself. Use your playmakers intelligently. You'll be shocked at how much easier the game can be for you.

So, Playoff Lenny and Super Bowl Lenny is now Regular Season Lenny. Got it.

Hang in there everyone with Chris Godwin shares. Brady can’t throw to everyone in that offense every week. Godwin hasn’t been forgotten. Don’t panic.

Congratulations to Urban Meyer for getting a victory. He still should be fired.

Drafting Travis Etienne was still so unbelievably stupid. James Robinson is such a stud. The Jaguars were a one-win team and had the RB position locked up. They should’ve used that high draft pick to address one of their many other needs. Maybe if they had they'd be more than a one-win team right now.

With the trade deadline coming up, the Jags really should look to deal Marv Jones. They don’t need him and there are a ton of contending teams who do.

I’d just like to point out to the Miami Dolphins that you just lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Let that sink in on the ride back home from across the pond.

I called more designed runs to the fridge to grab sodas on Sunday than the Bears did for Justin Fields even though they were down to their No. 3 RB against the Packers. In case they’re wondering why Aaron Rodgers continues to own their asses.

And yes, he still owns their asses.

By the way, that No. 3 RB – one Mr. Khalil Herbert – did look good, though. Ran hard, good cutbacks. Lot to like with the kid.

But would it kill the Bears to use more of what Fields can do? We're gonna enter Week 7 next Sunday. Clock's tickin.

As good as Joe Burrow is there’s a clear reality that is settling in with the Bengals’ passing game, it’s not good enough to sustain all three of those talented WRs. Ja’Marr Chase is the clear Alpha who Burrow favors. Tee Higgins is an OK WR3 but even he has become a shaky fantasy play right now.

With bye weeks upon us you probably have to trot him out but there is downside to him at the moment. The odd man out is Tyler Boyd which really sucks because Boyd is damn good. But four targets or less in three of the past four games makes him a high-risk play at the moment.

Chris Evans is making a push to be more than just Captain America. He may be the new Gio Bernard.

Carson Wentz in his last four games:

853 yards
6 TDs
0 INTs
123.8 QB Rating

Carson be dealin.

In a completely related story, Jon Taylor has topped 100 total yards in each of those three games for the Colts. When Taylor is cooking, life gets a whole lot easier for Mr. Wentz. And Taylor really cookin right now.

Find somebody who loves anything 10% as much as much as T.Y. Hilton loves playing the Houston Texans.

Matt Stafford must’ve felt bad about favoring Bob Trees over Cooper Kupp in Week 5 because he sure made it up to Kupp on Sunday. Cooper was back to being the favorite child against the Giants again while Trees was left alone in the Woods again on Sunday.

On behalf of the entire fantasy industry, I’d like to apologize for our endorsement of Kadarius Toney on Sunday. Yeah, he absolutely was on his way to the monster game we all envisioned before re-aggravating his ankle injury early in the first quarter against the Rams, but no one should take any consolation in that. He ended up killing everyone who started him and ultimately that’s all that matters in this points-based game.

All of us could've told you to start Allen Lazard instead and that would've turned out to be a better call so there’s no reason for anyone to celebrate usage over final production this week. Toney's injury was a crushing kick in the nads and likely ended up costing a lot of people big time this week. There's a lot to like about the kid but Week 6 will end up being a miserable reminder about how painful this game can be.

The Chiefs got themselves a convincing win on the road which they badly needed but they still don’t look right to me. Definitely doesn’t help that Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce aren’t looking healthy, that’s for sure and there's just nothing else after them in the passing game for Patrick Mahomes to really rely on. If they’re counting on Josh Gordon for help I’ll tell them what I keep telling fantasy players who’ve been wasting their time with Gordon every year since 2013:

Good luck with that.

The bloom looks to be wearing off the Taylor Heinicke rose. It’ll be interesting to see what Washington does if Ryan Fitzpatrick is ready to return soon.

It’ll be more interesting to see if they just sit Antonio Gibson. Talk about a guy who needs some time to rest and heal up.

One thing that’s always interested in me in football and fantasy in particular is how so many tend to view matchups in favor of the defense. For example, this week Carolina was viewed as a tough matchup for Dalvin Cook because the Panthers’ run defense only allowed 12.66 fantasy points per game to RBs coming into Week 6. This ignored the fact that Cook represents a difficult matchup for Carolina’s run defense because he is one of the premier RBs in the game.

The result?

Cook rushed for 140 yards and a TD in Sunday’s Minnesota win. So obviously advantage Dalvin which is something I Tweeted out last week before the game. This remains one of my biggest pet peeves in terms of how we analyze matchups and I’d really like to see people re-examine how their process. It's long past time people began taking the talent of the offense and offensive players more strongly into account when analyzing matchups.

Dear Los Angeles Chargers: WTF was that?

No seriously, WTF was that?

I mean, c'mon.

Hey Roshod Bateman. Yeah, I see you.

Good luck figuring out which Arizona peripheral WR is going to make a fantasy impact on any given week. With bye weeks upon us you’ll likely to pick one to start but it’s a pure dart throw. Rondale Moore was a hero in Week 5. Christian Kirk and A.J. Green stepped up in Week 6. It speaks to how well Kyler Murray is playing that he’s spreading the ball around but it’s making it hell on fantasy players trying to figure out who to target each week even when the matchups look appealing.

No Nick Chubb. No Kareem Hunt.

RB carnage in Cleveland.

Any chance the Browns can talk Jim Brown out of retirement to play against the Bengals on Thursday? Fine, I’ll settle for Isaiah Crowell.

After his mammoth 19-target explosion in Week 1, Darren Waller hasn’t had more than 8 targets in a game since and only had 5 on Sunday. Folks, we have a major Darren Waller problem. Derek Carr simply does not feel the sense of urgency he once felt to heavily target Waller since he now has so many weapons who can produce in the Raiders’ passing game.

Waller is no longer a cheat code TE who can give you that huge Kelce-like advantage at the position. He’s still very talented but he is no longer a position outlier. It is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him to live up to his ADP this season given the situation in the Vegas passing game.

In other words, RIP to everyone who began their drafts this year with CMC and Waller thinking they were going to crush the competition with two huge outliers at RB and TE. But hey, you'll always have those glorious few moments on draft night when you were basking in the glow of all the dreams of what you were going to do with all the prize money you were going to win. No one can ever take that away from you.

I know he threw for more than 300 yards and 3 TDs on Sunday, but it may be time for the Broncos to pull the plug on Ted Bridgewater. Denver has lost three in a row after its 3-0 start to the season. That’s obviously not all on Bridgewater and I doubt Drew Lock is the answer, but they need to give Lock an extended look now to make one final determination on his future with Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant and Jerry Jeudy (who will be back soon).

Here are just a couple of things Bill Belichick decided to do in a very winnable game vs. the Cowboys on Sunday:

Give Hunter Henry only more target in a plus matchup the after Henry caught a 20-yard touchdown on his first target early in the game.

Preserve time late in the first half by calling time outs only to then refuse to use that time to try and score more points before halftime despite having plenty of time on the clock.

I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn New England lost.

So, the Cowboys CAN design plays that throw the ball to CeeDee Lamb. Imagine that.

At halftime of last night’s game, Cris Collinsworth said he was surprised the Seahawks missed Russ Wilson as much as he did.

Yup.

He actually said that.

Honest.

He really did.

I’m not kidding.

He did.

Dear everyone who let Najee Harris fall into the second round of drafts this year. Here are his fantasy points since Week 1:

19.1
28.2
21.1
22.2
24.7

Yeah, you all screwed up.

So did everyone who let him fall past the Top 10 and maybe even the Top 5. Volume + Talent = Stud.

And finally, get well soon Darrell Taylor.
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich

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