Week 8 Thoughts & Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations about Week 9 as I wonder if the No. 1 pick is going to be everyone’s last KDS selection in 2022:

I’m not sure the Packers’ defense can keep playing like it has been but if it can, all I’m gonna say is those Super Bowl bets I made about the green n gold back in September are gonna start lookin mighty sweet. That’s an unexpected X factor in the team’s impressive 7-1 start.

If you were forced to play Mike Davis this week at least it wasn’t as bad as last week. So … yay?

Does Robby Anderson still play in the NFL? Just wondering.

Remember when Zack Moss used to score touchdowns for the Bills? That was cool.

Remember when the Dolphins used to have a good defense? That was cool too.

Trey Lance fans aren’t gonna like this, but Jim Garoppolo played pretty darn well on Sunday. He’s not likely leaving the Niners’ starting lineup anytime soon.

Was that a pulse I saw from Brandon Aiyuk?

My kingdom for one more yard for Deebo Samuel. Was that too much to ask?

So, Matt Nagy couldn’t coach on Sunday, and Justin Fields finally looked a lot like Justin Fields on Sunday. How crazy is that?

Feel free to tell me RBs don’t matter and then watch the Najee Harris transform the Steelers. He makes that team go. He’s exactly what you want from a bell cow RB and is why RBs do matter.

Now please don’t get hurt.

So, Miles Sanders gets hurt and Ken Gainwell goes from being the Eagles’ No. 2 RB to the third string RB behind two other RBs who moved ahead of him on the depth chart? OK, you do you Nick Sirianni.

I tried to tell everyone last week Boston Scott was gonna have a big role with Sanders out and he did but I sure didn’t see the corpse of Jordan Howard outperforming Gainwell too. Like everyone in the industry I whiffed on that one badly.

Jalen Hurts got a horrible Detroit pass defense and had his worst fantasy day of the season because the Lions’ run defense was all kinds of putrid. Hurts even lost all the goal line rushing TDs to Scott and Howard and had a TD pass overturned. It was just that kind of day. The good news is he needed this game from a confidence perspective. Now let’s see if he can use it as a springboard against teams that can score points in the weeks to come.

Carson Wentz had been playing so well but then Frank Reich got a first-hand look at the Wentz who drove Philly fans crazy. Too much hero ball and poor decision making. Reich needs to get into Wentz’s ear and tell him that check downs can be big plays too and he doesn’t need to go for the home run on every play. That’s what got him in trouble with the Eagles and it led to a horrible loss on Sunday against the Titans.

Oh no Derrick Henry.

Just.

No.

The No. 1 pick may be cursed. No matter when you have it this year.

Mike White 405 yards and 3 TDs. Yup, we all saw that one coming.

Mike Carter makin good on all those Draft Day shares.

No team is ever as bad as their worst loss during a season but if you’re the Bengals and you wanna prove you’re a legit contender you just can’t do that. I’m sorry but you just can’t.

It’s Cooper Kupp’s world and we’re all just livin in it.

With each passing week, Cam Akers' Dynasty Value continues to take an even greater hit. Darrell Henderson looks so good. Rams 2022 = Browns 2021 (when healthy).

Dear Justin Herbert: That's not how you wanna come out of your bye week.

How happy were you when you woke up on Sunday and looked at your WR corps of Justin Jefferson, Mike Williams and Manny Sanders? Then you checked out your RBs and felt good about James Robinson and Gainwell. You plugged Russ Gage into the Flex when Calvin Ridley was ruled out and you were happy to get Gronk back at TE and you had Hurts as your QB in an absolute smash spot at Detroit.

Then you grabbed a cold one, sat back and let the games begin. And then the carnage began.

Ain’t this game fun?

Oh look, the Seahawks CAN get the ball to Tyler Lockett if they want to. How nutty is that?

Washington played Denver on Sunday. That’s it.

Damn Jameis Winston.

Just.

Damn.

Oh look, it’s the “Taysom Hill is gonna kill Alvin Kamara’s fantasy value” takes again. Those were so much fun in the offseason.

This would be your reminder that Kamara scored in each of Hill’s starts but one and got 10 targets in Hill’s last start, a clear indication Sean Payton will instruct Hill to get the ball to Kamara if he believes Hill can’t figure that out on his own. So, ignore all the noise folks. Kamara will be just fine like he always is.

The Saints beat Tampa Bay on Sunday and I’m sure that’s all Marshon Lattimore cares about, but I know there’s a part of him that isn’t happy he got owned by Mike Evans on Sunday.

There are few things I enjoy more in the NFL than watching Chris Godwin play football. Guy is so damn good.

The Vikings decided not to use Dalvin Cook intelligently Sunday night, ignore Justin Jefferson for nearly the entire game, drop nearly every interception gift wrapped into their hands, put their game plan on the shoulders of Kirk Cousins even when it was obvious he was playing like pure garbage and then allow a backup QB to look like Joe Montana with the game on the line.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln how was the play?

Special shout out to Mike Zimmer for calling a time out and then … ummmm … trying to call another time out. That, by the way, is against the rules. Officials typically don’t call a penalty for that, but Zimmer has been a head coach in the NFL long enough to know you can’t call consecutive timeouts, so he really deserved what he got there for that level of stupidity.

Let’s be honest – it pretty much summed up the night for the Vikings in exquisite detail.

And finally, Calvin Ridley has been dealing with mental health issues (that’s why he didn't travel to London for the game against Miami) and on Sunday he said he’s stepping away from the game for an undisclosed amount of time to deal with them. Yes, his fantasy season has been a huge disappointment thus far, but let's hope he's doing OK first and foremost. That takes precedence.