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Monday Night Football Recap
Just last week, I was cracking wise about how the 49ers are unlikely to win this game. The 49ers were 0-4 at home before putting on a clinic against the Rams last night. The Niners’ defense set the tone from the first drive, intercepting Matthew Stafford as he looked for newly acquired WR Odell Beckham on a deep delivery. The Niners opened the scoring on a long drive that resulted in a George Kittle touchdown. FS Jimmie Ward picked Stafford off for six points on the following possession, and the Niners would go on to comfortably win the game 31-10. In a game where Jimmy Garoppolo only had to attempt 19 passes, Kittle led the team in targets with seven. Deebo Samuel continues to be ultra-efficient with the volume he receives, catching all five of his targets for 97 yards and a score. Samuel also tacked on 36 rushing yards and a score, resulting in yet another monster fantasy performance. It is heartening to see that WR Brandon Aiyuk is no longer in the doghouse. The second-year receiver caught three of his four targets for 26 yards. Although he’s behind Kittle and Samuel in the pecking order, Aiyuk is garnering enough volume to plug in as a high-upside WR3 for the rest of the season.
The Rams were ostensibly the victims of game script but have looked poor over the course of consecutive weeks. The team no longer has the services of WR Robert Woods who tore his ACL in practice on Friday and his absence was felt during this game. Cooper Kupp continues to post ludicrous numbers (11-122-0 on 13 targets), but there’s very little talent behind him. Neither Van Jefferson (3-54-0 on seven targets) nor Tyler Higbee (3-20-1 on five targets) did much to suggest that they’re going to see increased roles in the future. Although Beckham was acquired far too late to be integrated into the gameplan for the week, I’m hopeful that he emerges as a viable second wide receiver going forward. Hopefully, Stafford can get back to his gun-slinging ways from earlier this season.
Rhamondre Stevenson Demolishes The Browns
There were plenty of positives in this game for Patriots fans. Mac Jones has looked like the best quarterback in this draft class so far and put together yet another strong showing on Sunday. He only attempted 23 pass attempts but completed 19 of them for 198 yards and three touchdowns. Despite being just a game manager, Jones is able to do well despite the mediocre talent on his receiving corps. Jones tossed a pair of touchdowns to TE Hunter Henry, who has emerged as the preferred red zone target with TE Jonnu Smith sidelined with injury. Before this game, Henry had failed to catch more than two targets in a game since Week 5. Henry’s streaming value is contingent upon Smith’s status this week.
In happier news, WR Jakobi Meyers finally caught his first career touchdown. It happened in garbage time and the pass was thrown to him by QB Brian Hoyer, but it still counts. Hopefully, there will be many more for Myers over the course of his NFL career. WR Kendrick Bourne has been turning in a solid season. Acquired in free agency, Bourne has emerged as the team’s field stretcher/big-play threat. Bourne caught all four of his four targets for 98 yards and a score, a career-best for him as a Patriots. Additionally, he also carried the ball thrice for 43 yards. Bourne’s usage isn’t strong enough to warrant FLEX appeal outside of deep leagues.
The star of the show for the Patriots was rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson took full advantage of Damien Harris’ absence, rushing 20 times for 100 yards and two scores. He also tacked on four receptions for 14 yards. The Browns’ rush defense had absolutely no answer for Stevenson on Sunday, letting the rookie rip off chunk yardage seemingly every time he touched the football. Additionally, it was heartening to see Stevenson lead the Patriots in targets, which suggests that the team acknowledges his all-terrain skillset. It wouldn’t surprise me if Stevenson has forced the Patriots into turning this into an RBBC. I’d expect that Stevenson would occupy a Rex Burkhead-like role for the rest of the season.
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A.J. Dillon’s Time Is Now
In a game that was headlined by Russell Wilson’s and Aaron Rodgers returns, a backup running back stole the show. AJ Dillon single-handedly won this game for the Packers, rushing 21 times for 66 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught both of his targets for 62 yards. Note that Dillon had been eating into Aaron Jones’ workload over the last two weeks but is now ready to take over the backfield. Jones left the game yesterday at the end of the third quarter and has been diagnosed with a sprained MCL. The sprain is reportedly of the “mild” variety, forcing the explosive running back to miss the next week or two.
In Jones’ absence, Dillon’s short-term upside is almost as tantalizing as his quads. Dillon looks like the spiritual successor to the fallen Big Dog; except he gets more reliable usage in the receiving game. Dillon’s most impressive play on Sunday was a 50-yard catch and run, where he displayed ballerina-like grace dancing around Seattle’s “defenders”. Dillon’s ceiling outcome requires the Packers to continue utilizing him as the primary read around the goal line. Rodgers tends to pass rather than hand the football off while in the red zone, so this worry is justified. However, on Sunday, Rodgers felt comfortable handing the ball off to Dillon multiple times in the red zone (in the fourth quarter) which suggests that Dillon should be a locked-in RB1 until Jones returns.
On the Seahawks side of the ball, the team’s problems seem to have gotten worse. Russell Wilson returned after a stint on injured reserve to repair his fractured finger. Wilson posted one of his worst starts in the NFL, completing 20 of his 40 pass attempts for 161 yards and two picks. Wilson’s passer rating of 43.7 was the fourth worst of his career. Hopefully, the team hit its nadir on Sunday and there are better days ahead for the team once Wilson shakes the rust off. Interestingly, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Gerald Everett saw eight targets each. If possible, I’d recommend trading for Lockett in redraft leagues and snagging Everett as a possible streaming tight end option.
The Panthers Are Getting The Band Back Together
Folks, Cam Newton is back! He joined the team late in the week but saw limited action on Sunday. He attempted four passes (completing three of them for eight yards and a score) and also rushed thrice for 14 yards and a score. The Panthers routed the Cardinals’ pathetic attempt at fielding a team on Sunday and in doing so positioned themselves as a team that could push for a playoff spot. The team is treating Newton as their presumptive starter for the rest of the season, and I expect that the team will look a lot better than it did with Sam Darnold under center. I will add that Robby Anderson looked better this week, so I’d consider adding him if he’s available on the waiver wire.
Also, I’m quite happy to announce that it looks like Christian McCaffrey is fully healthy. He was back to seeing ridiculous usage and did quite well. He posted 161 yards from scrimmage on 23 attempts. Unfortunately, Newton’s presence caps McCaffrey’s touchdown upside, as evidenced by Newton punching in a touchdown from the one-yard line. I do expect that Newton will more than make up for his vulturing tendencies, considering that he has a history of checking down to McCaffrey a lot. Hopefully, McCaffrey’s presence isn’t a serious blow to DJ Moore’s target share.
