Week 9 Fantasy Reactions
Man, was it a low-scoring week or what? Multiple games decided by the winner have 20 points or less. Despite some crazy fantasy scores from players like Joe Mixon, Davante Adams, and Justin Fields, there were some low-scoring players out there. The bad part about that is there were multiple teams on byes and there are injuries across the league currently. I saw some lineups out there that were disgusting to look at. In my most important league, I faced a guy whose team almost scored fewer points than Joe Mixon scored. That’s not something you see every day. Let’s look at how week 9 shook down.
Eagles vs Texans
This game was more exciting than most probably were anticipating. Many thought that the Eagles would get out ahead and then chew the clock. AKA, little fantasy production. Plus, the Texans were using backup wide receivers. Well, we saw 6 touchdowns scored. On a Thursday night game?! What did we do to deserve this?! Thank you Football Gods! Jalen Hurts threw 2 TDs, and also had 240 passing yards. Not his best game, but enough to get the win. Miles Sanders had himself a solid game. He ran for 93 yards and a touchdown. 15 points for Sanders. I love that Dallas Goedert led the Eagles in fantasy points. He had 24 thanks to his 8 catches for 100 yards and a TD. I don’t love that DeVonta Smith only had 4 points. Jalen Hurts isn’t connecting with Smith lately. AJ Brown got his lovin’, he caught a touchdown pass which put him up at just under 16 points. He saved his week! The Texans had much less production. Dameon Pierce had 139 yards, but that was it. No score, and no receiving work. Tough that he only got 13.9 points from such a good week. Consider ½ point per first down in your leagues! It’s a nice addition.
Trade Target: I think DeVonta Smith would be a solid buy right now. Especially, because playoffs are approaching and he could be a great flex addition.
Chargers vs Falcons
The Falcons got out to a quick lead in this one. They had the score at 10-0 in the first quarter. It was very clear that Cordarrelle Patterson was going to be utilized. He wound with 2 TDs on the day. 18 fantasy points in his return. You love to see it. Tyler Allgeier led the Falcons in rushing yards and scored 13.3 points. Helpful in a week with many dart throws out there. Kyle Pitts was another letdown, only catching 2 balls for 27 yards. Is he not good? Am I missing something? Why wouldn’t they feature him in that offense? These are questions I need answers to. The Chargers had more fantasy players that were relevant. Austin Ekeler led them with 24 fantasy points. His 2 TDs and 7 receptions helped get him there. Justin Herbert had a quiet day. He only threw for 245 yards and a TD. Only 12 fantasy points for Herbert. Joshua Palmer stepped up in the absence of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. Palmer recorded 8 catches for 106 yards. Good for 18.6 fantasy points. The next highest scorer was DeAndre Carter with 10 points, which I’m willing to bet people were streaming him this week. Most likely in the flex, which I’ll take 10 points from every day.
Trade Target: If you’ve lost WRs due to injury, see what Joshua Palmer’s price is out there. If Kennan Allen is going to miss time, Joshua Palmer is a nice buy right now. Mike Williams will be back, but that’s almost better for Palmer in a way.
Bengals vs Panthers
This game got out of hand, and fast! Joe Mixon was running the ball up and down the field on the Panthers. He scored 5 touchdowns! Over 200 yards of offense on his own. That’s insane. He had a 55-point fantasy day. Top 10 ever! You love to see it. Burrow didn’t have to do anything. He threw for 200 and a score on a day where that was all he had to do. What can you say? When that offense is competent, it’s borderline the best in the NFL. Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd had respectable days. Higgins had 7 for 60 and Boyd finished with 5 for 44 yards. In a normal game, I would imagine one of them would have caught a TD. Either way, great game by the Bengals. A “get right” game for them. For Carolina, just a brutal way to lose. One guy scoring 5 TDs on you? Kind of embarrassing if you ask me. The defensive coordinator cannot be holding his head very high right now. P.J. Walker got benched, he had 9 yards passing. NINE. Baker took over and had a little success. He had 155 for 2 TDs, but it was all garbage time. D’Onta Foreman couldn’t get the ground game going either, so it was a gigantic mess for the Panthers. Raheem Blackshear led them in fantasy points. Because of course! Guess who was in second? If you guessed Terrace Marshall Jr., you’d be correct. He scored his first career touchdown. So I guess he had a good game. 3 catches for 52 yards and a TD. 14.3 fantasy points for the sophomore.
Trade Targets: I think Tee Higgins is a solid buy right now. Not thriving without Chase, but that could turn around when Chase is back.
Lions vs Packers
Trade Targets: Amon-Ra St. Brown is a target. He, as well as Swift, are getting back into the groove after their injuries. Amon-Ra’s price right now is perfect to acquire him, in my opinion.
Colts vs Patriots
Oh, you thought it couldn’t get uglier? Think again. I present to you the Colts’ offense. Less than 200 yards of offense. I don’t think I saw them on RedZone once, other than a turnover. What’s with good offenses suddenly stinking this year? Now, Frank Reich was fired and Jeff Saturday, yes THE Jeff Saturday, is coming in as the interim coach to further the tank job. Bryce Young is going to look good in Colt Blue ;). The Patriots had an okay day. They didn’t have to do much, as the Colts could hardly score. Mac Jones was 20/30 for 145 yards and 1 TD to Rhamondre Stevenson. Who had the best day for the Pats. He had 16 fantasy points. Almost more than the Colts’ top 3 scorers combined! Yikes. Mac Jones was the second-highest scorer with 9.6 points. Honestly, across the board, there were a lot of low-scoring players this week. Despite the crazy scorers we also saw. The Patriots move to 5-4 and now every team in the AFC East is above .500. What a world we live in.
Trade Targets: If you can get Rhamondre Cheap, I would go for him. But I doubt it. Jakobi Meyers has also been a great flex asset. He’s a good buy too.
Bills vs Jets
I can’t believe we’re here, in week 10, saying the Bills are 0-2 in the AFC East, and they have not faced the Patriots yet. Meaning, they’ve lost to the Jets and the Dolphins so far. Like I just said, what a world we live in?! The Bills won this game without Josh Allen throwing a TD. Which is kind of impressive, but also how?? For one, he ran all over the Jets. Two, he had 2 rushing TDs, which is unusual for a QB. He had 25 total points and led the Bills. Stefon Diggs was the second most with 14, but there was a big drop-off after him. The next highest was Devin Singletary with 8 points. The same can be said for the Jets, but we did see some good scores from Garrett Wilson (17.9), Michael Carter (15.6), and the newly acquired James Robinson (13.3). Zach Wilson only had 10 and Elijah Moore is officially droppable. Probably a few weeks late honestly. The Bills took another loss, and apparently, there is some lingering that Josh Allen’s elbow injury may be pretty bad.
Trade Targets: No one from this game. Michael Carter maaaaaybe. If you are desperate at RB, he might be worth it. But I’m not overpaying for him.
Vikings vs Commanders
Washington came into this game on a 4-game win streak. Minnesota came into this game on a 6 game-win streak. Two teams. Neither wants to end their streak. In the end, the Vikings were victorious. Washington was led by Curtis Samuel and his 17 fantasy points. As I said, lots of low-scoring teams this week. Taylor Heinicke managed to score 13, which isn’t great. This was supposed to be an Antonio Gibson week and he scored 6.7 points -_- What the hell man?? Why can’t Washington utilize Gibson like we’ve seen them do before? I must be missing something because he looks good when he has the ball. I digress… The Vikings had the better day. Kirk Cousins threw for 265 and 2 TDs. He scored 16 points. Justin Jefferson led the Vikings with 25.5 points thanks to his 7 catches, 115 yards, and touchdown. Big day for JJet. Love to see it. They did not ease T.J. Hockenson into the offense at all. He was 2nd in targets. He caught all nine passes thrown his way for 70 yards. Rejoice, Hockenson managers, he is in a good offense! 16 points from Hock. Dalvin Cook salvaged his week with a late TD reception in the middle of the 4th quarter. 13.4 points for Dalvin. Vikings move to 7-1 and it’s like no one is talking about it?!
Trade Targets: I like buying Dalvon for cheap if you can after that game, but I doubt it. Always worth a shot.
Dolphins vs Bears
No doubt, the game of the week (unless the Ravens/Saints ends up being insane). Miami won 35-32. 67 points scored? I was not expecting that. Nor was I expecting to see stud-muffin Justin Fields go off! He rushed for 178 yards on his own! Not to mention, he was QB1 on the week! At least, if Lamar & Dalton don’t score more than 42 on MNF. Chances are, they won’t. I thought for sure the Bears would come back and win this game. Miami’s defense could not stop Fields. We even had a Darnell Mooney sighting! He caught a 16-yard TD pass in the corner of the end zone. Plenty of people were playing him this week. Whether it was because Miami’s secondary is depleted or they were forced to play him due to injuries/byes, it worked out. Cole Kmet also dropped a 22-point bomb. He caught 5 passes for 41 yards and 2 TDs. Not one, but TWO. Hell of a day from the Bears’ offense, but not as good as my Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa is now 6-0 as the starter this year. He threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs. An awesome fantasy day for him with 24 points. The only person to outscore Tua was Tyreek Hill with 27 points. He racked up 143 yards on 7 catches and 1 of them for a TD. He now leads the NFL in receiving yards by a wide margin of 237 yards more than Justin Jefferson. Jaylen Waddle had a good day, he scored 19.5 from his 5 catches for 85 yards and a TD. They are both top 5 in fantasy right now. Jeff Wilson Jr. had 16 in his Miami debut, love to see that out of the new acquisition. Miami rolls to 6-3, and Tua continues to impress as he tears up secondaries across the league.
Trade Targets: Not really anyone, buying a Bears’ player right now would be an overpay and no one is trading Fields now. Miami players are too expensive too. Find different peeps to trade for.
Jaguars vs Raiders
The Raiders have now lost three games where they were up 17-0 at one point in the game…I’m not sure if that’s coaching or if it’s the players or maybe it’s both. I don’t know. Either way, the Raiders stink. The Jaguars were fortunate to get the win this week, considering they were down 17-0 as I mentioned. The Jaguars can thank Travis Etienne and his breakout span he is going through. He piled on another 2 TDs this week while scoring 26 points. Two straight weeks of 25+ points and 100+ rushing yards. You love to see it. Christian Kirk is back to the value pick he was to start the year. He had 21 points this week. Trevor Lawrence got 16 points, so if you started him, it was a decent week. Not bad, not great. For the Raiders, Davante Adams lit it up in the first half. He scored 20 of his points in the first half just from his two TD catches. That’s insane. He finished with 36.6 points and was the WR1 on the week (assuming no one on MNF surpasses 36 points). I think we’re safe. Hell of a week for Davante Adams. Derek Carr had a solid game. 259 passing yards and 2 TDs. A better day than Josh Jacobs. He has cooled down a whole lot since he ran all over the league previously. I wonder what changed so drastically. Wish I knew. The Jaguars get a much-needed win and Josh McDaniels keeps warming up his own seat as more losses can only mean one thing…
Trade Targets: If you can get Josh Jacobs for a good price right now, I would trade for him. If Josh McDaniels is a good coach, he is going to go back to the ground and pound offense.
Seahawks vs Cardinals
The Seahawks just keep on winning!? What is going on man?! This NFL season is so unpredictable. The Cardinals keep losing, too. Not what you expected to see. Kyler certainly needs to do more than 175 passing yards. The 2 TDs help, but he also led them in rushing with 60 yards, which is also not a good sign (for the team). DeAndre Hopkins had a good first half, but only wound up with 4 catches for 36 yards and a TD. Solid fantasy day (13.6 pts), but not very good in real life. Rondale Moore was the leading WR for the Cards. He caught 8 for 69, which was 14.9 pts. Zach Ertz was the high scorer outside of Kyler. Ertz had 5 catches for 40 yards and a score (15 pts). The Seahawks had a better day in the fantasy realm. Their leading scorer was Kenneth Walker yet again thanks to his 100+ rush yards and 2 TDs. He is exploding right now! 27 points from the rook. Geno Smith had yet another great week. 20 fantasy points from his 275 passing yards and 2 TDs. Both Lockett and Metcalf were in the mid-teens thanks to their TDs. Metcalf caught 5 for 37 yards (14.7 pts) and Lockett had 5 for 67 yards (17.7 pts). We even had the pleasure to see Noah Fant catch 5 passes for 96 yards with a huge play too. He had 14.6 pts and I’m willing to bet people were streaming him with the injuries and byes around the league. Either way, the Seahawks are in sole possession of 1st place in the NFC West. You love to see it!
Trade Targets: I went and bought DeAndre Hopkins for a ‘24 1st the other day. I suggest seeing if his price is cheap enough to buy. Hopefully, he can push me to a championship where I traded for him!
Rams vs Buccaneers
I don’t know if it’s because the offensive line is struggling this year, or if the GOAT Tom Brady is off his game, but the Bucs’ offense is struggling. They only scored one touchdown. Luckily, it was the most important touchdown, because it got them the win at the end of the game. Cade Otton was the lucky recipient of Tom’s only touchdown. Otton finished with 5 receptions for 68 yards and that TD. Solid 17.8 points for the rook. Tom Brady was the second-highest scorer for the Buc with 15. Mainly due to his 280 passing yards. Not what you were hoping for out of the GOAT this season. The same goes for Leonard Fournette. He only had 11 fantasy points. Only 19 rush yards for Lenny, but he had 5 catches for 41 yards which helped his fantasy score. All I’m going to say is when Cade Otton and Scotty Miller are leading you in receiving, the game probably didn’t go so well. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin had quiet weeks. Both with 40 or fewer receiving yards. The Rams also struggled. Minus Cooper Kupp. He always gets his. He had just under 27 fantasy points. 8 catches for 127 yards and a score on a long TD. Love to see it. He was the only fantasy-relevant player on the Rams. Stafford had 10 points and was the 2nd leading scorer. The offensive line needs some help. Pronto.
Trade Targets: Mike Evans or Chris Godwin. The Bucs aren’t comfortably in first place in the NFC South like they were last season. They will be competing to win games and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin will benefit from that. After that abysmal performance, their price has to be affordable right now.
Titans vs Chiefs
To start, I’ll plow through Derrick Henry’s stats similar to how Henry plowed through the Chiefs’ defense. King Henry had 115 yards and 2 TDs. This is becoming a regularly scheduled program for Henry. Just when people count him out, he dominates yet again. 23.5 fantasy points for the King! Andddddd that is the only fantasy asset from the Titans this week. Malik Willis had 80 passing yards. A tough couple of outings for the rookie QB prospect. The Chiefs had slightly better fantasy days. Patrick Mahomes managed to score 34 points. This would be because he threw for 446 yards and a TD. Crazy to think he had that many yards and only 1 touchdown in the air. He also ran one in. So 2 total for the day. Travis Kelce was the next high scorer. He finished with 20 points because of his 10 catches for 106 yards. He is unstoppable. JuJu Smith-Schuster also caught 10 passes. He only had 88 yards, however (18.8 fantasy pts). Neither was able to find the end zone. Mecole Hardman was the lucky recipient of Mahomes’ only passing TD. Hardman had 6 catches for 79 yards and the TD. 19.9 points for Hardman. Strange game, and honestly, the Titans always give the Chiefs a run for their money. Something to keep in mind for betting purposes because this spread was KC -10.5 or something similar to that.
Trade Targets: Not really anyone. The Chiefs players’ prices are probably too expensive and no one on the Titans is worth trading for outside of Derrick Henry.
Ravens vs Saints
Maybe it’s because I was heavily invested in this game between Lamar Jackson, Alvin Kamara, and Isaiah Likely. Or maybe it was because I was being optimistic that we’d see a shootout. Either way, this game was rather bland. Besides those who played Kenyan Drake this week. He actually had a great game. 92 rushing yards & 2 TDs. For a solid week scoring 24 fantasy points. I’m sure there were plenty of Kamara managers (myself included) who were hoping he scored that much. In fact, I saw a tweet from @LosingSucks stating that he went and overplayed for Kamara last night so that he could get a big game. He benched Drake for Kamara…tough. Lamar had a quiet night. Only 144 passing yards and 1 TD to Isaiah Likely. Jackson did have 82 rushing yards, though. When no receiver has over 2 catches, you know the run game had to be working. The Saints didn’t have a good game from anyone, really. Chris Olave had 13 points, but with Jarvis Landry & Michael Thomas out, you’d think he would thrive. Guess not. Hopefully, Kamara can get back on track for his managers next week.
Trade Targets: I like the idea of going and buying Chris Olave right now.
