This was a very costly game for the 49ers as they likely lost Jordan Mason for the next couple of weeks with a shoulder injury. Luckily, rookie RB Isaac Guerrendo looked good in mop-up duty, including a 76-yard run at the end of the game. It was great to finally see Deebo Samuel get back in the end zone, as he also had three receptions for 102 yards.
It really feels like DK Metcalf is losing patience with Geno Smith. Smith had 52 pass attempts for 312 yards and a touchdown, but he threw 2 INTs at the worst times. Even worse, Seattle could not run the ball at all against San Francisco, only getting 20 carries for 52 yards. They need to establish Kenneth Walker every game.
I know that Caleb Williams threw four touchdowns, and I also know that he ran for 56 yards, but I’m telling you he did that because the Jaguars gave up and played little to no defense. If he plays a better team, he will struggle. The good news for Chicago was that D’Andre Swift ran for 91 yards and a touchdown and also caught four passes. Cole Kmet had five receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns, and Keenan Allen found the end zone with two touchdowns as well. If the Bears are going to continue to play at a high level, Allen needs to be involved.
I would argue that Doug Pederson and his entire staff need to be fired after next week’s game against New England in London. This team looks like it’s given up, Trevor Lawrence looks clueless, and the defense is just not playing hard. There were a lot of bad football displays this weekend, but Jacksonville might have been the worst. Travis Etienne is obviously hurt, so I am not sure that he suits up against the New England Patriots.
I gave out the Joe Mixon anytime touchdown on the radio on Saturday morning, but I’m upset at myself because I wish I had played him in DFS, too. Mixon had two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). Stefon Diggs also had 77 yards and a touchdown, and Tank Dell had 57 yards and a touchdown to lead the Texans passing game.
Drake Maye got his first career start and threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had two interceptions. However, there were glimmers of hope as he was able to find Demario Douglas for 92 yards and a touchdown and he also threw to Hunter Henry for three receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown. There’s a lot of upside during garbage time with Maye so Patriots fans just need to be patient.
This game was way more competitive than I was expecting. Jayden Daniels threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and kept the Commanders in the game until the very end. They were only able to muster 52 rushing yards on 18 carries, but that was mainly because Brian Robinson was out this week. Terry McLaurin had two touchdown receptions, and Zach Ertz led the Commanders with 68 yards. Noan Brown was once again the WR2.
Lamar Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 40 yards in the victory. Derrick Henry was phenomenal rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns, but I think the player of the game for the Ravens was Zay Flowers, who had 9 receptions for 132 yards, including a 44-yard catch early in the game, which set the tone. Another piece of good news for Baltimore was that Mark Andrews finally found the end zone, getting 3 receptions for 66 yards. Maybe this will be the sign of good things to come for Andrews.
I honestly feel bad for Cleveland Browns fans. They are stuck with Deshaun Watson, who might just be the worst quarterback in the NFL. Watson threw for 168 yards and didn’t even have a touchdown pass. Jerome Ford left the game with a hamstring issue, so hopefully, Nick Chubb will return next week and keep the team competitive.
Philadelphia didn’t play great, but they played well enough to win the game. Jalen Hurts threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 33 yards. A.J. Brown had a terrific game with six receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. A big loss for Philadelphia was Dallas Goedert, who left the game and might miss a couple of weeks due to an injury.
Arizona was never really in this game, falling behind early and playing catch-up in bad weather. Kyler Murray had 214 passing yards and one touchdown, but the entire Cardinals roster could only muster 89 rushing yards on 23 carries. It seemed like James Conner got hurt in the middle of the game, and at one point, the team brought in Trey Benson to start the second half. Marvin Harrison Jr. left the game with a concussion, so it’s anybody’s guess as to whether he will return next week. Trey McBride led the Cardinals with eight receptions for 96 yards and was terrific.
The Packers are playing at a very high level, led by Jordan Love, who had 258 passing yards and four touchdowns. Romeo Doubs had the squeaky wheel narrative (which I mentioned on air), catching three passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Watson returned from injury with 68 yards and a touchdown. Green Bay also ran for 179 yards on 38 carries. Josh Jacobs led the team with only 62 rushing yards. I don’t want to call Jacobs a bust but he has underwhelmed this season and makes for a great trade candidate.
Tampa showed off its high-octane offense even without Rachaad White. The Buccaneers ran the ball 35 times for 277 yards, which is 7.9 yards per carry. Backup Bucky Irving had 81 yards and a touchdown, and RB3 Sean Tucker had 136 yards and a touchdown to lead the team. If I had White in a few leagues right now, I’d be very worried, as it looks like this could be a committee moving forward. Chris Godwin was able to take advantage of the matchup against the Saints as he always does, with 11 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
I know that the Saints lost this game, but there were a lot of positives as well. Spencer Rattler showed that he does have a future in this league, throwing for 243 yards and a touchdown. He did make a lot of mistakes, and that’s to be expected, especially when Chris Olave left the game in the first quarter with a concussion and never returned.
At about 11:40 a.m. on Sunday morning, it came out that Joe Flacco was going to start instead of Anthony Richardson. I think this sent fantasy managers into a frenzy, as nobody was prepared for this information. Flacco underperformed, only throwing for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco did help the fantasy output of Josh Downs, who had 7 receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. Michael Pittman, who was expected to miss a significant amount of time with a back injury, had 3 receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Will Levis is terrible. There’s just no other words to describe him. He had 16 completions for 95 yards, which is only 3.5 yards per completion. Those are Pee Wee football numbers. Luckily, the Titans were able to run the ball with Tony Pollard, who had 93 yards and a touchdown. Calvin Ridley had 0 receptions on 8 targets, and only DeAndre Hopkins was able to muster 54 yards receiving. I just don’t see how the Titans get better with Levis as their quarterback; they might actually be better off with Mason Rudolph, who at least has some experience winning games in the NFL.
I called the Chargers victory on the Sunday morning discord show as I knew that their zone defense was something that the Broncos offense couldn’t handle. More surprising was Justin Herbert, who had 237 passing yards and a touchdown. By the way, if you didn’t wake up at 8:00 AM on Saturday to listen to Fantasy House Calls on SiriusXM fantasy sports radio, you missed out on my Kimani Vidal anytime touchdown call. Vidal caught a 38-yard touchdown reception and made people a lot of cash!
Denver struggled against the Chargers swarming defense, but I think this was to be expected. Denver had won three games in a row and they were coming in a little hot and maybe thought that they were better than they actually are. Bo Nix tried his best, throwing for 216 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ran for 61 yards. Cortland Sutton had four receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown. Plus, it was very good to see Devaughn Vele back on the field. Vele had four receptions for 78 yards, and now, with Josh Reynolds out on IR, he could be a sneaky add.
The Steelers ran the ball 35 times for 183 yards, which is 5.2 yards per carry. When you’re running at that kind of clip, you’re going to win a lot of games. Justin Fields ran for 59 yards and two touchdowns, and Najee Harris ran for 106 yards and one touchdown. The Steelers passing game didn’t have to do that much, but they did make a concerted effort to get the ball to George Pickens at the end of the game to get him a touchdown.
Las Vegas is suffering from injuries and bad quarterback play. With no Davante Adams and no Jacobi Myers, only Brock Bowers exists as a receiving threat. Bowers had 9 receptions for 71 yards and is their entire offense. Alexander Mattison ran for a touchdown early in the game. He also caught a touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter, which the referees called back due to a delay of game penalty, which came at like the worst time for the Raiders. It took them from having a chance to no shot to win. Hopefully Jakobi Meyers returns next week.
Detroit played arguably the best game that I have seen a team play all season. Jared Goff threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, and the Lions also ran 36 times for 184 yards. There’s nothing they couldn’t do. David Montgomery had 80 yards and two touchdowns rushing to lead the team. In the passing attack, Jameson Williams had three catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, and even more impressive was how Jared Goff was able to spread the ball to seven different receivers.
I’m not sure how Mike McCarthy still has a job. I’m also not sure how Dallas is going to get better after giving Dak Prescott $60 million per season. Prescott threw for 178 yards, had two interceptions, and could not make easy throws, hard throws, or any throw for that matter. Dallas was only able to rush for 53 yards as a team and only Lamb shined in the passing attack with 89 yards. I don’t see how this gets better anytime soon for Dallas, especially with their injuries on defense.
If you have Bijan Robinson on your team, this was finally the game where he exploded. He ended his day with 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Tyler Allgeier also had 105 yards and a touchdown as Atlanta ran for 5.2 yards per carry against a toothless Panthers defense. Drake London had 6 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown but Kirk Cousins only threw for 225 yards as Atlanta was able to control the game on the ground.
Carolina was competitive but they just don’t have enough on defense to make the stops that they need to at critical times. Andy Dalton threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and Dionte Johnson had 6 receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown. Chuba Hubbard had 92 yards rushing and looked solid, and rookie TE Ja’Tavion Sanders had five catches for 49 yards and played well. I’ll give the Panthers credit for at least staying in this game as opposed to Dallas and Jacksonville who were outclassed from the opening minutes.
Cincinnati pulled out a big road win even without Joe Burrow throwing a TD pass. Burrow was under pressure from the Giants defense all game long and did most of the damage with his legs, rushing for a 47-yard TD in the first quarter. Zack Moss fumbled in the second half and was replaced by Chase Brown, who had a 30-yard TD run to seal the victory for the Bengals. Tee Higgins had 77 yards receiving, and Chase had 72. Chase dropped a wide-open pass that could have been an easy TD in the first half.
The Giants just need to learn to convert in the red zone. Daniel Jones can drive the team down the field, but scoring 7 points at home is never going to be a recipe for success in the NFL. Jones threw for 205 yards but once again did not have a TD pass. Tyrone Tracy rushed for 50 yards and a TD and caught six passes for 57 yards, securing his role as the RB2 even when Devin Singletary returns. I think Tracy is better now, but Daboll has a history with Singletary, so it’s doubtful he will get benched. Darius Slayton took some big hits late in the game and led the Giants receivers with 57 yards.
