Injury Roundup
RB Leonard Fournette - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hip: No indication on how long this could sideline Fournette and the upcoming bye week means a clear answer will not be immediately available. The bye week does give Fournette an extra week to recover though.
RB Khalil Herbert - Chicago Bears
Hip: Herbert left the game late and could be sidelined for several weeks.
WR Cooper Kupp - Los Angeles Rams
Ankle: Reports indicate that Kupp avoided a serious injury but is still likely to miss some time with more testing to come. The Rams’ 3-6 record does not help fantasy managers who may be hoping for Kupp to return as quickly as possible.
WR Jerry Jeudy - Denver Broncos
Ankle: Jeudy was carted off the field and later ruled out. The injury is not expected to be an ACL tear and an update should be available Monday afternoon.
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster - Kansas City Chiefs
Concussion: JuJu is in the NFL’s concussion protocol and is likely to miss at least one game. This was a very hard hit and Juju was clearly concussed from the second he hit the ground.
TE Zach Ertz - Arizona Cardinals
Knee: Ertz was carted off the field early and is expected to miss time but an MRI will confirm the severity of the injury.
Gerald Everett - Los Angeles Chargers
Groin: Everett remained in the game despite the injury but remained on the sideline. Possibly a precautionary exit. Not expected to miss much time, if any at all.
Game Recaps
Falcons @ Panthers
Time for Ridder?
The Marcus Mariota experiment needs to end soon. The Falcons may only be one game from leading their paltry division but nobody in the NFC South is winning anything with their current rosters. A run-heavy offense and close victories have gotten them to 4-6 but even if they make the playoffs, they are almost certainly getting bounced in their first game. The Falcons are not going to beat the Eagles, Vikings, Cowboys or 49ers with their current roster and Mariota led offense. This team also spent high value 1st round picks on Kyle Pitts and Drake London but hard utilize them. Atlanta should be prepping for next year and need to give rookie QB Desmond Ridder a shot to see if he has the skillset to be their starting QB next year and into the future.
Seahawks @ Buccaneers
Be Wary of Rachaad White
Arizona Sports
I hate to be a pessimist but let's temper expectations here. Rachaad White should continue getting worked into the Tampa offense through the rest of the season but we should not use this one game as proof that he will continue be the starter and workhorse.
White received 22 of 38 RB rush attempts in Week 10 but half of these rush attempts came in two of the final three drives after Leonard Fournette left with a hip injury.
The Bucs seem to be riding the hot-hand approach at RB as there were entire drives where Fournette was the only RB to get a touch in this Germany game. White also did not record a single target all game while Fournette and Ke’Shawn Vaughn each received one.
Prior to this game, White had at least two targets in 8 of 9 games. The only other time he failed to reach this number was in Week 3 when he only played six total snaps. The Bucs are off next week before a juicy matchup against the Browns. If Fournette is still sidelined, then White becomes a must-start, but I do not think the changing of the guard has officially happened yet.
Lions @ Bears
WHEEEEEELS
Justin Fields keeps doing it. Despite a painful loss to the Lions, Fields continued to impress on the ground. After rushing for 178 yards and a TD last week, breaking the NFL regular season rushing record, he ran for 147 yards and 2 TDs this week against the lowly Detroit Lions defense. Fields is currently 6th in the league in rushing yards. That includes RBs. If this team were any good he would likely start getting some MVP candidate chatter. He is insanely fun to watch at the very least.
Browns @ Dolphins
By the Peoples, For the Peoples
The Dolphins offense is on fire and the Browns defense sucks. Anything new? Oh! Donovan Peoples-Jones is earning an impressive target share. The 3rd year WR was always a big-play threat but rarely did that translate into many targets. This changed late last season and into the 2022 as he has been significantly more involved of late.
On Sunday, Peoples-Jones hauled in 5 of 9 targets for 99 yards. This is his 3rd career game with 9 or more targets and all of them have come this season. Jacoby Brissett is not throwing too often but DPJ has been good enough to command a solid workload and has blossomed into a usable, high floor weekly WR3 option. He is shaping up to be a fantasy football playoffs hero when Deshaun Watson returns from suspension.
Jaguars @ Chiefs
Kadarius Toney’s Redemption Arc
Kadarius Toney was arguably the Chiefs’ WR1 this week. While Travis Kelce and Jerick Mckinnon led the team in targets, Toney led all Chiefs WRs with 5. Albeit, this was after a Juju injury and no Mecole Hardman, but an impressive perofrmance nonethless in his second game as a member of the Chiefs.
Toney caught four of his five targets for 57 yards and a TD and added another 33 yards on the ground. If you watched Toney in his limited time with the Giants, you know how difficult he can be to tackle one on one. He slips around defenders with ease and he showcased this ability in his 2nd start with Kansas City. He also showed his jumping ability and strength, catching a sideline pass on top of a defender.
The unfortunate injury to fellow WR JuJu Smith-Schuster should give Toney even more chances to showcase his talents and grow into a role that remains even upon Juju’s return. It is always good to see players thrive in a new environment.
Pacheco’s Backfield
Does Clyde Edwards-Helaire have a role anymore? The former 1st round pick out of LSU has been a head-scratching pick but many hoped he would continue to find mild success in a potent Chiefs offense. He is trending in the wrong direction and it all came crashing down in Week 10. After peaking at 19 carries in Week 4, Clyde has seen fewer and fewer carries each week. In Week 10, he did not record a single carry and caught none of his two targets for a whopping total of zero yards on zero touches. He did not even touch the pigskin once in this one.
Rookie Isaiah Pacheco, on the other hand, has started each of the past three weeks and gained 82 yards on 16 carries on Sunday. He did not even cede carries after losing a fumble in the red zone early in the game. Jerick Mckinnon gets a few carries each game but is mainly used as a receiving back and that role continued in Week 10 as well. At this rate there is no reason to start Clyde while both Pacheco and Mckinnon carry mild standalone value in a pinch.
Saints @ Steelers
A Glimpse at the Future
It was not a pretty win but the Steelers looked pretty darn good on Sunday. Rookie QB Kenny Pickett only threw for 199 yards on 30 passing attempts but the offense looked more creative and effective all around. Pickett rolled out and ran a lot more, even rushing for 51 yards and a TD. Fellow rookie George Pickens made some nice catches and also added 23 yards and a TD on the ground.
Most importantly, Najee Harris was breaking off big runs for the first time this season. At 6’1 and 232 lbs, Najee has not always used his massive frame to his advantage but he broke tackles and kept chugging along gaining extra yards on Sunday. He even broke off a 36 yard run which is now the 2nd longest in his career.
The defense played well upon TJ Watt’s return as well. Andrew Dalton was only sacked twice but he also threw two interceptions.
This is still a project team but it was good to see a small light at the end of the tunnel for the Steelers.
Colts @ Raiders
The Little Center That Could
This story sounds like a sequel from a twenty year old sports movie.
Jeff Saturday, former center for the Colts, is thrust into the head coaching position despite no collegiate or NFL coaching experience. He puts veteran Matt Ryan back in at QB despite announcing Sam Ehlinger as the starting QB mid week. The offense flourishes and comes back to win in the fourth quarter. He defeats the Raiders after posting on his twitter account from his couch just two weeks ago, “Raiders look horrible.”
You canot make this up. Credit where credit is due. Good job Jeff Saturday.
Derek Carr Deserves Better
Matthew Stafford left Detroit and won a Super Bowl. No matter how bad this season has gone for the Rams, Stafford achieved something he deserved after years of fighting to make the Lions relevant. Not every good or great QB will find wild success in this league but Derek Carr has dealt with mediocrity for far too long. Carr has only had two winning seasons in his 9-year career. He may not go down as one of the best in history but he has been a good, reliable player for the Raiders and they have shown a constant inability to build a great team around him. The addition of Davante Adams is not enough. Carr sounded heartbroken in his press conference following the loss to the Colts. His 31 game-winning drives speak for themselves. Time to get Carr on a better team.
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By Themi Michalakis
For a second straight season, I am betting against Mahomes.