I have nothing erudite to add to anything you've read about last night's game. For three quarters Matt Moore couldn't get anything going, but at least he wasn't imploding. No, he saved that for the fourth quarter, when by my count he was 7-for-13 for 52 yards and two pick-6's. The timing for this meltdown was terrible. A decent showing would have positioned Moore well for next week's home matchup against a Raiders team that's handed opposing QBs a league-high 109 QB rating, and which hasn't intercepted a single pass. Instead, if Cutler's ready to go, he'll look pretty good against Oakland, artificially quelling doubts about Adam Gase's formerly retired friend.
Elsewhere, outside of an early 21-yard run, Jay Ajayi rushed 12 times for two total yards. This is the same defense Latavius Murray scorched last week. Sure, different circumstances, as Miami's o-line is a weakness. But this formerly nearly universally acclaimed RB performed worse than he should have. Somewhat interestingly, Kenyan Drake looked slightly better with his six carries in garbage time. While by that point Baltimore' defense was likely a bit softened by the blowout win, as I've been saying since summer, the very-little-rostered Drake remains a handcuff to add in deep leagues.
On the other side of the ball, Joe Flacco was knocked out with a concussion, so his status surely will be updated by early next week. We all know Ryan Mallett isn't the answer. Then again, neither is Flacco.
And Alex Collins further cemented his role as Baltimore's lead back, and even out-gained Buck Allen through the air. Congrats to those who pounced early; I never saw Collins' ascension coming.
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If you're a conspiracy theorist, Marshawn Lynch knew what he was doing when he shoved a referee last weekend; his one-game suspension comes at an ideal time for the well-past-his-prime veteran. This weekend Oakland travels to Buffalo to face the Bills' stingy run D. I doubt Jalen Richard or DeAndre Washington get much going. If they were facing, say, the 49ers, and Richard or Washington went off for 100+ yards and a score, then Lynch's shaky hold on the starting job would be made more tenuous heading into Week 9.
By the way, I don't believe Lynch worked all this out before deciding to shove the ref. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But in fantasy, we have to understand the impact of good and bad timing. Matt Moore's first 2017 start turned out to be bad timing; Lynch's first 2017 suspension will turn out to be good timing.
And FF4W is fielding a lot of questions about Martavis Bryant. I don't generally call out players, preferring to stick to the fantasy side of things. But Bryant might be playing in the CFL before long. Let's look at his brief NFL history:
As a highly touted 2014 rookie, poor play in camp led head coach Mike Tomlin to bench him the first six weeks of the regular season. Yes, he also got hurt in his last preseason game. But it was obvious to all that he wasn't ready to suit up when it counted.
He was suspended for four games in 2015 for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
He then missed all of 2016 for the same infraction.
This season, he publicly threw his teammate (JuJu Smith-Schuster) and team under the bus and then demanded a trade. A terrific talent, Bryant isn't performing this season, and he took it out on everyone but himself. There are plenty of concerns around Ben Roethlisberger and the passing game in general. But the notion that Bryant will somehow return to weekly fantasy startability this season is ludicrous. He's a toxic entity. Surely some, if not most, of his teammates resent what he did.
When role players act like prema donnas, they should consider themselves lucky to remain as role players. The fact is, Smith-Schuster is outperforming Bryant on every basic metric, including attitude. Tomlin knows this, and this will inform Bryant's (at best) minimal role going forward.
Elsewhere, outside of an early 21-yard run, Jay Ajayi rushed 12 times for two total yards. This is the same defense Latavius Murray scorched last week. Sure, different circumstances, as Miami's o-line is a weakness. But this formerly nearly universally acclaimed RB performed worse than he should have. Somewhat interestingly, Kenyan Drake looked slightly better with his six carries in garbage time. While by that point Baltimore' defense was likely a bit softened by the blowout win, as I've been saying since summer, the very-little-rostered Drake remains a handcuff to add in deep leagues.
On the other side of the ball, Joe Flacco was knocked out with a concussion, so his status surely will be updated by early next week. We all know Ryan Mallett isn't the answer. Then again, neither is Flacco.
And Alex Collins further cemented his role as Baltimore's lead back, and even out-gained Buck Allen through the air. Congrats to those who pounced early; I never saw Collins' ascension coming.
---
If you're a conspiracy theorist, Marshawn Lynch knew what he was doing when he shoved a referee last weekend; his one-game suspension comes at an ideal time for the well-past-his-prime veteran. This weekend Oakland travels to Buffalo to face the Bills' stingy run D. I doubt Jalen Richard or DeAndre Washington get much going. If they were facing, say, the 49ers, and Richard or Washington went off for 100+ yards and a score, then Lynch's shaky hold on the starting job would be made more tenuous heading into Week 9.
By the way, I don't believe Lynch worked all this out before deciding to shove the ref. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But in fantasy, we have to understand the impact of good and bad timing. Matt Moore's first 2017 start turned out to be bad timing; Lynch's first 2017 suspension will turn out to be good timing.
And FF4W is fielding a lot of questions about Martavis Bryant. I don't generally call out players, preferring to stick to the fantasy side of things. But Bryant might be playing in the CFL before long. Let's look at his brief NFL history:
As a highly touted 2014 rookie, poor play in camp led head coach Mike Tomlin to bench him the first six weeks of the regular season. Yes, he also got hurt in his last preseason game. But it was obvious to all that he wasn't ready to suit up when it counted.
He was suspended for four games in 2015 for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
He then missed all of 2016 for the same infraction.
This season, he publicly threw his teammate (JuJu Smith-Schuster) and team under the bus and then demanded a trade. A terrific talent, Bryant isn't performing this season, and he took it out on everyone but himself. There are plenty of concerns around Ben Roethlisberger and the passing game in general. But the notion that Bryant will somehow return to weekly fantasy startability this season is ludicrous. He's a toxic entity. Surely some, if not most, of his teammates resent what he did.
When role players act like prema donnas, they should consider themselves lucky to remain as role players. The fact is, Smith-Schuster is outperforming Bryant on every basic metric, including attitude. Tomlin knows this, and this will inform Bryant's (at best) minimal role going forward.