At some point in the first quarter last night--I don't remember which drive--Aaron Rodgers was seen shaking his head sternly at the sideline. While there's no way to know what it was about, I kept wondering all game if Rodgers was doing the same thing to head coach Matt LaFleur that he did to predecessor Mike McCarthy: ignoring LaFleur's play-calling. And the botched 1st-and-goal at the 1--with four straight pass plays--only reinforced that thinking.
Maybe we'll learn differently today. But I suspect at various times Rodgers took matters into his own hands against a terrific Philly run D that was very beatable through the air. 73% of Green Bay's offensive plays were pass plays. In his first three games this year, Rodgers threw it only 54% of the time. The previous three years' percentages were 66%, 59%, and 64%.
So last night was an outlier, and if you read my column yesterday, it was mostly predictable. Rodgers and Davante Adams dominated. Rodgers should have dominated even more with two drives stalling near the Eagles' goal-line, while Adams would have probably tacked on another 4-8 fantasy points if he hadn't hurt his toe. I also wrote that neither Aaron Jones nor Jamaal Williams would go over 50 yards; Williams was knocked out with a nasty hit in the first, and Jones salvaged an RB2 day thanks to a TD and some receptions despite netting only 21 yards on 13 carries. And while MVS was held in check, Geronimo Allison was worth a flyer with a 14-point day, and nice to see Jimmy Graham get back on track.
With Philly, I was half right, and half very wrong. No receiver lit it up. Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz led the way with just under 13 points--middling TE1 production for Ertz in a more top-heavy TE position, and barely WR4 numbers for Jeffery. Carson Wentz made the most of things with three touchdowns on only 16 completions for a mere 160 yards. I'm not saying this because he's on my Premier League roster, but Wentz remains a solid buy-low QB. He entered Week 4 as fantasy's seventh best QB. When DJax returns, he'll be a weekly QB1. And I drafted him in part because of his late-season schedule: Seahawks, Dolphins, Giants, Redskins, Cowboys, Giants. Simply put, he could be a difference maker at an obviously stacked position.
What I got wrong was brutally wrong. While Miles Sanders was unimpressive fantasy-wise, he ran over the Packers. And Jordan Howard destroyed them: 87 yards and two scores on the ground, and a surprising 28 yards and a score through the air. Did not see that coming.
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A quick word on trading. Some of my earlier columns were about trading. My book has several strategies for psychologically crushing opponents. But I've never talked in sincere terms about the "ask." I strongly recommend e-mailing someone before offering an online trade. Spell it out. Don't over-explain. But make it clear you're not trying to pull a fast one: "Here's why this could be a win-win." And use parallel language so the offer appears fairer: "I'm getting a boost at RB, and you're getting a boost at WR."
That's not to say language can overcome egregiously lopsided offers. If you're one of those people who tries to trade Mecole Hardman for Michael Thomas, all I can say is, don't. Maybe one out of 20 times you'll catch a manager sleeping. But bad offers can undercut the larger strategy, which is building trust with opponents. That trust paves the way for deal making.
Maybe we'll learn differently today. But I suspect at various times Rodgers took matters into his own hands against a terrific Philly run D that was very beatable through the air. 73% of Green Bay's offensive plays were pass plays. In his first three games this year, Rodgers threw it only 54% of the time. The previous three years' percentages were 66%, 59%, and 64%.
So last night was an outlier, and if you read my column yesterday, it was mostly predictable. Rodgers and Davante Adams dominated. Rodgers should have dominated even more with two drives stalling near the Eagles' goal-line, while Adams would have probably tacked on another 4-8 fantasy points if he hadn't hurt his toe. I also wrote that neither Aaron Jones nor Jamaal Williams would go over 50 yards; Williams was knocked out with a nasty hit in the first, and Jones salvaged an RB2 day thanks to a TD and some receptions despite netting only 21 yards on 13 carries. And while MVS was held in check, Geronimo Allison was worth a flyer with a 14-point day, and nice to see Jimmy Graham get back on track.
With Philly, I was half right, and half very wrong. No receiver lit it up. Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz led the way with just under 13 points--middling TE1 production for Ertz in a more top-heavy TE position, and barely WR4 numbers for Jeffery. Carson Wentz made the most of things with three touchdowns on only 16 completions for a mere 160 yards. I'm not saying this because he's on my Premier League roster, but Wentz remains a solid buy-low QB. He entered Week 4 as fantasy's seventh best QB. When DJax returns, he'll be a weekly QB1. And I drafted him in part because of his late-season schedule: Seahawks, Dolphins, Giants, Redskins, Cowboys, Giants. Simply put, he could be a difference maker at an obviously stacked position.
What I got wrong was brutally wrong. While Miles Sanders was unimpressive fantasy-wise, he ran over the Packers. And Jordan Howard destroyed them: 87 yards and two scores on the ground, and a surprising 28 yards and a score through the air. Did not see that coming.
---
A quick word on trading. Some of my earlier columns were about trading. My book has several strategies for psychologically crushing opponents. But I've never talked in sincere terms about the "ask." I strongly recommend e-mailing someone before offering an online trade. Spell it out. Don't over-explain. But make it clear you're not trying to pull a fast one: "Here's why this could be a win-win." And use parallel language so the offer appears fairer: "I'm getting a boost at RB, and you're getting a boost at WR."
That's not to say language can overcome egregiously lopsided offers. If you're one of those people who tries to trade Mecole Hardman for Michael Thomas, all I can say is, don't. Maybe one out of 20 times you'll catch a manager sleeping. But bad offers can undercut the larger strategy, which is building trust with opponents. That trust paves the way for deal making.