If you're like me, you played sports video games as a kid (or as an adult, before getting married and having kids). And if you're like me, you created "super teams" of 99-rating players. And if you're a bit obsessive like me, you took the next step of identifying all of the lowest-rated players and creating the worst possible team.
Then you'd play with the super team against the worst team and see how much you could destroy them. And then you'd try to beat your record.
That, in a nutshell, is tonight's contest between the Patriots and Giants. I don't know where to begin, but it's easy to see how this will end. New England's a 16.5-point favorite, which on the one hand makes them the biggest favorite in Thursday Night Football history, and on the other hand sharply undersells them.
Despite the forecast calling for rain and mildly impactful winds, greatness will shine through even if the sun can't. The Patriots' D is yielding a league-low 44.0 passer rating to opposing QBs. They're also #1 in points given up and yards given up. And their offense is seemingly as great as Bill Belichick wants it to be. Tonight, it will be great.
Meanwhile, the Giants' D is eighth worst against the pass and only middling vs. the run. They're missing their top three offensive weapons. What more needs to be said? This will be a shallacking. If New England were favored by 30 points, I'd still pick the Pats to cover.
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Around the league, Todd Gurley and David Johnson are both dealing with ailments. There's certainly a chance one or both will sit this weekend; we'll find out more today and tomorrow. For now, take them for what they are: questionable. I've mentioned Chase Edmonds many times; no need to bring him up again, except to say he should have been rostered in nearly every league a long time ago. For the Rams, Malcolm Brown obviously merits extra attention this week, while rookie Darrell Henderson will be a fascinating player to watch. Of course, I just dropped him yesterday in the Premier League, proving once again that my timing can be eerily, perfectly awful.
And while Tyreek Hill is nearing a return, Sammy Watkins is fading into fantasy oblivion. After destroying Jacksonville's defense Week 1 with a 9-198-3 line (46.8 fantasy points), his next three games he accumulated barely half those fantasy points. A significant injury risk every season, and now part of the most talented receiving corps of his career, Watkins is moving dangerously close to "too good to drop, too unreliable to start" territory.
Finally, according to Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald, Mark Walton could earn more attention this season. How crazy would this scenario be: the Dolphins trade Kenyan Drake before the deadline and, with Kalen Ballage on the outs, turn to Walton down the stretch. And who would he face Week 16? The team that drafted him and dumped him: the lowly Bengals.
This preseason he sported an overall ADP of 544. In my rankings he was more bullish 282. Yet it's entirely conceivable that Mark Walton could help some of you win a title.
Then you'd play with the super team against the worst team and see how much you could destroy them. And then you'd try to beat your record.
That, in a nutshell, is tonight's contest between the Patriots and Giants. I don't know where to begin, but it's easy to see how this will end. New England's a 16.5-point favorite, which on the one hand makes them the biggest favorite in Thursday Night Football history, and on the other hand sharply undersells them.
Despite the forecast calling for rain and mildly impactful winds, greatness will shine through even if the sun can't. The Patriots' D is yielding a league-low 44.0 passer rating to opposing QBs. They're also #1 in points given up and yards given up. And their offense is seemingly as great as Bill Belichick wants it to be. Tonight, it will be great.
Meanwhile, the Giants' D is eighth worst against the pass and only middling vs. the run. They're missing their top three offensive weapons. What more needs to be said? This will be a shallacking. If New England were favored by 30 points, I'd still pick the Pats to cover.
---
Around the league, Todd Gurley and David Johnson are both dealing with ailments. There's certainly a chance one or both will sit this weekend; we'll find out more today and tomorrow. For now, take them for what they are: questionable. I've mentioned Chase Edmonds many times; no need to bring him up again, except to say he should have been rostered in nearly every league a long time ago. For the Rams, Malcolm Brown obviously merits extra attention this week, while rookie Darrell Henderson will be a fascinating player to watch. Of course, I just dropped him yesterday in the Premier League, proving once again that my timing can be eerily, perfectly awful.
And while Tyreek Hill is nearing a return, Sammy Watkins is fading into fantasy oblivion. After destroying Jacksonville's defense Week 1 with a 9-198-3 line (46.8 fantasy points), his next three games he accumulated barely half those fantasy points. A significant injury risk every season, and now part of the most talented receiving corps of his career, Watkins is moving dangerously close to "too good to drop, too unreliable to start" territory.
Finally, according to Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald, Mark Walton could earn more attention this season. How crazy would this scenario be: the Dolphins trade Kenyan Drake before the deadline and, with Kalen Ballage on the outs, turn to Walton down the stretch. And who would he face Week 16? The team that drafted him and dumped him: the lowly Bengals.
This preseason he sported an overall ADP of 544. In my rankings he was more bullish 282. Yet it's entirely conceivable that Mark Walton could help some of you win a title.