The last time the Falcons and Packers played (December 2018), Julio Jones and Davante Adams combined for 187 yards and three scores on 15 receptions. The time before that, 13/207/1. The time before that (the playoffs), 12/196/3.
Last night, hamstring injuries took their toll. Julio left early, and Adams was ruled out earlier in the day. Instead, Olamide Zaccheaus and Robert Tonyan took center stage. The elite combo of Julio, Calvin Ridley, and Russell Gage--all battling ailments--combined for a measly 6/54/0 line. After blowing two huge leads the previous two weeks, Atlanta never had a chance in this one, and now drop to 0-4. They're actually well positioned to climb to 4-5 given an upcoming soft schedule. But their anemic defense isn't doing them any favors--though in other weeks it's helped sustain their passing game.
Todd Gurley continues to baffle me. Since becoming one of the league's most dangerous pass-catching backs in 2017 and 2018, he's become an afterthought through the air, and is now on pace for only 16 receptions in 2020. Some of it is due to the Falcons' capable RB backups, and some of it is due to having four very capable receivers. But he's as TD-dependent as ever, and that doesn't bode well for a team that often will play from behind.
By the way, Tonyan has now caught 13 of 14 balls for five touchdowns. He was invisible Week 1 when Adams was soaking up targets. So it'll be interesting to see how he's used when Adams returns, likely next week.
In the earlier contest, Damien Harris showed us why Sony Michel probably won't be fantasy relevant the rest of the season. The downside for Harris, of course, is that he's even more TD-dependent than Todd Gurley. Meanwhile, we saw a glimpse of what the Patriots would have been had they not signed Cam Newton. Even with Cam, this looks like a 10-6 team. And not much to say about Kansas city, except that once again it's hard to see them losing this year.
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Through four weeks, six QBs are now on pace for 410+ fantasy points, and four are on pace to break Patrick Mahomes' single-season record of 417. The top 5 QBs have thrown 61 TD passes and only six interceptions. And Alvin Kamara is on pace to crush LaDainian Tomlinson's fantasy point record of 481.1.