Final scores are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get, or who will get injured.
First, hats off to Yemi Onibokun for nearly hitting last night's final score. He guessed 23-17, which would have counted if the Rams had picked up a first down on their final drive instead of kicking a field goal. Honorable mention to Josh Koons (24-20) and--yes--me again (26-23). If your name has not been mentioned, you have three days to prepare a response for Monday Night Football. Sneak peak: I'm probably going 34-10 Ravens over Colts. But we'll cross that bridge later.
More important than Yemi's stunning victory is Russell Wilson's dislocated finger, which knocked him out for the entire fourth quarter. Geno Smith played admirably in his place, and I noticed a lot of people on Twitter seemingly gleefully claiming Wilson is a system QB, and that Geno is better. Yada-yada-yada. The key takeaway is that Geno flashed and also struggled. And historically dislocated fingers are not a huge deal for QBs. It depends whether there's a break, and if not, whether he can tolerate the pain. He might need a glove on his throwing hand. He has 10 days to heal before facing Pittsburgh.
Maybe you sit down with your family tonight and talk through waiver options. Maybe meditate on it in your home office or slightly creepy attic. Whatever works for you. The point is, barring a break, Wilson should be fine, and he's also a higher-than-normal risk in Pittsburgh Week 6. So consider adding an insurance policy like Trevor Lawrence, who will face Miami at home next weekend.
Admittedly, I didn't think Robert Woods would go nuts yesterday. But you've heard me push him since the run-up to Week 4. Great players who start slow tend to get their points eventually. Head coach Sean McVay vowed to get him more involved. Sometimes that's just talk. But in this case, with Cooper Kupp sitting atop the WR fantasy leaderboard, the writing was on the wall. Just like Keenan Allen inexplicably trailed Mike Williams by a fairly large margin heading into last week, the same issue revolved around Woods and Kupp. These things tend to even out more often than not. Last week managers could have traded Kupp for Woods and probably an RB2. Now they'd be lucky to trade Kupp for Woods straight-up. Timing is everything, as always.
Elsewhere, Darrell Henderson exceeded my expectations, though he remains the same injury risk he's been since he entered the league. And Alex Collins was a minor bust as expected. I believed RB3 numbers were "realistic," and anything beyond that was mere hope. The hype did not align with the situation versus an underrated Rams run D. Collins managed 9.2 points, which in recent weeks would have made him a low-end RB3. A reminder that not all RB handcuffs are the same, and not all matchups are the same. Collins is a mid-range handcuff who faced a higher-end defense. The combination made him a fringe starter.
First, hats off to Yemi Onibokun for nearly hitting last night's final score. He guessed 23-17, which would have counted if the Rams had picked up a first down on their final drive instead of kicking a field goal. Honorable mention to Josh Koons (24-20) and--yes--me again (26-23). If your name has not been mentioned, you have three days to prepare a response for Monday Night Football. Sneak peak: I'm probably going 34-10 Ravens over Colts. But we'll cross that bridge later.
More important than Yemi's stunning victory is Russell Wilson's dislocated finger, which knocked him out for the entire fourth quarter. Geno Smith played admirably in his place, and I noticed a lot of people on Twitter seemingly gleefully claiming Wilson is a system QB, and that Geno is better. Yada-yada-yada. The key takeaway is that Geno flashed and also struggled. And historically dislocated fingers are not a huge deal for QBs. It depends whether there's a break, and if not, whether he can tolerate the pain. He might need a glove on his throwing hand. He has 10 days to heal before facing Pittsburgh.
Maybe you sit down with your family tonight and talk through waiver options. Maybe meditate on it in your home office or slightly creepy attic. Whatever works for you. The point is, barring a break, Wilson should be fine, and he's also a higher-than-normal risk in Pittsburgh Week 6. So consider adding an insurance policy like Trevor Lawrence, who will face Miami at home next weekend.
Admittedly, I didn't think Robert Woods would go nuts yesterday. But you've heard me push him since the run-up to Week 4. Great players who start slow tend to get their points eventually. Head coach Sean McVay vowed to get him more involved. Sometimes that's just talk. But in this case, with Cooper Kupp sitting atop the WR fantasy leaderboard, the writing was on the wall. Just like Keenan Allen inexplicably trailed Mike Williams by a fairly large margin heading into last week, the same issue revolved around Woods and Kupp. These things tend to even out more often than not. Last week managers could have traded Kupp for Woods and probably an RB2. Now they'd be lucky to trade Kupp for Woods straight-up. Timing is everything, as always.
Elsewhere, Darrell Henderson exceeded my expectations, though he remains the same injury risk he's been since he entered the league. And Alex Collins was a minor bust as expected. I believed RB3 numbers were "realistic," and anything beyond that was mere hope. The hype did not align with the situation versus an underrated Rams run D. Collins managed 9.2 points, which in recent weeks would have made him a low-end RB3. A reminder that not all RB handcuffs are the same, and not all matchups are the same. Collins is a mid-range handcuff who faced a higher-end defense. The combination made him a fringe starter.