Thought two teams yielding the NFL's fewest points would produce a lot of punts, a bunch of field goals, and not many TDs. Well, there *were* plenty of punts and decent kicker fantasy numbers . . . and seven offensive touchdowns. Overall, Denver was a little shy of their most offensive yards on the season, while L.A. finished with their second-most yards on the year.
Did the short week impact the defenses? Maybe. Denver's D was on the field for 31 minutes and 32 seconds on Sunday, while the Chargers' D had it even worse: 36:48. But saying that's the reason both opposing offenses clicked last night would be too easy.
There were plenty of statistical oddities. For L.A., Hassan Haskins hadn't caught a pass since 2022 and entered the contest averaging 1.9 yards per carry on 14 attempts. He was averaging 1.1 fantasy points per game in 29 contests. Yesterday he racked up 11.9 fantasy points on two catches. Derius Davis had never collected more than 18 receiving yards and had never hit double-digit points. He reached career-highs on both.
For the Broncos, Michael Burton had a TD reception despite entering the night with only one in his career. That was nine years ago. 25-year-old Blake Watson entered the night with only one career offensive snap. He had five touches.
So while there were plenty of good/great fantasy performances -- more than I expected -- there was also the potential for more. Combined with Tucker Fisk, Scott Matlock, and Nate Adkins, this group of normally tertiary options cut into the ceilings of Courtland Sutton, Quentin Johnston, Audric Estime, Javonte Williams, and even the otherwise productive Ladd McConkey, who tied for his second-fewest targets (six) since Week 3.
McConkey, Gus Edwards, Justin Herbert, and Box Nix made managers pretty/very happy. Congrats if you started any of them. I only trust McConkey.
But the other guys largely canceled each other out. It was by far Sutton's worst outing since Week 7 -- another Thursday night face-off. Estime and Javonte Williams essentially canceled each other out, giving managers solid-though-not-playoff-friendly points.
Finally, the Broncos' matchup in Cincinnati next week could decide playoff seeding. Because if the Bengals beat Cleveland Sunday and then Denver, they'd be 8-8 and Denver would be 9-7 heading into a Week 18 showdown against a Chiefs squad that might or might not sit their starters. And if Indy and Miami run off a couple wins, all four team will be fighting for one spot (assuming the Chargers take care of business against the Patriots or Raiders.
It could be great news for managers relying on playmakers from any of those teams.
Finally, guessing the final score: 27 of you made picks. A whopping 23 had Denver winning. Of the four (plus me) who picked the Chargers, Craig Mavis takes the prize with a 24-20 prediction. Congrats to Craig for winning his first of many competitions. Or maybe it's his fifth or eighth. I don't keep track. So for now, let's assume Craig wins every week.
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