In their first head-to-head matchup nearly 16 years ago, Aaron Rodgers' Packers beat Joe Flacco's Ravens 27-14. Rodgers was in his second full season as a starter and was a little over a year away from winning the Super Bowl. Green Bay's wideout corps was stacked with the post-prime Donald Driver, in-his-prime Greg Jennings, and pre-prime Jordy Nelson. But the guy who led his team in receptions (seven) and yards (79) was ascending TE Jermichael Finley.
Flacco was also in his second season and was a little over *three* years away from winning the Super Bowl. In two years, Baltimore's collection of RB/WR playmakers would go through an almost complete overhaul. But for now, TE Todd Heap led all Ravens in targets (10), receptions (five), and receiving yards (52).
Last night, Rodgers leaned heavily on his TEs, as Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, and Darnell Washington combined for a 11-141-4 receiving line on 14 targets. How many teams in league history have produced three 9+ point tight ends in one game? Has any team racked up nearly 50 TE fantasy points in one game? As discussed yesterday, Calvin Austin III's absence was not a "next-man-up" situation for Roman Wilson or any other WR. Rodgers at age 41 is as TE-friendly as ever, and yesterday was an exaggerated version of this trend.
Flacco is also TE-friendly -- or at least, he *was* when helming Cleveland's offense. As discussed on a podcast episode last week, he's never thrown to a receiver as talented as Ja'Marr Chase. That's what made him so intriguing in fantasy. He might have been washed up, but we wouldn't know it until he and Chase played together. Thru two games, we know the answer: Flacco and Chase are great for each other. Fantasy managers can rejoice and/or feel relieved.
Meanwhile, Tee Higgins had more than eight targets for the first time all season, and Noah Fant delivered as anticipated. Perhaps the improved passing attack opened things up for Chase Brown, who finally broke through (despite the lukewarm fantasy output).
Maybe just as importantly, the win pushes Cincinnati to 3-4 with upcoming home games against the Jets and Bears. So yeah, they could be 5-4 on their bye week, making Joe Burrow's return -- and sustained fantasy relevance for the Bengals' top players -- highly probable. In other words, there's less risk that Chase, Higgins, and/or Brown will sit later in the year.
Back to Pittsburgh: I didn't expect Jaylen Warren to dominate. Didn't even expect him to play "well." Although Kenneth Gainwell ran fine, Warren handled 18+ touches for only the second time in his career. The first time was Week 3 in New England, when he labored for 2.6 yards per carry. Last night he cleared 10 yards per carry. It's fair to say that I completely underestimated Warren, at least for now.
And for the sake of perspective, the Bengals entered Week 7 yielding the NFL's most RB fantasy points per game (32.1). If Warren can be even half as productive next weekend against Green Bay, I'll admit defeat.
Speaking of defeat, all of us lost the final score prediction battle . . . except one brilliant person: Jeff Laboda, who stated with the utmost confidence that the Bengals would win 31-30. That confidence has been rewarded. (Apparently only one person's confidence can be rewarded.) Congrats to Jeff.
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