Entering last night, Josh Allen had never been sacked more than seven times. The first seven-sack game was in his third career start seven years ago. Allen finished with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Yesterday he was sacked eight times, finishing with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
Houston's defense has collected 16 sacks and six turnovers in their last three contests. On the season, they're holding opposing QBs to a league-low 11.2 fantasy points per game. If the Texans carry this momentum into Indy and Kansas City these next two weeks, it could mess with a lot of fantasy lineups.
There's not much to say about Buffalo that hasn't been said many times before. James Cook continued to crush it. As discussed on yesterday's podcast, he's poised to become a true RB unicorn, with a shot at producing the best fantasy career of any low-college-volume RB (less than 300 career college touches) in 25+ years.
A couple days after becoming a father, Khalil Shakir almost played the hero while racking up 110 receiving yards -- only five yards shy of his career high. He had topped 70 yards only once in his previous 12 games, and it marked his first 8+ catch performance in his last 15 games. If Buffalo doesn't make waves in the playoffs, I believe they'll try to acquire another impact receiver. The problem is a lack of cap space, so they might need to make some expensive decisions to make room.
This probably wouldn't be necessary if 2024 second-rounder Keon Coleman were stepping up instead of being forced to sit on the sidelines for disciplinary reasons.
For the Texans, the legend of Davis Mills continues to grow. He looked finished in 2022 when Dameon Pierce led the backfield and his three highest-yardage receivers were Brandin Cooks, Chris Moore, and Jordan Akins. It never hurts to have an improved offense.
Jayden Higgins now has 23 targets in his last three outings, second only to Nico Collins' 28. And Christian Kirk scored only his second touchdown in a little over two years. This offense seems poised to pop when CJ Stroud returns. And if it doesn't, this franchise will have a little more to think about during the offseason.
Finally, Houston's backfield keeps making more and more sense, in that Woody Marks continues to solidify his recently earned #1 RB role over Nick Chubb. But it's also making less sense, thanks to yesterday's conflicting reports on Joe Mixon's injury status. Regardless, Marks is one of the most valuable rookie RBs heading into the fantasy playoffs.
And Mike Kieke wins the closest-score contest with a 24-20 prediction. This is apparently his first career victory, because I can't find any other post where he's mentioned. So Mike, congratulations on achieving blog immortality -- at least until Facebook is bought out by Olive Garden and converted into an online recipe warehouse.
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