Last night marked the Cowboys' fourth straight loss to the Cardinals. It came at a time when both teams' trade-deadline decisions hang in the balance. For Dallas to be playoff-aspiring buyers, they probably needed to get back to .500. Instead they're 3-5-1 heading into their bye with the Eagles, Chiefs, and Lions on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Arizona snapped a five-game losing streak to reach 3-5 with the Seahawks, 49ers, and Jaguars on deck. Going 2-1 is a reasonable possibility if their offense and defense are clicking. Despite the long odds, they still have life.
A big reason for that is Jacoby Brissett, who's playing on his sixth team in six seasons, but is somehow outplaying "franchise" quarterback Kyler Murray. Imagine playing for six head coaches with six unique playbooks and needing to develop chemistry with six sets of offensive lines and receivers. For his career, he's been intercepted on only 1.4% of his pass attempts -- reportedly tied with Aaron Rodgers for the best interception rate in NFL history.
Similar to Miami and Tua Tagovailoa, Arizona seems to have backed itself into a corner with Murray's lucrative contract. They probably can't bench him. But they might have to, and that might be good news if you have Marvin Harrison Jr. or Trey McBride.
Speaking of which, yesterday Harrison netted his most fantasy points in a little over a year. It was only the second time this year that he's surpassed six targets. A team's #1 WR shouldn't consistently struggle to get the ball. Maybe this game will upend that trend. Unreliable #2 Michael Wilson produced 7+ points for the third straight time. Not much, but also key to stabilizing his shaky status as a deep-league streamer.
And now the Cards officially have a "hot-hand" backfield. A mostly sluggish Bam Knight gave way to a more spry Emari Demercado, who redeemed himself after his fumble cost them a win against Tennessee. Any "Who should I start" question involving Demercado or Knight can be most safely answered with "two-point floor, TD-dependent ceiling."
For Dallas, things could've gone much better for fantasy managers if they'd converted even one more red-zone possession and had at least one less turnover. This was the #2 scoring offense heading into Week 9. The values of their core playmakers haven't changed. It was simply an ill-timed letdown for many managers needing/expecting more.
The NFL trade deadline is today at 4:00pm Eastern. Some years not much happens fantasy-wise. I believe we'll see several shake-ups this time. Will walk through the ramifications tomorrow. And if nothing happens, I'll pivot to a rundown of favorite '90s dance songs. For my sake and, frankly, for yours, let's hope for some trades.
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* Today's FF4W podcast, episode 105: "Jacoby Brissett and Kyler Murray'" -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-for-winners/id1800490745