Entering last night, Kirk Cousins last threw for 370+ yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions in the final game of the 2020 season. He faced a Detroit defense that surrendered the most points in the league, the most TD passes, and the third-most passing yards. It marked Cousins' eighth three-passing-TD performance of the year. He was throwing to rookie breakout Justin Jefferson (88-1,400-7 receiving line that season) and Adam Thielen (74-925-14). The stars were aligned.
What he and the Falcons achieved last night is arguably more impressive. Missing near-elite WR Drake London didn't matter much. Kyle Pitts and David Sills both had career bests statistically, while Bijan Robinson made the most of his 27 touches.
For Tampa Bay, this was the first time all year that Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have played together. They are arguably one of the greatest WR tandems in history, frequently elevating quarterbacks -- from Jameis Winston to Ryan Fitzpatrick to Mike Glennon. Three of Tom Brady's seven best statistical campaigns were in Tampa Bay with Evans and Godwin. Baker Mayfield's resurgence is due, in (large?) part, to Evans and Godwin.
But it wasn't enough on Thursday, and now the Bucs probably will need to sweep Carolina in Weeks 16 and 18 to claim the NFC South title. This summer that would have sounded like a good bet. Now there are too many question marks despite having a relatively healthy unit, and that carries over into fantasy. Last night Evans was terrific on 12 targets. Godwin was TD-dependent on only five targets. Emeka Egbuka barely scratched out a respectable receiving line. Jalen McMillan could play a spoiler role.
If you believe yesterday shows that Evans is the alpha, then you know how to play it going forward. But I don't think he is. This corps could feature Godwin next week, and/or Egbuka might be back on track after four straight single-digit fantasy outings.
On the ground, Bucky Irving fell short as expected. Normally target-friendly, he's seen only eight looks these past three weeks. Finishing (again) below 4.0 yards per carry, he lost out on a goal-line opportunity that Sean Tucker converted into a score. It's a tough situation for managers who waited for him to get healthy.
For the closest-score competition, Jeffrey Holub takes the prize-less prize with an impressive 28-27 prediction. Jeffrey has been in this community for -- Jeffrey, is it since 2014? A long time. Enough time to hone his closest-score prediction skills.
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