All About the Solo: Week Ten
One of the more frustrating things in IDP leagues is seeing your stud linebacker fly all over the field on game days only to see the home score keeper dilute his performance by divvying up his tackles as an assist. Not everybody knows this, but the NFL does not recognize a tackle as an official statistic. Tackles are scored by the home team’s official score keeper and those are the stats you see on news and stats sites. The league made an effort to standardize what is and isn’t a solo tackle back in 2007 when they sent a video to all NFL teams, but it still the discretion of the score keeper and there is a large disparity from team to team and week-to-week. I will be tracking this throughout the season to give you a better idea of what to expect when choosing your IDPs each week. The chart below shows the results through week ten.
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View the entire spreadsheet.
The streak of “zero assist” games finally came to an end this week, but just barely. The Jets were only given two assists in Kansas City while the home town Chiefs were given just eight. On the other end of the spectrum, the Bengals’ score keeper gave the Jaguars a week high 50 assists to just 38 solo tackles. The Bengals were scored with 43 solos and 26 assists. Oddly enough there wasn’t a single player in this game to achieve double digit tackles.
With 17 total tackles, Chris Borland had another great game in place of the injured Patrick Willis. After being a potential game time decision last week, Willis was placed on season ending injured reserve Tuesday with a toe injury. It was also reported NaVarro Bowman is still experiencing pain in his surgically repaired knee. This is all great news for Borland for the rest of the season as a LB1 in tackle heavy leagues.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Dom Capers decided to move Clay Matthews to middle linebacker against the Bears and start Nick Perry and Julius Peppers on the outside. He responded with a team high 11 total tackles, nine solo and two assists, while still sacking Jay Cutler once. I haven’t found anything stating this move is permanent but if it is his IDP value skyrockets. I lean towards the idea of Matthews being able to shadow Matt Forte a little easier playing in the middle of the field as opposed to the Bears being able to run away from him. All I can is… stay tuned.
Looking ahead to this week’s matchups, I like Jelani Jenkins and Cameron Wake against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. Every week it seems like one team plays well and the other team forgets to show up. I’ll put my money on the home team. On the flip side, look for Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes to get to Ryan Tannehill after the team lost left tackle Brandon Albert to injury. Marcel Dareus is a must start every week in leagues required to start a defensive tackle.
With Ryan Mallett getting his first career start on the road in Cleveland this week, I would expect a blitz heavy attack until they’re forced out of it. This could mean some interception opportunities for Joe Haden and Buster Skrine, who had two interceptions last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Regardless of who plays quarterback for the Texans, they should feed Arian Foster early and often which bodes well for Karlos Dansby and Donte Whitner.
Hopefully sitting out week nine and last week’s bye got Brian Cushing healthy enough to be useable in this great matchup with the run heavy Browns. If not, look for Mike Mohamed to get another start and be serviceable as a LB2 in tackle heavy leagues.
Josh Mauga is in line to put up another solid game this week with Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks coming to Arrowhead. Against the Jets last week he put up eight solo tackles and two assists. I expect similar numbers this week.
I’m sure he’ll be on a snap count but I wouldn’t be too hesitant to plug Aldon Smith into my lineup his first week back from suspension. The Niners are borderline desperate and shouldn’t hold anything back. Even if he only plays passing downs he can make an impact. Obviously Chris Borland is a must start, as stated earlier.
The Eagles and Packers game should be an offensive bloodbath but I like both team’s premier pass rushers in this game. Clay Matthews, regardless of where he lines up, is a must start and even though he’s up and down, Connor Barwin needs to be plugged into lineups too. He was awesome against the Panthers on Monday night with eight total tackles and 3.5 sacks. He now has 10.5 on the season. Mychal Kendricks came through on my prediction last week. He had eight tackles, all solo, and a sack of Cam Newton.
It’s a rough spot for Drew Stanton to step back in as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback this week as Detroit is coming to town. I never would have guessed it, but this game could have a huge impact on the NFC #1 playoff seed. It’s amazing how far discipline and good coaching goes in the NFL. The Lions front four, DeAndre Levy and James Ihedigbo all have great matchups.
With Calvin Johnson back and healthy and Golden Tate playing as great as any receiver in the league, the Cardinals should rely on some exotic blitzing to get Matthew Stafford uncomfortable in the pocket. This bodes well for Deonne Bucannon and Tyrann Mathieu in addition to the “traditional” pass rushers.
The Colts will undoubtedly attempt to establish the run game against the Patriots, making Jamie Collins one of my favorite plays this week. In week nine against the Broncos he finished with ten solo tackles and an assist. I look for more of the same against Andrew Luck and company. It’s expected Darrelle Revis will shadow T.Y. Hilton in this game but I don’t think it’s going to deter Luck from targeting his WR1.
The biggest question for the Colts defense will be slowing down Rob Gronkowski. I don’t think they have anyone on their roster capable. Mike Adams has 20 total tackles over the last two games and LaRon Landry returns from his four game PED suspension but they’re both under six feet tall. The Colts are going to have to win this one on offense.
Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.
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- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Seven - October 24, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Six - October 16, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Five - October 10, 2018
