The 3M Report: Week Nine

Welcome to the week nine 3M report; a look back at all the magic, mayhem, and mishaps from the weekend games.

Falcons at Buccaneers

The Bucs, down to their fourth string running back, hosted the Falcons to open up week nine. Jameis Winston was 3-0 against Atlanta heading into Thursday night’s tilt, but the Bucs stopped there. The week’s best passing and receiving performance came out of this game. Matt Ryan continued shredding the NFL with a four touchdown, 344 yard day, while Mike Evans led all wideouts with a monster 11 catch night, for 150 yards and two scores.

The Buccaneers running game struggled with Peyton Barber as the lead back. Those hoping for a bit of the old Antone Smith magic were left waiting, as Smith exited the game with just 52 total yards. Julio Jones was held without a catch until early in the second quarter, but still finished with an 8-111-1 stat line. Winston threw three touchdowns and survived the same type of hit at the goal line that cost Cam Newton a stay in the league’s concussion protocol. The Falcons’ offensive potency makes them one the NFC’s most dangerous squads. Short of an injury to Ryan, they’ll be providing fireworks all year long.

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Eagles at Giants

For the first time in over two years, the Giants defeated the Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Eli Manning took advantage of a utterly confused Philly secondary by chucking four touchdowns. The Eagles held Odell Beckham to under 50 yards receiving, making week nine the fourth time Beckham has failed to gain over 56 yards in the last five contest. The only problem for Philadelphia was that 50% of ODB’s four catches went for scores.

Darren Sproles out-carried Ryan Mathews, again, 13-5. The usage uptick predicted for the Giants’ Paul Perkins materialized, as he and Rashad Jennings each handled 11 carries a piece. Still, their 22 combined runs went for just 58 yards. In his first NFL game, rookie wideout Bryce Treggs showed off the deep speed the Eagles desperately need by corralling a 58 yard bomb from Carson Wentz in the first half. Treggs, who finished with two catches for 68 yards is worth a speculative add as the only player on the Eagles’ roster with the ability to take the proverbial “top” off a defense. He should see a few more looks in the coming weeks. Zach Ertz had his best game since week one, going 8-97, as the Birds made a point of targeting the tight end early and often.

Cowboys at Browns

Dallas ran Ezekiel Elliot and Alfred Morris 35 times for 148 yards. The Browns’ inability to control opposing tight ends made Jason Witten look like a 28-year-old, as he led a receivers with 134 yards on eight receptions. Dak Prescott threw three touchdowns to just six incompletions as continues to prove the naysayers wrong and solidify his spot atop the depth chart. About the only thing the Browns did well was hold Dez Bryant to a single catch for 19 yards.

Cleveland’s Cody Kessler got the start and completed 19 of his 27 passes, while throwing one score with no interceptions. Kessler earned another start in the Browns’ upcoming Thursday night game with the Ravens. Still, he was just 1-9 on third downs and couldn’t connect with his receivers on the deep pass. Failing to extend drives will kill the fantasy output of a talented group of Cleveland skill players. Corey Coleman and Terrelle Pryor each pulled down seven catches, with Pryor scoring a TD. Neither receiver managed more the 47 yards. Duke Johnson out-rushed Isaiah Crowell 30 yards to four, while Crowell out-did Johnson in the receiving game, 63 yards to 16.

Crowell gained 44 of those yards on a crazy unbalanced look, where the Browns split two of their lineman out wide-right, keeping just three inside with Kessler and Crowell. The six players on the outside forced Dallas to think a WR screen was imminent. Instead, Kessler hit Crowell up middle for the long gainer. If you have to go to these extremes to get a big play, you obviously have some issues, offensively.   

Lions at Vikings

These two NFC North rivals exchanged punts and field goals for most of the first 30 minutes of this game, before Matt Stafford found Anquan Boldin for a one yard touchdown to end the first half. Sam Bradford returned serve, hitting Kyle Rudolph for a one yard TD, late in the third quarter. Later, Bradford did a great service to the friends and family of tight end, Rhett Ellison, as they are the only people in the universe who might have benefitted from Ellison’s fourth quarter score. Stafford would then drive the Lions down for a game tying FG to end regulation and send the game into overtime.

Upon winning the OT coin flip, Detroit went on a 12 play drive to end this street fight, with Golden Tate supplying the finishing move. (We know they didn’t have finishing moves in “Street Fighter”, thanks.) On third and 8, from the Vikes’ 28 yard line, Tate caught a 15 yard out, while double covered by Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith. Rhodes’ diving tackle attempt missed Tate, who then disposed of Smith with a stiff arm, and ran for the end zone. Tate could have easily walked in for the winning score, but instead, he he busted out “Blanka’s Rolling Attack”  and obliterated the Vikings’ Robert Blanton on his way across the goal line, for the sudden death victory. It was easily the play of the day, as Tate also rolled up a 3/48/1 stat line on the final drive, alone.

Jets at Dolphins

The yardage kept piling up for Jay Ajayi, who finished with 111 yards on the ground. The picks kept coming for Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw two to the men in teal. Jalin Marshall led the Jets in receiving yardage with three catches, for 59 yards and a TD. Matt Forte had a strong performance on the ground, racking up 92 yards on 12 carries. The Dolphins parlayed a 96 yard Kenyon Drake kickoff return touchdown into a 27-23 victory, and everyone was thrilled when this game went off the air.

Jaguars at Chiefs

Travis Kelce gained 58 yards, before getting kicked out for throwing his towel at a ref. Jeremy Maclin injured his groin in the first quarter without accumulating a stat, as did Allen Hurns, who got knocked out in the game’s third quarter. Chris Ivory ran for 108 yards, but fumbled crossing the goal line. Allen Robinson had a decent day, with seven catches for 76 yards and a TD. He was joined by Marqise Lee, whose 4/84 stat line is certain to trick some WR-hungry owner in your league to pick him up thinking the Hurns injury will lead to Lee’s emergence (don’t be that guy.) Tyreek Hill failed to deliver on the promise of last week’s performance, managing just 11 yards on three receptions.  

Steelers at Ravens

With a completion rating  just a smidge above 50%, Ben Roethlisberger had a miserable day against his chief rivals in his return to action, on Sunday. The Steelers gained only 36 yards on the ground, with Le’Veon Bell running for 32 of those yards. Pittsburgh failed to get on the board until the final five minutes of the game, when Ben hit Antonio Brown for a 23-yard TD that saved the day for Brown owners. The most noteworthy performance was from Eli Rogers, who racked up 103 yards on six receptions. Dynasty owners should move Rogers from their watch list to their active rosters.

As for the Ravens, they continued the trend of abysmal rushing efforts across the league, with Terrance West and Kenneth Dixon combining for 44 yards on 24 carries. Mike Wallace gained 95 of 124 yards on a bomb from Joe Flacco which went for a score. Steve Smith returned to action, catching four balls for 47 yards.

Colts at Packers

The Packers fell to third place in the NFC North, with their second consecutive loss, this one, at Lambeau. The game wasn’t nearly as competitive as the score might indicate. Andrew Luck threw two first quarter picks to HaHa Clinton-Dix, but it was the Colts who had the last laugh. Frank Gore ran in two TDs en route to a 60-yard day. Donte Moncrief went 3/55/1 in his return from injury.

The Packers continued to use the amalgamation of Ty Montgomery and Aaron Ripkowski to form one fully functional back. Yet, Aaron Rodgers led the team to convert just four of their 12 third-down attempts and Indianapolis held off a late charge to get the unexpected victory on the road. Randall Cobb was silent until scoring the game’s final TD with just under four minutes remaining. He finished with two catches for 14 yards and the score. Green Bay desperately needs to have their “R-E-L-A-X” moment soon, as they hit the road for three straight, starting with Tennessee next weekend, followed by trips to Washington and Philly.

Saints at 49ers

The benching of Mark Ingram stoked a fire that carried the Saints’ lead back to a 15/158/1 rushing day, with a 13 yard receiving score thrown in for good measure. New Orleans got another 23 carries, for 87 yards and a TD from the resurgent Tim Hightower, as they pummeled the hapless Niners in Santa Clara. Colin Kaepernick nearly threw for 400 yards and two scores, but contributed two of San Fran’s four turnovers, as well. DuJuan Harris filled in nicely at running back with 142 total yards and a TD, while Vance McDonald used a 65 yard TD to propel him to an 84-yard receiving day.

Michael Thomas continued his ascension to the Saints number one receiver designation with five grabs for 73 yards and two touchdowns. The Saints have now fought their was back to .500, winning three of their last four games. They’ll host Denver next Sunday in a match-up of the league’s best pass defense, against the league’s most relentless pass offense. However, you can expect the Saint’s newfound love of the running game to carry over to this showdown, as the Broncos have proven to be susceptible to ground attack this season.

Panthers at Rams

Todd Gurley continued to rot on the vine as the Rams and Panthers solidified every argument made by the “NFL ratings are down because the quality of play stinks!”- crowd. Gurley and the Panthers Jonathan Stewart Combined for just 90 yards on 27 combined carries. The game’s leading receiver was Rams tight end, Lance Kendricks, with 90 yards on seven receptions.

At 3-5, perhaps it’s time for the Rams to consider throwing Jared Goff into the fire. No. He’s not ready for action. But if they insist on wasting the sophomore season of one of the league’s best players, they need to give us some kind of reason to care. Watching Goff boost the stats of our IDP players will suffice, for now.

Titans at Chargers

It’s bizarre how Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley have traded places in the hierarchy of fantasy kings this season. Gordon popped off for 196 yards on the ground and another 65 through the air in week nine, leading the Chargers to a 43-35 win over the Titans. Philip Rivers threw TDs to Antonio Gates and Tyrell Williams, while the Bolts defense returned a Marcus Mariota fumble for score.

Mariota added two picks to the fumble, which nullified his three TD day, to an extent. Still, Mariota looks stellar at times, as he’s thrown 27 touchdowns and zero picks in the red zone in his two year career. Rishard Matthews had two TDs, while Delanie Walker added another. DeMarco Murray supplemented a sluggish day with his own late TD in the final quarter.

Broncos at Raiders

Latavius Murray saved his best for the champs, as the much-maligned back put up his first 100 yard game on Sunday night and scored three touchdowns in the process. Oakland’s running backs ran for 215 yards total, taking full advantage of the Broncos fatal flaw. Derek Carr and company had the night off, while the ground crew did the damage.The QB followed his 500+ yard game last week with just 184 yards through the air in the home win.

The Broncos’ Trevor Siemian had two turnovers, on his 283 yard night. He threw touchdowns to Kapri Bibbs and Jordan Norwood, leaving Denver’s fantasy stalwarts out in the cold. The Raiders took over first place in the AFC West with the win. It will be interesting to see if drum beat to Paxton Lynch starts to gain steam in the coming weeks, should Siemian continue to struggle.

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