This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
-It's disheartening that Deshaun Watson's career intersected with Bill O'Brien's. O'Brien is a questionable coach in general, but he's also guilty of exploiting the Texans' institutional dysfunction to make payday loan trades that boost his short-term win percentage at the expense of the team's long-term solvency. O'Brien might get fired at the request of any new GM they try to hire, yet Watson will deal with the effects of those trades long afterward. For two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick they got Kenny Stills through 2020, Duke Johnson at an average of $4.6M per year over the two upcoming years, and Laremy Tunsil (with an incoming extension likely at more than $17M per year). The Texans have upcoming questions on all of the offensive line, defensive line, and secondary, and with Watson due an imminent raise to the tune of $32M per year, those missing picks might hurt when the cap space gets crunched.
-Baltimore may have been the only truly good team in the early slate, beating Houston 41-7 with the one touchdown allowed (46-yard Carlos Hyde carry) occurring in garbage time. Lamar Jackson was brilliant again, completing 17-of-24 passes for 222 yards and four touchdowns, adding 86 yards on nine carries. Marquise Brown didn't do much (two catches for 23 yards on four targets), so it was instead Mark Andrews (four catches for 75 yards and one touchdown on four targets) and Mark Ingram (three catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns on
-It's disheartening that Deshaun Watson's career intersected with Bill O'Brien's. O'Brien is a questionable coach in general, but he's also guilty of exploiting the Texans' institutional dysfunction to make payday loan trades that boost his short-term win percentage at the expense of the team's long-term solvency. O'Brien might get fired at the request of any new GM they try to hire, yet Watson will deal with the effects of those trades long afterward. For two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick they got Kenny Stills through 2020, Duke Johnson at an average of $4.6M per year over the two upcoming years, and Laremy Tunsil (with an incoming extension likely at more than $17M per year). The Texans have upcoming questions on all of the offensive line, defensive line, and secondary, and with Watson due an imminent raise to the tune of $32M per year, those missing picks might hurt when the cap space gets crunched.
-Baltimore may have been the only truly good team in the early slate, beating Houston 41-7 with the one touchdown allowed (46-yard Carlos Hyde carry) occurring in garbage time. Lamar Jackson was brilliant again, completing 17-of-24 passes for 222 yards and four touchdowns, adding 86 yards on nine carries. Marquise Brown didn't do much (two catches for 23 yards on four targets), so it was instead Mark Andrews (four catches for 75 yards and one touchdown on four targets) and Mark Ingram (three catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns on four targets) who benefited most from Jackson's big passing production.
-Dak Prescott arguably stands next to Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson in the MVP race, a 444-yard, three-touchdown game against Detroit leaving him on a 5,150-yard, 33-touchdown pace through the air after 10 games. Amari Cooper was limited by injury and saw a diminished play count, finishing with three catches for 38 yards on eight targets. Michael Gallup was the most effective receiver for Dallas with nine catches for 148 yards on 13 targets, but Randall Cobb also had a big game with four catches for 115 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. Blake Jarwin (two catches for 38 yards on two targets) might be a player to target in dynasty leagues -- there's reason to think Dallas left yardage on the field with their make-work program for Jason Witten this year. Jarwin might produce at a standout level once Witten retires again.
-Ezekiel Elliott was sluggish for the second game in a row (45 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries), but he wasn't getting much room to run and otherwise demonstrated his playmaking ability with two catches for 28 yards and a touchdown on three targets. Tony Pollard was quite impressive off the bench, running for 12 yards on two carries while catching four of four targets for 44 yards and a touchdown.
-With Detroit's season over and Matthew Stafford dealing with a broken back bone of some sort, the Lions might want to switch to Jeff Driskel for the rest of the year. He had his second promising start in a row against Dallas, finishing 15-of-26 for 209 yards and two touchdowns while running for 51 yards and one touchdown on eight carries. Driskel could stand to calibrate to NFL speed a bit better yet after misjudging a few run/pass decisions and throwing incomplete passes where he could have run for yardage, but the 26-year-old former sixth-round pick (2016) generally appears to be in control. In these two last games Driskel seemed to view the field fairly well, making a few legitimately nice throws and limiting bad decisions otherwise. He's an unrestricted free agent after this year, and if the Lions get him to play well and build up a market to close out the year, his contract in upcoming free agency could net them a nice compensatory draft pick in 2021.
-Bo Scarbrough still profiles as a backup for the long term, as he historically lacked durability and has always projected poorly as a pass catcher. He might be Detroit's best pure runner at the moment, though, and against Dallas he took 14 carries for 55 yards and one touchdown. J.D. McKissic only had three carries for 13 yards and three catches for 40 yards on four targets, but he looked better than those numbers would imply. I'd expect the Lions backfield to mostly consist of Scarbrough as the runner and McKissic as the pass catcher going forward, boxing out Ty Johnson a bit.
-Nick Foles couldn't keep the Jaguars competitive against the Colts, completing 33-of-47 passes for 296 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in a 33-13 loss. D.J. Chark needed 15 targets to total eight receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and Keelan Cole (four catches for 41 yards on five targets) sure seemed to encroach on the usage of Dede Westbrook (four catches for 32 yards on six targets). The botched game script tanked Leonard Fournette (eight carries for 23 yards), though seven catches for 34 yards helped a bit in PPR leagues.
-With a badly depleted wideout rotation, the Colts needed the running game to step up if they were to win against the Jaguars on Sunday. It did just that, though it may prove costly as Marlon Mack suffered a broken hand that has already ruled him out for Thursday's game against Houston. Mack was dominating before the injury, taking 14 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown. Journeyman former prospect Jonathan Williams offered some hope with his own performance, though, his 13 carries going for 116 yards and his lone target resulting in a 31-yard reception. Since it's late in the year and the opportunities to spend may very well be past us otherwise, Williams might fetch some high FAAB percentages this week.
-Josh Allen bounced back from last week with a big game against the Dolphins on Sunday, completing 21-of-33 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns, adding 56 yards and a fourth touchdown on the ground. The Dolphins were hopeless against John Brown (nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns on 14 targets). Devin Singletary couldn't find the end zone but was still quite good, taking 15 carries for 75 yards and catching his lone target for four yards.
-Kalen Ballage is very bad (nine yards and one touchdown on nine carries, five catches for eight yards on six targets), but DeVante Parker (seven catches for 135 yards on 10 targets) is good. Patrick Laird made the case for more playing time at running back, taking one carry for seven yards and catching six of six targets for 51 yards against Buffalo.
-The Vikings were a mess against the Broncos, bailed out by the fact that substitute quarterback Brandon Allen just doesn't have NFL talent. Allen completed 17-of-39 passes for 240 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, though Courtland Sutton (five catches for 113 yards on nine targets) and Tim Patrick (four catches for 77 yards on eight targets) did most of the work. Patrick is a big upgrade over the guys he's replacing, though Allen might make it difficult for him to produce reliably.
-Although Drew Brees wasn't exactly explosive against Tampa Bay, 28-of-35 for 228 yards and three touchdowns will usually do the trick. Alvin Kamara was the workhorse for New Orleans, taking 13 carries for 75 yards and catching all 10 of his targets for 47 yards. Michael Thomas caught eight passes for 114 yards and one touchdown on 11 targets, yet it somehow felt like a slight disappointment.
-It was an ugly day for the Tampa Bay offense in nearly every respect. The run game went nowhere, with Ronald Jones and Dare Ogunbowale turning six carries into 13 yards. Jameis Winston was limping late and a wreck before then, completing 30-of-51 passes for 313 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions. One of those interceptions was O.J. Howard's fault on a dropped pass, and Bruce Arians removed him from the game from there. Cameron Brate saw a ridiculous 14 targets, of which he caught 10 for 73 yards. It's like Arians wanted to teach Howard a lesson... by running a completely non-viable offense that predetermined a loss in the process. Principle is important.
-Sam Darnold was much better against Washington, throwing one interception but completing 19-of-30 passes overall for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Jamison Crowder (five catches for 76 yards and one touchdown on eight targets) and Ryan Griffin (five catches for 109 yards and one touchdown on five targets) both continue to provide compelling production. It's disturbing for Robby Anderson that he had only a six-yard touchdown catch on three targets on a day that Darnold throws for four touchdowns and nearly 300 yards.
-Dwayne Haskins was even worse than his numbers look, his 19-of-35 for 214 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception mostly bailed out by the strong play of Derrius Guice and Terry McLaurin. Guice took one of his two targets for a 45-yard touchdown, and McLaurin made a remarkable catch on a 41-yard pass to finish with three receptions for 69 yards on four targets. McLaurin also had a 67-yard catch that was unfortunately reversed due to a holding call on the offensive line. Fellow rookie wideout Kelvin Harmon showed promise as well, catching five of six targets for 53 yards.
-Although he only threw one touchdown pass, Matt Ryan was super effective against the Panthers, and if he keeps it up the touchdowns will arrive in a hurry. He completed 21-of-31 passes for 311 yards, with both Julio Jones (six catches for 91 yards on eight targets) and Calvin Ridley (eight catches for 143 yards and one touchdowns on eight targets) both providing highly efficient production. Russell Gage nearly had a short touchdown catch early in the game, but it was overturned upon review. Gage only mustered two catches for 32 yards on four targets otherwise. Brian Hill was a total dud (30 yards on 15 carries) and needs to worry about Qadree Ollison (11 yards and one touchdown on four carries) taking more carries next week.
-I thought I was lower on Kyle Allen than most people, yet I was blindsided by his meltdown game against the Falcons on Sunday. He took five sacks while completing 31-of-50 passes for 325 yards and four interceptions, all this against what was previously a joke of a pass defense. D.J. Moore still came through for cash game owners (eight catches for 95 yards on 15 targets), but like all Carolina wide receivers he was still inefficient. Allen sank the Panthers as a whole, but he couldn't stop Christian McCaffrey from posting 191 yards from scrimmage.
-The Cardinals struggled to produce from scrimmage, but Kyler Murray kept them competitive against the 49ers by completing 24-of-33 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns while running for 67 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Kenyan Drake played the whole game, running for 67 yards on 16 carries and catching six of seven targets for 13 yards. David Johnson didn't play.
-Jimmy Garoppolo would be a top-five fantasy quarterback if he could play the Cardinals every week. He completed 34-of-45 attempts for 424 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions Sunday, even with Emmanuel Sanders (ribs) limited to three catches for 33 yards on five targets. Rookie Deebo Samuel had another big game, leading the 49ers in all of receptions (eight), yardage (134), and targets (10). Tevin Coleman is the opposite of Garoppolo -- in the two Cardinals games he accumulated 37 yards on 24 carries.
-Ah, there's the Ryan Finley I expected. By going 13-of-31 for 115 yards and one interception against the Raiders, Finley ought to reclaim his bench spot. It's too late to salvage the season of Tyler Boyd, though, as he caught just one pass for no yards on three targets even against one of the worst slot defenses.
-Geno Atkins caused some problems for the Raiders line, but Derek Carr completed 25-of-29 passes for 292 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while adding a second touchdown on the ground. Tyrell Williams (four catches for 82 yards on four targets) and Darren Waller (five catches for 78 yards on seven targets) were super efficient, as was Hunter Renfrow (five catches for 66 yards on six targets). Promising rookie fourth-round pick Foster Moreau caught Carr's two-yard touchdown pass, though he snagged just a six-yard pass otherwise.
-Tom Brady struggled against the Eagles, completing 26-of-47 passes for 216 yards and nothing else otherwise, with Julian Edelman throwing the 15-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett (three catches for 33 yards on five targets otherwise). N'Keal Harry caught three of four targets for 18 yards, and might be able to push for more snaps going forward. Mohamed Sanu went down with a frightening leg twist but came out of it okay, through two catches for four yards on four targets wasn't all that helpful.
-Carson Wentz wasn't always accurate, but he generally kept the Eagles competitive against the Patriots despite non-existent wide receiver personnel and the loss of both tackles in a pressure-heavy game. Although Zach Ertz (nine catches for 94 yards on 11 targets) and Dallas Goedert (three catches for 36 yards and one touchdown on six targets) mostly came through for their fantasy owners, Wentz's box score was predictably useless (20-of-40 for 214 yards and one touchdown).
