Week 8 Observations
I’m on vacation, writing this from a hotel in Spain. For God knows what reason, Heather arranged a 30-mile bike ride with some friends in the morning, and the place where we’re starting the ride is an hour drive away. So I have to write this now or never, before the second wave of games is even over.
The Giants season was already over, but I hate the Jets, and I really wanted the Giants to win that game. Brian Daboll blew it, though it wasn’t his fault Graham Gano shanked a 35-yard field goal, even though I would have gone for it on 4th-and-1 instead. (That was a 50/50 call.)
The really bad decision was winning the coin toss and choosing to receive in overtime. What the fuck was he thinking? His third-string QB, Danny Devito, wasn’t capable of a forward pass, and you want to receive the ball, the only upside of which is being able to win with a TD after a long drive you have to mount solely on the ground while the Jets know you’re running every play? Why not elect to kick off, play defense where you have the advantage, receive a punt and play for a game-winning field-goal? Just senseless to receive in that situation.
I nearly threw my laptop against the wall after the Adoree’ Jackson PI set up the game-winning FG for the Jets.
Kayvon Thibodeaux looked like Lawrence Taylor out there. It was the one silver lining of the game.
Darren Waller inconsiderately aggravated his hamstring injury early in the game, sidling me with a zero in three leagues. Draft players with the decency to get injured in the fourth quarter. To Waller’s credit he still led the Giants in receiving with four yards.
Gano missed another FG, a 47-yarder on 4th-and-1, attempted before Tyrod Taylor got hurt. You don’t try a 47-yarder on 4th-and-1.
Garrett Wilson is a top-five real-life NFL receiver. He’s right there with Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown and Ja’Marr Chase. He just needs a quarterback.
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are showing up big time for me after my Primetime team is probably drawing dead. I’ve made the right call the last few weeks after the debacle where I subbed out Brock Purdy for Dak at the last second. Now I don’t look at any rankings and just go by my own instincts. Too little, too late, though.
I’ve complained about my Travis Etienne for Amari Cooper and (TE) Taysom Hill trade in the RotoWire keeper league, but (a) Hill has been very good lately; and (b) my team sucks, so I moved Cooper, Terry McLaurin, Joe Mixon and Kirk Cousins (who got hurt today) for Jonathan Taylor and three scrubs. I probably lost that trade too, but my team isn’t in it this year, and no one except Jake Letarski (the guy who made the deal with me) was offering me anyone good for my aging stars. You have people offering you scrubs and draft picks, thinking you’re just going to hand them four starters in a 14-team league, so I was happy to get one serious building block for them. Taylor is all the way back now too.
I’ve been good against the spread of late — so-so, so far this week — because I’ve been able to feel the inflection points of teams. I had the Pats +9.5 initially but switched them out for the Panthers +3 at the last minute. I had liked the Texans initially, but felt they might overlook the winless Panthers, and the Panthers would be able to hang with an upstart. Forget about the net-adusted-YPP nonsense — so few people have an edge there — and focus on the ebbs and flows, the pulse. It’s possible to get a read on it.
The Football Team had the cover in good order, blew it, then heroically rallied for the push.
If the injuries to Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford and even Kenny Pickett are serious, that’s a lot of top receivers left without their quarterbacks.
AJ Brown got his sixth-straight 125-yard game, the first time that’s ever happened. He’s a monster and made an amazing one-handed TD grab in the game too. But picking 125-yards as the benchmark is pretty arbitrary. Who has the record for most consecutive 75-yard games? What about 78?
The Saints have a lot of weapons on offense, but they spread it around, and they do so even at QB with Hill coming in so much near the goal line.
As usual, the long-distance kicking this week was bananas. Joey Slye kicked a 56-yard FG at the end of the first half, but it was called back on a false-start penalty, so he drilled a 61-yarder instead. Cowboys rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey kicked a 58-yarder and Harrison Butker hit one from 56. I’m the sucker who drafted the original Justin Tucker, but now it’s everyone in the league, except him (and the Giants’ Gano.)
I have the Chargers in Survivor tonight in my home pool (wanted the Lions, but didn’t realize I had already used them), so wish me luck. With the Chargers, you always need — and rarely get — it.