Fantasy football Week 9 rapid recap: Seeing double in Jacksonville
There are so many twists and turns to an NFL Sunday that it’s hard for fantasy football managers to keep up with everything. This column is designed to help, providing you with all of the storylines you need to know from Sunday’s action in order to kick-start your research for the Week 10 games that lie ahead.
Of course, this week, the No. 1 story is far and away the Buffalo Bills’ loss at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. As Jacksonville clawed its way to a 9-6 victory on its own field, it was one of the biggest upsets of the season.
Josh Allen posters”>Josh Allen was outstanding in this one. We are, of course, talking about Jacksonville’s outside linebacker. He sacked Buffalo QB Josh Allen posters”>Josh Allen, intercepted a pass from him and even recovered the ball when his more heralded same-name counterpart fumbled. Allen was the first defensive player to do all three in a single game since 2018.
The Jaguars have often been criticized for their putrid secondary while the leader of Buffalo’s huddle has been hailed as an MVP candidate. The opposite happened on Sunday when the Jacksonville defense shut the Bills offense down. Allen completed 31 of 47 attempts for 264 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. It was his first multi-interception game of the season, his fourth career game with no TD pass and multiple interceptions, and his first such outing since Week 4 of 2019.
Fear not, that Josh Allen posters”>Josh Allen will be back on the QB1 radar against the New York Jets in Week 10. Meanwhile, “the other” Josh Allen posters”>Josh Allen will try to continue to make a name for himself by stopping Carson Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts from making any noise.
All stats are courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information, except where noted.
Here’s a quick look at some of the standout stats from Sunday’s action:
On 41 opportunities (rushing attempts plus targets) against the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos running backs Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon III combined for 206 total yards. However, it was Gordon who scored the rushing touchdown. Both have one of the best RB schedules the rest of the way, with upcoming games against the Eagles (4th-most RB fantasy points allowed overall), Chargers (8th), Chiefs (16th) and Lions (2nd).
Against the Cowboys, the Broncos’ defense completely dominated. Dak Prescott completed just 48.7% of his 39 passing attempts, which tied for the second-worst completion percentage of his career. In his 2016 rookie season, he completed only 45.9% of his passes against the New York Giants. Entering this week’s game, Prescott had led the NFL with a completion percentage of 73.1%.
Minnesota Vikings RB Dalvin Cook rushed for 110 yards on 17 carries and added three receptions for 12 yards against the Baltimore Ravens. In this game, Cook had his fourth rushing attempt of 65-plus yards, tied for the fourth-most such runs since his rookie season in 2017. In Week 10, he faces a Chargers defense that allows the eighth-most RB points per game
Meanwhile, Minnesota WR Justin Jefferson caught 3 of 5 targets for 69 yards and a touchdown. He has now surpassed 2,000 receiving yards in only 24 career games. Odell Beckham Jr. (21) is the only player in the Super Bowl era to have achieved this feat in fewer games.
Against the Vikings, Lamar Jackson completed 27 of 41 passes for 266 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, while rushing 21 times for 120 yards — the third-highest total by a quarterback in NFL history. He becomes the first quarterback ever to have three TD passes and 100 rushing yards in multiple games. A full 82.1% of Baltimore’s total yards have been accounted for by Jackson, which ranks second in the NFL behind Derek Carr (82.4%). From 2019-2020, Jackson has accounted for 65.6% of the Ravens’ total yards.
Hunter Renfrow of the Las Vegas Raiders had an opportunity to prosper following the release of Henry Ruggs III. Against the Giants, he didn’t disappoint. He saw nine targets, reeling in seven receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown. Renfrow finished second on the Raiders in targets and had no problem creating separation from cornerbacks. When Renfrow caught the TD pass, James Bradberry was the closest defender in coverage. The five touchdowns allowed by Bradberry this season ties him for the highest total in the NFL.
Evan Engram caught all three of his targets for 38 yards and a touchdown. The Giants tight end hasn’t exceeded 50 yards in a game since Week 5 and was actually out-targeted by Kyle Rudolph in this game.
Cordarrelle Patterson of the Atlanta Falcons caught all six of his targets for 126 yards, adding nine rushing attempts for 10 additional yards. With this performance, the offensive playmaker set a new season-high in total yards. In Week 10, Patterson can be viewed as an RB1 against a Cowboys defense that was just hammered by the duo of Gordon and Williams.
On 20 opportunities against the Falcons, Alvin Kamara finished with 104 yards and a touchdown. It was his fifth touchdown in the last four games. His success aside, the New Orleans Saints will also continue to utilize Mark Ingram II in the backfield. Ingram surprisingly caught five passes this week against the Falcons.
Brandin Cooks caught 6 of 13 targets for 56 yards against the Miami Dolphins. The Houston Texans receiver was targeted four times in the red zone. That target volume should continue to be there for Cooks, but Houston’s QB situation provides him with a low ceiling. Cooks is one of only five active receivers to have exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in at least five seasons since 2015. This season, he currently sits at 585 receiving yards.
Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle caught 8 of 10 targets for 83 yards against the Texans. The rookie has now seen double-digit targets in three of his last four games.
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Stefon Diggs caught six of his eight targets for 85 yards. He was Buffalo’s leading receiver with 85 yards. In eight games this season, Diggs has yet to surpass 90 yards. In the loss at the Jaguars, 84.6% of the Bills’ plays were designed passes. Since 2006, this is the highest designed-pass percentage in any game (including the playoffs) in which neither team scored 10 points.
Dan Arnold caught four out of seven targets for 60 yards. Over the last five weeks, he ranks among the top-10 fantasy tight ends for receiving yards — even though the Jaguars had their bye during this stretch. Arnold is on the radar as a potential TE1.
It’s safe to say that Nick Chubb is healthy. He made his presence known against the Cincinnati Bengals defense. Chubb rushed 14 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns, while also catching two passes for 26 yards. It was his sixth career game with 100-plus rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Since the start of 2018, that’s tied with Dalvin Cook for second place behind only Derrick Henry‘s 14 such games. Kareem Hunt will be out of the Cleveland Browns’ lineup for at least another week, so Chubb can once again be considered a high-end RB1 against the Patriots.
Joe Mixon has now had 18-plus opportunities in consecutive games,. Against the Browns, he ran 13 times for 64 yards and two touchdowns, while catching all five of his targets for 46 receiving yards. Mixon has seen five-plus targets in each of his last four games.
After rushing 15 times for 30 yards and a touchdown, Damien Harris left the game midway through the fourth quarter with a head injury, although he was able to return. Scoring a rushing touchdown in five straight games is the longest streak by any member of the New England Patriots since LeGarrette Blount did it in 2016. With his streak, Harris is now two short of Curtis Martin’s franchise record of seven (1996).
Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey continued right where he left off before he was injured, leading his team in multiple statistical categories against the Patriots. Besides rushing 14 times for 52 yards, he also caught four passes for 54 yards.
DeVonta Smith finally had the caliber of performance we’ve been expecting from him. Against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles receiver caught 5 of 6 targets for 116 yards and a touchdown. It was Smith’s first touchdown since Week 1 against the Falcons. It was his also second career 100-yard receiving game (122 against the Chiefs in Week 4).
The Chargers were led by Keenan Allen with a 34.2% target share. Allen caught 12 of his 13 targets for 104 yards. With 24 targets over the last two weeks, Allen next faces a Vikings defense that has allowed the seventh-most WR fantasy points per game.
Due to Chase Edmonds‘ ankle injury in the first quarter, James Conner saw his largest opportunity share of the season for an Arizona Cardinals offensive unit without starting QB Kyler Murray. Besides rushing 21 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns, he also caught five passes for 77 yards and another score. Conner has now rushed for multiple touchdowns four times this season, most in the league.
Travis Kelce caught 5 of 8 targets for 68 yards and a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers. It was a welcome return to the end zone after a three-game drought, his longest dry spell since Weeks 3-7 of 2019. In addition, Kelce now has 53 career receiving touchdowns, temporarily tying him with teammate Tyreek Hill for fourth-most in Kansas City Chiefs history.
AJ Dillon had eight rushing attempts for 46 yards. He also caught all four of his targets for 44 yards. Dillon’s usage as a receiver out of the Green Bay backfield has Aaron Jones‘ fantasy managers feeling a little queasy.
Van Jefferson caught three balls for 41 yards. As a consequence of DeSean Jackson‘s departure and the Los Angeles Rams basically staying in 11 personnel for the entire game, Jefferson was on the field for nearly every play.
In the other huddle, Julio Jones caught all four of his targets for 35 yards against the Rams. He played on the second-most snaps among receivers and should continue to be actively involved in games in which the Tennessee Titans have to lean more on the passing game.