As good as the Seattle offense has been under Russell Wilson,
the other side of the ball for the Seahawks has been giving it
all back. The Seahawks defense has allowed the second-most points
to opposing quarterbacks (36.4 FPts/G) and allowed a league-high
1,319 passing yards in the first three games (439 ypg). Fitzpatrick
may not be Dak Prescott (472 yards) or Matt Ryan (450), but he’s
a competent quarterback who should thrive under these conditions.
He’ll have to score to stay with Wilson and that means throwing
the ball. The Dolphins won’t win the game, but I expect close
to 30 points from the Miami offense.
Sure, the Browns will run the ball behind Chubb, but the Dallas
defense has been particularly vulnerable to the pass and with
Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Austin Hooper and Kareem Hunt
out of the backfield, Mayfield will have a chance to post his
best numbers of the season to date. OK, that’s not saying
much since his best day is just 219 yards and two scores, but
the Cowboys have allowed nine touchdown passes in three games
(five last week) and at least 270 yards passing in each contest.
Yes, Brees has almost no arm anymore, but he’s still a
smart guy. He’ll keep throwing short passes to Alvin Kamara
and let the stud running back turn them into long plays and he
could get Michael Thomas (high ankle sprain) back as well. Quarterbacks
have amassed eight touchdowns in the three games against the Lions
pass defense which will likely be without Desmond Trufant for
another week.
The Colts defense is No.1 against opposing quarterbacks, allowing
just 14.2 fantasy points a game. Part of that is other teams don’t
throw the ball. They’ve seen just 75 passing attempts. And
it’s not that opposing teams are running through the Colts
defense (they’ve allowed just 12.9 FPts/G to opposing running
backs), it’s just that the Indy defense is that good and
have faced a league-low 154 plays this season while running 192
on offense. You can’t score if you don’t have the
ball. In addition, Nick Foles is not a long-term solution for
fantasy owners. He’s never averaged more than 22.5 FPts/G
in any season and the Chicago offense is lacking explosiveness
without Tarik Cohen. The passing game is pretty much Allen Robinson
or nothing and Indy can shut down one player.
In this era of passing, the Colts are one of the few balanced offense
running the ball 93 times and passing 96 times. They threw the ball
46 times in their only loss and a combined 50 times in their two
wins. Meanwhile, the Bears are No.2 against opposing quarterbacks
allowing 17 FPts/G and just two touchdown passes while picking the
ball off three times. Rivers, who can throw interceptions in bunches,
will manage his throws and hand the ball off as often as possible
behind one of the best running offensive lines in the business.
Herbert will likely get another start for the injured Tyrod Taylor,
but this isn’t the game to stream him. The Bucs defense
has allowed 794 passing yards in three games, just three touchdown
passes (tied for third-best) and rank fourth allowing 18.1 FPts/G
to opposing quarterbacks. They are third in sacks (12) and seventh
in QB hits. Herbert has thrown 82 passes in his two starts primarily
due to game situations and I’m sure Coach Anthony Lynn would
prefer to lower that number.
