Darnold had never averaged more than 18.9 FPts/G in any season
with the Jets … but thankfully he’s no longer stuck in New York.
He and the Panthers are 3-0 and he’s produced at least 23.9 fantasy
points in each game with the most recent, his best of the season
(28.3 against Houston). He’ll face another Texas opponent in the
Cowboys who rank 29th in fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs.
They are one of only two teams to have yielded over 1000 passing
yards through three games (the other is Tampa Bay). The ‘Boys
have pressured opposing QBs just 16 times in 130 pass plays. The
Panthers have three quality receivers – D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson
and rookie Terrace Marshall Jr. Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs
may be able to take one of those away from Darnold, but not all
three. Darnold will have a good day as he tries to keep up with
Dak Prescott and the potent Dallas offense.
Remember how the WFT defense was feared last season? So far in
2021, that hasn’t been the case. In fact, they have yielded
the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in the league
– 31.8 per game. The real question is whether Ryan can take
advantage of the situation. The WFT has the second-most pressures,
but mainly through use of the blitz and yet they have just six
sacks. A veteran like Ryan should be able to recognize the blitz
and beat it.
Sure, Big Ben is ranked 25th in fantasy points among quarterbacks,
but one of the issues is an OL that has yielded eight sacks. What
haven’t the Packers done much of this season? Sack the QB. Until
last week they had recorded just one sack. They are still missing
Za’darius Smith. They rank 28th in QB fantasy points allowed.
They have just 28 pressures and five sacks in 181 plays, both
bottom-ten results. If the Steelers can get some of their injured
receivers healthy (Diontae Johnson - knee, JuJu Smith-Schuster
- ribs, Chase Claypool - leg), then Roethlisberger will have time
to find them.
It’s not that I think the Jets defense can stop Tannehill,
it’s just that the Jets defense absolutely can’t stop
Derrick Henry. The Jets have allowed opposing running backs 31.1
FPts/G so teams are choosing to run the ball instead of pass.
That, and the Jets have been blown out of their last two games,
therefore teams haven’t needed to pass at all in the second
half. Additionally, A.J. Brown is likely out with a strained hamstring,
leaving Julio Jones (leg) and Chester Rogers as his options.
Jones was a recommended pick last week against Atlanta and didn’t
really do much and in Week 4 the matchup is much tougher. The
Saints rank No. 6 against quarterbacks yielding just 18.1 FPts/G.
We don’t know whether Kenny Golladay is yet ready for a full workload.
Meanwhile, both Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton were injured
last Sunday (hamstrings). A tough defense and three receivers
with questionable health equals “take a seat on the bench.”
Lawrence is throwing a lot, but not very well. In fact, he leads
the league in “poor” passes as rated by advanced statistics
with 34 of his 118 passing attempts (28.8%) being outside the
catch zone. He’s thrown seven interceptions and fumbled
twice. He is not the “Justin Herbert of 2021.” Put
him on your bench and let him learn for a while, then bring him
back in a more favorable matchup than this.
