What We Saw: Week 3

Mike Williams is finally the guy we all wanted him to be, and the rest of What We Saw in Week 3

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
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Introduction
Football Team @ Bills
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Packers @ 49ers

Packers @ 49ers

Final Score: Packers 30, 49ers 28

Writer: Corey Saucier (@Deputy_Commish on Twitter, /u/Lights_Kamara_Action on Reddit)

 

When 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo hit FB Kyle Juszczyk on a 12-yard TD pass late in the game to take a one-point lead over QB Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, Garoppolo’s celebration may have started just a tad too early. The 37 seconds remaining on the clock were more than enough for Rodgers (even with 0 timeouts) to hit WR Davante Adams twice and set up K Mason Crosby for a game-winning, 51-yard field goal.

 

https://twitter.com/packers/status/1442331301952905228?s=20

 

Rodgers and the Packers raced out to a 17-0 lead in the first half before Garoppolo, QB Trey Lance, and the 49ers offense scored twice in a row, straddling halftime, to pull within a FG. All in all, it was an exciting back-and-forth battle in the second half, but ultimately San Francisco scored their final TD with just slightly too much time left on the clock. We saw some vintage TE George Kittle action and we even saw a WR Brandon Aiyuk appearance. What does all of this mean for your fantasy lineup? Let’s dive into what we saw:

 

 

Green Bay Packers

 

Quarterbacks

 

Aaron Rodgers: 23/33, 261 yards, 2 TD

 

QB Aaron Rodgers didn’t blow up the stat sheet on Sunday night, and if you needed a big night from him to get a win this week, you might just be left disappointed this week. That being said, Rodgers was exciting to watch and he was able to do just enough to get Green Bay a road win in a tough environment. It’s worth mentioning that Rodgers had a considerable amount of potential production left on the field due to several lengthy defensive pass interference penalties against San Francisco. In another instance, the Packers went for it on 4th-and-2 from the 49ers 4-yard line, and with WR Randall Cobb sweeping in motion, the snap came too early and the Packers turned the ball over on downs. With the 49ers showing their willingness to play single, man-to-man coverage pre-snap, Rodgers was more than willing to take deep shots early – including on his very first completion of the game to WR Allen Lazard:

 

After barely missing WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling on multiple deep shots last week, Rodgers knew what needed to be done:

 

 

Rodgers’ second TD of the night was this absolute beauty, perfectly placed to Valdes-Scantling in the back of the end zone:

 

 

Running Backs

 

Aaron Jones: 19 carries, 82 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 14 yards

A.J. Dillon: 6 carries, 18 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards

 

It was safe to assume there would be some regression in production from Packers star RB Aaron Jones after his 4-TD explosion last week against Detroit. Jones still managed to produce a respectable fantasy outing, even against a tough 49ers’ defensive front – finishing with nearly 100 total yards and this nifty, cutback TD run:

 

Jones had limited space to run up the middle against San Francisco (14 yards on his first 7 carries) but he did find moderate success running outside. RB A.J. Dillon found himself drastically out-touched by Jones again (21-8) and unable to produce any fantasy relevance for another consecutive week. This has not looked like the timeshare backfield that we’ve seen in previous years in Green Bay with former Packers (and current Lions’) RB Jamaal Williams. Jones has proven his knack for finding the end zone yet again and should be considered an RB1 unless we see anything different.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Davante Adams: 18 targets, 12 receptions, 132 yards, TD

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 4 targets, 3 reception, 59 yards, TD

Allen Lazard: 1 target, 1 reception, 42 yards

Robert Tonyan: 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards

 

There seemed to be no answer on Sunday night for Packers WR Davante Adams. To be fair, most secondaries in the league don’t really have an answer for Adams either, but the 49ers showed that playing him one-on-one on the outside isn’t the greatest idea. Adams did connect with Rodgers on his first TD grab of the season near the end of the first quarter:

 

 

Adams’ connections with Rodgers on the sideline, back-shoulder throws are basically unfair and completely unguardable:

 

 

 

There was a scary moment late where Adams appeared to take a helmet-to-helmet shot that wasn’t called as a penalty. After the hit, Adams stayed down on the ground for a few minutes before ultimately walking himself to the sideline – and then returning to the game.

 

The rest of the Packers pass-catchers had relatively quiet nights, respectively. TE Robert Tonyan‘s first and only official target came inside of the 2-minute warning in the first half. Tonyan also moved the chains later in the game by drawing a defensive pass interference penalty. WR Allen Lazard caught his lone target on Rodgers’ first pass and then did nothing for the rest of the game. Valdes-Scantling scored on a terrific throw by Rodgers but managed only 4 targets on the night.

 

San Francisco 49ers

 

Quarterback

 

Jimmy Garoppolo: 25/40, 257 yards, 2 TD, INT

Trey Lance: 1 carry, 1 yard, TD

 

49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t do a whole lot from a fantasy perspective, but he did play well enough to give San Francisco a chance to win the game. He left a lot of opportunities on the field – including missing WR Brandon Aiyuk in the end zone in the first half. He would go on to hit Aiyuk for his first TD pass of the game:

 

 

It was his final TD of the night, however, that would bring him what he thought would be the joy of victory:

 

You scored too early, Jimmy. You scored too early.

 

Running Backs

 

Trey Sermon: 10 carries, 31 yards, TD | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 3 yards

Kyle Juszczyk: 5 carries, 14 yards | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 37 yards, TD

 

After a healthy scratch in Week 1 and a quick exit with a concussion in Week 2, I was quite interested to see what 49ers RB Trey Sermon would look like with a featured role in this San Francisco backfield. With so many San Francisco RBs unavailable due to various injuries (Raheem Mostert, Ja’Mycal Hasty, Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson, Jr.), Sermon really did find himself as the last man standing on Sunday night. And if you were forced to start him, it could have been worse. Sermon got off to a slow start – taking his first carry for negative yardage and dropping his first target. But once the second half started, Sermon seemed to shake the jitters a bit and get into a groove – albeit a kind of slow one:

 

Let’s just be honest: a whole lot of you made money on prop bets that this TD would happen tonight – so congratulations. FB Kyle Juszczyk out-touched and outperformed Sermon on the night, but won’t likely get enough work to maintain any consistent fantasy relevance.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Deebo Samuel: 10 targets, 5 receptions, 52 yards | 2 carries, 0 yards

Brandon Aiyuk: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 37 yards, TD | 1 carry, 8 yards

George Kittle: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 92 yards | 1 carry, 9 yards

Mohamed Sanu, Sr: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 36 yards

 

The biggest story of the night for the 49ers pass-catching group was the reemergence of WR Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk seemed to have climbed himself out of head coach Kyle Shanahan‘s doghouse on Sunday night, and he finished with easily his most productive outing of the season thus far. Aiyuk scored on the TD from Garoppolo that we saw above, but even more importantly, Aiyuk was targeted in the end-zone on multiple other occasions. The first end-zone target was a miscommunication between Aiyuk and Garoppolo, in which the ball was thrown behind Aiyuk and was very nearly intercepted. The second hit Aiyuk in the hands and definitely should have been caught. The fourth came after the TD but wasn’t official due to a penalty. It’s only one week, and we know that Shanahan can be difficult to predict as far as playing time is concerned. But, Sunday night was very encouraging to anyone who has been holding Aiyuk and waiting for him to return to his old self.

WR Deebo Samuel had an inefficient night against the Packers. Samuel was only able to bring in half of his targets on the night, and his 52 receiving yards were easily his fewest of the season. On the other hand, TE George Kittle led the 49ers in receiving and had his most explosive night of the season – even though he failed to find the end zone. We saw this gem, a vintage Kittle grab-and-drag-receivers to set up the 49ers’ late, go-ahead score:

 

 

— Corey Saucier– @Deputy_Commish on Twitter, /u/Lights_Kamara_Action on Reddit

Series Navigation
Introduction
Football Team @ Bills
Bears @ Browns
Ravens @ Lions
Colts @ Titans
Chargers @ Chiefs
Saints @ Patriots
Falcons @ Giants
Bengals @ Steelers
Cardinals @ Jaguars
Jets @ Broncos
Dolphins @ Raiders
Buccaneers @ Rams
Seahawks @ Vikings
Packers @ 49ers

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