Cincinnati Bengals vs. Seattle Seahawks
We made it! The first week of the season is here and we are here for you to help you overreact to the first set of games this week. Coming into Sunday I anticipated this game to be a one-sided affair with the Seahawks taking advantage of an injury-depleted Bengals team. This game did not turn out as I expected but hey, it’s the NFL. Let’s take a look at what we saw:
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
- Andy Dalton: 35/51, 418 yards, 2 TDs
All of the stat lines in this game for the Bengals look to be made up. Coming into the game the Seahawks were the heavy favorites at home with an improved defense and the superior offense. Andy Dalton figured to be in a great position for a lot of volume since they were expected to play catch up the whole game. All he did was throw for over 400 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. The first test for Zac Taylor’s offense was a tough one but the offense showed a lot of flashes with impressive play designs and the implementation of their most explosive weapon, John Ross, who we will touch on a little later. Dalton showed that can be a streaming option and possibly a starting option in a 2 QB league. With a date, next week against the 49ers at home, look for him to improve upon his nice outing in this game.
Running Backs
- Giovani Bernard: 7 carries, 21 yards | 3 targets, 2 catches, 42 yards
- Joe Mixon: 6 carries, 10 yards | 3 targets, 2 catches, 7 yards
Joe Mixon figured to be bottled up in this game as he is the Bengals’ best player and the Hawks knew they needed to take him out of the game. Well, in the 3rd quarter Mixon left the game with an ankle injury and he did not return. There isn’t much of an outlook as of yet for Mixon’s week 2 status but if healthy he’s a guy that you have to roll with. Coming into this matchup you had to temper expectations but he’s a must-start every week when healthy. Giovani Bernard showed once again that he is one of the league’s most valuable backups. With 63 all-purpose yards in this game, he is an RB2 or flex option if Mixon were to miss any time. That being said, Bernard should be owned by all Mixon owners as a handcuff and he is also someone you should spend your first waiver wire priority on or about 15-20% of your yearly FAAb budget.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
- John Ross: 12 targets, 7 catches, 158 yards, 2 TDs
- Tyler Boyd: 11 targets, 8 catches, 60 yards
- Tyler Eifert: 6 targets, 5 catches, 27 yards
- C.J. Uzomah: 5 targets, 4 catches, 66 yards
- Damion Willis: 5 targets, 3 catches, 30 yards
This is one of the stat lines I thought I’d never see for John Ross. This truly was a coming-out party for him as the number two option behind Tyler Boyd. Zac Taylor did a great job game-planning for Ross as his first touchdown was scored on a fake jet sweep, flea-flicker in which Ross completely fooled and beat the defense. 12 targets are hard to ignore from any receiver so coming into this week’s free agency, Ross should be picked up in almost all leagues. Boyd was a nice PPR option as expected coming into the year without A.J. Green. It looks like this offense could sustain two WRs each week and possibly a TE. C.J. Uzomah looks like the more explosive of the two but he and Tyler Eifert both saw over 5 targets. The tight end position is still a wait and see position for me on this offense.
Side Note: Zac Taylor looks like he belongs as the head coach and offensive play-caller. He called a tremendous game and did a great job shocking a lot of people by making this game competitive.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterbacks
- Russell Wilson: 14/20, 196 yards, 2 TDs
Russell Wilson showed a few of his Houdini type plays in this game like we are used to seeing from him and wound up with a decent enough outing as your starting fantasy QB. Coming into the game the thought was that the Seahawks would be able to control the game against the Bengals and Wilson would be able to rack up a lot of points to run away with the game. Wilson ended up getting hit 9 times and sacked 4 as it was a defensive game for the most part. On a few plays, Wilson was able to get away and make a play like his 44 yard TD to Tyler Lockett and another play to Lockett that he couldn’t haul in. Moving forward I am a little worried about the weapons around Wilson as it’s pretty much Lockett, D.K. Metcalf, and the running backs but I would hold steady and look forward to a bounce-back game next week versus the Steelers.
Running Backs
- Chris Carson: 15 carries, 46 yards, 1 TD | 7 targets, 6 catches, 35 yards 1 TD
- Rashaad Penny: 6 carries, 18 yards
What a performance by Chris Carson in this game. He touched the ball on 22 of the Seahawks 49 plays in this one as he was effective as a runner and as a receiver. This was a chalky matchup for him as he was over 25% owned in the DFS millionaire-maker tournament. Moving forward he looks to be locked in as an RB1 for the time being as he is very involved in both the running and passing game. Since Carson’s performance was so impressive, Rashaad Penny falls to a handcuff option or deep-league flex player. On a team inept of WR talent behind Metcalf and Lockett, Penny could see some more work in two-back sets or at WR but for now, he is a nice stash if anything were to happen to Carson.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
- D.K. Metcalf: 6 targets, 4 catches, 89 yards
- Tyler Lockett: 2 targets, 1 catch, 44 yards, 1 TD
- Nick Vannett: 2 targets, 2 catches, 16 yards
- Will Dissly: 2 targets, 1 catch, 12 yards
So this might be breaking news to some of you but D.K. Metcalf is a man. Seeing him next to other players on the football field makes even some of the biggest linemen or linebackers look small. Apart from being a physical freak, Metcalf looked really good in this game. 89 yards on 6 targets is a nice start for the rookie that wasn’t even expecting to play following preseason knee surgery. Metcalf should be an immediate add in any format as he and Tyler Lockett are the only two receiving options on this team. As for Lockett, he was brutal for the first 3 quarters in this one being held to a zero until the start of the 4th quarter when Wilson found Lockett for a 44-yard touchdown. The very next drive he threw Lockett another deep ball that he couldn’t haul in or else he could have salvaged his day even more. Still, 11.4 points on one catch will suffice but we expect more from him and Metcalf moving forward. For now, there isn’t another receiving option on this team I’m interested in.
— Colin Weatherwax
What are the chances of adding snap % to the RB and receiver sections? Would be nice to have all that info in one place especially with all the rookie talent and opportunity this year.
Hey Shawn. Thanks for reading! I’ll have to look into how easily I could obtain this data, but it’s a great idea.
I’m in a FAAB league. How much can we buy into Brown this season and what kind of FAAb bid should I be putting on him % wise? First year doing FAAB. It’s also a PPR
Corey, why did you say Buffalo has an “offense that will look to run the ball more often than not” when their first run play was their 19th play of the game! They ran the ball maybe 4 times in the first half? Surely they’ll run the ball more than that, but they clearly showed with their no huddle empty back field sets that they want to throw the ball a lot more this year.
Hey Hartman – thanks for the question! It’s true that Buffalo started out running their no-huddle and throwing the ball a lot more. They’ll definitely throw more this year and it’ll be easy, they’ve finished bottom 5 in pass attempts as a team for the last 4 seasons. But when they threw more yesterday, it led to two punts, two Allen lost fumbles, two interceptions (including a pick-six) and a knee to end the half. Their play-calling was much more balanced in the second half and as a result, they came back and won the game. Devin Singletary was fantastic in the second half. If Allen can’t do a better job of holding onto the football, Buffalo will keep him on a short leash. Before tonight’s games, Buffalo’s passing percentage is 15th in the league at 60.32%. I can see them finishing somewhere around there this season. Thanks for reading!
Julio’s TD was not against Rhodes, it was against Mark Fields who was picked up last week, Rhodes shut Julio down again. Kubiak is not calling the plays, the offensive coordinator is Kevin Stefanski. Nice try, failed on basic level stuff, Won’t be reading you again
Great catch Rob. I just checked and saw that Rhodes in fact was not the one covering Julio on his TD. I guess this means the Rhodes are closed again! Secondly, the broadcast team was drooling over Kubiak’s gameplan in this game but I see now that he is an offensive adviser and in fact not the coordinator. Thanks for the comment. Looking forward to getting better every week!
Something I’d add in about the Ram’s not-so-sharp looking offense might be due to the fact that almost none of them played in the preseason at all. Same thing with the Packers. Same deal and one of the same conclusions I reached (also first game with new coach, for them)
Hey David! Thanks for commenting. I totally agree and my Bears suffered the same fate. I think it’s clear that players need some preseason time even if it creates a small injury risk. Hopefully things shape up in the next few weeks.