Texans vs. Patriots
Texans
The final score of contests can sometimes be a little bit deceptive, as I think we all have witnessed one time or another. This one ended being a one score difference, 27-20, with New England ultimately taking care of business at home. The Texans’ defense did their best to keep Tom Brady from blowing this game out of proportion. It was pretty ugly game from the offensive side of the ball, however.
Deshaun Watson looked very rusty, as he completed just 18 passes in 34 attempts. He also had an inexcusable fumble on Houston’s first drive of the game, resulting in a Patriots score. We all know in order to beat Tom Brady, you have to take care of the football. Deshaun did not as he added an interception, as well. One glaring issue I had with his play was his inability to hit DeAndre Hopkins and get in a real rhythm. Yes, he completed 8-11 passes targeting Hopkins, but it should be a lot more impressive than that. I still have a lot of confidence in his ability and he will most definitely bounce back against the Titans this coming Sunday.
The running game actually was a bright spot for Houston. Both Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue had productive days, albeit for fantasy implications, Blue vultured a touchdown from Miller. Miller enjoyed 20 touches out of the backfield and finished just shy of 100 yards with 98. Blue only had five carries, but turned into 36 yards and that score. Deshaun Watson was also involved, adding 40 yards to the team totals and showing that he is willing to tuck it and run.
As I highlighted in discussing Watson’s play, the receiving corp looked pedestrian. Hopkins still produced a decent game with eight catches but for just 78 yards. I’ll give the Patriots some credit with how much pressure they put on Watson and how well they did in coverage – Bill Belichick will always hone in on the number one threat extra carefully. Oddly enough the Patriots held Hopkins to 77 yards the last time the played – something about facing Bill O’Brien. I think Watson will look back on this film and, aside from one drop from Hopkins, see throws he could’ve made. Bruce Ellington only caught four passes from eight targets and added a touchdown. Other than these two guys, it was tough sledding for the other pass-catchers.
-Joe Hanretty
Patriots
The Patriots started out their season with a brilliant first half, showcasing the speed and creativity on defense that they started to hint at from the planning of Brian Flores, going into the half 21-6, and cranking on all cylinders. Brady looked locked in, and the final score of the game being 27-20 in favor of the Patriots was not indicative of how in control the Patriots were for the first two quarters. Let’s dive in, and see what fantasy ramifications happened to come from this first game in New England.
Some expected receiver performances pair with some not nearly as forecasted
On just the second offensive drive for the Patriots, we got to watch a surgical Tom Brady, picking apart the Texans defense before reaching out to his favorite current target Rob Gronkowski, who skyed over two secondary members for a corner of the end zone trot. The expectations for Gronkowski showing up are to be expected, but the first Patriots wide receiver taken off the board was not nearly as helpful, as Chris Hogan only caught a single pass on five targets for eleven yards, never fully looking locked into the game, or with Brady. Brady instead found a couple other destinations he instead favored, making James White, an oft-searched for back the receiver of four passes for 33 yards, and shiny new car in the garage, Phillip Dorsett, making the most of his seven targets, catching every one of them, including a couple that were underthrown, and also finishing out a drive with a great touchdown reception on a play where Brady searched for all of his targets before setting his eyes on Dorsett cutting in the back of the end zone.
Fantasy Impact: The way this game went, for fantasy purposes going forward, I think fantasy writers, myself included, didn’t factor in enough the possibility that Brady may focus less on an “Edelman substitute (see: Hogan)”, and instead focus more on receivers who he is on the same page with during the game, and are open. The best bet would be to hedge a bit on Hogan, and see if you can move him to someone who owns Edelman, or believes in his upside. And if Dorsett is available in your league, he’s well worth the last bench spot on your team to see if he continues to be on the same page as Brady.
Brady picks up where he left off just a year ago
Tom Brady came back to Foxboro, another year notched off on the chart for the 41 year old quarterback, as we find ourselves again wondering where the rust is that should be beginning to accrue, as Brady was locked in from the second drive of the season opener, locking in to his usual suspects of James White, Gronkowski, and even Dorsett. There’s nothing new about Brady that should really shock too much if you’ve watched him throughout his career. He’s not moving much out of the pocket as it is, and won’t garner hardly any stats on the ground, and even threw a pick off a batted ball at the line, but finished the game with a very acceptable, if not “sexy” line for the day, going 26 for 39, with 3 touchdown passes to go against the 1 pick off.
Fantasy impact: Brady is still a solid fantasy quarterback, no change positive or negative to where you drafted him.
Running game attempts to find it’s personality
The running game started it’s Sunday on a pretty expected note prior to the game, when the Patriots informed that Sony Michel would at least be sitting out the season opener, leaving the backfield to Rex Burkhead, James White, and Jeremy Hill. Burkhead ran decently on the ground, showing just a facet of his game that makes the Patriots brass truly enjoy him, as he finished with 64 yards on 18 rushes, never putting the team behind the line, making sure to always eat up chunks of yardage where he could. It was by no means a game you’d want to see from him on the fantasy boards, but games like this will continue to lead him to opportunities. White also carried the ball five times for 18 yards, used to rest out the other backs, as he’s largely incorporated into the passing game, as his true specialty. Jeremy Hill, however, was starting to gain some momentum on the field in the game, showcasing some quality blocking for Brady on a couple plays, while also logging 4 runs for 25 yards, however he went down in the game due to a knee injury, and as of the time of writing this, the timetable on Hill’s return has not yet been covered, so for now, we will hope to see his return in the next few weeks, as he seems to be gaining much respect and momentum up the Patriots’ depth chart
Fantasy impact: Burkhead remains an unsexy late 2nd RB for your fantasy team, 3rd if you’re lucky. Hopefully, he’ll look better in the 2nd game upcoming, as to not lose traction before Michel arrives.
White is the key and super sneaky fantasy value player on this running core, as he can both catch passes, or be called in for short yardage touchdown scampers. He’s absolutely worth a stash and is a quality flex player
Hill could also have value, but we’ll wait to hear back on his knee injury.
Patriots defense starts to take off the training wheels
The defensive squad seemed as excited as anyone to step on the gridiron in Foxboro, as they attempted to at the very least shore up the Deshaun Watson to DeAndre Hopkins connection. Moving away from the defensive concepts of prior, the Patriots favored a speed game to attempt to curtail the options Watson may have in going deep. Stephon Gilmore made his presence known in the secondary, drawing a couple silly penalties, but for the most part shut down the deep routes downfield, and also having part in 8 tackles. Ja’Whaun Bentley, heralded in the preseason rookie, showed up as well, to the tune of 7 tackles, and the player who drew my eye the most from the stands was Deatrich Wise Jr., a fourth-round pick in 2017, he motored across the field, making his presence known with some QB pressure, and also a sack. This defense has some sneaky good value and seems poised to be a potential top 5 defense, if they can keep the engine from starting to idle in the second half, as they seemed to coast for most of the second half, making a game that didn’t seem so close look much closer than it needed to be.
Fantasy impact: If you don’t have one of the “big” defenses (Jacksonville, Minnesota, Rams), this is a team that could be worth picking up for a few weeks and seeing if they can continue on and grow as a unit. There is plenty of talent there!
-Matt Bevins
Coleman should do a fine job of limiting his own usage – he always does. Freeman should get all he can handle. I would call him the best value of the RB1s.
Freeman was a borderline RB1 coming into the season. You can hardly call him that if the division of carries continues.