What We Saw: Week 10

The What We Saw team recaps everything you missed from Week 10

Ben Brown
What We Saw 2 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Falcons @ Panthers
Seahawks @ Buccaneers
Vikings @ Bills
Lions @ Bears
Jaguars @ Chiefs
Browns @ Dolphins
Texans @ Giants
Saints @ Steelers
Broncos @ Titans
Colts @ Raiders
Cowboys @ Packers
Cardinals @ Rams
Chargers @ 49ers

Broncos @ Titans

Final Score: Titans 17, Broncos 10

Writer: Benjamin Haller (@benjaminhaller1 on Twitter)

 

An undermanned Tennessee Titans showed once again that they can dig deep into their roster to find the goods to earn a win. Representative of the characteristics of their Head Coach Mike Vrabel, the Titans found a way to win an ugly football game that saw the first nine drives of the game finish with punts.

Both defensive fronts dominated the trenches making it hard for each team to establish a run game. The two teams combined for just 128 total rushing yards, with Derrick Henry limited to just 53 yards on 19 carries to dismay fantasy managers on a key bye week.

The game came down to the final moments, and it felt like it would last forever at times, but it was an important last quarter for both teams’ season. As they have done so many times in the past few seasons, Tennessee found a way and picked off Russell Wilson with just 20 seconds remaining to move to 6-3 and take a commanding lead in the AFC South.  The Broncos move to a derisory 3-6 and the pressure on their coaching staff hangs heavy.

 

Denver Broncos

 

Quarterback

 

Russell Wilson: 21/42, 286 Yards, TD, INT, 6 Sacks | 7 Carries, 8 Yards, 2 Fumble (Recovered)

 

After a less-than-convincing start to life as a Bronco, Russell Wilson came out of the bye week looking like the dysfunctional, hesitant, inaccurate quarterback he was before the break. Yikes! An ugly first half saw the Broncos punt on their first four drives and Wilson failed to find any kind of rhythm at all. It didn’t help that the offensive line was once again plagued by penalties.

Only a busted coverage on a third down in the second quarter allowed him to find the unknown Jalen Virgil for a big 66-yard score. It was the undrafted free agent’s first ever NFL catch.

 

Wilson came under heavy pressure from a relentless Titans defense despite Tennessee missing six starters. Wilson crumbled under six sacks and 18 quarterback hits as the Bronocs were shut out in the second half. Some of those were his own fault, failing to spot blitzes and holding onto the ball for too long.

 

His interception came on fourth down on the final drive of the game deep in Titans territory – after nearly coughing up the ball on a sack on the previous play, Wilson tried to keep the play alive by scrambling around before stepping up and firing way over the head of Courtland Sutton. Game over!

 

Running Back

 

Melvin Gordon III: 7 Carries, 24 Yards | 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 46 Yards

Latavius Murray: 9 Carries, 24 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 23 Yards

Chase Edmonds: 2 Carries, 9 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception

 

Yuck. This rushing attack has fallen into complete ineptitude after losing promising rookie Javonte Williams for the season. Veterans Melvin Gordon III and Latavius Murray are limited in their skillsets  and it really showed today. Both struggled to hit lanes and run between tackles, neither averaging more than 3.4 yards per carry. It was a dismal effort that shows little promise for fantasy purposes.

Chase Edmonds was once again a non-factor for the second week running after coming over in a trade from the Dolphins. You have to think featuring him is the best thing that Denver could do right now.

 

Wide Receiver

 

Jalen Virgil: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 66 Yards, TD

Courtland Sutton: 11 Targets, 6 Receptions, 66 Yards

Kendall Hinton: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 62 Yards

Eric Saubert: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 12 Yards

Greg Dulcich: 4 Targets, 1 Reception, 11 Yards

Eric Tomlinson: 1 Target

Tyrie Cleveland: 3 Targets

Jerry Jeudy: 1 Target

Montrell Washington: 1 Target

 

Every fantasy manager has to feel sorry for Courtland Sutton, who once again showed his phenomenal route-running abilities and elite hands to lead the team in targets, catches and yards. Sutton was the only bright spot on this offense, producing moments of magic to make things happen for his team. This brilliant one-handed effort whilst failing to the ground to haul in an errant Wilson throw was as good as it comes.

 

Sadly, Nathaniel Hackett‘s offense continues to be uninspiring and conservative as Sutton averaged six yards per target and his longest catch of the day only went for 17 yards. Sutton benefitted from the absence of Jerry Jeudy for the majority of this game – the young wide receiver exited with an ankle injury suffered on the Broncos’ opening drive of the game. Jeudy was carted off, a sight all too familiar for the former Alabama receiver during his time in the NFL.

The supporting cast was once again a hotchpotch of backup receivers and tight ends struggling to make plays. The most talented of those is rookie second-round selection Greg Dulcich, who was overthrown deep down field by Wilson for what would have been another big score. It remains a receiver room to avoid for fantasy purposes.

 

Tennessee Titans

 

Quarterback

 

Ryan Tannehill: 19/36, 255 Yards, 2 TD, 1 Sack | 2 Carries, 12 Yards

Malik Willis: 1 Carry, -4 Yards, 1 Fumble (Lost)

 

The return of Ryan Tannehill was a welcome sight to fantasy managers after a tough couple of weeks watching Malik Willis stumble through way out of his depth. Tannehill was crucial in setting up this victory with a creative 13-play, 75-yard drive with just 12 seconds remaining in the first half that was capped off by lovely sideline throw to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who did everything for his quarterback to haul in the score.

 

And Tannehill went back to the former Indiana undrafted free agent from 2020 for his second touchdown pass of the day – a fantastic flea flicker play was perfectly executed by the returning quarterback and he hit his receiver in stride deep down field. Westbrook-Ikhine speeding away before putting the moves on veteran Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson to take it in for six. The play of the day.

 

Ironically, the play that nearly cost the Titans the game was a botched handoff from Malik Willis to Derrick Henry on a third and short midway through the fourth quarter. Willis was obviously confused with the play and it could have cost his team big. He might not see the field for a while until he gets more comfortable with the playbook.

 

Running Back

 

Derrick Henry: 19 Carries, 53 Yards | 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 14 Yards

Dontrell Hilliard: 1 Carry, 2 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 6 Yards

 

A rare quiet night for Derrick Henry in terms of fantasy production – it was the first time since Week 2 that Henry failed to reach double-digit fantasy points. In fact, Henry has averaged over 20 fantasy points in six-straight games so this will hurt for fantasy managers. His yards per carry was his second-worst of the season and his longest run was only 10 yards. Credit to the Broncos defensive front, they played hard and did not give Henry an inch to run into.

Henry also spent some time in the medical tent, but fear not fantasy managers. Dontrell Hilliard was a complete non-factor.

 

Wide Receiver

 

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 119 Yards, 2 TD

Chig Okonkwo: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 41 Yards

Austin Hooper: 7 Targets, 5 Receptions, 41 Yards

Treylon Burks: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 24 Yards

Robert Woods: 7 Targets, 2 Receptions, 10 Yards

Geoff Swaim: 1 Target

 

Welcome to the party, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine! From out of nowhere, the former undrafted free agent went from one target in Week 9 to his second ever 100+ yard game, and first ever multi-touchdown peformance, to help his team win over the Broncos. A great effort. He registered season highs in targets, catches and yards and hopefully has earned more chances in the passing game. He could be a nice speculative add in fantasy as he is only 1% rostered in Yahoo! leagues. Still, it is a long shot this productions turns into anything more than a flash in the pan.

Tannehill reverted to throwing underneath and short to the sideline for much of this one, as has been customary since the departure of AJ Brown to Philadelphia. Robert Woods (seven), Treylon Burks (six) and tight end Austin Hooper (seven) shared the spoils but none could muster more than 41 yards. It was nice to see rookie Burks back in the lineup after spending time on injured reserve since Week 4. He will look to build more rapport with Tannehill in the second half of the year.

As important catches go, there was none as important as rookie Chig Okonkwo‘s third down grab to setup Randy Bullock‘s field goal that made it a seven point lead late in the fourth quarter.  The fourth round pick out of Maryland has been sparingly used but now has back-to-back weeks with over 40 yards receiving. One to watch.

Series Navigation
Introduction
Falcons @ Panthers
Seahawks @ Buccaneers
Vikings @ Bills
Lions @ Bears
Jaguars @ Chiefs
Browns @ Dolphins
Texans @ Giants
Saints @ Steelers
Broncos @ Titans
Colts @ Raiders
Cowboys @ Packers
Cardinals @ Rams
Chargers @ 49ers

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