What We Saw: Week 5

The QB List staff catches you up on everything you missed during Week 5 of the 2020 NFL season.

Ben Brown
What We Saw 4 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Buccaneers @ Bears
Bengals @ Ravens
Raiders @ Chiefs
Panthers @ Falcons
Jaguars @ Texans
Eagles @ Steelers
Rams @ Washington
Cardinals @ Jets
Dolphins @ 49ers
Colts @ Browns
Giants @ Cowboys
Vikings @ Seahawks
Chargers @ Saints

Vikings @ Seahawks

 

Sunday Night Football featured a thrilling back and forth matchup, living up to the fantasy shootout that we expected it to be. Russell Wilson took advantage of the great matchup he had with three touchdowns, including a late touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf to take the lead with 15 seconds left in the game. Unfortunately, all was not great in this matchup as Dalvin Cook suffered a groin injury that took him out of the game. Cook will be undergoing an MRI on Monday, but those who roster Alexander Mattison might finally see some return on their investment after he ran very well in Cook’s absence. Seattle won the game 27-26.

 

Minnesota Vikings 

 

Quarterback

 

Kirk Cousins: 27/39, 249 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 3 sacks | 1 carry, 2 yards

Considered a solid streaming option this week, Cousins took advantage of the matchup by throwing the ball more times than he had all season. Cousins hooked up with Adam Thielen on short out-routes multiple times, and two of them went for a touchdown. His interception was the result of a really athletic play by K.J. Wright, but it was a ball Cousins had no business throwing. Cousins remains a matchup dependant QB2 moving forward, but there is no doubt he can be fantasy relevant most weeks due to his two stud receivers at the top of the depth chart.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Dalvin Cook: 17 carries, 65 yards, 1 TD | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 24 yards

Alexander Mattison: 20 carries, 112 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 24 yards

 

Prior to leaving the game with a groin injury, Dalvin Cook was looking like his usual self, showing a strong burst of speed through the hole and making tacklers miss. Unfortunately, he injured himself on a pass to the outside where he made an awkward cut, pulling up lame and limping out of bounds as he grabbed his thigh/groin area. The Vikings did not miss much when Cook was out, and while he would return in the third, the Vikings continued to feed Alexander Mattison instead. Mattison looked fantastic, averaging 5.6 yards per carry and the offense didn’t miss a beat. He was stuffed, however, on a 4th and 1 run at the Seahawks’ 6 yard-line, which led to a game-winning drive to Russell Wilson. Had he cut outside there was some running room and he could have even scored on the play, but instead they turned it over on downs.

 

 

 

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Adam Thielen: 13 targets, 9 receptions, 80 yards, 2 TDs

Justin Jefferson: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards

Irv Smith Jr.: 5 targets, 4 reception, 64 yards

Kyle Rudolph.: 2 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards

 

Adam Thielen was all over the field on Sunday night, being targeted 13 times on both short and long routes throughout the game. This game was not as effective for Justin Jefferson, targetted less than he has in the past games, but he was the receiver Cousins looked to on an earlier 4th down conversion and on attempted third-down conversions which tells me Cousins already trusts him in key spots. The two tight ends Irv Smith Jr. and Kyle Rudolph ended up pretty even in snaps (64 to 59 in favor of Rudolph) but it was Irv Smith Jr. who was targeted the most and for the first time all season he put up a pretty respectable fantasy line. He’s still too volatile an option to roll out there in lineups, but the situation is worth monitoring going forward.

 

 

Seattle Seahawks

 

Quarterback

 

Russell Wilson: 20/32, 217 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT,  4 sacks | 5 carries, 58 yards

 

Russell Wilson took advantage of the matchup against the Vikings, throwing for three touchdowns and leading the team in rushing as well. His three touchdowns included a perfectly placed wheel route to Will Dissly, a laser pass thrown on a slant route to D.K. Metcalf, and the game-winner to Metcalf on 4th and goal.

 

 

While the interception was a weird ball thrown towards the sideline, it looked like both the receiver and the defender stepped out of bounds on the play, however no flag was thrown.

 

 

Wilson showed his strong ability to move in the pocket and extend plays to find the open receiver, continuing to show why he should be the MVP conversation.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Chris Carson: 8 carries, 52 yards, 1 TD | 7 target, 6 receptions, 27 yards, 

Travis Homer: 3 carries, 14 yards

 

While Chris Carson impressed when he was given the opportunity to run, including breaking through the offensive line for a 29-yard touchdown run, the game script was clearly in the hands of the passing game.

 

 

Wilson made sure to get Carson involved early and often on short dump-off passes. With the change in-game script, Travis Homer almost split the snaps 50/50 with Carson, though he was not looked to at any point in the passing game.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

D.K. Metcalf: 11 targets, 6 receptions, 93 yards, 2 TD’s

Tyler Lockett: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 44 yards

Greg Olsen: 1 target, 1 reception, 20 yards

Will Dissly: 1 target, 1 reception, 19 yards, 1 TD

 

In this matchup, D.K. Metcalf clearly established himself as the number one receiver for this team. Wilson looked to him often in key situations, including multiple targets on Seattle’s come from behind drive, which included the game-winning touchdown reception on 4th and goal.

 

 

 

With the emergence of Metcalf this game, Tyler Lockett took a sort of second fiddle role on Sunday night but took advantage of his receptions by picking up a bulk of his yards after the catch. The tight end work continues to be in Greg Olsen’s favor in snaps (44 to 20) over Will Dissly, with that work including a big 20-yard reception to get Seattle just outside the red zone. Two plays later, however, Russell Wilson found Will Dissly on a perfectly placed wheel route to get in the endzone.

 

 

With both getting targeted, it’s hard to trust either for fantasy moving forward.

 

     

 

 -Callen Elslager (@callen_elslager on Twitter and Reddit)

Series Navigation
Introduction
Buccaneers @ Bears
Bengals @ Ravens
Raiders @ Chiefs
Panthers @ Falcons
Jaguars @ Texans
Eagles @ Steelers
Rams @ Washington
Cardinals @ Jets
Dolphins @ 49ers
Colts @ Browns
Giants @ Cowboys
Vikings @ Seahawks
Chargers @ Saints

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