New England Patriots vs New York Jets
New York Jets
Quarterback
- Sam Darnold: 11/32, 86 passing yards, 0 TD, 4 INT | 2 carries, -1 yards
“I’m seeing ghosts.” Overheard on the sideline off Sam Darnold’s microphone. You’re damn right you were. Interceptions ahoy! Halfway into the third quarter, and Darnold’s line actually looked a bit better than you’d expect. 8 for 16. But three picks. Rushing out of the pocket, and looking to buy any amount of time, I don’t see anything exciting about what Darnold is doing that will win you any fantasy league. It’s possible he’s still in a funk coming back from his Mono fiasco to basically open the season, but until Darnold finds himself comfortable, he’s not someone you want to bide your time with anywhere outside of dynasty leagues. And as I’m writing this, Darnold punches a ball out of the back of the endzone.
Running Backs
- Le’Veon Bell: 15 carries, 70 yards | 4 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards
- Bilal Powell: 1 carry, 3 yards
- Ty Montgomery: 2 carries, 9 yards | 1 target, 0 receptions, 0 yards
Le’Veon Bell sits behind the line, patient and waiting for holes to open up, defenders to be pushed down or out by his line. As someone who has for well over half a decade stacked up fantasy lines that make your teams happy at the end of the week, but watching him run is the exact opposite of exciting. Slow. Plotting. Waiting for opportunities or mistakes. Unfortunately tonight, the majority of the mistakes were being made by his quarterback and his offensive line. This leads to almost 5 yards of rushing per carry, but no explosive opportunities, and no chance to really bust a burst linebacker being pushed out, or a great tackle laid out by his wide receivers. Unmotivated, it looks like the Jets left everything on the team bus. Bell will continue to be a top 10 running back with the potential to be even a top 3 back, especially in points per reception, but the lack of offensive consistency on a weekly basis makes this more worrisome.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- Demariyus Thomas: 9 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards
- Jamison Crowder: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards
- Robby Anderson: 8 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards
- Ryan Griffin: 2 targets, 1 reception, 1 yard
- Braxton Berrios: 1 target, 1 reception, 1 yard
- Vyncint Smith: 1 target, 0 reception, 0 yards
The wide receivers were wide out on almost every pass Darnold made tonight. Wide, wide out. Almost half of the incompletions on the night have ended with the ball in the Patriot’s grips. Jamison Crowder, Demariyus Thomas, and Robby Anderson may not be the sexiest of wide receiver trio, but on most teams, it would be a competitive or borderline top-five trio. The Patriots secondary, however, came to play, and ended up treating most of Darnold’s back foot throws as jump balls, boxing out wide receivers and enforcing any passes outside of the chain area (anything over ten yards deep seemed to be absolutely swarmed.
Bell, Crowder, and Anderson can all be top 20 in points per reception at their respective position, but when a tough defense stands in their way, they will be a very hard start to make, unless you’re faced with numerous byes. Expect better days from a pretty average football team, but one that can do well against average defensive outputs (see: the last game against Houston)
New England Patriots
Quarterback
- Tom Brady: 31/45, 249 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Jarret Stidham: 2 carries, -2 yards
A 6-0 start didn’t leave this team resting on their laurels, as Tom Brady started up from the whistle fired up and ready to play another of their usual conference slugfests, as they attempt to go into the Meadowlands and take down the Jets. An efficient evening, Brady was ready to play but didn’t have to air out the ball. He didn’t need to put the team on his shoulders. Rolling into the fourth quarter, up by 26, the quarterback was headed to under 200 yards passing, and it wouldn’t seem it ( a beautiful catch and run by James “Sweet Feet” White helped change that). A true coach on the field, he cerebrally pushes this team every week to victory, and while this week is no different, it again shows that Brady is the exact opposite of Bell before. An absolute joy to watch dismantle a team if that team isn’t the one you root for, he also won’t light up your fantasy stat sheet. It will not be stuffed. If you need 25 fantasy points, he’ll likely get you 22, while handing off the ball for 200 yards of rushing combined.
Running Backs
- James White: 5 carries, 0 yards | 8 targets, 7 receptions, 59 yards
- Sony Michel: 19 carries, 42 yards, 3 TD | 2 targets, 1 reception, -8 yards
- Damien Harris: 4 carries, 12 yards
- Brandon Bolden: 1 carry, 2 yards | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 39 yards
James White and Sony Michel continue on their “good cop/bad cop” routine, as White blasts off clips of yardage in the air, while Sony gets down and dirty on the ground, collecting short-yardage plays and continuing to attempt entry into the endzone on goal-line rushes. Both can be advocated for in fantasy football leagues if the scoring is a point per reception centric. Michel, still holding up at an under 3.0 yards per carry figure, continues to receive goal-line work, and the opportunity to punch in goal-line carries, if only for the sheer fact of the offense he is in being what it is. James Develin is hurt, Rex Burkhead is again ailing, and the only real back they have hanging around behind the two is perennial Patriot and back in the mix fan favorite, Brandon Bolden. For sheer lack of options, Michel will continue to receive the opportunity, but going forward he’s not an exciting weekly play. He’ll pick up your weekly goal line scraps, but nothing screams top 10 upside back. He’ll end his week with way more fantasy points than Bell, but Bell is both a better fantasy AND real life back. It’s just a shame you couldn’t Freaky Friday these two for the week.
Wide Receivers
- Julian Edelman: 12 targets, 7 receptions, 47 yards
- Jakobi Meyers: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 47 yards
- Phillip Dorsett: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 46 yards, 1 touchdown
- Ben Watson: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 18 yards
- Eric Tomlinson: 1 target, 1 reception,1 yard
- Gunner Olszewski: 1 target, 0 receptions, 0 yards
Our weekly mainstays continue, as the game starts with the peppering of passes to Julian Edelman, and a picture-perfect bullet to Phillip Dorsett in the endzone, placing the ball in his hands where almost no one else could. Edelman is the consistent number one option for Brady in the air, as both he and James White ended up being each targeted over 8 times individually. Spare one interception where Brady was rushed and swallowed up by a defensive player to the point of a ball being popped up into the air, the balls were thrown short and to the point of no mistakes being made. The offense is currently operating without Josh Gordon, without N’Keal Harry, and just cobbling together continuous solid lines while having not a single week with all their offensive weapons. Missing a couple of touch passes, Brady didn’t have consistent pocket time, and so the passes were spread out and at times rushed. Your weekly go to’s when available will be Edelman with a top 10 upside, even more so in points per reception, and when Gordon is healthy, he can hold top 30 upside. Not to be lost in the shuffle, undrafted rookie Jakobi Meyers has some hands-on him. As someone who is an unabashed local fan, Meyers has intrigued me since he broke out in the preseason, as he has some exciting vision and an amazing pair of hands. He picked up a couple of receptions that looked to be underthrown and/or in traffic. If Gordon leaves in the offseason or isn’t back from his injury soon, Meyers could end up a sneaky flex, and a potential top 40/50 in dynasty leagues. There could be something here.
-Matt Bevins (@MattQBList)