Vikings vs. Jets
Vikings
Win streaks are nice. The Vikings have now won three straight with their 37-17 victory over the New York Jets and are not in first place in the NFC North for the time being. The Vikings improved their record to 4-2-1 and now will carry momentum into a big Sunday night matchup with the 5-1 New Orleans Saints. This will be their toughest test since the Rams in Week 4 and should be a shootout.
Kirk Cousins didn’t turn the ball over!!!!
Yes it was a glorious day. Kirk Cousins did manage to fumble the ball, but didn’t lose it. Still, those hands were slightly covered in butter yet again. We are headed in the right direction, though and he will need to have a flawless game to outlast Drew Brees and the high flying Saints offense. You better believe Cam Jordan is foaming at the mouth waiting for his chance to strip sack Cousins next week. This is going to be a good one, folks.
Latavius Murray keeps rolling.
Latavius Murray totaled 83 total yards and two touchdowns on the day, his second week to get into the end zone. It is yet to be seen if Dalvin Cook returns this week, but if he does I don’t see how Murray doesn’t stay involved as he has been great over the last two weeks. The team has said that they do not want to bring Cook back early, a theme this season with young star players, so it is highly possible that Murray gets bell-cow work yet again this week.
Can’t Stop the Thielen!
The best WR in the league this year continued to manhandle opposing secondaries. Adam Thielen went for 9/110/1 as he now is one game away from the all-time record for consecutive games with 100 yards receiving held by Calvin Johnson. He has a great chance of doing that this week as the Saints have not been great at stopping the pass this year. At this point, I don’t think there is anyone in the league that can stop Captain Kirk from finding his man crush through the air. Lock Thielen in as the top WR this week, ahead of Antonio Brown, and ride the wave. Thielen is quickly putting together what could be the best season we have ever seen from a wide receiver if he can keep this up. The road does get tougher, but it isn’t out of the question that he breaks the receptions record this year.
-Matt Dean
Jets
Welp, at least they tried? The Jets held their own the entire first half, but second-half woes hit them hard as the Vikings won in a 37-17 route. Sam Darnold had an abysmal afternoon, though to his defense, he had no receiver help whatsoever. The run game was nonexistent, and the defense, as expected, was unable to contain Adam Thielen. Truthfully, there were no real positives from the Jets side, but let’s take a look further into the game and its lack thereof fantasy contributions.
Milk box Kearse
Jermaine Kearse? Has anyone seen Jermaine Kearse? All week heading into the game, it was seemingly a lock that Kearse would be in line for 10+ targets, and have a very productive day overall. Quincy Enunwa was ruled out, Terrelle Pryor was released, and Robby Anderson may be hurting himself. Instead, Kearse laid a goose egg, and was only targeted twice! Very inexcusable that Anderson was the one who was targeted ten times in my opinion, but that’s neither here nor there.
The lone positive
If I had to dig for one positive for the Jets, it was rookie tight end Chris Herndon. He caught his second touchdown in as many games, totaling 42 yards on the day on a 4-for-7 statline. He even missed his second on the day had it not been for an overturned call. Darnold appears to be building a trustworthy rapport with him. If you’re in a deeper league, you could consider him a stash add going forward, but not a weekly play yet by any means.
Forgettable day on the ground
It was a quiet day for the run game, as Isaiah Crowell only totaled 29 yards on 11 carries. Bilal Powell went five for 20 yards, though he suffered a neck injury that kept him out of the game thereafter. Rookie back Trent Cannon was then featured, and made a nice sideline catch and run, but on the ground, he only posted four yards on two carries. If Powell is due to miss time, with Crowell already banged up in his own right, this Jets backfield will not possess viable options to start in your lineups anytime soon.
-Matt Cava