Panthers @ Chiefs
This was a great back and forth affair with each team scoring in each quarter, minus the Panthers in the third quarter. The Panthers had a great plan coming into this one to slow down the Chiefs’ dominant offense. They were going for it on fourth down multiple times and they had a successful fake punt. They also had multiple long, clock-chewing drives in the first half. Their first drive took up over half of the first quarter. Superstar Patrick Mahomes did what he does. He moved the ball efficiently down the field and threw for four touchdowns to three different players. It was curious to see the Panthers run the ball multiple times to start a drive, down by nine with about 8-minutes left in the game. They were also letting the play clock run down within 7 or 8 seconds. They eventually scored but it left them little time to try and win on their last possession and had to settle for a Joey Slye 67-yard field goal attempt (which he missed.).
Carolina Panthers
Quarterback
Teddy Bridgewater: 36/49, 310 yards, 2 TDs, 2 sack | 2 carries, 19 yards, 1 TD
Teddy Bridgewater had an efficient day through the air on Sunday. He led the Panthers to five scoring drives and two more field goal attempts that were missed. The Panthers only had to punt twice. Bridgewater was not trying to push the ball down the field at all, with an average depth of target of just 4.2 yards down the field and 36% of his yards came through the air. This offense seemed to revert back to their pre-Christian McCaffrey injury ways. He made his return today after not playing since Week 2. There were so many targets short to the running backs and near the line of scrimmage to Curtis Samuel that the offense struggled to make chunk plays. They put up plenty of points but it is something to watch going forward. One of his touchdowns was on a pop pass to Samuel in the red zone and the other a short touchdown to McCaffrey on a blown coverage. Bridgewater is just a QB2 going forward and has a tough matchup with Tampa Bay next week.
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey: 18 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD | 10 targets, 10 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD
Mike Davis: 1 carry, 3 yards | 6 targets, 5 receptions, 34 yards
Welcome back Mr. Fantasy MVP Christian McCaffrey. He stepped right back into a monster workload. He handled 28 opportunities, including a whopping 10 targets. His touchdown reception came on a fourth-down red zone play that resulted in him being wide open on a blown coverage. There were reports that CMC and Mike Davis would be switching drives throughout the game. Of course, that was a lie. Davis was on the field some and Curtis Samuel played some in the backfield but McCaffrey played the majority of the snaps and was not subbed out for whole drives. McCaffrey looked like he hurt his shoulder on the final drive as he could be seen grimacing while holding it on the sideline. This is something to monitor. Davis is only a high-value handcuff at this point. McCaffrey is a top-two or three option every week as long as he is healthy. Tampa Bay is a brutal matchup for running backs next week.
Christian McCaffrey picks up where he left off.#FantasyFootball | #Panthers pic.twitter.com/5mMBLwDcCI
— QB List (@TheQBlist) November 8, 2020
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Robby Anderson: 13 targets, 9 receptions, 63 yards
D.J. Moore: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards
Curtis Samuel: 9 targets, 9 receptions, 105 yards, 1 TD | 3 carry, 13 yards
Ian Thomas: 1 target, 1 reception, 8 yards
Robby Anderson had a large target share today but the majority of them were not far downfield and he turned his nine receptions into a pedestrian 63 yards. D.J. Moore was an afterthought in this one and he was the casualty of the McCaffrey return. These receivers will likely be more volatile from week to week now because McCaffrey will command a large target share going forward eating into their volume. Curtis Samuel now has 13 receptions for 180 yards and two scores in his last two games. He was largely written off for his production earlier but this makes back to back highly productive games. Samuel moves up to flex consideration going forward and I would say Moore and Anderson are WR2’s with Anderson being slightly ahead.v
Kansas City Chiefs
Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes: 30/45, 372 yards, 4 TDs, 1 sack | 2 carries, 0 yards
It seems like Patrick Mahomes has this type of game every week. He has multiple touchdowns in every game but one and has over 300 yards in five of nine games. The yardage can be attributed to the Chiefs taking their foot off the gas in multiple games because of blowouts. Mahomes had four touchdowns, including three inside the four-yard line. He missed Tyreek Hill for a wide-open 35+ yard touchdown early in the game but reconnected with him for two scores in the fourth quarter. He is a top-three quarterback option every week and they will be on a bye next week.
Running Backs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 5 carries, 14 yards | 5 targets, 3 receptions, 20 yards, 1 TD
Le’Veon Bell: 4 carries, 8 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, -5 yards
Wow, these running backs were not asked to do much on the ground today. The Chiefs ran the ball 12 times compared to 46 dropbacks for Mahomes. This wasn’t even a severe comeback mode or negative game script. The running backs didn’t do much with their touches except Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored a short receiving touchdown to salvage his day. It seemed that CEH was on the field more than Le’Veon Bell by a decent margin but he still wasn’t involved much in this one. Darrel Williams saw some snaps as well but that only resulted in a lone target. This is mostly a two-man backfield in terms of touches but Williams plays some in the 2-minute/hurry-up offense and that caps the upside of the others. CEH is an okay RB2 right now and Bell is just a flex flier.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Tyreek Hill: 18 targets, 9 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TDs | 1 carry, 8 yards
Mecole Hardman: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 48 yards
Demarcus Robinson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble lost
Travis Kelce: 12 targets, 10 receptions, 159 yards
Tyreek Hill was targeted early and often in this one. He was open constantly in this one and could have had an even bigger game. Hill was tackled at the one and was missed on an open 35+ yard touchdown in the first half by Mahomes. He is an every-week WR1, playing with the best quarterback in football. Travis Kelce wasn’t targeted on the first two drives (13 pass attempts) from what I saw. After that, Mahomes found him often as he was constantly getting open for large, chunk gains. Kelce will be the no doubt overall TE1 for the remainder of the season with George Kittle out multiple weeks with an injury. Sammy Watkins was close to playing this week and will likely return after the KC bye. Mecole Hardman and Damarcus Robinson split the Watkins role and each had a decent stat line with Robinson cashing in for the red zone touchdown. They will both be hard to trust with Watkins back in action. Check out this unique touchdown to Robinson late in the first half.
Showtime to Honey Thunder for our first touchdown of the game 🙌#CARvsKC on FOX pic.twitter.com/KPtNkCjo50
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 8, 2020
— Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918 on Twitter)