For some of us with struggling fantasy teams, every matchup is basically Halloween. You’re hoping your team can dress up as something it’s not and some fill-in players can play pretend as All-Pros.
But that’s what makes it all fun! The pretend and the hope and the “any given Sunday” aspect if enough goes right, your team can pull out the victory -- unless you’re playing against A.J. Brown, who doesn’t need to dress up as anything other than himself because he just might be Superman!
10 Studs
1. CeeDee Lamb - 12 rec. 158 yds. 2 TDs
2. Dak Prescott - 304 yds. 4 TDs
3. DeAndre Hopkins - 4 rec. 128 yds. 3 TDs
4. Will Levis - 238 yds. 4 TDs
5. Sam Howell - 397 yds. 4 TDs
6. Jahan Dotson - 108 yds. 1 TD
7. Jaylen Waddle - 121 yds. 1 TD
8. Gus Edwards - 80 yds. 3 TDs
9. Rashid Shaheed - 153 yds. 1 TD
10. Trey McBride - 95 yds. 1 TD
We knew the Dallas Cowboys had it in ‘em! We knew they could throw it downfield, didn’t we? Yes, of course we did. We just needed Mike McCarthy to believe it, too. Good things happen when Dak Prescott finds CeeDee Lamb early and often. It was Lamb’s second consecutive 100+ yard effort and far and away Dak’s best throwing game of the year. The Cowboys looked like they couldn’t hang with anyone after the embarrassment against the 49ers a few weeks ago. Now, it looks like they could torch a leaky Eagles secondary next week. And they’re going to need to because they’re not getting much from the ground game.
You know that Randy Moss image that floats around the internet every now and then? Moss is looking at the camera while the old Fox graphic showed his Thanksgiving stat line of 3 catches 163 yards 3 TDs. That was basically DeAndre Hopkins’ Sunday this week except he had one extra catch. Hopkins and the Tennessee offense actually looked explosive thanks to rookie QB Will Levis. One game does not make a career, but Levis made a case for getting plenty of more run. I’m sure the Titans aren’t asking Ryan Tannehill to hurry back from injury now.
Nobody gets sacked more than Sam Howell. The guy is picking himself up off the ground seemingly every play, and a Philadelphia Eagles front was going to be a daunting task. But Washington kept Howell relatively upright and he delivered a career day and almost a win. The effort might’ve revitalized Jahan Dotson’s season as he turned in his first 100 yard game of the year. The Commanders have gotten Dotson more involved the past two weeks and he could keep it rolling against the Patriots next week.
Speaking of New England, they just got burned by both Dolphins receivers. But while it’s pretty routine to see Tyreek Hill go off, it was nice to see Jaylen Waddle join him in the century club for yardage. Waddle had scored in 3 of the last 4 games and could be on the board again if the matchup next week with the Chiefs turns into a shootout.
The Gus bus was rolling for Baltimore against the Cardinals. Listen, we can be honest here. Watching Gus Edwards run isn’t the most beautiful thing in the world. But he’s averaging over four yards per carry and he’s the clear lead and bellcow for the Ravens. He’s a threat to score every time if Baltimore gets close to the end zone.
If the New Orleans Saints record a big play in a game, it’s probably because of Rashid Shaheed. It doesn’t matter if Derek Carr or Taysom Hill is throwing it, Shaheed is catching bombs. At the very least, he’s good for betting the over on his weekly longest reception prop. His big play ability gives him a huge upside when slotting him in at flex or your spot start receiver for your fantasy team.
Trey McBride finds himself a starter in Arizona with Zach Ertz on the IR and now he could be in the weekly TE1 conversation. McBride wound up with just south of 100 yards and a score while amassing 14 targets in the Cardinals offense. Things could get even better if Kyler Murray ends up taking the field soon.
The Duds
Now, for the dreaded duds. For Halloween, the Green Bay Packers should dress as a team that has a competent offense. Andy Herman summed it up on X with this: the Packers haven’t scored a first half touchdown since week 2. It’s insulting to struggling teams to say the Packers are struggling. They are inept out there.
Jordan Love can’t seem to find it with Christian Watson. Did Aaron Jones do something to Matt LaFleur we don’t know about? Hope springs eternal with the Rams and their freshly burnt secondary on tap, but I also thought this Green Bay team could move the ball against the Broncos last week and they didn’t. So we’ll see.
Speaking of those Broncos, how about a round of applause. They shut down our other dud team: the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were 7 point favorites and lost outright on the road. They scored zero touchdowns against a team in Denver that had looked flat out hapless at times this season. Patrick Mahomes tossed two picks. The Chiefs will be fine but this loss still has to sting.
And finally, what’s gotten into San Francisco? That’s three losses in a row for a team that looked like world beaters with no weaknesses. What do those losses have in common? The opposing team’s WR1 put up more than 100 yards on the 49ers' secondary all three times. Quarterback Brock Purdy has been far from “brock” solid in each of those games tossing 5 picks over three weeks. An away date with a red hot Jaguars team doesn’t make things much easier.
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