Amari Cooper : Amari Cooper went off Sunday. Went off big time. When all was said and done, Cooper reeled in 10 catches for a whopping 217 yards and three touchdowns. Depending on your precise scoring, that is about 50 PPR points. Wow! Was he worth a first round pick? So far, you have to say yes. However, that is not fantasy football issue at all. Over the last three weeks, Cooper has 26 grabs for 473 yards and five touchdowns. I doubt anyone has been better over that span. With Indy and Tampa next up on the schedule and teams still needing to stuff the box to stop Zeke (whose 192 yards from scrimmage on 40 touches was completely overshadowed but was awesome in its own right), Cooper is due for a couple of more huge games. He will be in my DFS lineups next Sunday and on many a fantasy football title winning teams!
Jaylen Samuels : Samuels, a media-hype darling all week long, failed to deliver Sunday. Yes, he caught seven balls for 64 yards but he rushed for only 28 yards on 11 carries. That is a PPR total of 15+ points. Not too bad until you recall he was not playing against the Bears or the Cowboys but rather the Raiders. What worries me even more is that it was an awful loss for the Steelers Sunday and now they have to get ready for a Pats team that will be determined to make amends for the lateral gaffe. Bottom line, the entire Steelers situation makes you wonder whether you can trust Samuels against the Pats even if Conner sits again. [Note: the only “good news” for Samuels is that Stevan Ridley was even worse than Samuels, rushing 5 times for 4 yards – though he did fall into the end zone.]
George Kittle : George Kittle was awesome Sunday reeling in seven catches for 210 yards and a TD. How the Broncos did not make him the focus of their pass defense boggles the mind but I digress. Yes, this was a great game but Kittle has 28 grabs over his last four games so this game is not as much of an outlier as you might think. He clearly has a connection with Mullens so that is good. Add in the fact that the Niners play the Seahawks next week – a Seattle team that saw Kittle grab six balls for 70 yards a couple of week ago – and you have a prescription for fantasy football success. It is a lost season for the Niners but a coming out party for one of the top TE’s in fantasy football – yep, Mr. Kittle. He is a must start the next couple of weeks.
Cam Newton : Cam Newton was not very good Sunday. He completed 26 of 42 passes for 265 yards with no TD and an INT. Ordinarily, his legs will make up for lackluster passing stats but not Sunday. Newton carried just five times for 23 yards. What is worse is that he did not look good, did not make good decisions and really played like a guy who is probably hurting worse than he admits publicly. Either way, if you own Cam and are in your fantasy semifinals, I would start scouring the wire. If he could not handle the Browns, why should we think he will handle the Saints?
Josh Allen : Last week we wrote: “Josh Allen was fantasy gold again in week 13 throwing for 231 and two TD and rushing for another 135 yards. That was good for 33 fantasy points. Add that to week 12’s 27 fantasy points and that is 60 over the last two weeks. Not too shabby. Remember that Blake Bortles led many fantasy teams to a title in 2017. Can Josh Allen do so in 2018? Why not? Next up for Buffalo, a Jets team that gave up 25 fantasy points to Marcus Mariota and then the Lions and Pats – both of whom are in the bottom third in terms of fantasy points given up to fantasy QBs. Team CTW will likely roll with Allen in the SiriusXM Dynasty semi-finals next week so we are putting our proverbial money where our proverbial mouths are. It will take some guts actually to pencil him in but he could be worth it!” Well, I hope you listened! Allen rushed for 101 yards and TD which is fantasy gold from your QB. He also added 201 yards passing. I am all in next week when the Bills host the Lions.
Final Note: I have to say that this perhaps was the craziest NFL week in a long time. The lateral play works for the first time I can remember since Cal ran over the Stanford band. Then, the Cowboys and Eagles play a barnburner determined by an excuse me tip for a game winning touchdown. Oh, and let’s not forget Derrick Henry going off and running for more yards than he had in his previous six games combined. Wow. Just wow. I think I will need all week to recuperate!