Injuries still played a role in Week 10 even with some big names coming back. The players who weren’t on the field though allowed some different players to get the work inside the 20 in a few different ways and if the injuries stick for their respective teams, these players might see more work going down the stretch in Fantasy Football before the playoffs start.
Red Zone Passing
Drew Brees NO - Is it hard to believe that prior to this week, Brees hadn’t had double-digit attempts in the red zone in a game yet? We are just used to seeing the passing attack be down in the opponent’s scoring zone so often that it’s a bit surprising when they aren’t and they most certainly were quite a bit against the Buccaneers. Those 10 attempts were spread to seven different receivers and resulted in four touchdowns but interestingly only two of the attempts came inside the 10. Next up is the Niners on Sunday and that defense hasn’t been terribly proficient in stopping opposing passing attacks.
Teddy Bridgewater CAR - Bridgewater and Company gave the Chiefs all they could handle on Sunday as they came just short of scoring a road win. The seven pass attempts are tied for the second-most on the season for Bridgewater and they accounted for two touchdowns. He also carried the ball once on a quarterback sneak that got into the end zone as well for eight total touches. While he’s had more than one carry several times this year, this was his first in three games. As long as Bridgewater is spreading the ball around, the Panthers could continue to be sneaky good on offense even without Christian McCaffrey on the field.
Josh Allen BUF - Allen returned back to a form we’d seen earlier in the year as he outdueled Russell Wilson for the win. He may not have lit up the scoreboard with a ton of red zone passes as he had six on the day, but that was his most in a game since Week 3 while also carrying the ball three times, again the most since Week 3. The start of the season got a lot of hype for Allen before he slid back a bit in his production until getting back to things in Week 9, though against the easiest pass defense in the league. The nine touches turned into three total touchdowns and was a big part of the 44 points they hung in total. They now get Arizona in Week 10 which could be a tough test as you’ll read further down this piece.
Alex Smith WAS - Welcome Back Smith (instead of Cotter) or Mr. Smith Comes Back to Washington (instead of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington) are a few of the plays on word we saw this week as the formerly injured quarterback took the helm again in the Nation’s Capital and nearly completed a comeback as well. He posted five red zone passing attempts which equalled Kyle Allen ’s total in Week 7, the last game they played, and so it’s nice to see that the offense isn’t really missing a step.
Garrett Gilbert DAL - From practice squad to starting against the Steelers in one week and now to the Red Zone Report as he posted the best day inside the 20 any Dallas QB has had since Dak went down a few weeks ago. The Steelers have had an impressive defense this year so being able to move the ball effectively was nice to see for all of the fantasy viable players the Cowboys have on the outside as well as in the backfield. While he only had the one touchdown, it was really more about seeing the Cowboys’ offense be able to move the ball again after a heinous showing against the Eagles the week before. Now they are on bye and can perhaps continue working with him to get the offense better still.
Red Zone Rushing
James Robinson RB JAC - Robinson led all running backs in red zone carries this week after being shut out from that work the last game. His six carries accounted for about 85-percent of the team’s total red zone work against the Texans after Jake Luton had just one passing attempt and he turned his six carries into one score. Jacksonville gets a tasty match-up against the Packers in Week 10 and they’re rushing defense hasn’t been great not to mention the Jaguars will need to control the ball a bit to have any hope of sticking in this game.
Gus Edwards RB BAL - Mark Ingram was out in Week 9 and so the Ravens top-ranked rushing attack turned its attention to Edwards though J.K. Dobbins did see a nice amount of work too. The five carries that Edwards saw were so many that they doubled his season total he had coming into the game. All of those carries were inside the 10 as well and one went for a score on the ground. Dobbins saw three carries but mostly outside the 10 and none for a score as the Ravens relied on the ground game in the red zone on Sunday. We already know that Edwards had a decent role last year with both Ingram and Lamar Jackson healthy and posting more than 1,000 yards each so if Ingram misses more time, Edwards is in a solid spot to get decent work and punch in some scores.
Kalen Ballage RB LAC - Here’s a name we haven’t heard basically all season. That’s because he’s been buried on the Chargers depth chart behind Austin Ekeler , Justin Jackson , Josh Kelley, and Troymaine Pope , but when injuries and poor play happened, Ballage got a shot after being called up from the practice squad Saturday. Ballage saw four carries inside the red zone, as part of his 15 overall, and punched one of those four in for a touchdown. It’s unclear what’s going to happen in the Chargers backfield depending on injuries and if Kelley gets hot again, which he hasn’t been for about a month, but Ballage might be a cheap flier for Week 10 if he’s still on the active roster and guys haven’t started coming back yet.
Red Zone Receiving
Curtis Samuel WR CAR - If you have read the NFL Weekly Match-Up Report for this week, you’d have seen a stat in there showing just how much the Panthers spread the ball around and this week it was Samuel’s turn to be the one in the red zone to get the most work. He saw three passes thrown his way, the most of any game this season and the first time in several games he’s seen even one ball come his way, catching all three and one for a score. It was evident early on that D.J. Moore wasn’t going to be much of a factor as they locked him up pretty well so Samuel stepped up in his place and had his best showing the season inside the 20.
Darren Waller TE LV - It’s no secret that the Raiders love throwing to Waller, in fact he’s the second-highest targeted TE in the league behind only Kelce, and in Week 9 he had his best red zone target day of the year with three passes coming his way. He caught two of them and one for a score but what else makes this showing very interesting is that Derek Carr only threw three passes inside the 20 all game and all of them went to Waller. It’s one thing to be your quarterback’s favorite target overall but to be the only one he’s looking to some weeks when they get near the end zone is just another added bonus of rostering Waller.
John Brown WR BUF - Brown now has seven targets on the season. Three of those came in Week 9 which were his first since Week 4 and tied for the most he’s had in a single week as he also saw three in Week 1. A lot of people were expecting a good day from the Bills’ receivers because of the matchup against the worst coverage team in the league but this was still a better showing inside the 20 than people thought from Brown especially when you realize that he accounted for half of the targets that Josh Allen threw on Sunday in the red zone. As the season goes on and people key in more on Stefon Diggs , who’s put up equivalent numbers to DeAndre Hopkins , Brown should see more work coming his way.
Darnell Mooney WR CHI - Mooney is still flying under the radar as the Bears de facto number two receiver after Allen Robinson but he’s gaining attention now. He led the Bears’ receiving threats in red zone work in Week 9 with two targets, catching one of them, and that brings him to five on the season. The five this year is third on the team among receivers behind Robinson and Anthony Miller (who are tied at seven each) but Mooney has seen four of his five targets in the last three weeks with at least one in each game. He’s only one target behind Jimmy Graham for the second-most on the team overall and he’s the only one who’s seen work inside the 20 each of the last three weeks which raises his fantasy value going forward.
Red Zone Defense
Chicago Bears - At this point in the season there are just two teams that are allowing less than 50-percent of their opponent’s trips to the red zone to convert to touchdowns. The Bears are the best of the bunch at a great 41.9-percent rate. While they are middle of the road in terms of trips allowed at 31 (ranking 14th) the 13 touchdowns allowed is tied for the fewest in the league. The interesting part of this match-up for Week 10 is that the Vikings are the second-best offense in the league in converting trips to the red zone to touchdowns on offense so it’s that old unstoppable force against the immovable object.
Denver Broncos - Denver is the second defense halfway through the season, in terms of games played, to allow less than 50-percent conversion rate for their opponents. They’ve given up 29 trips by their opponents but just 14 have turned into touchdowns for a 48.3-percent rate. They need their defense to be that stout because their offense isn’t that great in the red zone and neither is their opponent’s offense this week with the Raiders at less than 60-percent conversion on offense. Considering the injuries they’ve sustained on the defense this year, it’s pretty impressive to see them locking down teams in the short field.
Arizona Cardinals - The Cardinals are getting a lot of attention for their offense with Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins and how electric they are, but in fairness their defense should get a bit more credit. They are allowing opponents to convert at exactly 50-percent in the red zone this year which makes them the third-best in that stat in the league. They have been particularly good against the run as out of the 15 total touchdowns allowed in the red zone, only four have been on the ground.