Lance's 2021 Week 3 Recap and Week 4 Waiver Priorities
With week 3 complete I’m just going to give my notes on some of the bigger storylines from week 3 and make a few early season snap judgements.
-The Chiefs remind me of the Peyton Manning led Colts; they’ve got the offense to dominate anyone, but their defense is bad enough to ruin any and all Super Bowl aspirations. The difference is, when Manning was in Indy the AFC South wasn’t very good, that’s not the case in the AFC West.
-The Jags showed some life, finally, and the key that spurred the offense on? James Robinson. Who would’ve thought the second year back who set records for undrafted RBs just a year ago would be such a helpful boost. Oh that’s right, pretty much everyone not named Urban Meyer. In case you couldn’t tell, there’s a hint of fantasy football related bitterness in my tone.
-Justin Fields and the Bears looked awful. It’s not an overreaction. Yes, the Browns are one of the most talented teams in the NFL, but I saw from Fields exactly what he demonstrated in college, an inability to get the ball out of his hands quickly. There were a few sacks that were entirely the O-Line’s fault too, but not all of them. If he wants to have a shot at anything this year he’s gotta get the ball out fast because that Line is not going to do him any favors.
-Something had to give between Washington’s defense and Josh Allen, both of which were not playing anywhere near the level they were at in 2020 through the first two weeks of this season. Josh Allen is the one who exploded, which leaves us pondering what is the problem in Washington?
-Indy needs to adjust their play calling. Knowing full well that Wentz was hobbled I don’t understand why Taylor got just 10 carries (at 6.4 YPC), while Wentz threw the ball 37 times. That’s why they lost, plain and simple.
-I could write an entire article on Pittsburgh, so I’ll try and keep this short. At the end of Terry Bradshaw’s career Pitt failed to find his successor, opting instead to add talent elsewhere. Bradshaw retired after the ‘83 season. From 1984-2003 the Steelers would make just one Super Bowl (they lost) and five AFC championship games. During the Bradshaw era (1970-83) they made six AFC championships and four Super Bowls (all wins). They have sent themselves down that exact path once again by deciding to cling to their future HOF Quarterback too long.
-What a tremendous feat by Tucker in their win over the Lions, but it never should have happened. I’ve heard ex-head officials talk about the slight delay we sometimes see between the play clock hitting zero and the snap of the ball with no flag being thrown. The reason it happens is the ref watching the play clock sees it hit zero and then checks to see if the ball has been snapped, simply put, the delay is due to a human limitation. But that play clock at the end of the Ravens Lions game sat at zero for about a two count before being snapped. The flag should’ve been thrown, the Ravens should’ve been backed up five yards and the game should’ve ended on a Hail Mary or some razzle dazzle.
-Miami and Brissett played a heck of a lot better than I expected them to, but Brissett was far from looking like someone who can win games while Tua is out. His YPA was an awful 4.4, and Jaylen Waddle was predominantly targeted on short routes and screens. Brissett has a big arm, and Waddle and Fuller are burners, why was Miami not trying to take advantage of that?
-LOOK AT THEM VIKINGS! They were literally one play away from winning in week 1 and in week 2, but against Seattle they showed up on both sides of the ball and didn’t leave it up to a last second play, they won it outright. That’s the team I expected to see from the get go. Side note, Cousins is on fire (73.9% completion rate, 118.3 QBR, 918 yards passing, 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions).
-The Green Bay defense that we saw through almost the entire first half and for spurts in the second half is exactly what the Packers need come the playoffs, especially if they want to get over the NFC championship hump.
-Dallas is the team to beat in the NFC East. I know that’s an obvious comment since they are currently on top of the division, but barring injuries I don’t see Philly, Washington or the Giants knocking them off that pedestal. We know what their pass game can do, but right now the key is that they’re running the ball well, and that is taking the pressure off their weakest link, the defense. But even the defense has players stepping up, particularly Trevon Diggs. I don’t think they’ll knock off a team like the Bucs or Rams if they ran into them in the playoffs, but getting to the playoffs would be a win for them in general.
FANTASY WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
QB: Taylor Heinicke (Washington)
We’ve officially hit the “streaming Quarterbacks” portion of waiver wire targets. Heinicke is coming off back to back 20+ fantasy point performances and he’s got a matchup with Atlanta next week. Until the Falcons can do it consistently, their defensive performance in shutting down Daniel Jones will be considered more of an issue with Jones’ inconsistent play.
RB: Chuba Hubbard (Carolina)
There is not much on the waiver wire for Running Backs. So, if you’re hurting at RB then you need to be paying attention to which starters are getting hurt so you can snatch up their replacements while they are out. CMC is expected to miss a few weeks, and after he went down on Thursday night Hubbard got the majority of the touches (14 to Royce Freeman’s 6)
WR: Hunter Renfrow (Las Vegas)
The Raiders’ passing game is not going anywhere and Renfrow leads their Receivers in targets (22) and receptions (16), he’s second to Darren Waller in both categories. If you’re looking for someone to take over your flex role cause your team is banged up or not playing the way you had hoped, Renfrow’s a good player to target.
WR: Elijah Moore/Keelan Cole/Jamison Crowder (NY Jets)
Given how the Jets and Zach Wilson have done through the first three weeks your immediate reaction to seeing me list a Jets Receiver might be to laugh hysterically, and I totally get that. But before you write this one off and move on take a look at these stats: The Jets have played Carolina, New England and Denver, all three rank in the top five for pass defense. Their next two games are against the Titans and Falcons both rank in the bottom half of the league in pass defense. Moore has 18 targets so far, but Moore also suffered a concussion on Sunday, so if he isn’t good to go I would replace him with Cole on this list, unless Crowder is back from injury in which case he would be the guy to get out of these three.
TE: Dan Arnold (Jacksonville)
He’s more of a stash option because the Jags just traded for him and he’ll need a little time to get into the playbook, but you don’t send away a former first-round pick who’s in the second season of his career (C.J. Henderson) for a third round pick and a player (Dan Arnold) and not use that player. Arnold is big and has very good athleticism, and considering how O’Shaughnessy was used week one I’d expect Arnold to get plenty of work as Lawrence’s safety outlet.
K: Chase McLaughlin (Cleveland)
I’m not listing McLaughlin just because he exploded this week, I’m also listing him because Cleveland plays Minnesota next week and the Vikings defense finally showed they can get stops. Meaning, Cleveland could see a decent amount of FG opportunities in week 4.
D: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals defense looks better and better each week. I’m not sure if it’s just the added talent on the D-Line (Hendrickson, Hill and Ogunjobi), or if they changed something up in the scheme, but regardless it’s working. Next up they get the Jags. Trevor Lawrence has already tossed 7 picks this year, they’ve allowed 5 sacks, and they’re averaging about 18 PPG.
