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Week 7 Observations

Written by 
Chris Liss
Published on October 24, 2016

Lisbon is an interesting place - I'm not sure if we got here too early or too late. The entire area is seemingly under construction as gentrification happens at 100 mph. I got sick the day after we arrived, but was able to get out and about on Saturday, and by Sunday I was fine to watch nine hours of football, not including the Sunday night game which I refuse to dignify by even watching the highlights. The London game was bad enough, and in truth I was only able to stay with it by expressing my disgust on Twitter.

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(A fountain near one of Lisbon's lookout points. Above, me drinking a pina colada - oddly they were selling them at one stand - at noon on a rainy day.)

• Ben McAdoo apparently learned nothing from the second half against the Ravens. Once again, he let the team get into a 10-0 hole early by running on 1st-and-10 for no gain and essentially squandering one down per series. Not including kneel-downs at the end of each half, McAdoo called 12 1st-and-10 runs and nine passes. The runs went for 1, 3, 0, 10, 1, 0, 1, 1, -2, 0, -2 and 2, respectively for an average of 1.25 YPC. (Keep in mind that includes a 10-yard run).

The 1st-and-10 passes went for 11, 9, 0, 7, 5, 14, 6, 0 and 0, respectively for an average of 5.78 YPA. While the passing wasn't good - in large part because the Giants so rarely attempted a play more than a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage - it was much better than running, especially given that Eli Manning was neither sacked nor intercepted.

• The Giants finished with 18 rushes for 38 yards (2.1 YPC). The Giants longest play from scrimmage all game was 25 yards.

• The Giants won the game only because the defense had three sacks and four picks, two of which were gifts, one of which it took to the house, and Jeff Fisher incredibly punted on 4th-and-short in plus territory three times, not including a 4th-and-3 punt from his own 40.

• Case Keenum's game-ending interception (an arm punt to an empty corner of the end zone where Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was standing by himself) can only be described as performance art.

• Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard saw mostly low-upside short throws on their equally-distributed targets. As in the New Orleans game, McAdoo never took advantage of an undermanned and injured secondary.

• Paul Perkins needs to supplant 31-year-old Rashard Jennings - Perkins is the only back showing any spark.

• Todd Gurley caught six passes for 35 yards - a good sign because the Rams can't get him going on the ground.

• Tavon Austin had 15 targets for 57 yards - the Rams still don't know how to use him as a receiver.

• Here are *some* of my Tweets and during the game if you want to get a sense of this summary in real time:

• And if that weren't enough for you, here's our rant on the Sirius XM show.

• With Cody Kessler hurt, Kevin Hogan became the Browns' sixth QB in seven games (Terrelle Pryor, Josh McCown, Robert Griffin and Charlie Whitehurst.)

• Jeremy Hill's YPC had not been good dating back to the start of 2015, but 9-for-168 cleaned that up. Gio Bernard still saw the bulk of the carries, however.

• Tyler Eifert finally suited up, but saw only two targets. Brandon LaFell continues to be relevant. A.J. Green had a big day, thanks to a Hail Mary.

• The Redskins-Lions had an O/U of 50, and even with some late back-and-forth scoring, it hit only 37.

• Vernon Davis is doing exactly what Jordan Reed was doing before his concussion.

• Finally in Week 7, Marvin Jones and Golden Tate were the Nos. 1 and 1a the team had envisioned in the preseason. Of course, Jones only did his damage after Josh Norman left with a concussion.

• Matt Jones' fumbled twice, and Chris Thompson had a strong game as a runner and receiver. The problem for Thompson is not his size so much as his injury history - it's hard to see him emerging as a workhorse back.

• The Lions' running game is a wasteland, and Theo Riddick and Dwayne Washington will complicate the picture more when they return.

• The Titans were the *sharp* side laying less than the full three at home against the name QB. But a run heavy team with an average QB (Marcus Mariota isn't good yet), its best receiver a TE and a punt-happy coach made for a shaky favorite. Even so, as usual DeMarco Murray got his - he's money in the bank even if one could have hoped for more in a home start vs. the Colts.

• Andrew Luck got 9.1 YPA, threw 3 TDs and no picks. He's having a great season given his limited supporting cast, and that he took only two sacks is a good sign. Donte Moncrief's return should also help.

• Jack Doyle saw 10 targets and caught nine. With Dwayne Allen out, he's a top-10 TE.

• As great as Spencer Ware's been, Andy Reid insists on using Charcandrick West in key spots. Consequently, the Chiefs had more trouble than necessary closing out the Saints, and Ware saw only 17 rushes and two targets. Of course, he led the team in rushing and receiving.

• Jamaal Charles had one carry for no yards after experiencing renewed swelling in his surgically repaired knee. The biggest obstacle to Ware is not Charles but Reid.

• Michael Thomas caught 10 of 13 targets for 130 yards. He's a staple in this offense and deserves to be.

• Mark Ingram finally got involved in the passing game with four catches for 20 yards and a score. That's crucial if he's to re-establish himself as an every-week fantasy starter.

• Drew Brees put up 367 and three on the road, well above average for him, but he did throw a pick-six.

• Willie Snead got legally tackled by his hair on one play. If I were a defender, I'd grab anyone's hair with both hands and throw all my weight toward the ground. Either the guy is tackled, or he's scalped. If I were an offensive player with long hair, I'd either cut it or put tons of grease in it. The only issue with the latter is it's hard to get out just by shampooing.

• What a nightmare for LeSean McCoy and Mike Gillislee owners.

• Jay Ajayi apparently is no fluke. He joins O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams as the only backs ever to rush for 200 yards in consecutive weeks. Put differently, neither Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Jim Brown nor Barry Sanders ever did that.

• Geno Smith can't buy a break. Last year he loses the job to Fitzpatrick because he got punched in the face. Now he loses it again after tearing his ACL in his first start of the year.

• Matt Forte finally got involved in the passing game with four catches for 54 yards and a score to go along with 30 carries.

• It's hard to take anything away from the Eagles-Vikings game. I suppose it was nice Dorial Green-Beckham finally got into the end zone, but no one had more than 39 yards receiving for the Eagles in the contest.

• After a couple weeks of Amari Cooper leading the Raiders, it was back to Michael Crabtree. I'd still prefer the more explosive Cooper, but Crabtree will get his looks.

• The Jaguars offense is broken, particularly the Blake Bortles-Allen Robinson connection that was so reliable last year. If you have Robinson you have no choice but to keep using him. If you don't have him, you could try to offer Crabtree or someone for him, but I doubt the Robinson owner will bite.

• Marqise Lee is quietly having a decent year now that he's finally healthy.

• Everyone seems to know Melvin Gordon is terrible, but he keeps trolling us with TDs.

• If Tevin Coleman's hamstring injury is serious, Devonta Freeman is a top-five back. His numbers weren't great Sunday, but he's a horse, and he's in the right offense.

• Julio Jones simply doesn't score TDs at a rate commensurate with his production. We can speculate as to the reasons why, but at this point the sample is too large to write off as variance.

• Hunter Henry makes for a good buy-low target after a game where Antonio Gates saw 10 targets and Henry only three.

• Joey "The Boss" Bosa is already the best pass rusher in the NFL.

• Landry Jones was terrible. I needed the Steelers to score on their final two-minute drive to cover the spread, and Jones was throwing four-yard passes in the middle of the field and then taking 25 seconds to snap the next play. It was as if he were on tranquilizers.

• Le'Veon Bell will produce no matter. Even though Antonio Brown had a good game (107 yards), I'm still concerned about him.

• LeGarrette Blount is underrated, especially in an offense with elite blocking tight ends Martellus Bennett and Rob Gronkowski giving the team essentially seven offensive linemen.

• Mike Tomlin's decision to kick a 54-yard field goal down 11 with five and a half minutes left on 4th-and-2 at Heinz Field (one of the league's toughest venues in which to kick) with a mediocre kicker was mind-bogglingly stupid. I get taking the three first because you need two scores, but you do that on 4th-and-10 and from a makable distance, not 4th-and-2 from a mile away.

• Jameis Winston looked crisp and accurate, throwing well on the move and making good decisions. Of course, he was playing against the 49ers. Mike Evans is a top-five WR.

• The Bucs are stuck with Roberto Aguayo after using a second-round pick on him, but his attempt from 50 yards was aimed toward an invisible set of uprights 20 feet away from the real ones.

• With Navarro Bowman out, the 49ers have the NFL's friendliest run defense. Jacquizz Rodgers went 26-for-154, but unfortunately Peyton Barber benefited from the garbage time with 12-for-84 including a 44-yard TD.

• Antone Smith, NFL history's per-play king, had three touches for 47 yards. At 31, they still can't slow him down.

• Colin Kaepernick has a nice floor for QB-flex leagues in Chip Kelly's offense with all those rushing yards. The rest of the team is a wasteland.

• As I mentioned, I didn't watch the Sunday night game, and I do not plan to.