BlindSquirrelFF

[Ryan Linkletter @blitzlink_]

Fantasy Takeaways Week 4 📝

JSN, CeeDee Lamb, Chase, Puka, and Zay Flowers are your top 5 wide receivers for the rest of the year

Braelon Allen dominated the workload with Hall out. Should be better ahead

More notes continued 👇

[Deepak Chona, MD. SMA @SportMDAnalysis]

#NFL Injury Updates

#Bengals Ja'Marr Chase - Avg = 8 days. ~1/3 would return Wk 5 w/o missing time. Most miss 1 game, return the following w/o dip

#Ravens Lamar Jackson - Video suggests mild high ankle. Avg = 2 wks. Most would miss at least 1 wk. Re-injury = concern

1/6

[Kevin Roth @KevinRothWx]

🏈☔️ I think we’ll see some rain in NY and a few other games, but as of now I don’t see anything too alarming.

Full NFL Weather forecast is updated (free), on https://t.co/GwkW6NcaBJ

RT’s greatly appreciated as I work to take down lazy automated NFL weather sites 👌

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@TheFFRealist Nope

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@jmthrivept He’s clearly not getting the right supplements….

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@Ayodejman_ Walter ‘Heisenberg’ White would like a word…..😉

[Ryan Reynolds @RyanReynoldsNFL]

NFL Week 3 Observations

Jaguars 35, Patriots 6
- I’d rather have Trevor Lawrence than Drake Maye. This is not a knee jerk reaction of any kind; I’ve made it very clear that I don’t expect Maye to play well against real pass rushes for nearly a year.

- From the Lawrence end, he manages pressure well, where he navigated a few difficult pockets today. His second TD pass was not an easy throw, but later Lawrence threw a very small window TD pass to Parker Washington that was negated by OPI, then followed it up with another where Washington made an outstanding catch.

- Pressure management, fluidity, making high difficulty throws have become the norm for Lawrence in Liam Coen’s offense.

- Maye was atrocious in this game. Three turnovers, I saw at least one dropped interception which came the play after he missed a wide open DeMario Douglass, rocky against stacked pressure. When he had a clean pocket and there was a clear window he made a few good throws, but for 7 games dating back to last year’s playoffs, when Maye faces a good defense and/ or good pass rush, he simply hasn’t been very effective. He’s only in his third year, so there’s plenty of time for that to improve, but that’s been his reality for a while.

- Thankfully for Patriots fans, after next weeks’ trip to Buffalo, New England will face a string of very beatable defenses until their Week 11 bye.

Steelers 30, Bengals 27

- I thought Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers would win this game and that he’d play well, but Pittsburgh had more explosives than I was expecting

- Late in the game the turf monster tripped up Jaylen Warren and prevented him from a 40ish yard TD run, where that drive led to a late go-ahead field goal instead.

- I need Darnell Washington to be a good team’s standalone top tight end. In some ways he’s the perfect Steeler but I really need this guy to be the unquestioned starter somewhere.

- Joe Burrow was Joe Burrow for most of the contest, but he did lose a fumble on a late, potentially game tying or winning drive.

- Tee Higgins made a great catch on an underthrown ball in the endzone (I imagine it was purposely underthrown)

- The Steelers did a pretty solid job of mitigating the Bengals emerging front, as I expected, but Dexter Lawrence was a problem in this contest.

Bills 24, Chargers 16

- Dear Buffalo, please do not wear those uniforms again. If your opponent also has white helmets, please just break out those Jim Kelly era red helmet uniforms as your changeup.

- The Chargers forced five turnovers and their pass rush was radically more impactful today than I expected, to the point I said out loud at one point what happened to Buffalo’s offense line?

- The Chargers offense lost them this game, and I’ll put a lot of it on Justin Herbert. Sure, the interior offensive line is bad, but Herbert threw one pick, had a dropped pick in the endzone early in the game and he had at least one more later in the contest. Herbert made a good throw late and has obvious high-end talent, but when you’re a guy like him and your defense hands you five turnovers against Josh Allen’s Bills, you need to win that game.

- Greg Rousseau now has two sacks in each of the first three games.

Commanders 33, Seahawks 31

- I expected a Seahawks loss would require what I call the balls bouncing off players heads outcome: defensive score, special teams score, one shot play score. But Marcus Mariota simply made a ton of plays in this game, with most of them coming in high leverage spots. He had a dropped interception, but he was a few inches and a drop or two away from making another handful high difficulty chunk plays in this game. I was very impressed by him, and I would give him most of the credit for this upset.

- Washington was much better in the trenches, on both sides, than I was expecting. Their run defense was excellent, and they did a radically better job mitigating Seattle’s front than I was expecting.

- Sam Darnold had a pop up pick and later threw a devastating pick six on a short sit down that basically broke Seattle’s back. He otherwise had a pretty good game against a Washington roster that isn’t exactly brimming with talent, but nearly all of Seattle’s offense came through the air.

- I’m going to spend some time in the off season trying to figure out how JSN can continue to get hyper targeted at the rate that he does, and very few teams can mitigate it. It’s not a secret at all at this point, where I feel like Bill Belichick would legit bracket this guy on every obvious passing down, close to how he treated Randy Moss as a Raider.

Giants 12, Titans 7

- Giants vs. Titans was a weather mess that was pretty hard to watch.

- New York’s pass rush was impactful on a 4th and 5 in the scoring zone that got them off the field, but once again this group underwhelmed but this time against a Titans OL that hasn’t been very good. No sacks, just a couple hits, borderline embarrassing for a team with four former first round picks that can come off the edge.

- There was one positive I saw for New York today: Tony Pollard had a very real lane where I thought he had a shot to break one, but Arvell Reese ran him down limiting Pollard to just a 16 yard gain. At first, I thought Reese was a safety based on his speed, where after I realized it was him, the first name that popped into my head from a closing speed perspective only, was Brian Urlacher. Point being very few off ball linebackers would have caught Pollard as quickly as Reese did.

- I did not understand the Robert Saleh/ Brian Daboll hirings, nor the Titans offseason. The Titans drew up one of the most blatant pick plays I’ve ever seen that negated a long gain, because said blatant pick created that long gain. Not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like that, that looked like it was done on purpose.

- Both the Giants and Titans got cute on direct snaps in the scoring zone on one of the few successful drives either team had.

- Tennessee had no offense for most of this game, where they went for it on a 4thand 5 in the redzone down 12-0. They failed, horribly, and how this game played out if they kicked a field goal in this spot, they would have won late.

- I am a defense guy and not a penalty guy, at all, but there was a brutal facemask on Cam Ward in this game where I thought they should have ejected the defender for it.

- Cam Ward did very little until late. On one very high leverage third down where he was evading, he stayed very calm, found a streaking receiver, and converted. Wan’Dale Robinson later made a really nice grab for a score that put Tennessee on the board.

- On the final drive the Giants jumped on a fourth down hard count, extending the drive. I believe it was Tremaine Edmunds.

- In the scoring zone on that final drive, Ward threw a bad pick by Holland that sealed the game. Ward had his moments, but I didn’t see any special to him in this game.

Colts 19, Texans 17

- If you like defense, I thought Colts vs. Texans was a pretty good game. Houston had four sacks and forced three Daniel Jones turnovers, with Will Anderson in particular having a pretty monster game. Houston’s talent level on defense just pops every week on a variety of reps.

- The Colts had far fewer splash plays, but they only gave up around 220 total yards. DeForest Buckner had a big game for Indy.

- Indy won on a 53-yard field goal with only around 10 seconds left. Spencer Shrader had two 50+ yard field goals in this game for the Colts.

Lions 31, Jets 24

- Geno Smith threw for over 300 yards for the fourth time against Dan Campbell’s Lions.

- Both Garrett Wilson (10-107-1) and Kenyon Sadiq (7-105-1) had monster games. Sadiq in particular, I thought it was going to take longer than Week 3, but he’s a fascinating player for the Jets long term. Guy just looks like a matchup nightmare.

- Jared Goff had a very efficient game, while Jahmyr Gibbs had 164 total yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 touches.

- Detroit’s secondary continues to be a liability, but their pass rush made an impact, with the caveat that Geno Smith is someone that has a habit of taking more sacks/ hits than he sometimes should.

Chiefs 24, Dolphins 10

- A bit of a sleepy game from Kansas City where they were up or tied for basically the whole game, but they let Miami hang around until the very end.

- If Miami was going to truly threaten the Chiefs, Malik Willis’s lost fumble on a long drive in the first half was probably the pivot.

- While this game was close for most of the contest, I’m still not seeing anything out of Miami.

Browns 21, Panthers 18

- I can’t quite say Deshaun Watson played well, but he had some moments again.

- An early takeaway about Todd Monken is he understands his roster.

- Really good game out of former No. 5 overall pick DT Mason Graham, best game I’ve seen him play as a pro.

- All four teams in the AFC North are 2-1.

- Carolina’s top two tight ends outproduced their top two wide receivers in this contest.

- Bryce Young didn’t have a very good game, but he still kept his team in it on the road. Through three weeks Young’s start to the season has been pretty promising.

Vikings 23, Buccaneers 16

- Myles Price of Minnesota returned a punt for a score in Tampa, and he showed off some breakaway speed.

- This was an interesting Kyler Murray game because he wasn’t consistent at all, but he threw for a few chunk plays, including two big ones to Jordan Addison on the same drive with the second being a score, but it was the run he converted on a third and long that made you at least consider the ceiling of this team if Murray finds himself again.

- It looked like Justin Jefferson had an injury in this game.

- For the third game in a row, Baker Mayfield wasn’t very good and it looked like he suffered an injury.

- I’d imagine regime change is coming for Tampa Bay, which is probably a blessing in disguise. That said, they are only one game back in the division.

Raiders 35, Saints 27

- Another super odd game from Tyler Shough, who had four touchdown passes to go with three turnovers.

- Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara look like they are in a 60/40 type usage timeshare, which in retrospect makes a lot of sense.

- Kirk Cousins is having a very good year for the now 3-0 Raiders. The first two wins I said I’d pin mostly on the Dolphins and Chargers, but I’d give Vegas the credit for this one.

- Brock Bowers returned and was the centerpiece of the offense.

- Raiders edge Malcon Koonce had a pretty good game.

49ers 36, Cardinals 30

- Deebo Samuel scored on what looked like a purposely called hook and ladder on third and long that went for 80 yards.

- Two touchdown game out of George Kittle, four touchdown game out of Brock Purdy who continues to shred, with the caveat he’s faced the Dolphins and Cardinals over the last two weeks.

- This game was both never really in doubt, but Jacoby Brissett and company kept it reasonably close with strong games from Trey McBride, Michael Wilson and Jeremiyah Love.

- Similar to the Jets the Cardinals have a pretty good offensive core for a new future at quarterback.

Ravens 34, Cowboys 31
- Very efficient game from Lamar Jackson, and a solid showing from Derrick Henry.

- Dallas got close to no pressure.

- Another big game for Ceedee Lamb, a good one from Dak Prescott and George Pickens, but perhaps most encouraging is Javonte Williams had his best game of the season.

- That said, this did not quite feel like a game where 65 total points were scored.

Rams, Broncos

- Rams were in control in the first half, up 16-0

- For years now Kyren Williams has become such a rock solid, very reliable running back in all phases.

- It’s kind of remarkable that Davante Adams went for over 100 yards again against this opponent, with Puka Nacua sidelined/ the Rams wide receiver room falling off a cliff after those two.

- Bo Nix drove two scoring drives with two-point conversions in both to tie it in the third quarter.

- Stafford threw a pick six returned for a score by stud safety Talanoa Hufanga in the fourth quarter, then Stafford answered by finding Konata Mumpfield for a long score on what looked like a coverage breakdown on TV.

- I’m not sure we should be calling illegal hands to the face in that situation late in the game, in what was one of the better games of the year to date in a potential Super Bowl preview. In that high leverage of a spot, limited stuff like that needs to be let go.

- Not sure why Denver took that time out before the final play of the game, given that Stafford had to run to the sideline for the play. It ultimately didn’t matter, even though Matthew Stafford made a great game interesting down to the final second.

I’ve watched every NFL game for nearly a decade, which I’ve done for the purpose of sports speculation.

I run a reality-based program here.

I’ll keep getting this out as Sunday Night Football ends as long as the engagement I get warrants the effort. So far it definitely has, so I appreciate all of you that have left comments and shared this in the past.

[Kevin Roth @KevinRothWx]

🏈☔️🚨 Fresh NFL weather update on MySportsWeather 🚨

It’s not *good* weather, but it’s definitely positive news for fantasy players in the Giants and Commanders games: https://t.co/vHgbmLTmTC (FREE)

Any shares or likes are greatly appreciated 👌

[Ryan Reynolds @RyanReynoldsNFL]

NFL Week 3 Preview

Here’s what I’m looking at on this slate:

- Would I rather have Trevor Lawrence than Drake Maye is a question I’ve been pondering since I watched Lawrence shred Cleveland on Opening Day. That consideration makes this the most interesting game on this slate for me.

- Lawrence has a tougher matchup against Mike Vrabel’s defense, while Maye faces his third quality pass rush to start the season.

- Maye had a disastrous showing against Seattle, followed by a better, but still pretty pedestrian performance against the Steelers last week, in a game New England’s defense primarily carried. I don’t need Maye to shred a defense with a quality pass rush, but I’d still like to see him build on his performance last week because consistently playing well against stacked pressure is how he takes that next step.

- Aaron Rodgers did not have a very good game against New England last week, which I was expecting. Against Cincinnati, who has a pretty good looking front four, Rodgers should have more opportunities against the Bengals backend in what I’d expect would be a quick-hitter centric game plan for Pittsburgh. My concern there is I can’t quite count on that kind of logic from Mike McCarthy, but we’ll see.

- I’m a Joe Burrow guy, I remember fondly betting on him just about every week of his rookie season when he was a 6ish point underdog knowing those opportunities were not going to last much longer. But I’ve seen his offense struggle in Pittsburgh early in the season before, so that’s on the table here. That matchup duality has me leaning towards a close game where I could see the Steelers leaving with a win.

- Rams at Broncos is a pretty fascinating Sunday Night Football matchup. At its core it would not surprise me in the slightest if Denver won. That reality frames the Broncos as the contender that they are.

- With Puka Nacua likely out, Denver is going to be a radically tougher opponent to game plan for than the Giants were, where Davante Adams just crushed New York’s injury reduced cornerback group. The Broncos are a much different animal. If Nacua misses, I’d expect more 13 personnel once again out of Sean McVay given the opponent and his own roster limitations.

- Bo Nix is the kind of good that you can’t completely rely on. While he could go out and win this game against the Rams, who played very well defensively last week, he’s ultimately the reason I can’t quite get to actually liking Denver to win this game.

- It would not surprise me if the Seahawks shut out the Commanders. That pass rush/ pressure package against Marcus Mariota behind that back-of-the-pack Washington offensive line, I’ll be surprised if it’s not real bad for the Commanders’ offense on Sunday.

- Sam Darnold returns and Washington is a pretty good welcome back spot for Darnold, who probably won’t need to be perfect to come away with a win here.

- Kyler Murray is also back, drawing Tampa Bay’s throw on them to beat them style of defense. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Murray looks like in Kevin O’Connell’s offense because if the answer ends up being some variant of “good” Minnesota instantly becomes a threat in the NFC.

- A core reason for that is Brian Flores defense, who could have an absolute field day here if the Baker Mayfield of the last two weeks shows up in this spot.

- Tampa’s offensive line has underwhelmed through the first two weeks, but Mayfield has been genuinely bad.

- Kansas City is coming off an overtime game, but it’s hard to envision Patrick Mahomes and Steve Spagnuolo’s defense losing to this Dolphins team. That kind of outcome would either need Miami to transform into a radically different team within one week, or just a nightmare runout with turnovers and other unfortunate events for Kansas City.

- If Kenneth Walker went for over 100 and scored twice, no surprise here, but I’ll be curious to see if Andy Reid and Mahomes try to get a monster game out of Xavier Worthy, because if he can become who he was drafted to be, that dynamic speed demon is the element this offense has missed since Tyreek Hill was shipped to Miami years ago. Worthy isn’t Hill, but I’ve noticed moments since he was drafted where he’s close to being more of a factor, Miami seems like the right group to dial up more for him.

- I’m not sure when it will transpire, but at some point Justin Herbert’s Chargers are going to have a surge game. Mike McDaniel is very familiar with Buffalo, where his talent-poor Dolphins beat the Bills once last season behind a 30-point effort. The Chargers’ interior offensive line issues are still a massive concern, but this group is going to have a spike game at some point and Buffalo would make some sense, especially if DT Ed Oliver misses. Oliver is the guy that could potentially derail this game against the Chargers given how bad their offensive interior has played so far.

- If the Chargers’ offense has their third stinker in a row, I’m comfortable saying their season is over given their brutal schedule stretch that starts in Buffalo Sunday.

- Both Josh Allen and James Cook have very high ceilings in this matchup, especially if Herbert’s offense pushes Buffalo.

- Geno Smith has thrown for over 300 yards in each of the three games he’s faced Dan Campbell’s Lions. You could argue those are three of the best games Smith has played in his entire career. Given the state of Detroit’s secondary and the Jets sneaky good skill group, a fourth is on the table here.

- On the other side of things, I don’t quite see how the Jets slow down Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs’ offense coming off a long week after a loss.

- Nick Bosa is on the mend, which completely changes the 49ers pass rush. If Arizona gives San Francisco a scare, that’s likely driven by a spike game from Jacoby Brissett’s offense. I wouldn’t call that likely, but it’s more likely with Bosa out.

- I’ll be curious to see if Mike LaFleur tries to get Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. going a bit more in this spot.

- I would be surprised if the 49ers didn’t have another strong offensive output this week. I could see that being driven by either phase, which is how San Francisco is designed.

- There could be some impactful wind in Giants vs. Titans on Sunday, so I’d keep an eye on that, especially since that’s a trench game for both passing attacks, where the wind that’s going on right now might lead to both teams adjusting gameplans.

- New York has four former first round picks that they can bring off the edge (this includes Arvell Reese), but that group had very little impact against Dallas and the Rams. Barring weather-related game plan adjustments, if the Giants edge group can’t borderline derail this game against the Titan’s struggling offensive line, that’s a problem.

- Jameis Winston takes over for Jaxson Dart and LT Andrew Thomas is already banged up in a matchup where Tennessee’s front four has significant upside. I don’t think New York was going anywhere, anyway, but a week ago I didn’t think they were in much danger of losing the Brian Daboll revenge game, where now I view it as a coin flip.

- Over the last several years the Browns’ defense has been an entirely different animal at home, so I’m very curious to see if that trend continues in their first home game since shipping Myles Garrett to LA.

- That especially matters this week because Bryce Young has been very good in each of Carolina’s first two games.

- For the first time as a Brown, Deshaun Watson showed some signs of life last week. He gets a Carolina defense whose strengths are at linebacker and perimeter corner, but the Panthers do not have an overly impactful four man pass rush.

- Either the Browns or Panthers will enter Week 4 with a 2-1 record.

- The Colts path to victory here is built on their defense playing up against a bad Texans offensive line, with Nico Collins sidelined another week. Paired with an unspectacular, but clean game on offense. Given the high caliber of Houston’s defense, I’m putting this game squarely on the Colts defense. There’s no real shame in getting beat up by the Ravens and Chiefs, but that won’t be the case if Houston has a plus game on offense given their current limitations.

- Either the Colts or Texans will start 0-3.

- I actually like Tyson Bagent as a backup quarterback, but I think Case Keenum gives the Bears a better shot against the Eagles.

- Ben Johnson is coming off the worst game I’ve seen him call, where he ends up facing the NFL’s two best defensive play callers in back-to-back weeks with Brian Flores last week and Vic Fangio this week.

- After watching the Titans take the Eagles to the brink last week, Chicago can be competitive here, with the caveat that if the ceiling version of Philadelphia’s offense shows up, which has been pretty rare over the last few years, the Bears are in trouble.

- Cowboys vs. Ravens is on a neutral field in Rio de Janeiro.

- If Zay Flowers misses this contest, the Ravens become significantly easier to defend, just like they were last week when they only scored 17 points against the Saints. That said, if Jayden Daniels didn’t get hurt last week he may have ran for 150 yards against Dallas in a negative game script. I’m quite confident Declan Doyle and Lamar Jackson noticed that in film review.

- Saints vs. Raiders is interesting for a few reasons, but one of them is both teams are in pretty classic letdown spots.

- I think the Raiders finally have a bright future, but they are a bit of a 2-0 fugazi having faced genuinely bad Miami and a Chargers team that is in an early tailspin. Both of those wins struck me as more about the Raiders opponent, than anything Vegas was doing themselves, with the caveats that their defense looks like it’s a tier better from last year and Kirk Cousins is a professional quarterback. The situation reminds me a bit of the Kurt Warner Giants from Eli Manning’s rookie season in I believe it was 2004.

- I liked Kellen Moore last year, and his Saints took the Lions to overtime and were a failed two-point conversion away from beating Detroit. Then they went into Baltimore and beat the Ravens in their home opened last week. There’s no way not to be impressed.

- Tyler Shough really played a very good game last week given the opponent he faced, but New Orleans’ defense is the group that has surprised me the most so far. I thought they’d be a liability going into the season, but that unit drove last week’s victory.

- Saints LT Kelvin Banks is sidelined, which is a problem when facing an edge like Maxx Crosby.

- In three total games between them, Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara have combined for 17 targets.

I’ve watched every NFL game for roughly a decade now, which I do for sports speculation purposes.

I run a reality-based program here.

I’ll do this every week as long as engagement justifies the time.

[Ryan Linkletter @blitzlink_]

There were nearly 45 HOURS of football played this week…

I went through every game so you didn’t have to.

Here are the 18 BIGGEST fantasy football takeaways from Week 2 that you NEED to know 🧵👇

[Ethan Kreager @EthanKreagerFF]

Sunday week 2 quick thoughts:

(All 14 games)

- It's time to give Chris Olave his flowers. Top 5 WR for the rest of the season. Backed up his monster week 1 with 8/86/1 in week 2

- Dalton Schultz...

[Ryan Reynolds @RyanReynoldsNFL]

NFL Week 2 Observations

- I hope Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are not only back soon, but with no long-term ramifications. Brutal stuff

Patriots 20, Steelers 3
- Another fantastic game by Mike Vrabel’s defense, if Aaron Rodgers wasn’t a savvy all timer it would have actually been worse.

- Drake Maye didn’t play well against a high-performing Steelers front, but he did make a few impressive plays. One was an out of structure play he made on 3rdand 5, another was a play he made out of his own end. Again, I wouldn’t say Maye played well, I’d say the defense carried this victory as expected, but he at least had some legit flashes against a tough NFL defense, which is a step in the right direction.

- TreVeyon Henderson broke a 40ish yard run for a score, that was blocked perfectly, where he weaved those blocks as well as he could of, while accelerating at the right times. From that slant, that was as good of a team run as you’ll see.

- The Steelers defense was good enough to win, and I wouldn’t even say Rodgers outright played bad in this game given what he had to deal with, but this is still a volatile offense that I don’ think is going to age well.

Vikings 9. Bears 3
- I’m not going to go too far into the Chicago side of their game today given Williams injury, but rookie tight end Sam Rousch blew a block on a third down in Week 1, and he had three major negative plays in this contest. I would not be surprised if he saw the field less going forward.

- Chicago shot themselves in the foot with a pretty high volume in penalties, a fumble from the one, a blocked field goal on a block that Rousch fanned on (not to mention his drop), the Bears at least partially beat themselves today.

- I’ll also give a lot of credit to Brian Flores defense. He brought heat on third downs, and it was effective all day where they may have left with 8+ sacks against a quarterback without superhuman evasion abilities. The Vikings edge duo of Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner both had excellent games.

- It was a rainy, messy game all day, but Carson Wentz did not follow up his rock-solid Week 1 relief appearance with a good showing here. Making the Vikings 2-0 start given the division rivals they’ve already faced very advantageous for their future playoff prospects.

- I’ll reiterate that I think Dillon Thieneman looks like a real player, while adding that TJ Edwards had one of his better games over the last 12 months and rookie corner Malik Muhammad has had his moments in each of the last two weeks.

- Wentz missed Justin Jefferson for a TD on third down, where contact from Thieneman broke it up. Bears linebacker Devin Bush also dropped a gimmie interception on the first drive of this contest.

Bengals 20, Texans 6

- The Bengals offense vs the Texans defense was a very good game to watch for a football guy, as Joe Burrow and the Bengals play makers had their moments, including a circus catch for a TD from Ja’Marr Chase, while the Texans defense kept them contained and had an impactful pass rush. If you are anti field position mattering person, watching that game through that lens might make you rethink that some.

- Cincinnati’s pass rush had another good game, where C.J. Stroud accumulated yards in what was a very one-dimensional Texans offense, but the Bengals front got them off the field a number of times, including two fourth down attempts in the red zone in the first half that both failed.

- This game was ultimately closer than the score would indicate.

Browns 23, Buccaneers 19

- For the second week in a row, Baker Mayfield was the primary reason his team lost. This was a terrible loss to the Browns, with the oddity that the game was delayed for hours.

- Mayfield’s interception in this game could have conceivably been intercepted by two different players, at two different levels. I don’t see a lot of those, and I’m still a little beside myself how little Mayfield did in this game coming off a loss where he had three fumbles.

- Keep in mind Trevor Lawrence had four touchdowns last week against this same Cleveland defense.

- Deshaun Watson played well, where this may have genuinely been the best game he’s played since he left Houston.

- I’ll also give Cleveland’s defense credit for playing much better in their second road game in Florida in a row after getting shredded in Jacksonville next week.

Cowboys 37, Commanders 20

- The Cowboys offense was in a correction spot and their passing attack responded accordingly. Dak Prescott was excellent. CeeDee Lamb had a monster game. Lamb also saw a Texas route while lined up out of the backfield in this contest.

- Javonte Williams has been more line with what I was expecting last year, which is a player that hasn’t made much of a difference.

- It looked like Jayden Daniels might run for 150 yards and throw for 250 given the negative game script Washington was in. That is before he injured his elbow, which is a tragedy.

- Even though Washington was trailing, this game was competitive and entertaining until that point. The Commanders seemed like they were drawing dead once Marcus Mariota took over.

Broncos 20, Jaguars 13

- Good game out of the Broncos’ defense, pass rush was impactful and timely, I also thought it showed where Trevor Lawrence’s supporting cast is truly at, which is average at best, overall.

- Good game out of Bo Nix, behind very good pass protection from Denver against a talented Jaguars front.

- Jaylen Waddle saw action early and often in this contest, finishing 8-138 on 10 targets.

- Even if Denver’s backfield was 100% healthy, I could see Jonah Coleman taking on a bigger role, similar to when I said this about Kyle Monangai early last year.

Packers 20, Jets 17 (OT)

- Maybe the weather was significantly worse 60 miles north of me, but the Packers’ offense is extremely lucky they walked away with a win today. The run game was nonexistent for the second week in a row, and I saw close to nothing out of Jordan Love in this game.

- Jayden Reed left this contest early and did not return.

- Kaleb Johnson out carried Marshawn Lloyd 8-6. Unless Lloyd left with an injury I didn’t notice, that strikes me as a bit of an indictment on how this staff views Lloyd (he has never done much for me, either)

- Green Bay’s defense had a solid outing, as the Jets have a sneaky good non-quarterback roster on offense but I’d also put some of that on Geno Smith and the coaching staff in New York.

49ers 35. Dolphins 13

- This game went pretty much how I expected.

- The 49ers passing attack was nearly perfect against Miami, where that game was never in doubt.

- Mike Evans didn’t have a big stat line but he made a very high difficulty catch to extend a drive on the sideline. He also appeared to suffer an injury.

- Malik Willis is not a player you realistically want to march out as a starter for a full season, but he does have talent and Miami did have two encouraging drives that ended in field goals in the first half of this contest.

- I feel for Devon Achane.

Raiders 26, Chargers 14

- The Chargers do not have a very good roster, they start 0-2 despite hosting two very beatable teams, and now they face an absolutely brutal schedule stretch of: at Buf, at Sea, vs. Den, at KC, Bye, at LAR, vs. Hou, at Bal (MNF). If the Chargers play at the level they have the past two weeks, they are going to start 0-9.

- Drops, bad quarterback play, a first round running back that isn’t really a difference maker, bad interior line play, a coaching staff that isn’t adding much currently. I’ve seen nothing from this offense over the past two weeks.

- Vegas is 2-0. Kirk Cousins is a professional quarterback, but one thing that stood out to me today is I liked that they sent Nakobe Dean as a blitzer multiple times given the issues LAC has in their interior offensive line.

Panthers 34, Falcons 3

- Bryce Young has played two very good games to start the season. They weren’t against juggernaut defenses, but he drove two 30-point scoring outputs while looking good doing it. To be clear, Devin Lloyd had a defensive score, so the Carolina offense didn’t score 30+ points themselves Sunday, but they played another strong game.

- Speaking of looking good, Darren Waller has already provided more than I was expecting and he looked good in this game.

- The Falcons offense has been hard to watch through the first two games, so hopefully they get Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix back next week so that everyone can get a better read on this team.

- I definitely saw why Jack Strand was not allowed to start either of these games.

Saints 24, Ravens 17
- Baltimore dropping these kinds of games early in the year, at home, is such a bizarre pattern.

- This passing attack definitely missed Zay Flowers, not just because he’s their best pass catcher, but because when he’s out everyone else is forced to play one role up, and that doesn’t work with this Ravens roster.

- Lamar Jackson threw a pick late on the potential game tying drive.

- This was the best game I’ve seen Tyler Shough play, very impressive efficiency against a tough opponent on the road

- Kellen Moore has done a great job with Shough, but I’ve been very impressed with New Orleans defense given their roster and the two opponents they’ve opened the season with.

- Chase Young had a good enough game that I may go back and watch all his snaps specifically, to see if he might have found himself Sunday.

Eagles 24, Titans 20

- The Eagles are lucky they escaped Tennessee with a win today. Just a messy game that they basically handed to the Titans on a silver platter.

- That said DeVonta Smith had a monster game, where it looked like Saquon Barkley left and did not return.

- Even though the Titans hung tough here and had their chances to win, I don’t have many positive things to say about their offense, with the caveat I wasn’t looked in on this game.

Seahawks 31, Cardinals 7
- I didn’t see enough of this game to have any real takeaways apart from the defense has not regressed at all through two games after winning it all last year.

Chiefs 33, Colts 30 (OT)

- Brutal way for this contest to finish for the Colts, but they did take a contender to overtime.

- Really good offensive output from the Colts, driven by Jonathan Taylor and their run game. If Indianapolis stumbles this season the organization is out of their mind if they move on from Shane Steichen.

- Daniel Jones had a solid game manager type of showing, which is what he is. The pick he had I wouldn’t put on him, just a great play by Kristen Fulton on a contested slant.

- I was bullish on the Colts defense entering the season, and with how I had that mapped out, next week is the first test to see if I was too high on them.

- I would not have gone for it on 4th and 8 with Daniel Jones as my quarterback.

- The throw Xavier Worthy dropped from Patrick Mahomes that Cris Collinsworth gushed about, was gush worthy. I actually said out loud “you have to catch that for him” and my days of saying things to the TV have been over for years.

- Mahomes has been great through the first two weeks, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much Travis Kelce has contributed.

I’ve watched every NFL game for roughly a decade (not this week’s Seahawks game, yet). I have done that for sports speculation purposes.

I run a reality-based program here.

If you want me to continue putting in the time to put this out as Sunday Night Football ends, comments and shares at the best way to show that. If the engagement continues to warrant the effort, I’ll continue putting this out consistently.

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@kyleynfl Everyone?

[Annie Agar @AnnieAgar]

NFL week 1 meeting

[JJ Zachariason @LateRoundQB]

Every Monday morning during the fantasy football season, I put together a thread featuring data from the week's games. This isn't about takes. It's just about providing information.

This is the Week 1 data dump.

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@phveektordrayne

[Ryan Reynolds @RyanReynoldsNFL]

NFL Predictions and Observations for Every NFC Team in 2026

Arizona Cardinals
- Arizona has tools on offense led by elite tight end Trey McBride and an abnormally deep running back room headlined by No. 3 overall pick Jerimiyah Love. Then you have Michael Wilson, who I can best frame as a guy I wasn’t expecting to get paid like this a year ago, but I totally get why Arizona extended him for real money. If Marvin Harrison Jr. can become who he was supposed to be, that’s a very good skill group.
- One of the biggest surprises of 2025 is Jacoby Brissett played quite well down the stretch. If the Cardinals can get league-average offensive line play, and what we saw late last year is who Brisset is, I like Arizona as a sneaky shootout partner.
- The Cardinals schedule is absolutely brutal to the point that if they entered their Week 14 bye without a win, I would not be completely surprised.
- Ultimately, I have Arizona as a team that is more interesting than their record will indicate, with a pretty good looking setup on offense for a new future at quarterback come draft time.
- Record Prediction: 3-14

Atlanta Falcons
- I have tried to talk myself into taking the Falcons to win the NFC South since Kevin Stefanski was hired, but that interest has been gradually eroded as the offseason has gone on.
- First, Tua Tagovailoa was not a good quarterback last year, I have no confidence in him. Micheal Penix has an intriguing skillset, but I’ve never once thought that he’s the guy. To me, this season is primarily about finding out if Penix is the future at the position for the franchise, one way or another.
- For this year, Stefanski looks like he’s in a different city, but the same sort of quarterback hell.
- Bijan Robinson is a stud, Kyle Pitts is coming off his most productive season and Drake London is a real WR1, though the rest of that group is thin, at best. That blue chip skill trio is the strength of this team.
- Offensive line looks average, where a couple years ago this was a top 10 group.
- Walker being on IR and Pearce being suspended turns a front four that surprised me at times last year, into a below average group entering the start of the season. That was the other aspect of this team that I thought was interesting, but that’s on the shelf, for now.
- The Falcons schedule before their bye, looks like 2-8, and it’s not exactly a cake walk on the other side of it.
- Record Prediction: 5-12

Carolina Panthers
- I want to start by saying that I picked the Panthers to win the South last year in a nationally distributed magazine, and that Dave Canales is a good coach.
- Given that, average at best quarterback, solid but unspectacular running back room, average at best wide receiver group, below average in both trenches.
- That leaves the Panthers with a good linebacker group and secondary, which isn’t enough,
- Ultimately that leaves Carolina with a roster that has to overachieve against a much tougher schedule this year, that doesn’t have one area that can carry games for them. After winning the division last season, this is a regression team for me in 2026, that looks stuck long term.
- Record Prediction: 5-12

Chicago Bears
- Chicago Bears Preview 2026 is a deep dive I did on X recently that is worth checking out if you’re interested in Chicago.
- I’m an original inhabitant of Caleb Williams Island, from that slant he makes several “wow” plays every week. They may not happen in such high leverage spots at the rate they did last year, but they are normal, for him.
- I expect Williams to have a better grasp of the offense in the second season of Ben Johnson’s system, and for his accuracy to gradually improve. All he needs to do is make 3 to 5 more throws a game, which I’d say is very doable.
- Williams also throws a number of balls away that would be sacks for 99% of the quarterbacks that have ever played the game, which is something I’d consider if you’re a numbers person.
- The unexpected retiring of center Drew Dallman was well managed given the situation, but that turns a locked in top 5 Offensive line into one that’s still good, but has less ceiling.
- I view Coleston Loveland as a future Hall of Famer, where I have paralleled Williams/ Ben Johnson/ Loveland/ Dennis Allen to Patrick Mahomes/ Andy Reid/ Travis Kelce/ Steve Spagnuolo. Obviously, the Bears have a long way to go to be that group’s equal, but the similarities are almost obvious.
- The Bears cornerback group is the key to their defense. Without them, they are in trouble against real offenses. With them, we saw a number of good showings against playoff-caliber teams late in the season.
- Five primetime games, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day games is abnormal, and potentially taxing.
- Ultimately, I think Chicago is a 10+ win team going forward, where next year is their year.
- Record Prediction: 11-6

Dallas Cowboys
- Dak Prescott is the perfect example of a good quarterback, that is not great. I get why various people have been seduced into putting him in that great pile at times, but he’s your classic fringe guy in that sense, similar to Matt Ryan.
- CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens combine for one of the few WR duos you can even mention with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Dak and this duo are the strength of the Cowboys roster, with TE Jake Ferguson serving as a solid third option.
- Dallas had a top 10 offensive line, but they will go into the year down their best player, in LG Tyler Smith.
- Javonte Williams was radically more productive last season than I was expecting, not sure I want to bank on a repeat of that.
- Dallas could conceivably field a league average defense, behind a solid front four and a secondary that could be towards the back half of league average, with the caveat that I loved No. 11 overall pick Caleb Downs entering this year’s draft and he could be a difference maker, fast.
- If Dallas unseats the Eagles, the Cowboys’ defense taking a step is a requirement.
- I thought Brian Schottenheimer was a bizarre hire last season, but he was better than I expected, but still not someone I’m treating as a true elevator.
- If Dallas loses to the Giants on Sunday Night Football, their schedule sets them up for a .500 start, if not a touch worse.
- Record Prediction: 9-8

Detroit Lions
- Detroit has a really good-looking schedule, which sets them up to be a potential fugaze team, meaning a team that gets into the playoffs behind 10 or 11 wins, looks real good at times doing it, then loses in the first round.
- That said, Detroit is on the short list of teams I believe could lead the league in scoring, given their schedule
- Jared Goff has had a number of MVP adjacent seasons over the course of his career, and he’s well positioned for another here
- I recently saw someone parallel Jahmyr Gibbs to Marshall Faulk, and that made a lot of sense to me. I’ve viewed Gibbs as the best running back in the league for a while now.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta is a tremendous pass catcher trio paired with Gibbs.
- Williams, in particular, is a player I’d like to see get an alpha dog shot in another city in the near future.
- This is the first time I’ve thought the Lions are entering a season with an average offensive line in years.
- Defensively, Detroit has a few genuine difference makers, but a number of holes, especially in their injury reduced secondary.
- I don’t quite want to use the phrase stars and scrubs for this defense, but it’s close.
- I could see Goff being an MVP finalist, Gibbs being an Offensive Player of the Year finalist, Penei Sewell being a Protector of the Year finalist and Aidan Hutchinson being a Defensive Player of the Year finalist.
- Record Prediction: 10-7

Green Bay Packers
- This offseason I said I believe we’ve already seen the peak of the Jordan Love Packers, which is a team take that I’ll stand behind.
- The Brock Purdy 49ers and those 12-5 Dak Prescott Cowboys teams are the relative parallels: really good rosters that had a multi-year window before they first started to bleed valuable depth, which is when they remained competitive, but never quite returned to their peak. That’s where I think Green Bay is, where I’d actually have them as the third most talented team among those three at their peaks.
- That said, I could see this being Jordan Love’s most productive season to date, and it may have to be.
- Running back suddenly looks questionable in Green Bay.
- I still like the wide receiver room, but the extreme depth the Packers had here is no longer there.
- Tight end is very good.
- Offensive line has been steadily declining for a while, and I’d now call that officially below average entering the season.
- If Matt LaFleur wasn’t this team’s coach, I’d be much more worried about the offensive line, but I’ve seen him scheme around that already, several times.
- Now, going without Micah Parsons to open the year and losing defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, on top of the depth pieces on both sides of the ball, is a lot. It’s hard to argue Green Bay didn’t get worse, this offseason.
- That said, this offseason SharpClarke brought up the question “Why can’t the Packers be this year’s Seahawks?”
- It was a good question, though I think Green Bay’s best-case scenario looks something more like: 3-1 start, before entering a very up and down middle of the season, leaving the Packers right around .500. Parsons starts to surge, where the team peaks late, finishing 3-1, getting into the playoffs as a Wild Card, and then playing their best football when it counts.
- Not something I want to put my life savings on, but it’s on the table.
- Record Prediction: 10-7

Los Angeles Rams
- I think this is the Rams year, plain and simple.
- Best coach in the league in Sean McVay
- Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP season
- Blake Corum is pushing Kyren Williams, so the Rams are set at running back.
- Puka Nacua doesn’t look like he’ll be suspended, and Davante Adams was still a quality player last season.
- Solid offensive line
- The team acquiring Trent McDuffie, who I’d call an elite corner, has been overshadowed by the Rams bringing in Myles Garrett, which then coaxed Aaron Donald out of retirement.
- I would not care much about very many players taking two years off and then coming back, but Donald is one of, if not the most unique NFL athlete I’ve ever seen. If he can build back to even being 90% of what he was when he retired, the inside/ out duo of Garrett and Donald is an unsolvable problem.
- On top of that, the Rams have an excellent front even if Donald doesn’t play a down.
- It’s an all in year for Los Angeles, if their core stays healthy they are the team to beat, and I think they win it all.
- Record Prediction: 13-4

Minnesota Vikings
- When Kyler Murray was at his best, he’s been in the MVP hunt through the first half of the season. He just turned 29, and this is the best play caller and offensive supporting cast he’s ever had.
- The Justin Herbert/ Mike McDaniel pairing is the most interesting new combo entering the year, Murray and Kevin O’Connell is second.
- If O’Connell can get the best out of Murray, Minnesota has 12-win upside, making the 2026 NFC North the only division I can recall where I could say that about each of those four teams.
- Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is a big reason for that, as I’d have this Vikings defensive roster somewhere in the 20s if not for Flores. He’s an enormous difference maker, especially against young or otherwise volatile quarterbacks.
- If Minnesota was in the NFC South, I’d have them running away with it, but in this loaded North, they still have a very difficult path to the top.
- Record Prediction: 9-8

New Orleans Saints
- My favorite thing about the chalk sleeper that is New Orleans is I thought Kellen Moore did an outstanding job last season, to the point it reminded me a few times of Dan Campbell’s first year with Detroit in terms of margin the coaching staff created.
- The Saints have a good foundation on offense, Top 10 offensive line, good looking group of pass catchers at full strength and the addition of Travis Etienne improves the running back room.
- I’ve said a few times that Tyler Shough reminds me of this generation’s Andy Dalton: solid, but unspectacular passer, with Shough bringing some genuine value as a runner. He’s better than I thought he was going to be, but I’m less enthusiastic about him than many seem to be.
- One thing that concerns me about Shough this year is he made a lot of margin on short to intermediate in routes that often led to notable YAC, especially against softer defenses. Now that the league has a year of film on this offense, if I noticed that I’m sure every opposing defensive coordinator has as well.
- Defensively, there’s no nice way to say this, New Orleans looks like a bad defense, with a low-end pass rush, making them an interesting shootout partner.
- Record Prediction: 7-10

New York Giants
- John Harbaugh is an organization builder and the celebrity head coach the Giants need.
- That said, its hard to ignore that the well ran Ravens moved on from Harbaugh while Baltimore is still in a Super Bowl window.
- Matt Nagy isn’t exactly the most inspiring offensive coordinator hire, either.
- I’ve seen the phrase “crash test dummy” used to describe Jaxson Dart a few times this offseason. Dart is a good out of structure player against manageable pressure, he’s a savvy runner and he has more upside than I thought he would coming out of college. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a quarterback take more unnecessary contact than Dart, and he stills struggles mightily against stacked pressure.
- New York’s clearest path to success is by becoming an uncomfortable opponent: offense built around an abnormally physical run game, paired with a top 10ish defense, where Dart extends a few drives a game with his play making ability.
- Moving Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati wasn’t a bad move long term, but Lawrence paired with the Giants’ exceptional edge group, was the one factor that would have made this team dangerous.
- Signing Tremaine Edmunds and drafting Arvell Reece gives New York the best, most dynamic linebacker group they’ve had in a very long time.
- Seeing if this new coaching staff can get more out of this secondary, which should be closer to solid than bad, is one of the keys to New York’s season. If this group becomes a middle-of-the-pack secondary, the Giants have a shot to be a top-10 defense, with their edge group being able to get them off the field on third and long at a pretty high clip.
- Ultimately the Giants should be better, on a more consistent basis, but more like adjacent to 8 wins better.
- Record Prediction: 8-9

Philadelphia Eagles
- The interesting thing about the Eagles is there are reasons to believe they are starting to decline a bit because they are losing talent in some spots, and getting older in others.
- But when you look at this roster, every position group is still league average or better, while being top-10 at running back, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, secondary, defensive coordinator, at minimum.
- Jalen Hurts is definitely a top 10 quarterback at times, and he’s played his best in big spots, but I would not frame him as consistently in that tier given his supporting cast over the last few years.
- Saquon Barkley looks like a classic positive regression case, who is set up well to have a strong first half.
- I did not think AJ Brown looked very good last year. Maybe he was checked out, maybe he was dogging it, but from last year to this year I don’t actually view him as an enormous loss, especially if No. 20 pick Makai Lemon can ascend quickly.
- Ultimately, say what you want about the Eagles, but this still looks like a top 10 offense paired with what could be a top 5 defense, that could realistically enter their Week 10 bye with a 6-3 or better record.
- Record Prediction: 10-7

San Francisco 49ers
- First, the Faithful is such a unique name for a fanbase, especially when they take over a road stadium.
- Sean McVay, Andy Reid and Kyle Shanahan are my top three coaches in the league.
- Brock Purdy is better than a lot of people think, where I have him in the fringe top 10 tier with guys like Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Jared Goff, a few others.
- I have my doubts that Christian McCaffrey can hold up to another massive volume season. Maybe third round rookie Kaelon Black could be an asset in this system, and if anyone can get the most out of a running back room, it’s the Shanahan family, but that group looks like an enormous question mark after CMC.
- I love Mike Evans, I thought he was an odd fit for San Francisco, as I think YAC generation when I think of Shanahan’s 49ers. Evans will be useful in certain spots, no doubt, but if he puts up big numbers at this stage of his career, in this system, I’d be surprised.
- Ultimately, this looks like a solid offensive line, with a middle-of-the-pack wide receiver room, with CMC and coming off an injury George Kittle, with Kyle Juszcyk. That’s still good, but a big departure from what this skill group looked like when this 49ers team was at its peak.
- When Nick Bosa is active, the 49ers have a fringe top 10 front and Fred Warner is the best linebacker in football. The backend I’d frame as below average.
- Robert Saleh got a lot out of this injury-ravaged group last year, but he’s in Tennessee now and Raheem Morris is the 49ers new DC. I did not like Morris as a head coach, but he’s a good DC, though not quite Saleh.
- Ultimately, the 49ers were a juggernaut that’s been bleeding talent for years, yet have still managed to stay competitive. That’s who they are entering this season as well.
- Record Prediction: 9-8

Seattle Seahawks
- I cannot recall a team winning a Super Bowl that I did not truly consider being capable of that heading into the season. Seattle was a first.
- I was expecting a good defense, but not quite the havoc-wreaking group that Seattle was last year.
- A top 5 pass rush that is not over reliant on one headliner is pretty rare.
- Pairing that with a top 10 secondary and what I’ll call semi-solid linebacker group, with an excellent defensive play caller in head coach Mike McDonald, there’s no reason to think that Seattle won’t be a top 5 defense again.
- There’s reasons to think this offense takes a step back, which starts with Klint Kubiak becoming the Raiders head coach and being replaced by first time offensive coordinator Brian Fleury. Fleury held a number of positions in San Francisco over the last half decade and change, but he’s a complete unknown in this position.
- That also means this is Sam Darnold’s seventh play caller in the last seven years.
- Darnold’s done it two years in a row, for two different franchises, so it’s hard to doubt that he’s anything short of a good quarterback. But that’s a lot of change he’s had to endure.
- Roster wise Seattle is a fringe top 10 offensive line, they get Rasheed Shaheed for a full year to go with JSN and Cooper Kupp. AJ Barner is a solid tight end. Losing Kenneth Walker hurts, but they spent a first round pick on Jadarian Price to help fill those shoes.
- Does Seattle take a step back? Probably, but a step back for them is still a playoff team that can conceivably beat anyone, especially at home.
- Record Prediction: 11-6

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- The NFC South is the worst division in football, and Tampa looks like the runaway best roster.
- Easily the division’s best quarterback in Baker Mayfield.
- Top 5 offensive line.
- A solid group of pass catchers.
- A running back room that is not reliant on one player, but instead has three guys that could produce in this offense.
- Fringe top 10 front four
- Backed by league average linebacker and secondary play.
- I wouldn’t frame Todd Bowles as a plus head coach, in fact you could easily rank him fourth within the division, but he’ll have his moments with this defense against average or worse opponents.
- That said, I like the roster considerably more than the coaching staff.
- Record Prediction: 9-8

Washington Commanders
- Oh boy does Jayden Daniels look like he’s trapped with one of the worst rosters in the NFL.
- Daniels is a year removed from carrying Washington to the NFC Championship, a remarkable feat given his supporting cast.
- Below average offensive line with LT Laremy Tunsil out.
- One of the worst running back rooms in the league, if not the worst.
- I’d frame this pass catcher group as back side of league average.
- Back end of league average front four, at best.
- Paired with a below average secondary, and a linebacker group that could be a real asset if No. 7 overall pick Sonny Styles plays to his draft slot, early in his career.
- Like in 2024, the recipe for success in Washington is Daniels carries the offense, while head coach Dan Quinn’s defense overachieves.
- None of that gives me any enthusiasm, apart from when Daniels is healthy, he’s a top 10 quarterback.
- Washington also has a pretty brutal first half schedule, setting the Commanders up for a slow start.
- I’ve tried to get there on Washington all offseason, but I haven’t been able to with this roster.
- Record Prediction: 7-10

Note: I use a schedule grid to predict records, and for these two previews I ended up using two different ones (definitely not on purpose). It’s all still very inline with how I see things, but good chance the aggregate of the whole league is a few games off given that internal mix up.

Happy return to football tonight.

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@ESPNFantasy Can you please change Josh Jacob’s status to something other than ‘Day to Day’ so he can’t be placed in an IR spot on your fantasy football app?He’s not injured and shouldn’t have a designation which allows him to be on IR.

[Tanya Newcombe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇺🇸✝️ @tanya_tanlb]

I’ve just subscribed to help Niall raise the funds for the hospital. If there any of my followers who follow Niall, please think about subscribing or do a one off donation to help ease the stress for him or just by sharing his post would help. Niall is a Guardian Angel to all those wonderful dogs and always puts them before his own wellbeing, he shouldn’t have to run 120k to raise funds for the hospital 😔

[BlindSquirrelFF @BlindSquirrelF1]

@Christy4Change