Film Review: Watson's New Weapon

I apologize for the delay with this. A couple real life things came up Monday, and perhaps some film fatigue and writer's block played a role. It'll be up Tuesdays going forward.

Cleveland (7) vs. Cincinnati (31)

This Kenny Britt thing is not going well. He seems to be in plenty good shape, but he started things off with a dropped ball on a sideline third down curl route on the first drive, and he dropped a second quarter pass that ended up intercepted. He has the yips real bad. Ricardo Louis' emergence certainly gives Hue Jackson something to think about.

Duke Johnson is clearly the best player on the Browns offense. While he's been plenty busy as a pass catcher, it's past time for the Browns to give him carries at the expense of Isaiah Crowell.

DeShone Kizer struggled with accuracy and stared down his receivers, making his film every bit as bad as his box score. He hasn't been nearly good enough over the last two weeks, though his bad game against Baltimore was rationalized easily enough by the matchup. His poise seems to be regressing, too.

Andy Dalton looked alright, but not as good as his numbers. Cleveland dropped an easy interception in the opening drive of the third quarter. The main takeaway is that the Browns pass defense is quite bad. Tyler Kroft was impressive. You have to wonder about the reliability of his usage given the neglect this scheme showed toward Tyler Eifert before he got hurt, but Kroft is a good prospect who was one of the nation's most productive tight ends at Rutgers. Kroft could be one of the higher-scoring fantasy tight ends for however long Eifert is out.

I saw a lot of people on Twitter pointing toward Joe Mixon's box score as proof that he's not good. It's a bad take. Mixon looked very good, though the run blocking is a valid concern. There's a decent chance that Cleveland's run defense is one of the better ones in the league. Particularly after fumbling early, it's difficult to understand why this offense still uses Jeremy Hill at all.

Jets vs. Jacksonville

Blake Bortles is only good in London. There are worse quarterbacks starting in the league, but Bortles' accuracy in this one was stunningly bad.

Leonard Fournette is great. The Jets defense is probably tougher than I took it for, but Fournette is basically matchup-proof. He's been busy and effective as a pass catcher all year, and he even looks quicker than I expected. He's shown some nice jukes and spin moves.

Bilal Powell deserves credit for running hard, but the Jaguars defense allowed the sea to part multiple times. On Powell's first big run in the second quarter, Telvin Smith and Myles Jack were washed out of the play after overpursuing outside, then Barry Church was late to crash the weak side, allowing Powell to go about 37 yards untouched. Elijah McGuire also benefited from big gaps on his 69-yard touchdown run, though he sure looked sufficiently explosive. He has great pass-catching skills and is giving the Jets serious reason to ditch Matt Forte.

Josh McCown has been a lot better than I expected him to be. The Jags run defense looks bad, but it's still tough to throw on. His bad game against Buffalo in Week 1 is looking more acceptable after their showing against Atlanta.

I wouldn't chase Jeremy Kerley's stats from this one. A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey force quarterbacks to throw toward the middle of the field, and normally Robby Anderson and Jermaine Kearse will be getting more open on the outside. Austin Seferian-Jenkins really looks quite good.

Atlanta (17) vs. Buffalo (23)

I still don't think there's any talent in the Buffalo secondary, but the front four is very good and Sean McDermott's aggressive scheming is paying off in the meantime. While he wasn't bad, Matt Ryan seemed a bit rattled by Buffalo's stunts and aggressive coverage. He missed Julio Jones for what would have been roughly a 30-yard catch in the first quarter. In the third, Ryan was intercepted on an awful duck he threw to a well-covered Taylor Gabriel despite having all day to throw. I still think this Buffalo pass defense is beatable, but the quarterback in question will need to be able to stare down the aggressive blitzing.

Devonta Freeman is such a sudden and emphatic runner, yet Tevin Coleman's speed always presents a contrast. It will be interesting to see if the latter's usage goes up a bit with Sanu and Jones beat up.

Charles Clay had a great game, showing playmaking ability both downfield and after the catch. Since he and Tyrod Taylor so often appear to be on the same page, a consistently productive season should lay ahead. Taylor almost had Kaelin Clay on a fly route for what would have been a 39-yard touchdown against Desmond Trufant, but it was slightly overthrown. With four targets on 28 snaps over the last two weeks, Kaelin might be worth monitoring in Buffalo if they lessen the snap count for the ineffective duo of Zay Jones and Andre Holmes. Jones dropped what would have been about a 30-yard catch on a 3rd and seven play in the second quarter. Trufant, by the way, seemed to give up a fair amount of separation in this game – wonder if he's hurt at all.

Buffalo's backfield of course belongs to LeSean McCoy, who played well despite a modest box score, but Mike Tolbert continues to see a lot of work during competitive situations. Tolbert hasn't looked half bad to me, either.

Tennessee at Houston

Mike Mularkey's judgment is lacking. In addition to running the ball too much generally and especially early on downs, early in games, he for some reason feels the need to occasionally call plays that look like they're from NFL Blitz. After running two times into a 3rd and three in their opening drive, the Titans displayed a pistol formation with two receivers bunched and Delanie Walker at fullback, then brought Taywan Taylor in motion to run behind the backfield, only to run DeMarco Murray up the middle for no gain. It was very dumb.

Of course, the Titans were going to get throttled in this one even if Mularkey hadn't called such an insane play. Marcus Mariota was doing alright – that he's been so active as a runner this year would normally bode well for his fantasy upside – but I wonder if Tennessee scales back his running usage over the hamstring injury. The Titans offense will sink for however long Mariota is out, in any case.

Deshaun Watson was utterly in control from the start of this one, and he obviously didn't let up. He appears to have really turned a corner. Tennessee's pass defense is quite bad, so he'll be due for at least a slight letdown when the difficult level goes up, but that killer instinct he showed so much as Clemson is finally breaking through the cracks.

Will Fuller really changes things. If he becomes the player his prospect profile says he can, then he will be one of the NFL's best receivers. He immediately jumped out on the tape, creating effortless separation with seemingly good consistency. His vertical pressure combined with the downward pressure of the running threat posed by Watson could promote an environment of big plays, which will of course help DeAndre Hopkins see more room to run.

Fuller's arrival bodes well for the running game, too. With the intense opposing pressures of Fuller's speed and Watson's running ability spreading defenses thin, the gaps should widen and the safeties should retreat with all of these variables in play, lightening and splitting the concentration of defenders for Lamar Miller and D'Onta Foreman to deal with.

Baltimore (9) vs. Pittsburgh (26)

The Steelers correctly showed no respect whatsoever for the Baltimore passing game, blitzing and pressing with predictable impunity. With no ability to move the ball downfield and an otherwise dependency on short routes and repetitive bootlegs, the Ravens offense spends the whole game as if its playing on a 15-yard field. The defense simply doesn't need to account for much, and it's almost impossible to run the ball if a team with sound gap management blitzes as aggressively as Pittsburgh did here.

Alex Collins got the first carry at running back, which just might be the sound of Terrance West getting pushed aside. Then again, maybe Collins' lost fumble for the second straight week lets West get another shot. Collins is probably the better runner between the two, but he's not much of a pass catcher and his four fumbles in 77 touches from scrimmage is indeed worrisome. That they were using Collins as a kick returner sent a weird message. Javorius Allen is easily the best asset of the three, and generally strikes me as the team's best runner and pass catcher both at the position. But even he is weighed down in an incoherent backfield on an offense that can't throw.

The Baltimore defense came out aggressive with a hot motor, but Le'Veon Bell was sharp off the bat, and the Steelers otherwise threw them off with screen concepts that burned them for the aggressive blitzes. From there, it was a mixture of exhaustion and probably despair that eventually neutralized them. This defense needs tackle Brandon Williams back. And probably a new quarterback, too.

Ben Roethlisberger might have had his best game of the season so far in this one, standing tall against consistent pressure in one of the league's toughest road environments. There were a few well-done plays where Roethlisberger was denied numbers – he hit Martavis Bryant in single coverage down the sideline on a play that was eventually called dead but maybe should have been a free play on an offsides. Bryant was in deep single coverage again on another play, but his legs tangled with the defender's and no flag was thrown. Vance McDonald dropped what would have been a first down catch in the second quarter. Perhaps Roethlisberger just needed to shake off some age-related rust.

Minnesota (7) vs. Detroit (14)

I'm sick about Dalvin Cook's injury, though it'd be a lie if I said it weren't for selfish reasons. I had shares of him pretty much everywhere. Ugh. He was already playing at a legitimately great level before the injury, too. Latavius Murray should be the primary replacement, but he's only about 60 percent of the player Cook is.

Case Keenum's numbers were mediocre, but I thought he played fairly well. A 3rd and five incompletion to Adam Thielen in the first quarter had a missed illegal contact penalty on Nevin Lawson. Thielen, by the way, seems like Keenum's favorite target over Stefon Diggs by just a tiny bit. They're both very impressive receivers right now.

Ameer Abdullah isn't fast or powerful, but he always runs hard and possesses unique stop-start ability. It was always evident that he was a far superior runner to Theo Riddick, but I'm still surprised that the Lions have appropriately committed to Abdullah as the first and second option in the running game. I worried they'd waste a lot of carries on Riddick, a slot receiver playing running back for some reason.

The Lions have no ability to threaten downfield when Kenny Golladay is out, so I don't know how they manage to keep beating teams with just curls and slants over and over, but I suppose Golden Tate and Marvin Jones are just good at those things. I can't tell if Eric Ebron was hurt at all, but this game is a major red flag for him if not. Ebron played 31 snaps while Darren Fells played 51 snaps, and even rookie Michael Roberts played 22. I'm guessing that the massive pair of Fells and Roberts played more snaps than usual to help counter Minnesota ends Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter, but Ebron still got nothing going in a wide receiver function, and the Lions played plenty of three-wide sets. Moreover, Jim Bob Cooter just might reasonably decide the correlation of Fells/Roberts to Abdullah's success was more than coincidental.

Dallas (30) vs. Rams (35)

Dak Prescott is awesome, and it sure seemed like Dez Bryant consistently got the better of Trumaine Johnson, one of the league's better corners. Dez did mistime his jump on a second quarter end zone shot that would have been about a 40-yard touchdown, though, and Johnson very nearly intercepted it. I still can't believe Dallas doesn't have better receivers than Terrance Williams, Brice Butler, and Cole Beasley otherwise on the field. This offense should be better.

Ezekiel Elliott's touchdown reception was brilliant, catching the ball in the left flat and sprinting a tightrope on the sideline and somehow slipping through the end zone before the door closed. He played a sound game overall.

Of course, Elliott couldn't match the output of Todd Gurley, whose raw skill as an open-field runner outweighs his questionable vision out of the backfield. A dominant kick returner at Georgia, Gurley is just a nightmare if he gets into space. It's why he's proven such a weapon as a receiver.

Dallas seemed to get good pressure on Jared Goff, which might have had something to do with Sammy Watkins' invisibility, but it also sure seemed like the Rams used Watkins to clear out space for underneath routes, especially on third downs. If they keep running fly routes with Watkins, you can tell the safety to crash on Cooper Kupp, where Goff often looks in such cases. It also looked like Watkins was open for a touchdown on a 2nd and 11 play in the second quarter that went to Kupp short of the first. If the Rams wanted a decoy wideout, they didn't need to pay so much for Watkins. Robert Woods had a near touchdown catch in the second quarter that was overturned on review.

A Ryan Switzer fumble on a punt revived a Rams offense that was sputtering in the second quarter, and allowed them to match an Elliott touchdown run from shortly beforehand. You have to wonder if Dallas loses without that fumble.

New England (33) vs. Carolina (30)

Brandin Cooks split the corner and safety down the left side for what might have been a touchdown on the first drive, but Brady threw it at his feet. Brady's touchdown throw to Chris Hogan in the second quarter was excellent, though, hitting a less than obvious opening at a point where Hogan looked covered.

Rob Gronkowski had a gain of about 20 yards on the second drive that was wiped out by an absurd pass interference call on Danny Amendola away from the play. A defensive back squared up Amendola and grabbed him with both hands, and Amendola pushed back. Stupid call. Brady was sacked on the next play. In the next drive, Gronkowski caught a first down ball on an out route and called that one back on an interference against Gronkowski. Never happened. Just a completely fabricated call. Gronk must be a pretty mellow guy because a lot of players would have flipped out after those two calls.

Mike Gillislee continues to run hard, but the fact that he signals run when he's in the game is a problem. I don't know why they won't just toss him a screen for once. That Dion Lewis got red-zone work at Gillislee's expense is a big concern for Gillislee owners.

Cam Newton might have shown more velocity on a first quarter Ed Dickson catch than I've seen on any of his other 2017 throws. RotoWire injury expert Jeff Stotts said before this season that Newton's arm strength would be compromised at the start of the year but likely improve as it went on, and it sure seemed like Newton's arm was more lively in this one. His overall success can largely be attributed to New England's awful defense, but Newton truly showed better in his own right.

If Newton is himself, I think Devin Funchess has the talent to keep producing, especially as long as Greg Olsen is out. When Olsen returns, I wouldn't rule out the chances of Funchess keeping it going at the expense of Kelvin Benjamin. Funchess was the consensus better prospect four years ago, so it's not as if he doesn't have the pedigree to do it. He's the better athlete between the two.

Christian McCaffrey owners must not like Fozzy Whittaker a whole lot. The touchdown throw to the latter was on a fake double-screen where the defense ran to McCaffrey's side on the right, leaving nothing much to stop Whittaker on the left. Nice playcall, but you have to wonder how the Patriots fell for it so bad. Whittaker isn't a fullback – he obviously wasn't there to block for McCaffrey.

Chargers (24) vs. Philadelphia (26)

Wendell Smallwood started and LeGarrette Blount matched his usage as a runner, but even Corey Clement saw three carries on the first drive for Philadelphia, including one inside the 10-yard line. This look like a 45/35/20 sort of situation. Smallwood's pass-catching skills put him in first for me and I think he's pretty clearly the best pure runner of the group, while Clement's presence might make it more difficult to capitalize on Blount than expected.

Nelson Agholor's long catch on the first drive was nearly a touchdown, and the jets he showed on that play make you wonder why Philadelphia hasn't gotten him the ball lately. He's their second-best receiver behind Alshon Jeffery, and might be faster than Torrey Smith these days. Brilliant read and throw by Wentz on that play. Zach Ertz is the No. 3 fantasy tight end for the foreseeable future.

Even without Fletcher Cox, the Eagles got a lot of pressure on Philip Rivers in this one. He generally did not handle it well. He's doing reckless things that a player as smart as him can't rationalize – there seems to be a theme with him of simply trying to do things he can't do anymore, out of desperation or just unawareness of the fact that he's lost something.

Keenan Allen's prominence in the read progressions and his modest depth of target mean he can produce despite Rivers' struggles, but you do have to think guys like Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin will continue to be boom-or-bust as Rivers fluctuates in his ability to get the ball downfield.

Rivers' issues bode poorly for Melvin Gordon's chances of getting touches in scoring range, and Sunday's outcome revealed the risk of the game script turning completely against him. That he did nothing as a pass catcher in this one is probably an aberration, but still one his owners can't afford.

Tampa Bay (25) vs. Giants (23)

I don't know how bad the Giants run defense is, but their gap integrity was poor in this one, and the second and third levels pursued and tackled poorly, perhaps in part to the rain-ravaged field. It was a nice game for Jacquizz Rodgers, but Doug Martin is the better player if he's physically and mentally sound in his return from suspension.

Mike Evans' touchdown was on Eli Apple, who never should have been on him. Janoris Jenkins probably gives up the touchdown there, too, but at least he gives you a chance. Apple did a good job on an end zone shot to DeSean Jackson in the second quarter, though. O.J. Howard's touchdown was on a broken coverage, but he's going to be great eventually. It's just hard to see how he really breaks out when the also good Cameron Brate is around.

Evan Engram is a beast, and he's getting a ton of targets for a tight end. Eli Manning won't push for 50 passes every week, so that target volume will drop a bit, but he's the Giants' second-best receiver, and I actually think fairly highly of Sterling Shepard. In any case, a breakout game for Engram is on the way, and his speed means it might be a really big one. Brandon Marshall had a couple drops in the first quarter. He's a mess right now.

Paul Perkins continues to run with no motor at all. His confidence or effort, or both, is broken. I don't think Wayne Gallman is really any good, but he's better than Perkins right now.

Arizona (18) vs. San Francisco (15)

The Cardinals used Larry Fitzgerald as a blocking tight end on a passing play to open the game. Bruce Arians is probably one of the league's better coaches, but perhaps that's mostly an indictment of the other coaches.

Carson Palmer's red zone interception on the first drive was the sort of throw that only a panicked or utterly confused person would make. For a longtime veteran, he sure loses his composure a lot. The 49ers pass defense should not have posed so much difficulty. All of Larry Fitzgerald, Jaron Brown, John Brown, and J.J. Nelson were getting open. Palmer was lucky to not lose a fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter, and on the next play he threw it directly to Navorro Bowman, who dropped it.

Chris Johnson doesn't have much left, but Andre Ellington's durability history caps his usage despite enticing running skills. Ellington is still the only one worth bothering with in most cases, and ideally in PPR formats.

Brian Hoyer has regressed from the past couple years. On his first throw he not only missed an open Pierre Garcon on an out route, but it was a play where Garcon had a lot of daylight if it had been anywhere near on target.

Aldrick Robinson is a guy who I expected more from in the NFL – he's very fast and explosive, and he was a better player at SMU than Emmanuel Sanders. Given his indifferent reception around the league over many years, though, it feels off to chase his target volume from this one. But he is a good candidate to take the role previously held by Marquise Goodwin (concussion). Trent Taylor has a nice future, but you wonder if this offense can produce the necessary volume for him to show any consistency.

Carlos Hyde continues to look very good.

Denver (16) vs. Oakland (10)

What a disaster of a season it's been for Amari Cooper. I'm convinced his talent and skills are among the best in the league, but he botched so many of his opportunities prior to this game, then the combination of Denver's defense and Derek Carr's injury snuffed out his prospects of producing in this game and for the foreseeable future. I'm not a huge Carr fan, but EJ Manuel is a massive downgrade. Manuel probably reduces Michael Crabtree to matchup-dependent consideration in most cases, too.

I don't think there's any insight to take from Marshawn Lynch's awful box score. The Broncos run defense is supremely well-engineered, and the game flow could hardly have been more against Lynch's favor in this.

I think the Raiders defense is better than most give it credit for, so C.J. Anderson's showing was impressive to me. He's been running hard all year, and while I think he's a replaceable talent, he's made the absolute most of every opportunity so far.

Trevor Siemian really isn't good. He overachieves at times, but it's not something easily explained by his tools or even his general instincts. Despite a game manager-like usage, he so often seems on the brink of disaster.

I'm not sure what to make of A.J. Derby's breakout game, but he was lights-out on the first drive. His touchdown catch was a great play an on iffy throw. Derby was once a quarterback for Iowa before transferring to Arkansas and playing tight end late in his career, so a late-blooming development makes enough sense. It's just hard to buy in too much when his breakout appeared to occur at the expense of Demaryius Thomas, who will not be pushed aside over a longer sample. The volume of Siemian's production needs to increase for Derby to remain viable on any predictable basis in this offense, but you would think the Broncos would at least move Derby atop the depth chart and stop running him behind Virgil Green as they have to this point.

Seattle (46) vs. Indianapolis (18)

The Seahawks seemed to solve a lot of their pass-blocking issues, at least for a day. Safety and two interceptions aside, Russell Wilson had time to throw that he hasn't all year, and you could sense a level of comfort he hasn't shown in ages.

It sure seemed like Doug Baldwin was fine despite the groin injury that caused him to miss practice time. I don't know if Tyler Lockett is as fast or quick as he was before his gruesome injury, but he still knows how to run routes and has great instincts. He should be able to make a successful rebranding as a possession wideout if necessary.

Chris Carson's ankle injury is such a disappointing development, because he was running hard and effectively. I have no idea where this backfield goes now. Eddie Lacy showed something in this one, but I don't think his overall nature has changed since his benching. I'm curious to see if the arrival of former wideout J.D. McKissic leads to the Seahawks moving C.J. Prosise out of his pass-catching specialist role and into an audition for more traditional running back function.

I continue to find Jacoby Brissett quite promising despite the poor result in this one. With his size, arm strength, poise, and mobility, there's at least some developmental upside despite shaky decision-making and accuracy in the meantime.

Kansas City (29) vs. Washington (20)

This was easily the best I've seen Rob Kelley look this year, especially when you consider he was playing with what was probably considerable rib pain. Samaje Perine ran alright, but he didn't read the defense well on his first couple runs. They should in any case just give the ball to Chris Thompson a lot more. I can't tell if Washington deliberately ran two run plays with Kirk Cousins on their first quarter field goal drive, or if the handoff went wrong each time.

That Terrelle Pryor touchdown in the first quarter is why I have trouble doubting him. Marcus Peters' coverage would normally work there, but Pryor is just so fast and you can't catch up if you miss a step. Pryor put his hand on Peters' back for a split second but the narrative I've seen attributing the entire touchdown to that fact is absurd to me. Peters' movement wasn't altered. Of course, Pryor failed to reel in what would have been a fairly tough catch on a third down slant in the second quarter.

Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith are both playing out of their minds right now. They're doing some real Pat Swilling-Rickey Jackson stuff. Jonathan Allen is a problem, too.

Forgive me if I don't have much to add about Kareem Hunt going forward.

I cannot believe how good Alex Smith has been. His long third-down completion to Travis Kelce in the second quarter was brilliant. He's been a huge part of Kansas City's success so far, and I think that's the first time I've ever said that about him despite playing for a number of winning teams over his career. Tyreek Hill should remain reliable in PPR, but unless Kansas City starts using him more downfield, he might need broken plays to generate long gains and/or touchdowns.