Fantasy News & Analysis

Immediate fantasy football takeaways from NFL Week 6 Thursday Night Football

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette (7) pushes away from Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Davion Taylor (52) during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 28 to 22 on Thursday Night Football to kick off NFL Week 6.

Tampa Bay’s offense wasn't as sharp as last week, but Tom Brady teamed up with Leonard Fournette and Antonio Brown to string together enough drives to secure a comfortable victory. The Eagles put together a strong first drive but couldn’t really get anything going until it was too late.

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Table Notes
  • Snaps include plays called back due to penalties like offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
  • Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
  • Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles

  • Leonard Fournette: 22 carries, 81 yards, 2 TD (27.3% first down rate); 6 receptions, 46 receiving yards
  • Antonio Brown: 9 receptions, 93 yards, 1 TD (43.3% threat rate)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Snaps Routes Run Targets Carries
WR
Mike Evans 70 40 3 0
Chris Godwin 68 40 5 0
Antonio Brown 37 30 13 0
Tyler Johnson 12 8 0 0
Jaydon Mickens 3 0 0 0
TE
O.J. Howard 49 18 7 0
Cameron Brate 44 27 4 0
Deon Yelder 3 0 0 0
HB
Leonard Fournette 47 20 6 22
Ronald Jones 14 8 1 5
Giovani Bernard 12 10 2 0
Total 75 42 41 31
Philadelphia Eagles Snaps Routes Run Targets Carries
WR
DeVonta Smith 50 32 4 0
Jalen Reagor 42 29 3 0
Quez Watkins 39 25 5 0
Greg Ward 7 5 0 0
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside 4 2 0 0
TE
Zach Ertz 45 25 7 0
Jack Stoll 14 3 0 0
HB
Miles Sanders 42 23 4 9
Kenneth Gainwell 12 12 2 0
Total 51 33 25 14

Start Leonard Fournette every week: Fournette has taken clear control of the Tampa Bay backfield on first and second downs. At this point, Ronald Jones is only being used when Fournette needs a breather, which included a bit of time in the fourth quarter when the victory was already secured.

Super Bowl Lenny garnered a reputation for being a good receiver out of the backfield early in his career, but that was forgotten after all of his drops last year. He’s made up for that this year though, catching every pass thrown his way.

Tampa Bay should have a decent-sized lead in most games going forward, and that means plenty of opportunities for Fournette to enjoy similar games to this one.

Hold on Miles Sanders: Sanders has had to deal with two problems so far this season. First, he’s been competing for snaps with Kenneth Gainwell. And then, when he is on the field, he’s just not getting touches.

The first problem hasn’t been as much of an issue the last two weeks. The former second-round pick played a season-high 75% of snaps last week. This week, he remained on the field for nearly every play outside of the two-minute drill. 

He should have better games, but the offense in general needs to do better for that to happen.

Buy low on Mike Evans: Given the riches in the Tampa Bay receiving corps, at least one Bucs receiver will have a “bad” game each week. This week it was Evans, who caught two of his four targets for 27 yards.

Brady looked his way in the end zone tonight, but a defender committed defensive pass interference to keep the ball out of Evans' hands. The veteran receiver has two top-six finishes and should have more before the season ends.

Start O.J. Howard as long as Rob Gronkowski is out: Howard has been used more in running situations while Cameron Brate has been used more in the passing game, but the Buccaneers have made it more of a point to get Howard the football in recent weeks.

Howard caught six passes thrown his way for 49 yards and a touchdown tonight. Most of his catches were plays designed to get him the ball quickly. It will be hard for Howard to maintain value once Gronkowski is back, but he should at least be in for two tight end sets. Until Gronkowski is healthy, Howard is a high-upside, low-floor option.

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