• Joe Mixon destroys the Panthers: Mixon scored five touchdowns in a blowout victory after finding the endzone just three times in his first eight games this season.
• Davante Adams rebounds with the Raiders: Adams went from his worst game of the season last week to his best game this week with season highs in receptions (10), receiving yards (146) and touchdowns (2).
• Justin Fields’ record-breaking performance: Fields' 178 rushing yards broke the record for the most by a quarterback in a game. He also scored four touchdowns for a dominant fantasy performance.
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2022.
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Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots
• Rhamondre Stevenson: 15 carries, 60 yards, 3 receptions, 10 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
• Nick Folk: 4 field goal attempts, 4 field goals made
Monitor Deon Jackson’s health: The Colts running back left the game after suffering a knee injury. He didn’t play in the last 14 minutes of the game.
- He received the start with Jonathan Taylor out due to an ankle injury.
- The Colts traded Nyheim Hines earlier in the week for Zack Moss and a draft pick. Moss was inactive.
- It’s likely Moss was only inactive because he just started learning the offense. He could be more involved later in the season.
- Jackson had played 38 of a possible 48 snaps through the first three quarters.
- Jordan Wilkins hadn’t been on an NFL roster all season but was a backup for the Colts for several years. He’s primarily a receiving back, which made him unnecessary with Hines on the roster, but he returned after Hines left.
- Wilkins leapt past Phillip Linsay on the depth chart. He was the primary backup for three quarters and played 9-of-14 snaps in the fourth quarter.
- Wilkins and Moss are both waiver wire targets in case Taylor and Jackson can’t play next week. They have a great matchup against the Raiders' run defense. Ideally, reports will indicate who the starter is so we know which of the two to start in fantasy football.
The Patriots’ new backup running back: J.J. Taylor was signed off the practice squad and served as the Patriots’ backup running back for this game.
- He was signed to the active roster rather than being a gameday elevation, so Taylor will remain on the roster in future weeks.
- Damien Harris was inactive due to illness.
- Kevin Harris was a healthy inactive. Pierre Strong was active but showed up on the injury report Thursday with a hamstring injury. It’s possible Strong would have been the backup if he was healthy.
- Taylor gained just nine yards on 10 carries. Half of his carries occurred in the last nine minutes of the game.
- There is a chance both rookies will be inactive going forward if New England keeps all five players on the roster.
Slow the Tyquan Thornton hype: There was a chance the second-round rookie would become the clear No. 2 receiver on the Patriots’ depth chart, but that doesn’t seem like it will happen this season.
- DeVante Parker was inactive with a knee injury.
- There were trade rumors involving Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor, but both remained on the roster.
- Bourne and Thornton had similar snap and route counts in recent weeks when both were healthy, but Bourne was clearly ahead of Thornton on the depth chart this week.
- It appears Thornton will fall back down to fourth on the depth chart once Parker is healthy.
- It was also discouraging that the Patriots got Lynn Bowden Jr. involved for the first time all season, rather than sticking with their top four wide receivers. This slightly hurts the value of all of their receivers.
Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
• Allen Lazard: 4 receptions, 87 yards, 1 touchdown
• James Mitchell: 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 touchdown
Monitor the health of the Packers’ wide receivers: Green Bay seemed like it was the healthiest it had been in a long time, with four of the team’s top five wide receivers active. Only two of the four finished the game, though.
- Romeo Doubs joined Allen Lazard and Christian Watson in the starting lineup with Sammy Watkins coming off the bench.
- Doubs caught an 18-yard pass on that first play. He hobbled to the sideline afterward, was carted to the locker room and was later ruled out.
- He was seen with a boot on his right foot and was on crutches after the game.
- Watkins took over as the outside receiver in both two- and three-receiver sets, with Watson primarily playing in 11 personnel.
- Watson took a hit early in the third quarter and was then placed in concussion protocol.
- He also suffered a concussion last week.
- Samori Toure took over as the third wide receiver over the rest of the game with Amari Rodgers mixing in.
- All of these injuries make it safer to leave Lazard in fantasy starting lineups, as his target share should only increase.
- Watkins could also put up some big games if the Packers' offense can ever turn things around.
Monitor Aaron Jones’ health: Jones suffered an ankle injury late in the third quarter and didn’t return. He was seen in a walking boot after the game.
- The Packers were using the same two-man rotation they’ve been using all season for the first three quarters of the game.
- It wasn’t very effective, as the two backs combined for 59 yards on 20 carries.
- A.J. Dillon took over completely after Jones left, with backup Kylin Hill taking just one snap for a random play in the fourth quarter.
- Dillon would be a must-start if Jones misses time. He’s been ineffective this season, but the volume alone would be enough to place him in starting lineups, and there is always a chance he could regain his 2021 form.
Monitor the health of the Lions’ running backs: D’Andre Swift was active but on a snap count, while Craig Reynolds left the game with an injury and didn’t return.
- Jamaal Williams started the game and was the primary running back throughout.
- Swift mixed in, particularly early on. He touched the ball five times, with two of his touches coming on the first drive.
- He played five snaps in the first quarter and one or two snaps per quarter over the rest of the game.
- His declining playing time as the game progressed wasn’t particularly reassuring for future weeks.
- Reynolds started the day as the third-string running back but suffered a ribs injury on his only snap in the first quarter. He didn’t return.
- The Lions smartly kept four running backs on the active roster. Justin Jackson saw his first offensive snaps in the second quarter and served as the primary backup over the rest of the game.
- Williams should remain on fantasy rosters and likely in starting lineups.
The Lions' new tight end rotation: The Lions traded T.J. Hockenson earlier in the week, opening the door for other tight ends to get involved in the offense
- Brock Wright has served as the No. 2 tight end for most of the season. He continued to play in two-tight end sets while also taking the snaps from 11 personnel on early downs.
- Rookie James Mitchell joined Wright for snaps in 12 personnel, while Shane Zylstra joined in three-tight end sets and took the third-down snaps.
- Both Mitchell and Zylstra scored touchdowns in this game, but the three tight ends combined for only nine receiving yards.
- This kind of three-man rotation makes it impossible for any of these players to be a consistent fantasy asset, even in deep leagues.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Atlanta Falcons
• Austin Ekeler: 14 carries, 47 yards, 1 touchdown, 7 receptions, 24 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
• Cordarrelle Patterson: 13 carries, 44 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 reception, 9 receiving yards 
Cordarrelle Patterson’s return: Patterson returned off injured reserve to rejoin the Falcons as part of a four-man committee.
- There were reports before the game that Patterson would get eased in rather than handle his normal workload.
- He received roughly one-third of snaps in most situations, but luckily he received nearly all of the goal-line work. He was the clear goal-line back when he was healthy at the beginning of the season, too.
- Fantasy managers can safely start him despite the crowded backfield. He will still score the touchdowns, and his snaps should increase.
- Tyler Allgeier put up 99 yards on 10 carries and is a clear sell-high candidate. Patterson will likely take a higher percentage of carries going forward, and Damien Williams could still return sooner rather than later.
The Falcons No. 2 wide receiver: Olamide Zaccheaus’ role as the Falcons’ No. 2 wide receiver is becoming more secure, as the receiving room has become less crowded.
- Zaccheaus has consistently received the second-most snaps among Falcons wide receivers, but his percentage of offensive snaps has steadily increased.
- Bryan Edwards started the season as his closest competition, but Edwards’ role in the offense steadily decreased over two months, and he was a healthy inactive for Week 9.
- The Falcons’ No. 2 wide receiver doesn’t matter too much for fantasy football currently when no Atlanta player had more than 27 receiving yards, but it’s worth noting for single-game competitions and prop bets, and it becomes relevant if the Falcons ever do rely more heavily on the pass game.
Isaiah Spiller the new No. 2 back: Spiller saw the second-most action in the Chargers’ backfield for the first time all season.
- He was a healthy inactive for the first several weeks behind Austin Ekeler, Joshua Kelley and Sony Michel.
- Kelley landed on injured reserve two weeks ago with a sprained MCL.
- Spiller made his season debut last week as the third back.
- He gained 29 yards on seven carries.
- This is roughly the role several expected him to have at the start of the season.
- It likely won’t be enough for him to have standalone value without a blowout win for Los Angeles, but he should be picked up in leagues that are large enough where all of the other handcuffs are also on rosters.
Los Angeles without its top two receivers: Both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams were inactive, giving their backups even more playing time this season.
- Josh Palmer was the Chargers’ top wide receiver, handling his most playing time in weeks. He caught eight passes for 106 yards. He is a waiver wire target, as he will likely remain a starter for several more weeks.
- DeAndre Carter was the No. 2 receiver — and the primary slot receiver, as he’s been most of the season.
- Carter could have some value going forward, as the Chargers have the sixth-best schedule for fantasy wide receivers over the rest of the season.
- 2021 undrafted wideout Michael Bandy was the clear third receiver for the second straight week after barely playing earlier in the season.
Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets
• Michael Carter: 12 carries, 76 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 10 receiving yards
• James Robinson: 13 carries, 48 yards, 2 receptions, 5 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
The Jets’ constantly-evolving wide receiver room: The Jets relied heavily on Garrett Wilson in their victory over the Bills, but we continued to see the playing time of other receivers fluctuate.
- Wilson played 43 of his 57 snaps as an outside receiver, making it the most he’s played on the outside relative to the slot all season.
- It’s no surprise that this led to his second straight game over 90 receiving yards.
- He’s playing the role Elijah Moore once had, and his success makes it unlikely Moore gets the job back anytime soon.
- It’s safe to put Wilson back in fantasy starting lineups despite everything else happening.
- Denzel Mims continues to play Corey Davis’ role, as Davis missed his second straight game with a knee injury.
- Head coach Robert Saleh said that Mims deserves a role in the offense even when Davis is back, which could lead to the two players splitting time.
- Elijah Moore played only in three-receiver sets and was constantly lining up in the slot.
- This is a role he played in college, but he hadn’t played there much in the NFL. He didn’t see a target in this game, but he could thrive in this position in the future.
- He was still splitting time in three-receiver sets, with Braxton Berrios still seeing plenty of snaps from the slot.
James Robinson’s second game with the Jets: Robinson had a full week of practice with the Jets for the first time, and he saw more promising usage.
- Robinson moved into a more near-even split with Michael Carter in most situations.
- Robinson received the only goal-line snap. The Jets weren’t in this situation last week, and it’s still only a sample of one play. It would be big for Robinson if he consistently saw these opportunities.
- As Carter lost a few snaps on early downs, he gained a few snaps from Ty Johnson on third down. The fewer snaps Johnson receives, the better for the fantasy values of Carter and Robinson.
- The Jets are on a bye in Week 10, so we should find out in Week 11 if Robinson will overtake Carter for offensive snaps.
- New York still has one of the best schedules for running backs over the rest of the season, so it would be better to buy these two running backs rather than sell.
Nyheim Hines’ first game with the Bills: The Bills traded for Hines earlier in the week, but he received just four offensive snaps.
- He played two snaps in the first quarter and another two in the fourth quarter.
- James Cook remained the primary backup, but Cook played a lower percentage of offensive snaps compared to last week.
- We can expect Hines to see more snaps next week following more time to learn the offense. The only question is if this will come at the expense of Devin Singletary or Cook.
Add Isaiah McKenzie: McKenzie had a quiet performance against the Jets, but his constant increase in playing time is a good sign for the future.
- He caught two of three passes for 12 yards.
- McKenzie seemed to be potentially losing playing time in the slot to Khalil Shakir after the rookie gained 75 yards and a touchdown in Week 5.
- Shakir was held without a catch for the second straight week.
- McKenzie played 38 of a possible 46 snaps in 11 personnel after playing 29 of 47 last week.
- The Bills have one the easiest remaining schedules, which should allow the offense to have better games than it did against the Jets.
Minnesota Vikings @ Washington Commanders
• Justin Jefferson: 7 receptions, 115 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 carry, 10 rushing yards
• Curtis Samuel: 3 receptions, 65 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 carry, 16 rushing yards 
The Vikings' new tight end: The Vikings acquired T.J. Hockenson at the trade deadline and wasted no time getting him involved in their offense.
- Hockenson not only saw more playing time than he was seeing with the Lions this season, but he also more playing time than any Vikings tight end this season.
- He caught all nine passes thrown his way for 70 yards.
- It was just the sixth time all season a tight end had nine or more catches.
- It was understandable if fantasy managers left him out of starting lineups this week due to his new team, but he can safely be put in fantasy starting lineups for the rest of the season.
The Commanders without J.D. McKissic: McKissic had suffered a neck injury, which didn’t allow him to practice all week. He was inactive.
- Antonio Gibson completely took over McKissic’s role, seeing all of the passing-down work.
- Gibson had played the majority of early downs last week, but in order to keep playing time more balanced, Brian Robinson Jr. saw more snaps on early downs than in recent weeks.
- Neither player was able to take advantage of the matchup. Both players handled double-digit carries, but neither reached 50 yards. Each caught two passes for a combined five yards.
- Gibson could have a big fantasy showing in Week 10 if McKissic is out. The Commanders play the Eagles, a game in which they will likely be fighting back from behind, which would mean a lot of playing time for Gibson. The Eagles have been average at allowing fantasy points to running backs.
Carolina Panthers @ Cincinnati Bengals
• Joe Mixon: 22 carries, 153 yards, 4 touchdowns, 4 receptions, 58 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
• Terrace Marshall Jr.: 3 receptions, 53 yards, 1 touchdown 
Add Chuba Hubbard: Hubbard was inactive with an ankle injury, but this game illustrated how large of a role he can have once healthy.
- D’Onta Foreman started the game but was not used in passing situations. This is a role Hubbard will fill once he’s back.
- Foreman was the clear player on early downs to start the game but didn’t play as much in the second half, as the Panthers were playing from behind.
- Foreman is the player to start in Carolina if the team is expected to win, but Hubbard will be the better fantasy asset while they are playing from behind.
Add Terrace Marshall Jr.: Marshall gained over 50 receiving yards in his second straight game and scored the first touchdown of his career.
- He should remain a clear starter for Carolina over the rest of the season.
- He’s still only 22 years old after a rookie season to forget. At his age, he can be treated like any other rookie to gamble on breaking out over the second half of the season.
- The Panthers have a top-10 schedule for fantasy wide receivers both over the rest of the season and during the fantasy playoffs.
Monitor Chris Evans’ health: Evans hurt his right left on the opening kickoff. He attempted one offensive play later in the first quarter but went back to the medical tent and didn’t return.
- He’s rarely been involved in the offense this season, but he did catch a 26-yard pass on one of his two offensive snaps last week.
- This game would have been a perfect opportunity to get him some garbage time touches.
- Backup running back Samaje Perine also went to the medical tent in the first half, but he returned to the game.
- If the Evans injury is serious, then it makes Joe Mixon an ever-so-slightly safer option, as he’s less likely to lose snaps in garbage time.
Ignore the Bengals' snap counts: The Bengals had a blowout victory, which led to their backups playing a third of the game.
- Cincinnati has been one of the most consistent teams for years in how it uses its players. Today was the exception due to garbage time.
- All of the Bengals’ usual fantasy starters are safe options going forward.
Las Vegas Raiders @ Jacksonville Jaguars
• Davante Adams: 10 receptions, 146 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Travis Etienne: 28 carries, 109 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 17 receiving yards
Monitor Evan Engram’s health: Engram suffered a back injury in the third quarter. He returned to the game but played just two snaps in the fourth quarter.
- Engram caught only one pass for eight yards over the course of the game despite having his usual role before the initial injury.
- Dan Arnold took over as the primary receiving tight end.
- The Jaguars were mostly running the ball in the fourth quarter to preserve their lead, but Arnold would likely see the exact same role Engram has had all season if Engram misses time.
- The Jaguars have an OK matchup against the Chiefs next week, where there will be plenty of opportunity for volume. They have a bye week after that.
- Arnold could be a waiver wire target specifically for next week or if the Engram injury is serious. This would largely be in deeper leagues, regardless.
- Arnold has a higher PFF receiving grade over the past two seasons than Engram, largely based on his work as the Jaguars’ starter last year, so this could be an upgrade.
Sell high on Davante Adams: Adams took advantage of the second-best matchup for a wide receiver this week against the Jaguars. Still, he’s been hot and cold this season and could have more poor performances ahead.
- Adams has five games this season with 95 or more receiving yards and three games with 36 or fewer.
- His target share will likely decline slightly once Darren Waller is healthy. Waller hasn’t caught a pass in over a month due to a hamstring injury.
- He was limited in practice all week, which is a good sign he could be back sooner rather than later.
- The Raiders are in the bottom half of the league in terms of matchups for their wide receivers and their schedule difficulty.
Miami Dolphins @ Chicago Bears
• Justin Fields: 15 carries, 178 yards, 1 touchdown, 17 for 28 passing, 123 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns
• Tyreek Hill: 7 receptions, 143 yards, 1 touchdown 
The Dolphins’ new backfield committee: Miami traded away Chase Edmonds and added Jeff Wilson Jr. at the trade deadline. Wilson may have already taken the lead in the Dolphins' backfield.
- Miami started the game with a rotation by drive, with Raheem Mostert taking the first and third drives and Wilson taking the second and fourth series. The third drive was the team’s two-minute drill.
- Mostert started the fifth drive, but Wilson took his place midway through. Wilson saw more snaps than Mostert on the fifth, sixth and seventh drives.
- Mostert took every snap on the eighth drive, when the Dolphins tried to run out the clock, but Mostert lost one yard on two carries and they passed on third down.
- Wilson took the three snaps in victory formation.
- Wilson looked better as both a rusher and receiver. The Dolphins both ran the ball nine times, with Wilson gaining 51 yards to 26 for Mostert.
- Wilson caught three passes for 21 yards, while Mostert didn’t have a catch.
- Both players scored touchdowns.
- It wouldn’t be surprising to see Wilson start next week. Both players will likely see significant playing time, regardless of who starts.
The Bears’ surprising running back usage: Chicago seemed to shift more toward a running back committee but seemed to use its running backs in the wrong situations against the Dolphins.
- Khalil Herbert received double-digit carries the past two weeks and averaged over 5.0 yards per carry in each game.
- Herbert gained 23 yards on seven carries, which wasn’t great, but it’s still a better yards per carry figure than David Montgomery gaining 36 yards on 14 carries.
- Herbert took nearly half the snaps on third downs, as well as all of the snaps in two-minute drills. This resulted in zero targets.
- Montgomery has consistently been a better receiver over the past two seasons.
- Ideally, we would see Montgomery taking a higher percentage of the passing-down snaps and Herbert at least reaching an even amount of snaps on early downs and in short-yardage situations.
Chase Claypool’s Chicago debut: The Steelers traded Claypool to the Bears for a second-round pick. He was on a snap count, but Chicago made it a point to throw him the ball.
- Chicago used a five-man rotation at wide receiver, with players constantly coming on and off the field.
- Claypool played almost entirely as an outside receiver after lining up primarily in the slot this season in Pittsburgh.
- His arrival pushed rookie Velus Jones Jr. to sixth on the depth chart and forced him to be inactive.
- Darnell Mooney has played significantly both outside and in the slot this season, but he played in the slot on over 55% of snaps for just the second time this season.
- Claypool’s 37.5% targets per route run was excellent, but ideally he would have seen more catches on his 6.7-yard average depth of target.
- He should see more snaps going forward but will likely need to develop more chemistry with Justin Fields before he can go in fantasy starting lineups.
Don’t add Cole Kmet: The Bears tight end scored two touchdowns, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will have fantasy success going forward.
- He’s yet to gain more than 45 yards in a game this season.
- This was his first game of the season as a top-12 fantasy tight end.
- His 11.9% targets per route run is the lowest rate for the 18 tight ends with 200 or more routes, and his 0.92 yards per route run is second-worst.
- His 58.8 PFF receiving grade heading into Week 9 was fifth-worst of 26 tight ends with 150 or more routes.
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
• Ken Walker: 26 carries, 109 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Tyler Lockett: 5 receptions, 67 yards, 1 touchdown
James Conner‘s return: Conner has been dealing with a rib injury that has kept him out since Week 5. He returned to the Cardinals lineup today and took hold of the same role he had in the offense before the injury.
- He ran the ball only seven times for 45 yards, largely because the team was often playing from behind.
- Conner also caught five passes for 19 yards.
- He played a higher percentage of snaps than he played earlier in the season. This was likely due to Eno Benjamin‘s recent ineffective play.
- Arizona has a difficult schedule for running backs over the next month but has the sixth-easiest schedule for backs from Weeks 15-17.
- He is a buy-low candidate after his high usage but low numbers.
Robbie Anderson becomes a starter: The Cardinals' third receiver spot has gone from Greg Dortch to A.J. Green to Anderson over the last three weeks.
- Anderson played the clear majority of snaps, with Dortch and Green rarely seeing the field.
- This left him with three targets. He caught one of them for a 4-yard loss.
- Anderson lining up on the outside meant Rondale Moore could play over 70% of his snaps from the slot. Moore had played just under 40% of the time in the slot over the last two weeks.
- Moore led the team in targets (10), receptions (8) and receiving yards (69)
- Moore remains one of the top waiver wire targets at wide receiver.
- Anderson is unlikely to be a factor in fantasy football this season, as he’s the fourth-best receiving option on the offense (at best) and will lose snaps to Marquise Brown whenever he returns.
Sell High on Ken Walker: Walker scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to close out the victory for Seattle, but it might be harder for the Seahawks to be in this situation going forward.
- Travis Homer remains the clear passing-down back for both third downs and two-minute drills.
- The Seahawks have the fourth-worst schedule for running backs over the rest of the season. This game against the Cardinals was of the top two matchups remaining.
- They face two of the best teams in the league during the fantasy playoffs. They also face the 49ers, who have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to running backs.
- Walker will still be a must-start every week, but it will get a lot more difficult for the Seahawks to stick with the run and get Walker in position to score.
Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Cooper Kupp: 8 receptions, 127 yards, 1 touchdown
• Cade Otton: 5 receptions, 68 yards, 1 touchdown
The Rams' evolving running back room: All of the Rams' running backs played a different role this week compared to last, and that could change again next week.
- Darrell Henderson split time on early downs last week, taking nearly all of the passing-down snaps in the process. He lost nearly all of the passing work this week but played a higher percentage of early-down snaps.
- Malcolm Brown played a few snaps on early downs and was the short-yardage back a week ago. He took nearly all of the receiving snaps this week.
- Ronnie Rivers was the backup on early downs last week. He was active but didn’t play on offense.
- Cam Akers returned to the Rams after the team failed to trade him. He was the backup on early downs and played in short-yardage situations.
- Kyren Williams returned to practice over a week ago and will ideally be ready to join the active roster before the Rams' next game. He could realistically take time from any of the three backs.
- It’s worth having Henderson, Akers and Williams on fantasy rosters, but none of them should be in your starting lineup. One of them could gain and keep the early-down role, which could make them a fantasy starter.
Van Jefferson’s decrease in playing time: Jefferson returned to the Rams lineup last week and was on a pitch count. His playing time went down instead of up in his second game back.
- He didn’t catch any of the five passes thrown his way.
- One of those passes was dropped, but his average depth of target was 27.0 yards. It’s difficult to catch passes when they are always that deep.
- No receiver outside of Cooper Kupp was a major part of the passing game. Kupp gained over three-quarters of the Rams' passing yardage.
- It seems less likely Jefferson will have fantasy value this season, contrary to what we thought at the beginning of the year.
The Buccaneers running back split: Rachaad White ended up with more rushing yards than Leonard Fournette, but that isn’t necessarily a sign of things to come.
- Fournette still dominated in the playing time. he might not have taken the field as often as usual, but that was likely due to the number of offensive plays Tampa Bay ran.
- He played over 50 offensive snaps for the fourth time this season.
- This is Fournette’s third straight game under 25 rushing yards. He’s no longer a must-start each week.
- White has constantly been a waiver wire target in case he can take over the starting job, but he hasn’t been any more effective this season.
- The Buccaneers have one of the most difficult schedules for running backs over the rest of the season.
Monitor the health of Julio Jones: Jones didn’t practice at the beginning of the week due to a knee injury. He barely played in the second half.
- Jones was the clear third wide receiver in the first half, playing in 27 of a possible 40 snaps, including 20 of 25 pass plays.
- He played only three snaps in the third quarter, including two of the first three plays of the half and one later in the quarter.
- Scotty Miller took over as the team’s third receiver in the second half, with Breshad Perriman also mixing in.
- The top two wide receivers remain the clear leaders in targets regardless of who is the third receiver. It’s likely best to avoid the third receiver in Tampa Bay until the offense plays better.
Tennessee Titans @ Kansas City Chiefs
•Derrick Henry: 17 carries, 115 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Mecole Hardman: 6 receptions, 79 yards, 1 touchdown
Kadarius Toney joins the Chiefs: Toney made his Chiefs debut but played nearly all of his snaps during the first 20 minutes of the game.
- He played seven of a possible 33 snaps over the Chiefs' first three drives, which tied with Skyy Moore for fifth-most among their wide receivers.
- Three of his seven snaps came from the slot. All six of the Chiefs wide receivers played at least three snaps from the slot in that time.
- He also took two snaps from more of a tight end alignment and stance.
- Toney caught two passes for 12 yards in his limited time.
- He returned for one snap in the fourth quarter and another in overtime.
- He should be on fantasy rosters but remain on the bench until he gets more playing time.
- Justin Watson also played more than usual. He caught two passes for 37 yards.
- Most of their playing time came at the expense for Mecole Hardman.
- Hardman keeps scoring touchdowns, but it’s hard to consider him a fantasy starter with how often he comes off the field.
Bench Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Isaiah Pacheco was named the starter two weeks ago and received significantly more playing time than Edwards-Helaire for the first time.
- Pacheco took just a slight majority over Edwards-Helaire in Week 6 before the bye.
- Kansas City completely abandoned the run game early on. Pacheco, Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon gained 4-5 yards each on 3-5 carries each.
- This was the fourth straight game where Edwards-Helaire tallied under 40 rushing yards. He’s caught only one pass in the past three weeks and only scored one touchdown in the last four.
- McKinnon dominated snaps throughout the second half as the Chiefs were playing from behind.
- Six of the Chiefs' nine remaining opponents have losing records with three or fewer wins on the season.
- The game scripts in those games will be much more favorable to the Chiefs' run game, which could mean big games for Pacheco ahead.
- Kansas City has been more reliant on their youngest players in those scripts, which makes the schedule better news for Pacheco than Edwards-Helaire.
Drop Robert Woods: Woods didn’t catch his only target.
- No Titans wide receiver caught a pass against the Chiefs.
- That should change once Ryan Tannehill is starting again, but that won’t be enough to warrant keeping him.
- This was his fifth-straight game and seventh total game total under 40 receiving yards.
- He’s yet to catch more than four passes in a game.
- Treylon Burks should be returning soon, which will take away from Woods’ snaps and targets.
- The Titans have the fourth-worst schedule for wide receivers over the rest of the season.
Table Notes
• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including 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.
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