Thursday Night Observations

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Published on October 8, 2021

Every once in a while a game goes perfectly for you. It doesn't matter how ugly it is, or whether the starting QB left the game with a finger injury, the results are exactly what you needed. I had the Rams -2.5, DK Metcalf in two leagues, Cooper Kupp in one, Darrell Henderson in one and Matthew Stafford in another. I have no Russell Wilson or Tyler Lockett. If there were one negative, it was the Rams defense, but even they did okay with two turnovers, two sacks and 17 points allowed. All things considered, this was a 90th percentile outcome for me.

Matthew Stafford missed some open receivers early, but got into a nice rhythm and carved the Seahawks up in the second half.
Robert Woods (14-12-150-0) finally got involved and made plays all day. Hopefully, you didn't leave him on your bench. Cooper Kupp (10-7-92-0) always gets his, and he made a great catch on a tipped ball near the sidelines.
Darrell Henderson (17-81-1, 1-1-17-0) was smooth and explosive, but Sony Michel (11-37-1, 1-1-8-0) got his share of work and looked like the better short-yardage option.
Russell Wilson (finger) tried to gut it out, but he couldn't throw and was replaced by the more-competent-than-you'd-think Geno Smith.
From that brief showing, I'd put Smith in the top half of backups. Recall Smith (a second-round) pick was set to start for the Jets in 2015, but got punched in the face by linebacker IK Enemkpali during the preseason, fractured his jaw and never got the job back from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Smith was also the guy who started in place of an abysmal Eli Manning, breaking Manning's streak of consecutive starts and angering a lot of ill-informed Giants fans. So no one deserves a break more than Smith.
DK Metcalf (5-5-98-2) had a big game due to the TDs, but Tyler Locket (10-5-57-0) is still Wilson's favorite target. (We'll see how much time, if any, Wilson misses.
Alex Collins (15-47-0, 3-2-25-0) did a fair Chris Carson impression, but didn't have much room to run.
What a sick play by punter Michael Dickson, picking up a blocked punt and re-punting it deep into Rams territory. Almost as good as Hunter Renfrow's hit on the fake punt Monday night.