Key fantasy football takeaways from every Sunday NFL game

Several key players, including Aaron Jones and C.J. Stroud, suffered injuries during Week 9 games.
Some star players underperformed, while unexpected names like Parker Washington and Tory Horton emerged as potential waiver wire pickups.
Jayden Daniels’ injury makes everyone else on the Commanders roster hard to trust in fantasy.

Some NFL teams in Week 9 looked like they were still in Halloween costumes. It was hard to recognize a few players because of how poorly they played.

Many fantasy football managers opened their matchups Sunday night to find a bag full of candy corn after some ugly performances during the day.

There were bright spots, too. A few games turned into high-scoring shootouts, rewarding managers with players from these games with a haul of Reese’s and Snickers.

Congratulations to Cam Little, who set a full-size NFL record with a 68-yard field goal.

Here’s a recap of every Sunday game with the key fantasy takeaways you need to know.

Week 9 fantasy football game recaps

Bears 47, Bengals 42

This was the craziest game of the season. The Bengals came back from two scores downwith under two minutes, thanks to an onside kick. Then, with 54 seconds left, the Bears scored off an improbable catch-and-run by TE Colston Loveland.

Chicago Bears

Kyle Monangai got his first start with D’Andre Swift out and didn’t disappoint. He dominated snaps for running backs, turning it into 26 carries for 176 yards. Only blip was Brittan Brown scored the only rushing touchdown. If it wasn’t obvious before that Monangai should be rostered, it should be now.
TE Cole Kmet left the game due to a concussion and Colston Loveland thrived afterward, catching six for 118 yards.
It was a 50/50 split of snaps with Kmet and Loveland before the injury, but Loveland should still be picked up in hopes that he can carve out a larger role even if Kmet is healthy.
Rome Odunze put up a goose egg in the box score. Expect this to be a complete outlier and if the manager in your league is panicking, make a trade.

Cincinnati Bengals

Tee Higgins had his best game of the season, catching seven of nine targets for 121 and two scores. Higgins can continue to be very productive with QB Joe Flacco, but the inconsistent days will still be there.
Higgins also got knocked out late in the game, so monitor his health
RB Samaje Perine was injured in the second quarter and didn’t return. This led to Chase Brown getting most of the snaps for the rest of the game.
If Perine misses time, expect Brown to get the workload that he saw last season, which would be a massive boost to his value.

Vikings 27, Lions 24

QB J.J. McCarthy started for the first time since Week 2 and led the Vikings to an upset victory over the Lions.

Minnesota Vikings

J.J. McCarthy was good enough to lead the Vikings to victory. 14-for-25, 143 yards and two touchdowns. Added 12 rushing yards for a score too.
The negative: five sacks and an interception. Expect him to be a solid streamer in the right matchups, but that is it.
Justin Jefferson was his favorite target with nine on the day. That is a great sign for Jefferson managers.
RB Aaron Jones was dominating the snaps in the first half with 24, compared to eight for Jordan Mason. He suffered a shoulder injury that knocked him out of the game though.

Detroit Lions

Neither Jahmyr Gibbs nor David Montgomery were able to find success, outside of a touchdown for Montgomery. No need to panic, but this is now two out of the last three games Gibbs has struggled to find room.

Panthers 16, Packers 13

Panthers stun the Packers on the road.

Green Bay Packers

Jordan Love didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time all season.
TE Tucker Kraft is feared to have been lost for the season to a torn ACL. Luke Musgrave becomes an immediate player to add.
WR Matthew Golden was also injured. This should lead to more targets for Romeo Doubs until Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks return.

Carolina Panthers

RB Rico Dowdle started after hints of this being the case during the week. He dominated the usage over Chuba Hubbard: 42-13 in snaps, 25-5 in carries. He turned it into 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Dowdle is a must-start going forward. Hold Hubbard, for now, but he should be on your bench.

Chargers 27, Titans 20

This was a much closer game than many thought it would be after the Titans got an early pick-six and a punt return.

Los Angeles Chargers

RB Kimani Vidal struggled, but also did not get many touches. This can be attributed to the Chargers being in catch-up mode all game.
That said, Jaret Patterson, who was called up from the practice squad this week, rushed for 44 yards on nine carries.
Omarion Hampton is eligible to return next week so Vidal’s time to shine might be over soon.
Quentin Johnston managers can breathe a sigh of relief. He was tied for second in targets, receptions and caught a touchdown.

Tennessee Titans

Interesting receiver rotation this week. Elic Ayomanor saw his snaps decrease as the Titans used Van Jefferson and Chimere Dike in two wide receiver sets.
Ayomanor had the most productive day of the receivers, but it still isn’t much with Cam Ward as QB.
The RB split was typical with it being a close game. Tony Pollard saw more snaps and carries than Tyjae Spears.

Patriots 24, Falcons 23

A much closer game than expected as turnovers kept the Falcons in this game. However a missed extra point was the difference.

Atlanta Falcons

RB Bijan Robinson didn’t have his best day in the box score, but he was on the field for his highest snap percentage all season even in a close matchup.
If that continues, using Tyler Allgeier as a flex option in good matchups is no longer going to be a thing.
Drake London had himself a day in a touch matchup, catching three touchdowns.
The targets were very consolidated between London (14), Robinson (10) and TE Kyle Pitts (7). Only Darnell Mooney and David Sills saw others with one each.
Mooney is no longer someone who needs to be rostered.

New England Patriots

RB TreVeyon Henderson got the start with Rhamondre Stevenson inactive. He took on the Stevenson role, dominating the snaps over Terrell Jennings. It was a fairly even split in carries 14-11 and Jennings got the goal-line carry for a touchdown. Henderson did not do anything to prove he deserves more work when Stevenson returns.
WR Kayshon Boutte suffered a hamstring injury. DeMario Douglas led the team in receiving but his usage is not reliable as he plays a low number of snaps.
Keep an eye out for the Patriots trading for a running back and/or receiver, which would muddle things quite a bit.

49ers 34, Giants 24

The 49ers used a strong run game and tough defense to win on the road.

San Francisco 49ers

Not much to analyze here. As mentioned, the run game was the dominant factor here on offense. Even the passing game went mostly through the running back, Christian McCaffrey.

New York Giants

With no Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary split the backfield, with Singletary being the one leading the usage. Neither player is usable in fantasy with the role they have.
Darius Slayton was knocked out of the game late, so stay tuned for updates on that. Before that he led the Giants in receiving yards. In a weak waiver week, Slayton is one of the better options as he should see a healthy number of targets going forward.
QB Jaxon Dart proves that he will get it done in fantasy each week. It might not be pretty, but his rushing ability alone will make him fantasy-relevant.

Steelers 27, Colts 20

Steelers defense held the highest scoring offense in the league down and forced five turnovers.

Indianapolis Colts

Jonathan Taylor was held to just 45 yards on 14 carries.
This led to the Colts passing 50 times with WR Alec Pierce leading the way (13 targets).
Careful chasing Pierce’s performance, he has not had more than five targets in a game with both Michael Pittman and Josh Downs healthy.
TE Tyler Warren has now been shut down two weeks in a row. Buy-low window might be open.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Jaylen Warren was not great, rushing for 31 yards on 16 carries, but he did score twice.
The better news is Warren dominated the backfield touches with Kenneth Gainwell only getting three.
WR Calvin Austin III and TE Darnell Washington led the team with six targets, two more than DK Metcalf, who proves once again he is touchdown-dependent.

Broncos 18, Texans 15

The low score is not because the offenses did not play well, but instead the defenses for both teams are elite.

Denver Broncos

J.K. Dobbins for most of the season has been the clear leader of the running back room, making R.J. Harvey an afterthought. This week Harvey saw 20 snaps to Dobbins’ 29.
Dobbins still dominated the carries 15-2 over Harvey, but Harvey saw five targets, catching all five and scoring. If Harvey was dropped in your league, he is someone to target.
The passing game struggled as expected against a Houston defense that has shut down just about everybody this season.

Houston Texans

Nico Collins and Christian Kirk returned making the rest of the receivers unreliable fantasy options. And really, you only want to use Collins anyway. Kirk sees a solid number of targets, but is not getting downfield enough to do much with them.
Backfield split continues with Nick Chubb and Woody Marks.
QB C.J. Stroud left this game due to a concussion, so keep an eye on his availability this week.

Jaguars 30, Raiders 29 (OT)

There were 12 total points scored in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter and overtime, 42 points were scored. Raiders went for two in OT and didn’t convert to give the Jags the win.

Jacksonville Jaguars

No Travis Hunter and it was Parker Washington, not Brian Thomas Jr., who led the team in receiving. He should be a top waiver option this week.
Thomas injured his ankle and was not able to play in overtime. Keep an eye on his status, but even if he does play, he will be hard to trust him as more than a high-end WR3 at this point.

Las Vegas Raiders

Brock Bowers returned and proved that he one of, if not the best tight end in the league.
With the trade deadline looming, the Raiders are rumored to be one of the teams making moves. WR Jakobi Meyers and TE Michael Mayer could possibly be on the move. This would shake things up considerably in their usage.

Rams 34, Saints 10

This game was not much of a contest right from the start with the Rams in complete control.

New Orleans Saints

Rookie Tyler Shough started his first game and did nothing to make anyone feel good about the Saints offense with him under center.
Somehow RB Alvin Kamara saw even fewer snaps this week. Yes, they were trailing, but with his expected work in the passing game, it is still baffling.

Los Angeles Rams

WR Puka Nacua left this game with a rib/chest injury. Coach Sean McVay said he could have returned if needed. Before that he was doing his usual thing so no worries there.
If Puka does miss time, the other receivers would not be priority pickups unless desperate. Konata Mumpfield would be the top add as he was the one who stepped into Puka’s role after the injury.

Bills 28, Chiefs 21

The game of the day before the day started did not bring the offensive fireworks most expected.

Kansas City Chiefs

Kareem Hunt took over the backfield without Isiah Pachco, playing over 70% of the team’s snaps.
Brashard Smith was expected to play a role, but with a 20% snap rate as the second running back, he can be dropped.

Buffalo Bills

TE Dalton Kincaid had a very good game, going for over 100 yards for the second time this season. He is still playing a low percentage of snaps for someone who’s trusted so much in fantasy.
The good news is he is targeted on a large number of his routes. If that stays high, then it keeps him as someone you can start each week.
The other possible change could be the Bills trading for a receiver, which would take targets away from Kincaid.

Seahawks 38, Commanders 14

A bad game for the Commanders got even worse late as Jayden Daniels suffered a brutal elbow injury and is likely out for a while, if not the rest of the season.

Seattle Seahawks

Sam Darnold was dealing. 13-of-13 for four touchdowns in the first half. Finished 21-for-24 for 330 yards and four TDs.
WR Cooper Kupp was out and Tory Horton stepped into his spot. Horton took advantage of this catching four passes for 48 yards and two touchdowns. He is a great add this week in case Kupp is out longer.
Even if Kupp is not out longer, stash Horton if you can. There is a chance he passes Kupp if he keeps outplaying him.

Washington Commanders

The Commanders’ injuries across the board showed up big in this one. The defense was gashed, and the offense could not do anything again the Seattle defense.
The fact is, it is going to be tough to trust anyone from this offense moving forward. Over the last few weeks, they have not been able to produce even when the matchups have been favorable.

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