Your Week 15 First Slate of NFL Games Open Thread

TO THE GAMES!

Bucs/Falcons:

Tampa has these Falcons twice and the Lions as well to close out the season. Expect Brady’s less than stellar deep pass stats to improve markedly by the time the Bucs hit the postseason. Wr Gage is set up to have a good game vs cb Murphy-Bunting who has allowed a 120.1 passer rating when defending wr’s.

Niners/Cowboys:

Over the last 2 weeks Brandon Aiyuk has been WR4 and there’s nothing to be concerned about regarding the Cowboys coverage unit. This is, San Franny may not even have to pass to get up big-Dallas’ run D gives up a league-worst 5 yards per carry to anyone that totes the rock. Rb Pollard continues to eat (heh) into Zeke’s carries as the former couldn’t even be a top 30 back vs Cincy last week.

Lions/Titans:

How’s this for an obvious game script-Henry breaks off a few big runs (on his way to 200 yards), the Titans get up early, Detroit goes to the air allowing Stafford (“preparing to play”) and wr Jones to have big days, fantasy-wise. Seems like a blowout but plenty of points will be scored. Lions with a backdoor cover?

Texans/Colts:

Is T.Y. gonna blow up again? (real good?) He’s seen 40% of the Colts air yards share, the projected game total is high and his ADOT over the last 3 games is a healthy 14.1. The Texans are so bad in coverage that a 3 year vet is getting his second ever start at cb this week.

Pats/Fins:

Bad Bill has had his way vs rook qb’s over the years and he did it again to Herbert-not looking good for Tua on that front. Consider also that his main targets are the likes of Shaheen, Bowden Jr, and DeAndre Washington. Dial up that killer D and try to get some points on the board thru turnovers, Fins.

Bears/Vikes:

Maybe your sneaky play is Darnell Mooney? He’ll be defended by Chris Jones who allows his guy to catch the ball at a rate of 85.7%. That’s, um, generous. Both teams are at 6-7 and still have steadily dwindling prospects of playing in late January. Truth Biscuit’s recent renaissance has been sorta surprising but he’s played vs two of the league’s worst D’s in Detroit and Jacksonville.

Seahawks/Team:

We’ve mentioned before that Wilson’s weakness this year has been in the amount of sacks he’s taken. Team, with defenders Payne, Allen, Sweat and Young are well poised to add to that total. The Seahawks D has recently clamped down on wr’s but is still vulnerable to pass-catching rb’s. That was j.D. McKissic you heard answering roll call.

Jags/Ravens:

Hollywood Brown has been activated off the Covid list and should play and should score. After all, he’s done so in 3 straight and has a 38% target share during that time. The Jags are a mess in the secondary with 4 guys out so Brown might be matched against a fella that has just come off injured reserve. Balls Ahoy!

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