Seahawks vs. Saints: Week 7 Game Recap
This is our weekly Monday Night Football recap, a quick-hitting article to keep you up to speed S with all the fantasy-relevant trends. This week we saw the Seahawks lose their third straight game, which Seattle has not done since 2011. I’ll be breaking down what we saw from a fantasy perspective in this game in Seahawks vs. Saints: Week 7 Game Recap.
Saints 13 Seahawks 10
This week brought us the lowest-scoring Monday Night Football matchup of the season and the lowest-scoring matchup of the week. The Saints and the Seahawks are two low-volume teams (at least with Geno Smith under center), so this wasn’t particularly surprising, however it was a bit slower than I originally anticipated. In the second quarter, the Saints had a 19-play, 10-minute possession, that ended in a field goal. But defensive battles can be fun to watch, as this game ended with a nice crescendo to a game-deciding fourth quarter defensive stand.
While Geno Smith did perform better this week, he had limited opportunities because the Saints controlled the clock and played tough defense. Going into the game, it was expected that Seattle would need to pass the ball to be successful, with the Saints having the second-best rush defense in the league. It was also expected that D.K. Metcalf would be shadowed by Marshon Lattimore, and while Metcalf beat him on that 86-yard pass (and a questionable OPI non-call), Metcalf was shut down the rest of the game. I think that’s largely because Tyler Lockett is a non-factor with Smith at quarterback. Lockett relies on the deep ball to be successful, and that deep threat opens up the offense for the run game and shorter passes to Metcalf. Until Smith connects on the deep ball or Russell Wilson returns, I think we will see more of the same from the Seahawks offense.
This is the first week I really got a chance to watch Jameis Winston at quarterback this season. I’ve been hopeful about his chances to become a star, both for fantasy and from a football perspective. To some level, I think he is still limited by the scheme and by the talent around him (particularly on downfield passes), but there were other moments that helped me understand others’ pessimism on his performance. At times Winston was inaccurate, particularly on short passes. Perhaps that’s attributable to the rain, but nonetheless, it’s a concerning trend.
Overall, it seems that the Saint’s approach is similar to last season, where they are mostly relying on short passes and the run game to advance the ball and control the clock. It really looks like they’re doing what they can to make sure Winston isn’t out there chucking the ball around like crazy like he did in Tampa Bay. From a fantasy perspective, that spells trouble for most Saints players, as one of the keys to fantasy success is volume. Based on what I’m seeing, Alvin Kamara is the only player on the Saints roster worth rostering, who is the biggest beneficiary of this offensive approach.
Kamara was RB9 through Week 5 (before their bye week) and the narrative on him has been fairly pessimistic as he has failed to achieve the top five status his ADP warranted. However, as mentioned in our weekly recap, Kamara has a solid floor and simply hasn’t had the statement game people have expected. I think some of this is simply because the Saints haven’t had a primetime game, but in many ways, it’s been true. Kamara has only had two games with at least 20 points, after averaging 25 points in 2020. But tonight, Kamara cooked. He was RB2 on the week, at halftime. I was casually watching this game while writing this article thinking nothing significant had happened. Then I checked my phone and saw Kamara already had 100 receiving yards at halftime. Absolutely insane. He moved to RB1 in the first drive after halftime and finished with 33.9 PPR points, moving up to RB6 overall.
Week 8 Waiver Wire
What is the Consistency Score?
Consistency Score: Running Backs
Consistency Score: Wide Receivers
Consistency Score: Tight Ends
Consistency Score: DST
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