There were a lot of excellent stories coming out of Week 5 — and the NFL writers here covered them in incredible fashion. From Zach Berman’s detailed breakdown of the Chase Claypool fourth quarter touchdown that cemented a Steelers win to Jay Morrison’s study of A.J. Green and his possible “trade me” line after he left with what looks kind of like a not-very-serious injury, we’ve gathered the best highlights for fantasy players from the NFL’s post-game coverage.
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And remember these are just nuggets inside bigger stories. Click through the links to get the full picture and all the context (Zach and Jay’s stories, in particular, along with Bo Wulf’s story on Travis Fulgham, are full of cool details for the fantasy player).
Enjoy!
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mark Kaboly went over Sunday’s game and lauded the offense — Ben Roethlisberger, especially — for making great plays, including one they’ve never run before: Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner has long been criticized for having kind of a vanilla playbook: run on first and second down to bring up a third-and-long. While that has been somewhat of an exaggeration when it comes to Fichtner’s call sheet, it could have been a little bit more innovative. Well, Matt Canada brought the innovation when he was hired as the quarterbacks coach over the winter. It’s just taken Fichtner a little bit of time to integrate it. I’ll be the first to say that it might be a one-week thing and matchup specific to the Eagles, but Fichtner “kind of threw the kitchen sink” at the Eagles, as Roethlisberger noted.
Zach Berman wrote an incredible piece on Chase Claypool’s fourth touchdown of the day and how Ben Roethlisberger identified coverage that allowed for Claypool to exploit it. “Roethlisberger told reporters that it was a new formation installed this week. He expected the Eagles to go with an “all-out blitz” on the play. The original play design was to throw the ball quickly to beat the blitz. When he spotted the Eagles in zone, he changed the play. Claypool, a rookie who burned the Eagles for seven catches and 110 yards, had never run that play before.”
Philadelphia Eagles: Berman also covered Travis Fulgham’s performance on Sunday, and had high praise for the Old Dominion product: Fulgham’s catches came all over the field, and they were often the type of contested catches that Eagles wide receivers have failed to make during the past two seasons. If there were doubts about his performance against the 49ers — yes, he made the highlights with a 42-yard touchdown, but would he be heard from again? — he quieted those versus the Steelers. He showed strong hands and a willingness to make a play on the ball. Wentz targeted him 13 times, which shows the quarterback’s confidence in the second-year receiver.
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Bo Wulf added to to the Fulgham praise: Fulgham’s in-game emergence as a go-to wide receiver changed not only the complexion of the Eagles offense but also the habits of the quarterback who has been trigger-shy all season long. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, 37.1 percent of Wentz’s passes Sunday were thrown into tight coverage, defined as when “there is a defender within 1 yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion.” That mark led the league in Week 5 and comes after a four-game stretch in which Wentz’s percentage of tight-window throws were, in chronological order, 14.3, 11.6, 19.1 and 7.1. It was as if Wentz had just been waiting for a receiver he could trust. Who knew it would be Fulgham, the 25-year-old globetrotting journeyman.
Cleveland Browns: You may have noticed the Browns passed more than usual. That was an in-game strategy used by Kevin Stefanski: “(It) just felt like there were going to be some opportunities to make plays in the pass game. They were there, and we connected on a few,” Stefanski said. “We have to be ready in any game to play the game that is called for.”
Cincinnati Bengals: This is such a good story on A.J. Green and his injury (or is it his “injury”??) from Jay Morrison: Green left the field after playing two snaps early in the third quarter with what the team said was a hamstring injury, although he wasn’t limping as he checked out ahead of a third-and-6 play and there was no sign of ice as the CBS cameras showed him sitting on the bench.
Houston Texans: Aaron Reiss has a big breakdown on what was different for the Texans in their first game without Bill O’Brien: “The reason he’s here is because he has ability and has produced in this league, and today we were able to see what he can do,” Crennel said. “… In the past Deshaun has said when he made his read, Cooks wasn’t there. Today, Cooks was there. Once they connected, you keep feeding him.”
Las Vegas Raiders: Jon Gruden with some PFF shade: Gruden said Carr’s critics can eat their hearts out. “We threw down the field today, and some of the Pro Football Focus statisticians will have to scratch their heads because they are going to have to figure out if he really did that,” Gruden said, grinning.
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And Tashan Reed pointed to the return of right tackle Trent Brown as a major factor in the offense looking so good. And more help is on the way!: The entire offensive line obviously played a hand in the offensive explosion, but Brown takes the group to an elite level. Left guard Richie Incognito will be eligible to return from injured reserve after the bye week and should push the O-line even higher.
Miami Dolphins: Preston Williams’ big game and his fantasy worth moving forward may be explained in this quote: “I’m getting closer to that year mark with my knee,” he said. “I’m starting to get more comfortable out there … just trying to get back into that football shape and get my feet back under me. That’s just most of the thing. I know a lot earlier in the year I was falling off some routes. Now I’m starting to feel better every week.”
Carolina Panthers: Michael Salfino called Mike Davis a “league-winner” in his scouting review. Joseph Person gets deeper into Davis and his value to the team in this week’s column, with this awesome quote: Davis put it more bluntly: “Most of the time I’m just really pissed off when I’m out there. I don’t know how to really explain it.”
Dallas Cowboys: Dallas Mavericks team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal added some optimism to the Dak Presoctt injury situation: “I am optimistic for several reasons,” Souryal said. “I’m optimistic because Dak is healthy, he’s young, he’s in good physical condition, he will be getting the best medical care available, he will get the best rehabilitation and physical therapy available and he has access to the most modern equipment available. Factor all of that stuff together, I am optimistic that his recovery will be uneventful.”
Detroit Lions: Chris Burke, on a bye week, ponders what could happen if the Lions make GM and head coaching changes: A more intriguing choice would be special-teams coordinator Brayden Coombs. He’s just four games into his first Lions season, and his first season as a lead coordinator — he spent 2010-19 as an assistant in the Bengals’ organization. However, he’s pretty clearly on a head-coaching track, be it at the pro or college level. His dad, Kerry Coombs, is the defensive coordinator at Ohio State, so he has a coaching pedigree. And I mentioned at the Senior Bowl how impressed folks around the league were by the 33-year-old, up-and-comer.
Baltimore Ravens: Who knows if it’s true, but Jeff Zrebiec’s being told that Lamar Jackson’s knee had little to do with a three-yard rushing performance in Week 5: Harbaugh said Jackson’s knee did not change the game plan. Jackson himself said the plan was to be more 50-50 with run/pass and then the Bengals showed “different defenses.” The latter has been a common refrain with Ravens offensive players acknowledging that they are getting different defensive looks than they saw last year.
New York Giants: Dan Duggan wrote about mounting frustration over Daniel Jones’ play. There are plenty of reasons for the offense’s struggles — offensive coordinator Jason Garrett’s play-calling, a porous offensive line, running back Saquon Barkley’s torn ACL and underwhelming receiving options. No one can argue any of those points. But the Giants didn’t take Jones with the sixth pick in last year’s draft to be a passenger. Top picks are expected to carry their teams and again Jones came up short when given an opportunity to be a hero.
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Los Angeles Rams: Jourdan Rodrigue has to deal with RBBC questions every single week. Here’s the latest: Darrell Henderson started and was the “lead” back against Washington, totaling 68 yards from scrimmage, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. But Akers got the most ground yards, with 61 on nine carries, and Malcolm Brown once again came in for short-yardage and clock-management situations. McVay added that the team likely will increase Akers’ workload next week against San Francisco because of the flashes he showed Sunday.
Washington Football Team: David Aldridge on an overall gross rainy day for the Washington offense: Yes, it was raining, hard at times. But it was raining when the Rams had the ball, too, and Jared Goff managed to throw for 300 yards, two TDs and a 111.1 passer rating, finding open guys all afternoon around the field. During the too-wet-for-Washington day, Goff somehow managed to complete passes of 56, 49, 40, 29 and 23 yards. Certainly looks like the Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell has helped Goff immensely so far this season – just as he got Haskins on a better glide path here at the end of last season.
San Francisco 49ers: Matt Barrows has five notes on the “clunker” against the Dolphins, with this downer of a note on Jimmy Garoppolo: “You can tell he was affected by his ankle,” Shanahan said in a video call with reporters. “… I know he doesn’t usually throw the ball that way and I think he was struggling a little bit because of it. And the way the game was going I wasn’t going to keep putting him in those positions.”
(Top photo: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)