Monday Night Observations

Once again I only watched the five-minute highlights, so take this for what it’s worth:

• I was hoping McCaffrey would be scratched and all his owners forced to take zeroes, but the opposite happened — he had two more TDs, despite a modest-for-him 96 YFS. The problem with McCaffrey questionable on Monday night is no one would dare sit him if there’s even a 40 percent chance he’d play, so you can expect he was in everyone’s lineup.

• Jordan Addison is the big beneficiary, apparently, of Justin Jefferson being out, though T.J. Hockenson led the team in targets. I saw Addison’s two TDs, one of which he ripped out of the hands of the intercepting defender. It’s unlikely he’s Jefferson 2.0, but if he’s even 80 percent of that, Kirk Cousins would be advised to stay put.

• I knew Alexander Mattison was Mike Davis 2.0, but like a donkey I took him when he slipped to the seventh round. Luckily that team is my worst anyway with Cam Akers in the sixth too. (And now they’re teammates!) Running backs matter, and the former incarnation of Dalvin Cook was much better.

• I didn’t see the whole game, so I don’t know how much Trent Williams’ absence impacted it. The Niners took only one sack, but they didn’t run effectively, and I don’t see any downfield completitions in the box score. Brock Purdy was the betting favorite for MVP two weeks ago, and now he’s got to be outside the top five.

• Two more field goals from 54-plus in the game. We’re probably getting close to the upper limit of kicking distance now, but if the rate of improvement over the last 10-15 years were to persist over next 10-15, you’d basically just have to get to your own 40 yard line.