Thursday Night Observations
Ugly
That was a bad game, and probably bad for anyone with any stake in it. I had the Broncos in Survivor (my last remaining pool) — a win’s a win — and took the Raiders plus the points in my picking pool, also a win. But I started Bo Nix over Jared Goff in a key NFFC league (very bad), had Will Lutz at kicker in the Primetime (bad) and RJ Harvey at flex in two leagues (bad). I did leave in a questionable Rome Odunze over Courtland Sutton in one league, but had Sutton in another. I had Ashton Jeanty in one league (good), but Brock Bowers in the Steak League (very bad). And I resisted the minor temptation to start Evan Engram over a suddenly questionable Harold Fannin (thank God.) Overall, it could have been worse, and my biggest regret was using Nix.
Nix is just a guy. He’s mobile, but gets stuck when his first read isn’t open from the pocket. He’s closer to Justin Fields than Drake Maye IMO.
JK Dobbins ran hard and showed great vision, getting as much as he could out of what was blocked for him.
RJ Harvey seemed to be on the field a lot, but couldn’t get anything going.
The Broncos are really targeting Troy Frankin over Courtland Sutton of late (nine targets to four last night). I still trust Sutton more, but Nix is erratic and spreads the ball around so much.
Evan Engram should have been a good pick this year, but just wasn’t. He’s the kind of player who needs regular targets to get into a groove, not the guy who can idle all game and just be ready for his one opportunity.
Lutz’s 59-yard attempt was on line, just short, even in altitude. Big difference in NFFC scoring.
Geno Smith was under pressure for the last three quarters, got nothing going, took six sacks. Three targets for Brock Bowers is malpractice — get him some screens if the defense isn’t giving you time for the intermediate throws.
Jeanty is good, would probably look like a star on a good team. He broke tackles and showed some shiftiness and power, especially on the TD.
Tyler Lockett made some good catches, but that he was their leading target man with six just shows it’s Bowers or bust now.
I think Thursday/Friday NFL is about the worst product. There is rarely, if ever, a “big game” feel to it like Sunday night. It usually feels like Al Michaels can’t wait for the game to be over. He’s gotta be close to hanging it up. TNF football is a heavyweight boxing match between participants who fought for the title 3 weeks prior. Just no way to be at peak performance.