Week 6 Observations

I don’t know. I’m starting to question the wisdom of having so much going on football-wise on NFL Sundays. And I’m the guy who drafted Saquon Barkley on all but one team to consolidate, and I can’t play DFS here, either. But just having seven fantasy teams, a picking pool, the Circa Contest, my season-long bets and my low-stakes survivor pool is enough to mean I’m always unhappy about something. I’m a Giants fan, and I have them at 70:1 to win the NFC! I should be ecstatic every week, but I’m not.

. . .

The Circa Millions started out well as I had the Giants and Patriots, but I also foolishly took the Bucs -8.5. The real line was 10, so I grabbed some closing line value, which I’ve been told will one day surpass Bitcoin as the world’s reserve currency. I should have taken the Seahawks, but it was one of those lines on which I was so far off I got suspicious I was missing something.

I also lost with the Cowboys Sunday night. They had a chance, but couldn’t hold on. As a Giants fan, it’s never enjoyable rooting for the Cowboys, and of course they let me down.

On the bright side, I had the Rams in Survivor, and the Bucs, Packers and 49ers all lost, so I have to ask Seslowsky how much equity we gained.

. . .

The Giants are 5-1, and they’re likely to get better. They’ve only had No. 5 overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux for a few weeks, and he had the game-winning strip sack on Lamar Jackson. Leonard Williams was finally back after being out several weeks, and the Giants got second-round rookie WR Wan’Dale Robinson back too. Don’t be surprised if they sign Odell Beckham, or trade for someone like D.J. Moore — they’re contenders now, and there’s a decent chance they make a move. (I’m not dropping Kadarius Toney yet, but I’m also not counting on him.)

• Daniel Jones played out of his mind. The numbers weren’t anything special (6.4 YPA, 173 yards, four sacks, one fumble), but he was delivering dimes on third and long under pressure to the likes of Daniel Bellinger, Robinson, and Marcus Johnson. I’ve written him off so many times in the last four years, but that was the best I’d ever seen him play as a passer.

• Saquon Barkley left the game briefly after aggravating his shoulder injury, but came back in and scored a TD. He would have had two, but he stopped short of the goal line to run out the clock. (The TD would have put the Giants up 11 with a minute to play, so I’d have taken my chances personally, but it was the right football play.)

• Lamar Jackson looked okay, but missing deep threat Rashod Bateman hurts. The Ravens really only threw to tight ends. Speaking of which I’m starting to regret fading Mark Andrews (11-7-106-1) and Travis Kelce.

• Kenyan Drake (10-119-1) had a monster day and looked really quick. J.K. Dobbins (7-15-0) not so much.

• The Giants are running so well, Justin Tucker missed a 56-yard chip-shot off the upright.

• I’m annoyed I bet on the Panthers to win the NFC South at 12:1 instead of the Falcons at even better odds. I faded the Bucs and Saints, and I even wrote that it won’t be the Falcons, so why not the Panthers? Whenever someone writes “I don’t think this will happen” it’s usually his subsconscious saying it will happen.