Hot Take #1
Ja’Marr Chas Gives the #1
Ja’Marr Chase was the #1 overall player in fantasy heading into the year, and he was drafted that way all draft season. He had been good, too, except for three of the first four weeks of the year when he significantly struggled. Joe Flacco was a good enough QB for the Bengals as they had some incredible weeks together. Since Joe Burrow took over, he has been good, but not great. He has not finished as a top-five receiver since week eight. That does not seem like a lot, but for the #1 overall player in fantasy football heading into the year, we need that league-winning performance, and that is what we are going to get this week against the Arizona Cardinals. You can throw the ball at them and a ton… A league-winning performance from Chase is incoming.
Hot Take #2
BAL & GB Double Knockout
The Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens are two teams that have fallen to a bad place since Thanksgiving. Now, the two squads had a very different Thanksgiving result, but their trajectories have been similar. Baltimore got off to a horrendous start, but rallied back after Lamar Jackson came back on that Thursday Night against the Miami Dolphins. The Green Bay Packers lost a heartbreaker this past Saturday against their rival Chicago Bears, in Overtime. They were up 16-9 with two minutes left and blew the game late. Now, Jordan Love did go out with a concussion before half-time, but Malik Willis did more than a commendable job leading the team. A Josh Jacobs fumble at the goalline was a tougher blow than that.
With both of these teams struggling to get where they want to go, with the fate of their squads resting on their backup quarterbacks, this should be interesting. In Green Bay’s case, it may be their third-string QB. Josh Jacobs may be dealing with a major injury that nobody knows about. After the fumble, we hadn’t seen him,m and Packer Head Coach Matt LaFleur opted for backup Emanuel Wilson. I think that there is something that they may not be telling us regarding Jacob’s, and that scares me heading into the fantasy championship. You have to start him if he is going to play, but be wary.
As for the Ravens, this team has gotten in its own way so many times, especially when it comes to the defense. They gave up the lead on a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown to lose against the Patriots late on Sunday, and star QB Lamar Jackson was nowhere to be found. This could get ugly with the bulk of the workload falling on Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs (if healthy), which could be good, but also could be ugly for both teams.
Hot Take #3
Dak Throws for 400+ Yards
Dak Prescott is playing against the Washington Commanders this week, and while both teams are done for the season and the game is rather meaningless, it may be meaningful for Dak Prescott. Hr has a chance at 5000 yards, which is a huge accomplishment for Prescott. He has had a great season thus far and deserves to finish out strong. The Giants and Commanders to end the year is a great opportunity to do it. The Commanders’ defense has been terrible all year, which I believe is a reflection of how bad the offense has been, too, but all in all, this is a perfect opportunity for Prescott to be the man to attain 5000 yards for the Cowboys.
This is a great time to do it since it is championship Sunday when it comes to the fantasy football playoffs. The Cowboys’ offense has helped countless teams to make the championship, and I do not expect that to change this week. I think it may only help all. The Cowboys laying out for the rest of the year does not seem like something they will do, and I do believe they will rally around their leader to make it where they need to go.
CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens‘ teams have a great shot of being in the Championship, so this should be fun for those teams as we head into this final fantasy matchup. There are a couple of things to look out for heading into this week. Dak’s quest, although unlikely, for 5000 yards is possible with the two matchups coming up, and a big day from his two guys catching the ball will be just what he needs. CeeDee Lamb went over 1000 yards for the 5th consecutive season, but he is only sitting at three touchdowns so far this season, and this would be by far his lowest number to date. I expect him to get into the end zone. George Pickens has had an even better year. Like I’ve said, Pickens seems to be more inconsistent, but it could be a big day if Dak is headed for 5000. I expect CeeDee to be the driver this week, but it would not surprise me to see Pickens get his 10th touchdown of the season.
