Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.
21 Completions
Joe Flacco completed 21 straight passes on Sunday, just a few shy of the single-game record and 4 short of the overall record (set last year by Ryan Tannehill). Flacco's final stats were 214 passing yards, 2 INT, Zero passing TD's, though he did rush for one. Flacco's team managed to win, despite his best efforts - the two picks came in the fourth quarter. This is a team that should have several receiving options doing well, but unfortunately, over 118 total attempts Flacco has only 774 yards.
8 Sacks
The Vikings sacked Cam Newton 8 times on their way to the most impressive road victory of the season thus far across the league. The Vikings DST is for real as well, putting up 26 points in Week 3 (which was still blown away by KC). The Vikings defense, when combined with an average offense at best, can take this team to the NFC championship. With wins over Green Bay and at Carolina, it looks like the road to the championship might just go through Minnesota.
6 Interceptions
14% of the 44 passes that Ryan Fitzpatrick threw on Sunday wound up in the hands of the Chiefs defenders. With that many turnovers, it's amazing that the Chiefs didn't score more points - though they did have two defensive TD's, on their way to 35 fantasy points (they had 8 over two weeks going into the game). Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, has a very tough road ahead of him - his next three games are vs Sea, @ Pit, and @ Ari.
28.98 Points
Stand up and take a bow if you started Trevor Siemian for your fantasy team. Nobody's standing? Maybe that's because he's only owned in 6% of Yahoo leagues. Sure to be this week's knee-jerk reactionary pickup, we mustn't slight Siemian's impressive 312 yards through the air and 4 TD's to go with zero turnovers. He's also not the only rookie (I guess he's technically not a rookie, anyways) in the top 5 this week. Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz both put up over 21 points and while they may be passed by Brees and Ryan tonight - they had impressive performances nonetheless.
30 Games
Odell Beckham Jr. became the fastest player to 200 receptions, completing the feat in only 30 games. He beat out his former college teammate, Jarvis Landry (33 games), putting up 7 receptions for 121 yards in a far too over-hyped matchup with Josh Norman. For his career, Beckham has 206 receptions, 25 TD's (though none this season) and 3035 yards receiving. He's keeping his great this season and is currently in the top 10 of both receptions and receiving yards for WR's.
Injuries are a huge part of the fantasy football season. This year, they have already taken a bite out of the fantasy production of many teams with extended injuries to such players as Adrian Peterson, Keenan Allen, Danny Woodhead, Ameer Abdullah, and more. The hits just keep coming! This week we’ll look at a few key injuries that may change the direction of some fantasy match-ups.
Cam Newton (QB, CAR)
Newton is in the league’s concussion protocol and has a number of tests to go through and pass before he can suit up on Monday Night Football. Still likely to play, but it puts a lot of owners in a tough spot if he ends up sitting out!
Carson Palmer (QB, ARZ)
Palmer is no ‘Spring Chicken’ and he is also in the concussion protocol for now. The difference for Palmer is that he is scheduled to play on Thursday. If he doesn’t go, Drew Stanton will fill in and likely make the Cardinals look even worse than they already have this season.
Trevor Siemian (QB, DEN)
Siemian has been one of a few surprises this season, putting up some great numbers recently. With a sprain in his non-throwing shoulder, Siemian could easily start under center on Sunday but the Broncos’ healthy new toy Paxton Lynch is also chomping at the bit to play after getting his first NFL snaps in week 4. Regardless, Kubiak has said, “Trevor is our starting Quarterback”, so as of right now we should expect him to resume active duties.
Dez Bryant (WR, DAL)
A hairline fracture (and not having Tony Romo as QB) are both keeping Bryant from being especially fantasy relevant so far this year. With only Jerry Jones speaking up on the issue, we have no idea whether or not Bryant will start against the Bengals in week 5. Even if he did start, Bryant may be a suggested sit depending on your bench depth.
Kevin White (WR, CHI)
A sprained ankle has sidelined Bears’ wide receiver Kevin White for now – watch for more news later this week. White has yet to score a TD in the NFL, but with Hoyer playing QB his stats have improved over the beginning of the season. One of these games could prove to be a breakout for White if he avoids serious injury.
Zach Ertz (TE, PHI) & Tyler Eifert (TE, CIN)
Both Ertz and Eifert are scheduled to return to fantasy rosters everywhere. Temper expectations for Eifert in what could be his first game of the season this week, but the Bengals desperately need more targets on that offense and there’s a reason why Eifert is already nowhere to be found on waiver wires. Ertz has been sidelined with a rib injury since week 1, but he’s an exciting prospect with rising star QB Carson Wentz controlling his fantasy destiny. Could be a good year for Ertz.
Chris Johnson (RB, ARZ)
Now on IR indefinitely for a sports-hernia injury, this just means more carries for David Johnson.
Dwayne Washington (RB, DET)
A sprained foot and ankle could sideline Washington for a few games. Be aware of the situation, as The Lions are rapidly losing depth at the position and may look to someone like Karlos Williams or make a trade for other talent at the position if they cannot get healthy.
Doug Martin (RB, TAM)
Looks like Martin will miss one more week (the following week is a bye for the Bucs) and so Sims will continue to fill in as the lead back in Tampa Bay. Not a great play against Carolina, however.
Rob Gronkowski (TE, NE)
News is starting to bubble up in the media about Gronkowski’s hamstring injury and subsequent lack of fantasy production. Not many people expected him to be this hampered early in the season, but if he can’t perform this week with Brady under center it’s already past time to panic.
Jordan Cameron (TE, MIA)
Cameron is out with another concussion and his past history of them means that we can’t expect him back anytime soon. Deep league? Dion Sims is not a terrible choice at the position against a Titans defense with some holes in it.
Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.
0 Interceptions
For only the second time in his career, Jay Cutler did not thrown an INT in his opening game. This means that next week will be the first time that Cutler takes a snap in Week 3 of an NFL season and doesn't have an INT to his name. OK, fine, this might be a way to pick on Smokin' Jay, but I must tip my cap to him and the Dolphins for winning on the road after the surprise Week 1 bye. 230 yards and 1 TD isn't going to blow anyone's socks off, but as I noticed during the game, it's still the same old Cutler. He's still throwing off his back foot, airing it out and getting lucky as hell from time to time. It's nice having tall receivers.
25% Field Goal Percentage
The Chargers new kicker, YoungHoe Koo doesn't even have a success rate that would keep you employed in baseball. The rookie kicker is just 1-for-4 in field goal attempts this season. He's missed or had blocked two at the end of games that would have either tied or give his team the lead with time running out. Both are only from 44 yards away, and his other miss is from 43. His only make has come from 41 yards, and to his credit, he has made 5/5 extra points. Making all your extra points is getting hard to come by in this league. It must be rough being a Chargers fan now. On top of playing in a tiny stadium that people are making fun of, having an owner people poke fun at, you now have to worry about kicking problems on your 0-2 team (which has just a 12% shot at making the playoffs, historically).
20+ Fantasy Points
This week felt a lot more like a normal week of fantasy football. There were 12 players that scored at least 20 points in standard scoring this week, and 9 of them are owned in at least 96% of Yahoo leagues. So, I guess go pick up C.J. Anderson if your league has been asleep? Lots of big names went back to their normal productive selves, but a few new names might stick around a bit. Trevor Siemian leads the league in passing TD's and has the most fantasy points for QB's (second overall). He's only owned by 13% of leagues right now! The Broncos look good at home, but I want to see a them on the road before inserting Siemian in my lineup. It is, however, the right time to pick him up off the waiver wire.
0.1 Fantasy Points
In our drinkfive.com fantasy league, my opponent had her TE break his foot, and he still scored 10x the points that my TE scored. Greg Olsen's 1 point was an order of magnitude larger than Jimmy Graham's 0.1 points. The tight end position is about to get a lot thinner as two of the main starters are looking like they aren't options going forward. Olsen's broken foot definitely leaves him out of your lineup, and Graham has some knee issues and is playing on Thursday night this week. It's time to scour the waiver wire for a new TE, thankfully, there are actually several options out there for you.
14 Seconds
At the end of the first half in the Patriots-Saints game, Tom Brady was tackled with just 14 seconds to go and no time-outs. Bad clock management some of you may say? Not from Belichick; he got his team ready for this. The field goal unit scrambled onto the field and snapped the ball with 2 seconds to spare and gave the Pats a 30-13 lead going into halftime. The poise and calmness that this all happened with made it seem like they planned on just this exact situation coming up on this very drive. It makes you wonder if Belichick told the special teams that they're not allowed to have timeouts anymore, and if they screw it up, they don't get to eat on Thursdays.