The Game Plan For Week 5 (#FantasyFootball)

Fine readers of the Going For 2 fanbase my name is @TheBLeagueSays and each week I will give to you some plays to make in regards to your Fantasy team’s weekly roster construction, DFS selections or Dynasty evaluations. 

So before we get started – Thank you, and enjoy!

How about the Detroit Lions! I won’t lie, I was feeling the heat from the pundits who weren’t down with Michigans finest last week, but indoors and against the Chiefs at +7 with over 54 points felt like it was too good to turn down – so if you paid attention and got on board then you could have had a very happy weekend like I did.

Alternatively, jumping off Cleveland may have been a bit hasty, as they put rivals Baltimore through the wringer on the road. They looked electric, Nick Chubb is a stud and they put up 40 points with Odell Beckham giving a 7-2-20 statline – so if you paid attention, you could have had a very unhappy weekend like I did.

It’s #fantasyfootball, and it’s as brutal as it is rewarding. So, what self-inflicted punishment have I got served up for me and you this week?

Slant Route

Who is trending up this week: 

The Pittsburgh Steelers and their 1-3 record.

No, really.

Here’s the thing, they get Baltimore at home in Week 5, and a win could well see them at the top of the Division if Cleveland also falls at San Francisco. So much can change in the span of a week, and two wins in a row for the Steelers could be the cure that ails them. Mason Rudolph has done fine and the rest of the team is rallying around him and Minkah Fitzpatrick looks like a steal, as a care-free, trouble-free, young Steelers group could go on a sneaky run of form, but catching up to the pack is the prerogative and that starts against the Ravens.

They’ve been given the +3.5 start at home already and I can see the ‘overs’ currently set at 43.5 hitting also, in what could be a shootout.

Flat Route

The bubble has burst on:

Baltimore, sorry Ryan… I don’t feel good about this either…

The Ravens started off hot against Miami and Arizona (who are both still without a win) which right now probably doesn’t say too much because they have had two losses on the trot. Lamar Jackson has been fine during this time, so have the rest of his offense too. But 33 points conceded (away to the Chiefs) and 40 points conceded (at home to the Browns) would have you thinking that maybe on the other side of the ball something isn’t quite right, with words about Earl Thomas getting into teammates ears already starting to get out to the public ear. 

Their next month will be quite telling, with two divisional matchups away to Pittsburgh (on the short week from Monday Night Football) and then home to Cincinnati, followed by a road trip to Seattle (welcome home Earl Thomas) with a bye in Week 8 to top it off. Without sounding too cliche, all of the games ahead of Baltimore could quite well be easily won and lost, but right now we need to step back and ease off on them and see who they are at the end of this upcoming period of time.

Comeback Route

Who will recover after a poor performance in the previous week:

Finally, #squeakywheelSZN is here and the Vikings Receivers want some of that sweet, sweet grease!

Really? Throwing the ball might help? Surely not? Surely indeed, Adam Thielen! I love the shots that he indirectly fired at his Coach and his Quarterback because outside of Dalvin Cook, everything the Vikings are doing looks uninspired. Their Quarterback looks like a poor man’s Postman Pat because being a mailman is probably Kirk Cousin’s best options for a future career, although even the handoff from mail to letterbox could be tough for him to complete the way it’s going.

But why the comeback?

Forget the Washington game (because the Quarterback change midway through the game didn’t help the flow of that game at all), the Giants secondary is still not great which means possession magnet Adam Thielen and the electric Stefon Diggs could go bonkers this week. You could feasibly take both of them in DFS with Thielen priced at $6700 and Diggs at $6200, but that also means you would have to have a bit of faith in Kirk Cousins (which I’m still not on board with) who is also chopping away at $5300, but the way he is traveling that would be a risk I’m not down to take.

Screen Route

The contrarian play of the week:

Cleveland at San Francisco looks like a fun matchup, as the surprisingly undefeated 49ers tackle the Cleveland Browns who hit their stride in a big way after a huge road win in Baltimore. The Browns (as I mentioned last week) have a rough schedule over the next six weeks and a win in California could help give them some breathing room.

Now I did mention last week that Cleveland with the points and the ‘Over’ would hit, and it did so easily, so I’m going back to the well and getting on the Browns at +3.5, however, I also think the 49ers will keep it close. I’m going to sit and wait on the line set at 46.5 and check back on Sunday and see which way the needle moves but I’m currently leaning towards the ‘under’.

Out Route

Who am I completely off this week:

Despite the hype, the mustache, and the jockstrap; I’m out on Gardner Minshew this week and it’s more to do with the Panthers than him. Carolina has been extremely frugal against Quarterbacks this season whether it be at home or away as the Panthers are quietly stifling oppositions unnoticed. In their past two weeks, they haven’t conceded more than 14 points per game, while this year they currently average 13.02 ppg to opposition Quarterbacks (7th best in the league) while only allowing 37 passing first downs (4th best in the league). And it’s not like they’ve faced a bad bunch of Quarterbacks either:

Week 1, Jared Goff – 9.44 points / QB28.

Week 2, Jameis Winston – 13.22 / QB21.

Week 3, Kyler Murray – 17.82 /QB17.

Week 4, Deshaun Watson – 11.66 / QB20.

It’s early in the week, but I’d put my money on the run-game taking over which means we could see a big dose of Leonard Fournette, as the Panthers have however struggled on the ground giving up 33 first downs (4th worst in the league), 523 yards (8th worst in the league) and 4.9 Yards per attempt (5th worst in the league).

The 9 Route

A straight forward confidence play of the week:

In fantasy football, there are a few trends that you can bank on a week to week basis. And normally, when there’s chalk most people opt to fade because, well, it’s just too obvious and/or easy.

However, the Arizona Cardinals have pretty much pantsed themselves to the Tight End position giving it up to everyone for pretty much nothing, with a 9-6-131-1 day to T.J. Hockenson, a 9-8-112-1 day to Mark Andrews and even a 1-1-1-1376 day for Hayden Hurst, a 7-7-75-2 day to Greg Olsen and recently a 8-8-57-1 day to Will Dissly. For Tight Ends that have scored, that’s a collective 34-30-376-6 stat line to the position alone in the first month of the year for an average of 8.5-7.5-94-1.5 afternoon to that lucky participant should they get the chance.

The Bengals will want to put their past week behind them after that ‘display’ against the Steelers, and they’ll get their chances at home to this leaky Cardinals team. And with the Tight End landscape being atrocious I will look to save anywhere that I can, and Tyler Eifert at $3300 on Draft Kings this is as chalk as it gets.

Hail Mary Play Of The Week

Oakland at home to Chicago because I’m not scared of elite defenses and terrible O-Lines!

I mean, the Raiders are also 2-2 which is fantastic for them because to be fair, they’re still in the hunt for a wildcard birth and with wins against tough opponents, they now get fed Chase Daniels at home. Now I’m not saying they’ll win, I’m saying that this matchup has as many questions as it does answers. The Bears defense very well could score 14 points alone on turnovers – I get that – but how much faith do you have in the backup of a team who still lacks any identity on offense? Yes, they have good players, but Matt Nagy is confusing the life out of everyone with what he wants to be executed and what’s getting done. I can see an upset here happening, and I’ll take Oakland with the +4.5 head start and the ‘under’ currently set at 41, then lock myself in a closet for four hours…

I want to thank you for getting this far and taking in everything I have presented. You can as always follow and find me at @TheBLeagueSays and offer any view or conversation about this. Don’t forget to check out the #GF2 weekly rankings which you can find https://goingfor2.com/2019-fantasy-football-redraft-rankings-gf2-consensus/, and to subscribe, rate, review, and share and listen to The Armchair Fantasy Show podcast.

Let’s all get better together!

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