How’s everyone doing with their fantasy teams? After the chaos of last week between injuries and games being moved around or postponed due to Covid tests, Week 5 is shaping up to be just as crazy. There were more key injuries last week, quarterback changes this week, more positive tests, and a potential hurricane moving a game’s location. So with all that in mind, lets see how these teams match-up with one another in the Week 5 Match-Up Report.
Below is a key that defines each stat category and how they are ranked. The color-coding that shows for each matchup is geared toward looking from an offensive player’s perspective. So the more green you see, the better that matchup is for an opposing offensive player, and vice versa the more red you see, the worse for an offensive player that matchup is that week
Def vs. Pos categories are based on ½ PPR scoring formats
Key
Offensive Rankings
Pace – How many seconds it takes a team to run a play (1-fastest, 32-slowest)
PPG – Points scored per game (1-most, 32-least)
T.O.P. – Time of Possession (1-most, 32 least)
Total Yards – Total Yards Per Game Offensively (1-most, 32 least)
RZ % - Red Zone TD Scoring Percentage (1-best, 32-worst)
Off Plays – Total Number of Offensive Plays Run Per Game (1-most, 32-least)
Rush Att. – Total Number of Rushing Attempts Per Game (1-most, 32-least)
Rush % - Percentage of Offensive Plays That Are Runs (1-highest, 32-lowest)
Rush Yds – Rushing Yards Per Game (1-most, 32-least)
Rush YPA – Rushing Yards Per Attempt (1-most, 32-least)
Pass Att. – Total Number of Pass Attempts Per Game (1-most, 32-least)
Pass % - Percentage of Offensive Plays That Are Pass (1-highest, 32-lowest)
Pass Yds – Passing Yards Per Game (1-most, 32-least)
Pass YPA – Passing Yards Per Attempt (1-most, 32-least)
Defensive Rankings
DVOA – Football Outsiders Defensive Value Over Average (Negative numbers are better) (1-best, 32-worst)
Yds/G Allowed – Yards Per Game Against (1-least, 32-most)
Yds/P Allowed – Yards Per Play Against (1-least, 32-most)
Rush Yds/G – Rushing Yards Per Game Against (1-least, 32-most)
Rush Yds/Att. – Rushing Yards Per Attempt Against (1-least, 32-most)
Pass Yds/G – Passing Yards Per Game Against (1-least, 32-most)
Pass Yds/Att. – Passing Yards Per Attempt Against (1-least, 32-most)
Def vs. QB – Fantasy Points Allowed Vs QB (1-most allowed, 32-least allowed)
Def vs. RB - Fantasy Points Allowed Vs RB (1-most allowed, 32-least allowed)
Def vs. WR - Fantasy Points Allowed Vs WR (1-most allowed, 32-least allowed)
Def vs. TE - Fantasy Points Allowed Vs TE (1-most allowed, 32-least allowed)
Match-Up Breakdowns
Tampa Bay at Chicago
The game that’s being billed as the match-up between former Super Bowl rivals in Tom Brady and Nick Foles but this is more interesting than that. It’s a match-up between two defenses that have been quite good and are flying under-the-radar a bit to start the year. Both are top-seven units based on DVOA and yards allowed per game. The battle to win will be tougher for Tampa with a lot of key players being ruled out for the game and that will surely make the defenses that much better. One thing to watch though is that the Buccaneers are the second-most effective Red Zone offense in the league to this point.
Los Angeles at Washington
Washington has announced a change in quarterback for this week as Dwayne Haskins just hasn’t been good enough and Kyle Allen will take over under center as he’s familiar with the offense as he was the quarterback for the Panthers last year. While the Rams’ defense hasn’t been great this year to be sure, this might be a good chance for them to back on track as Kyle Allen ranked 32nd in terms of QB grade last year and there aren’t that many weapons for him to use on Washington’s offense and Jalen Ramsey should restrict Terry McClaurin as well.
*Buffalo at Tennessee
This game has an asterisk next to it because as of Thursday morning the Titans are still having new positive tests pop up and there is growing concern about the game taking place due to the Titans inability to practice or be in their facility over the last two weeks. If the game happens expect the Bills to have the advantage as Tennessee could be off their game due to lack of practice. The Titans defense ranks 28th or worse in yards allowed, passing yards allowed, rushing yards allowed, and yards per play.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh
The battle of Pennsylvania is up this week as the Steelers but their top-10 offense against the middling defense of the Eagles. The Steelers’ defense will be a tough test for the Eagles as they rank top-three in the league in DVOA, yards allowed, pass defense, and rush defense where they are the best in the league. Eric Ebron is a nice looking TE play as the Eagles rank third in the most points allowed to that position while the slot receiver have had good games against the Steelers in the past few weeks though keep in mind that the Steelers did have a week off last week as their game against the Titans was postponed.
Arizona at New York
The shuffling Cardinals offense is getting exactly what it needs, a match-up against one of the worst defenses in the league. This could be a runfest of sorts though as both teams give up a fair amount of points to the running back spot and Le’Veon Bell is expected to be back this week for the Jets. With Joe Flacco at quarterback now, the passing game likely doesn’t change much since the targets aren’t changing either.
Las Vegas at Kansas City
Here comes the stiffest test for the Raiders this season as the defending Super Champs are rolling and their defense is actually better this year than last year. The Chiefs have a top-three pass defense and fifth-ranked defense and they could get Chris Jones back this week. The Raiders defense meanwhile has been good from a fantasy points perspective against positions but they haven’t faced a unit like Kansas City’s to this point and Clyde Edwards-Helaire should have a field day.
Jacksonville at Houston
It’s been an interesting week for Houston as reports of a player revolt is what led to Bill O’Brien being fired mid-week as the players had lost their confidence in his ability to coach them. In the interim it’ll be hard to tell if any major changes happen this week but the Jaguars’ defense certainly isn’t going to put up much of a threat to them as they are in the bottom third of most categories. With the pieces in place on the Houston offense to still be a big threat each week, perhaps the morale boost they get with O’Brien out of the picture is worth some points on the scoreboard. James Washington should also have a field day for the Jags backfield as well given how porous the Texans defense has been against the run.
Cincinnati at Baltimore
This game has the largest spread on the board with the Ravens being nearly two touchdown favorites, and for good reason. The Bengals likely have a tough time stopping the Ravens rushing attack as they’ve given up 22.8 points to the position a week so far and nearly 160 yards on the ground a game. Baltimore’s offense got back on track last week against the Football Team and more of the same should happen here as the Bengals will likely be outclassed in this one.
Carolina at Atlanta
For those that have been riding Mike Davis, don’t let that stop now as the Falcons defense has allowed the second-most yards per game this year and nearly 110 yards on the ground. Todd Gurley who had a very solid game last week should also be in line for a good as the Panthers are one of the worst rush defenses in the league. This could be one of the highest scoring games on the slate this weekend.
Miami at San Francisco
This is the last week for Ryan Tannehill under center, or least those are the reports, before they switch to the top pick rookie. This will be a tough test for the Dolphins offense as the Niners defense is still a very good unit despite some key injuries and against skill position players they allow the fifth-lowest points or fewer in fantasy scoring. Jimmy Garoppolo might be back this week but if not they still shouldn’t have an issue against the Dolphins’ defense that has allowed the top-eight points to QB, RB, and WRs.
New York at Dallas
There’s been a lot of chatter about the Cowboys over the last few weeks and that might light a fire for them to put it all together for at least one week against a team they shouldn’t have an issue beating. The Giants defense has actually been pretty solid this year in terms of yards allowed but they are facing the best offense in terms of yards per game this week. This is also perhaps the weakest defense the Giants offense has faced this year too so that Daniel Jones breakout game might just happen with some deep plays to Darius Slayton.
Indianapolis at Cleveland
Is the Browns breakout capable of stretching to two weeks or was it just a match-up against a bad defense last week? Can Philip Rivers take advantage of a weak Cleveland defense and not be just a game manager like he has for the last few games. The Colts defense is the best in the league based on DVOA and it should be a stern test for the Browns rush offense which put up nearly 300 yards on the ground last week.
Denver at New England
A lot about this game will depend on if Cam Newton can be back for it or not, it’s unlikely that he is though. Denver is also still solving their QB problem with either Jeff Driskel or Bretty Rypien and for the Pats it’s either Brian Hoyer or Jarret Stidham under center. Stidham looked better against the Chiefs and the Broncos defense isn’t nearly as stout as the Chiefs was and it should be easier prep circumstances with the game being played at the regular time. Jerry Jeudy could also be a good sneaky play this week as Stephon Gilmore is out due to Covid and he’s their top cover corner by far.
Minnesota at Seattle
This has the makings of a shootout on Sunday Night Football as neither defense is good in coverage and both offenses still have very good weapons. The vikings have put up 30 points a few times this year and that shouldn’t be a problem this week between Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson on the outside and Dalvin Cook out of the backfield. The Vikings coverage unit should have a tough time trying to lock down Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf and David Moore as they are allowing the fourth most points to wideouts this year.
*Los Angeles at New Orleans
For the second time this week, we have a game that is getting an asterisk as this game is likely not being played in New Orleans as scheduled for Monday Night Football. Hurricane Delta is approaching the New Orleans, Texas border area and is potentially a Category 4 storm. So first of all everyone in that region stay safe, but second of all the game is likely being moved to Indianapolis, as of the time of this writing. While it is still a domed stadium for the Saints to play in, we saw that last week they weren’t quite on all cylinders when their pre-game routine was disturbed with the testing. There is the potential that Michael Thomas returns this week which will clearly help the Saints passing game and the Chargers pass defense certainly would have trouble with him. Justin Herbert has been quite good in his first few games and this will be the third top tier QB he faces off against in his first four starts and they have the sixth-best offense in the league based on yards per game in that span. This could be a track meet of a game in primetime.