2020 Dynasty/Fantasy Week 12 Game Analysis: Texans 41, Lions 25
I take notes during the live watch. I re-watch the game on tape looking for hidden clues to report on. Here are my notes/takes on what I saw and how it related to FF 2020. I write anywhere from 1,000-3,000+ words on each game, and I must move fast to get to all of them through the week…so, please forgive any typos/grammar.
All you need to know here is the Lions, coming off getting shut out by the Panthers, playing at home on Thanksgiving (which is supposed to mean some magical turkey-based powers are activated), the Lions laid another egg – and thus the head coach and GM were fired on Saturday.
If you are keeping score at home…that’s three head coaches fired early this 2020 season – HOU, ATL, and DET. What do they all have in common? Ex-Patriot guys who breathed Belichick farts for a few years and thus were considered great head coaching and GM prospects for the NFL.
No business could be any bigger/more in the spotlight day-to-day than the NFL…and yet no business mismanaging themselves more than the NFL. Ex-Pats’ Bill O’Brien…gone. Matt Patricia…gone. GM Bob Quinn, DET…gone. GM Thomas Dimitroff, ATL…gone.
Brian Flores, if I were you…I’d ‘rent not own’. You know what I mean?
Next coaching tree about to get exposed/chopped down, but no one will ever admit it is…the Andy Reid tree. Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy will be gone soon. But good luck to whatever sucker, I mean billion-dollar franchise hires Eric Bieniemy as their head coach. I mean, what would Patrick Mahomes be if not for Bieniemy?
It won’t be long before there is a bidding war for that Belichick offspring coach with the mullet. I don’t even know his name. It doesn’t even matter. He’ll be hired based upon submission to a DNA test. I mean, how did he get his current job?
Where was I?
Oh, yeah…the Texans suck, corrupted by their ex-Patriot loving management team (and the interim coach is an ex-Pat too) – but they were 10x better than the Lions’ ex-Patriot ways this week. The Lions got out to an impressive 7-0 lead on the first drive, and then got outscored 41-10 over the next 48 minutes of play.
Houston is now (4-7) and all I even care about is – can they get to 8 wins and pay off my ‘over’ 7.5 wins preseason bet? That notion was all but dead, but three wins in their last 4 games has hope springing eternal. If I can get them to split (worst case) with their two Indy games ahead, I might pull this off…at least I have a chance.
Detroit now turns to the only coach worse than Matt Patricia…O-C Darrell Bevell. Truly, arguably, the single worst football mind in the NFL…now that Norv Turner is out of coaching. Hold on, Anthony Lynn is calling me…
Bevell is the worst – terrible offensive mind that is all about running the ball. Players don’t like him…just ask all the former Seattle players from the Seahawks’ Super Bowl era. It will be good/normal for Swift and AP, and down/normal for Stafford and the passing game. Kenny Golladay should milk his injury and stay away from all this. The Lions likely won’t win another game this year…unless they surprise Chicago Week 13 due to confusion on no tape of Bevell ‘in charge’ of a game, and Nagy trying to claim top prize in the ‘worst coach’ sweepstakes…plus, the Bears are as bad as the Lions, almost.
Fantasy Player Notes…
-- How will the new head coach for Detroit affect the running game? Likely, no different than where they were.
D’Andre Swift (DNP) will be the lead and Adrian Peterson (15-55-2) and Kerryon Johnson (11-46-0, 4-52-0/4) will still suck/be useless as backups and get a few touches here and there. Why the Lions do not cut Peterson and allow him to go to a contender, and free up touches for younger guys, is baffling…and then is absolutely not baffling because the NFL is the worst run business you know of.
Jonathan Williams (1-5-0, 4-21-0/4) came out of nowhere/the practice squad to get some work in this game. Williams filled in for injured Marlon Mack last year for two back-to-back games, where he ran for 100+ yards in back-to-back games – and that got him unsigned in the offseason and buried on the Lions practice squad. If you think they’ll give him more touches ahead of AP or after releasing AP…you’re out of your mind.
Also, note…this was kinda the Kerryon Johnson stat line I was hoping for as a my ‘gut feeling’ play of the week. Always a week too early for me it seems…
-- Matt Stafford (28-42 for 295 yards, 1 TD/1 INT) has had a useless season, and the switch in HC will do nothing for him. The same offense and flow, or more running is on tap ahead. And that goes for all the related weapons.
Garbage time points in constant deficit might be possible, but that’s not really happened much so far in this losing season.
-- Deshaun Watson (17-25 for 318 yards, 4 TDs/0 INTs) has been straight fire for the 6 games…15 TDs/0 INT in his past six with four 300+ yard passing games.
His sweet run has come against the #26, #13, #29, #19, #15, #23 pass defenses (yards per game) in the league…with many of them missing top defenders for that specific game.
I’m not trying to undercut/downplay the DeShaun run, but I am. If he rolls it up against IND-CHI-IND #5-10-5 in pass yards allowed per game) the next three weeks, then I’ll think a real change has occurred.
-- Part of what is helping Deshaun is the fact that the Texans cannot run the ball. Houston is 2nd worst in the NFL in rushing yards per game, only the Bears are worse.
If you think the run game turns up with David Johnson back next week…for that IND-CHI-IND stretch, you’re sadly mistaken. That’s the #3-14-3 run defenses (by yards per game) to face in the league. It’s also #3-8-3 in yards per carry allowed.
-- My Jordan Akins (0-0-0/2, 1-4-0) enthusiasm was greeted with a turkey leg to the cranium…his best play was a 1st-down conversion run as a fullback.
Akins did have two TDs in his hands, which would’ve gotten him a 15+ point day but he had his longer TD pass/catch knocked out of his hands in the end zone as he grabbed it. And the second one he was wide open in the end zone and Watson threw it a yard to high and a yard to far away…and Akins could only get fingertips on it.
Akins faces the great Indy defense against the TE in two of the next 3 weeks, if you want to drop for something else…feel free in that span.
-- What else won’t help Akins ahead…Kahale Warring (0-0-0/1) is active, finally. The Texans need to see what they got here. His one route this game, it was early on…and all I can say with this one flash of NFL time, this one target (two routes) to look at – those are some REALLY fast feet for a tight end.
Warring played two snaps early (1st series), got a target on one of them…then I can’t remember when he was in for his other two snaps played.
The Texans need to push Warring, to see what they have…which means they won’t.
Deeper Dynasty rosters…time to stash on him if you’re interested. He may get more time and attention from here on in. Now, that he is finally playing in an NFL game we can start to assess and compare, etc. My first brief look here – interest piqued again, but I need to see more tape to get a better feel. He’s barely played against NFL competition in two years.
-- The Texans defense is bad, BUT…
Held last three opponents to 20 points or less…well, not this game but subtract out a garbage time TD allowed 4th-quarter and you’re there…they otherwise shut down Detroit after the Lions scored right away to start the game.
Week 14 at CHI…maybe not the worst DST option in the world?
Week 16 hosting Cincy…is that a possible-legit title game DST option?
Just sayin’, just looking ahead…trying to find hope…
Snap Counts of Interest:
39 = Kerryon
22 = AP
21 = Jon Williams
68 = Marvin
39 = Sanu
25 = Agnew
25 = Cephus
42 = Duke J
10 = Prosise
04 = Scottie Phillips
30 = Ph Brown
28 = Fells
26 = Akins
04 = Warring
