2022 Week 9: Seahawks 31, Cardinals 21 (Dynasty/Fantasy Analysis Game Report)
Both teams played well enough to win this game…the defenses really battled each other, but the simple facts on these two teams are…
1) Seattle is really good and getting better…and Geno is an MVP candidate and they have rebuilt the O-Line and that is helping Geno and Kenneth Walker (should’ve been Rashaad Penny). And the whole vibe around the team is jovial, aggressive, collegiate even.
2) Arizona is falling apart, with a ton of talent…but a corrupt/injured O-Line (they never draft for) plus between empty Kliff Kingsbury (who always wears out his welcome within 3-5 years) and garbage locker room guys/babies like Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins, everything is falling apart, and fighting ensues on the sidelines weekly now.
So, given facts one and two (above), when a close game is underway between them…the better whole team, better O-Line, and better QB/leader/cohesive unit is going to win more than not…thus Seattle put this game away, a second win this season over Arizona.
Have we really grasped that Seattle is now (6-3) and has a 2-game lead in the NFC West? I don’t believe they’ll hold off the 49ers to win the division in the end, but they are getting to 9-10 wins and a probable wild card.
Arizona falls to (3-6) and the season is pretty much over…it wasn’t going anywhere anyway but they are not getting to .500+ or the playoffs. They need to blow everything up and start over, but they destroyed their entire franchise committing to Kyler…now, they’re stuck. It will be fun trying to watch them try and trade Kyler and no one will want him -- everyone in the NFL knows Kyler is a dead-end…super-talented, but not a leader or hard worker…and no coach wants that. They’ll take a 4th and 5th shot at Carson Wentz because he says and does the right things, aside from being a limited QB…before they take in problematic Kyler. Arizona will be in a dark place for years to come. They did it to themselves.
*Note any fractional numbers in parentheses (4/2) or (2/3), etc., are a ‘quality start’ (or not) marker on a player -- using 14 PPR points in a game for RB-WR-TE and 21 for a QB…point levels that are good/productive/well above average starts for a Fantasy week. Trying to identify trends, consistency (or not) in players we might not normally realize.
A (3/2), for example, means: 3 times the player hit at/above the mark, and 2 times they did not.
Fantasy Player Notes…
-- I want to begin this by touching on the defenses…both of the teams have promising defenses who play with energy and aggression.
Arizona-DST has a spark, but they never sustain it a whole game -- and the offensive woes don’t help it either. Another pick-six for this defense here against Geno. It’s the #9 DST in FF PPG scoring so far this season but it’s on the back of all these fortuitous pick-sixes of late.
The Arizona-DST could be something in Week 10 vs. Josh Wofford’s (if) Rams, but Arizona is also in danger of losing their two best defenders for the game…Byron Murphy and Budda Baker. I’d say Weeks 14-17 with NE-DEN-TB-ATL is a real DST opportunity, but the Cardinals will likely be totally out of it and dying off by then. If they aren’t, then we’ll reevaluate ahead of their Week 14 bye.
Would it shock you to know that Seattle is the #6(tied) FF PPG scoring DST this season? They are bottom half/bottom 10 of the league in most defensive metrics…except #4 in sacks and #4(t) in turnovers…and that’s the FF juice. Not a bad schedule the next few weeks but not good for the FF playoffs Weeks 15-17: SF, at KC, NYJ.
But I just wanted to note to start…these defenses have a little something, but as Arizona collapses, so too the defense most likely…while Seattle just keeps getting better each week, to my eye. Both are currently top 10 FF PPG DSTs…but aren’t the best 10 DSTs that I see with my eyes.
-- With that said about these two defenses, Geno Smith (26-34 for 275 yards, 2 TDs/1 INT, 6-38-0) just plowed right through the Cardinals D (that was playing pretty well). Geno is the #9 PPG QB in Fantasy YTD and a (4/5) this season, (1/3) his last 4 games though. I don’t think he’s getting figured out or anything now…it’s just they have a better O-Line emerging, and they can run behind it, not just throwing for everything.
I don’t make many/any comments about Walker-Metcalf-Lockett week-to-week, because there’s nothing fresh to report.
Kenneth Walker (26-109-2, 3-20-0/4) is solid and getting a million touches with an improved O-Line and Geno playing MVP ball.
Metcalf-Lockett are always good, and Geno is not hurting them at all (as I thought he would this season). They both pushed off a defender for a TD each this game, but the flagrant OPI not called. Play them all…every week. You don’t need me to tell you that. If something changes, I’ll report out on it.
-- And then there’s Kyler Murray (25-35 for 175 yards, 2 TDs/0 INT, 8-60-0), who I am watching throw away his gifts on a weekly basis. This is gonna end badly in the next year or three. Couple notes I took…
1) His O-Line is so banged up; it’s causing half his issue week-to-week.
2) The good news on #1 is…it’s forcing him to run/scramble more…so he’s getting some decent rushing tallies/FF scoring from it.
3) He now has a hamstring issue, mild…but whenever that happens, we get bad Kyler and him not running. Week 10 might be an FF issue, but no one knows how bad the hamstring is. But I wouldn’t put it past Kyler to not fight through it and possibly remove himself from playing until he’s 100%...and then the Cardinals actually be better with Colt McCoy, oddly.
4) Kyler and DeAndre exchanged heated words on the sidelines in-game. That can’t be good. Hopkins targets in-game dropped from there. We’ll get into that in a moment.
I’m still a seller of Kyler…have been since early calendar 2022, actually since 2021 fearing what happened in 2022 would happen. In Dynasty, I have been ‘out’ all year. I’m happy to take my past Kyler FF ROI outputs plus whatever trade acquisition item/s I get as the final ROI from this brilliant Dynasty rookie pick a few years ago.
-- Speaking of Kyler targets…
DeAndre Hopkins (4-36-1/5) notes…
1) The targets did slow after their sideline squabble.
2) I think the issue was as much the squabble as it was Tariq Woolen (4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD) is becoming a bargain brand Sauce Gardner from this 2022 NFL Draft. Hopkins could not get free of Woolen when he was matched up…only when Hopkins got Michael Jackson or any non-Woolen did Hopkins get some action.
3) I don’t love the way Hopkins looks on the tape. He doesn’t look as spry as the old Hopkins we remember from his star years. Still good, reliable…but he’s definitely on the back nine…and as the Arizona season ends, at Hopkins’ age and well-paid career is winding down -- I just don’t know that Hopkins is into it all anymore, like most later 20s/early 30s year old, well-paid WRs winding down. He’ll be closer to 32 years old than 31 at the start of the 2023 season. Arizona is gonna stink (and already does)…Hopkins may be on the verge of ‘checking out’.
Rondale Moore (8-69-0/10) has had a string of quality games of late, but when I’m watching I never see anything exciting happen with him…just, he’s there and gets targets because Arizona is usually down in the 2nd-half and chasing through the air…and Moore, formerly Dortch, gets 6+ catches for 60+ yards and no TD but are solid WR2s. Moore got half+ of his work on the final drive against a prevent defense with Seattle up two scores. Moore is not a purposed plan much…and when Marquise Brown comes back, Moore is gonna die off for FF…I near guarantee on that. TRADE HIM hot if you can…if you think Brown will be back soon. He should in the next 2-3 weeks…maybe. I don’t know how fast he’ll rush back to this dumpster fire with a big free agency taking place in 2023 (or 5th-year option fight).
Robbie Anderson (1 rec., -4 yards, on 3 targets) has been a spectacular acquisition for Arizona. Three games played, 7 targets, one catch for -4 yards. What would they do without him?
-- James Conner (7-45-0, 5-19-0/5) was back from a few weeks’ absence due to injury, and looks to be back to his old plodding ways…a corrupt/wounded O-Line isn’t helping. He is reliable in the pass game but can’t do anything with the ball after he catches it. I don’t see much upside with Conner from here…between his injuries, the O-Line issues, the offensive issues in general.
Nor do I see much hope in Eno Benjamin (4-12-0, 1-15-0/1), but I’ll use Eno in a pinch if Conner is gone…Eno has more juice to him but again this a bad O-Line and offense.
-- Just a quick note on the Seattle TEs…versus that giving Arizona defense against the TE. Pete Carroll played it right again…combining his three TEs for a 10 catch, 126 yards on 12 targets tally. Noah Fant (5-96-0/6) was particularly impressive…but they never push him outside of the Arizona games. Fant is a (1/8) this season…the one happening here. All single digit PPR game performances all season, except his two games against Arizona.
Next TE up for Arizona…Tyler Higbee, who is beyond dying in production, so I’m not sure if he’ll take advantage.
Snap Counts of Interest:
45 = Conner
17 = Eno
01 = Ingram
56 = K Walker
21 = Homer
02 = D Dallas
