Booms and Busts, Week 10: Jeremy Langford, electric again
We expected a rookie running back to take center stage Sunday at St. Louis. We just didn't expect it to be Jeremy Langford, Chicago's emerging young tailback.
Langford was handed the keys to the backfield two weeks back, when Matt Forte suffered a knee injury, and he’s been up to the task. He rolled up 142 total yards and a score in Monday’s win at San Diego, then followed up with an 182-yard barrage (with two scores) in Sunday’s 37-13 victory at St. Louis.
Eat your heart out, Todd Gurley.
Langford's Week 10 explosion in particular gets our attention, as the Rams defense is considered one of the better units in the league — especially at home. Langford showed surprising speed — or maybe it was the St. Louis defense showing horrible recognition and pursuit — on an 83-yard screen pass that went for a touchdown. Langford finished the day with 73 rushing yards on 20 carries, and another seven receptions (on nine targets) for 109 yards. It had the whiff of Forte at his best, a wonderful mix of volume, versatility, reliability.
To be fair, Langford is averaging a mere 3.46 yards over his 65 rookie carries. But let's consider the broad story — Langford has shown the ability to play on all downs and packages, run various things in the playbook. And his YPC is up to 3.8 (not great, but not terrible) since he became a featured player.
It will be interesting to see how the 4-5 Bears approach the final seven games of the season. Langford turns 24 in December, while Forte hits 30. It’s widely assumed Forte will leave the team as a free agent after the year. Should Chicago keep Langford in the backfield mix even after Forte returns? Would it make more sense for Langford to carry the heavier share of the work, given that he’s the future of the offense?
I suspect head coach John Fox will defer to Forte, the veteran, whenever the tailback is ready to return. But I am not going to assume Forte will be perfectly hale in time for Week 11’s game with Denver. And even if Forte is able to dress for the game, I can’t see Langford getting buried in the mix of things. He’s shown too much ability; he needs to have a role, somewhere.
We should also mention Jay Cutler's current run. He tossed three touchdown passes and didn’t have a turnover at St. Louis, a tidy 19-for-24 day, for 258 yards. That’s a nifty line when you consider Forte didn’t go and Alshon Jeffery (3-23 on four targets) was limited. Out-of-nowhere tight end Zach Miller — not even the Zach Miller you’re already familiar with — flashed throughout, catching five passes for 107 yards and two scores.
If you have Chicago Hope for the rest of the fantasy season, here’s the upcoming schedule: Denver, at Green Bay, San Francisco, Washington, at Minnesota, at Tampa Bay. Not a cakewalk, but after the Broncos game, it’s reasonable. We can have some fun here.
— I’ve been something of a Kirk Cousins sympathizer over the years, but it’s been in a “leave the guy alone, he’s league average” sort of way. But apparently he’s good enough to take advantage of this putrid New Orleans defense, like anyone else.
Cousins spun a perfect game — perfect QB rating of 158.3 — as the Redskins crushed the Saints, 47-13. What a pretty boxscore: 20-for-25, 324 yards, four TDs, no picks. Jordan Reed only had three catches, but two of them went for touchdowns. Matt Jones racked up 187 total yards and Jamison Crowder also spiked. (Your last four perfect games: Cousins, Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, Geno Smith. That’s some Mount Rushmore.)
It’s going to be painful to watch the Saints defense take a Week 11 holiday. Here’s the remainder of the New Orleans schedule, for your fantasy enjoyment: at Houston; Carolina; at Tampa Bay; Detroit; Jacksonville (Week 16); at Atlanta.
The Saints offense has plenty of explaining to do, too. Mark Ingram had just eight touches, perhaps tied to an early hand issue. Willie Snead took a bagel on just one target, and Benjamin Watson (3-19, five targets) crashed back to earth. The one gold star went to Brandin Cooks, who caught a couple of touchdown passes and finished with 109 total yards on six touches.
— It’s frustrating to watch the Green Bay offense these days. I need things I can believe in, some baselines, some equilibrium. Aaron Rodgers does not look healthy right now.
Rodgers got his 333 yards and two touchdowns in the 18-16 loss to Detroit, but it took 61 attempts. That’s a measly 5.5 YPA. Rodgers looked uncomfortable in the pocket — his line also had a mediocre day - and wasn’t crisp with several of his passes. Is Rodgers playing through an undisclosed injury? It’s a reasonable question.
It’s almost impossible to have a mediocre fantasy day on 21 targets, but that’s what Davante Adams somehow did (10 catches, 79 yards, no scores). To put Adams's mountain of meh into perspective, consider this historical list: players who have scored less than eight fantasy points on 18 or more targets. Adams was also the target on Green Bay’s game-tying conversion attempt, a pass broken up — in part because Adams made a passive attempt to secure it. Randall Cobb was closely marked by the Lions all day, by hook or by crook, and finished with a 5-53 line on 10 looks. Things won’t come any easier against Minnesota next week.
— Forget the MVP chase for a second, maybe Ben Roethlisberger deserves the Rolaids Relief Award. Big Ben came off the bench with his Superman cape intact, rolling up a brilliant 379-yard, three-touchdown performance in place of the injured Landry Jones (ankle). It all added up to a 30-9 rout of Cleveland. Roethlisberger’s movement looked compromised, but the Browns only sacked him once. Enjoy your bye week, Roethlisberger, you’ve earned it.
Of course, it sure is nice to chuck the ball to Antonio Brown (10-139-2, no better wideout in the league) and emerging star Martavis Bryant (6-178-1). That was the concentration of the offense; for once, DeAngelo Williams (69 total yards) looked like a 32-year-old back, not a dynamic runner.
There were plenty of hiccups in Johnny Manziel’s start: six sacks, two turnovers, some ugly snaps — but Johnny Football also made some snappy plays (33-for-45, 372 yards, one score). Travis Benjamin (7-113-0, 11 targets) and Gary Barnidge (6-65-1, eight targets) had no problem hitting their fantasy stride. Head coach Mike Pettine refused to anoint Manziel after the game, but I can’t see how the rebuilding Browns don’t stick with Manziel for the rest of the year. The Browns get Baltimore and Cincinnati the next two weeks.
— Peyton Manning clearly isn’t healthy right now, and it was sad to watch him have a four-interception stinker against Kansas City (5-for-20, 35 yards, 0.0 quarterback rating). Brock Osweiler played in the second half and perhaps should be the starter while Manning gets right. And just when I opened my mind to C.J. Anderson again, the door swung back to Ronnie Hillman (11-42, TD; Anderson had just two carries).
Charcandrick West found 161 total yards on the other side, though he needed 27 touches to get there. But with two touchdowns, he came out smelling like a rose. Travis Kelce (5-36-0) and Jeremy Maclin (3-17-0) found little running room against the Denver secondary, as you’d expect. Much stronger days are ahead, starting with San Diego next week.
— The Vikings used an old-school playbook in their 30-14 victory at Oakland: lots of Adrian Peterson (26-203-1) mixed with conservative but effective passing from Teddy Bridgewater (14-for-22, 140 yards, one score). Bridgewater took four sacks but didn’t turn the ball over. He should have had a second touchdown, but Kyle Rudolph dropped a chippy in the end zone.
Derek Carr pushed over 300 yards through volume, but it was one of his choppier days (two picks, two sacks, 83.6 rating). Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree had ordinary days, and the touchdowns were farmed out to a pair of non-fantasy entities (Andre Holmes, Clive Walford). Oakland now has to prove its chops on the road, facing Detroit and Tennessee.
— The Patriots escaped with a 27-26 victory at the Meadowlands (take that, Eli Manning), but it was another win at a cost: Julian Edelman broke his foot and will be out several weeks. Danny Amendola was plenty useful on 11 targets (10-79-0), but he’s not nearly as talented as Edelman is.
LeGarrette Blount had an ordinary 77 total yards and a score on 21 touches, while James White and Brandon Boldin had just three touches between them. Brandon LaFell had one 54-yard grab but otherwise was a letdown on six targets.
— The Dolphins may have edged the Eagles on the scoreboard, 20-19, but it was one of those ugly games that neither team deserved to win (several Week 10 games took on that appearance). Ryan Tannehill averaged just six yards per attempt, and one of his touchdown passes was a fluke deflection to Jarvis Landry. Lamar Miller was bottled up on 16 rushing attempts (2.7 a pop), while Jay Ajayi made 48 yards on just six attempts. Get ready for some committee talk.
Sam Bradford was forced out of the game in the second half with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Mark Sanchez (6.8 YPA, 63.0 rating) was the same player we vaguely remember from previous seasons. Although the Eagles finished with 353 passing yards, 202 of them went to untrustable tight ends Brent Celek and Zach Ertz. Ryan Mathews left the game with a concussion, putting his Week 11 status in doubt.
