An unsung hero is someone who does great deeds, but gets little to no recognition for them. In football, the linemen who battle in the trenches are the unsung heroes that make the biggest impact on the game. In this weekly column, we are going to shine a light on those unsung heroes and highlight some key match-ups to help you make your lineup decisions for Week 6. The offensive line advantage will be provided by Brad, with the defensive line advantage provided by Tommy Mo.
Week 6 Recap
The Jaguars laid an egg on Sunday, but James Robinson was bailed out by a garbage-time touchdown. I was kicking myself all week after this went up knowing I should have switched the advantage. Still, the Lions had a bad run defense and the process will continue to evolve. The game script for the Rams wasn’t favorable, but Darrell Henderson still put up 88 yards on only 14 carries. I know, we all wish it was Cam Akers, but either way, this Rams line has shown it can dominate in the run game. They also did not allow a sack all game and gave Goff all the time in the world. The 49ers were able to knock some throws down at the line, but that isn’t on them. Jonathan Taylor and the Colts had a worse game script than the Rams, but he did get some work in the passing game which was nice to see.
On the defensive side, we saw Washington hold the Giants to 13 points and 240 total yards, 74 of those coming from Daniel Jones on the ground. Jones was under pressure all day, but was able to hit one deep ball to Slayton for a touchdown. Atlanta was the most successful call of the day here. Alexander Mattison only had 26 yards on the day and on his long carry of 16 yards we saw the line of the Vikings get driven back two yards. Kirk Cousins struggled early, and while he wasn’t pressured on his first interception there was pressure on the second and his arm was hit on the third. I really would have liked to see more sacks, but I’ll still take 7 points out of a $2,200 DST. Would have been more if not for the garbage time flare up from the Vikings offense.
Offensive Line Advantage
Detroit Lions @ Atlanta Falcons
Last week we had the Falcons on the defensive line advantage and we saw what Grady Jarret and Co. was able to do to the Vikings line. Detroit has been quietly good on the season and they got Big V (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) back a couple weeks ago. This is one matchup I’ll be watching as this will be a good tell as to whether or not Big V was worth the huge offseason contract. The Lions have played well overall, especially in the run game. I thought the loss of Graham Glasgow would weigh more, but they have filled his shoes nicely by moving Vaitai inside and improved with the other side with Jonah Jackson. I don’t expect this to be as good as last week, but there is still an advantage on the ground here. Fire up D’Andre Swift again this week and hope Patricia sways the committee more in his favor.
The Highest Graded Run Blocking Teams in the NFL in 2020:
1. Detroit Lions – 80.3
2. Cleveland Browns – 79.4
3. Green Bay Packers – 77.0
4. Seattle Seahawks – 75.3They are led by C Ragnow (No. 2 RB Grade among Cs) and LT Decker (No. 6 RB Grade among LTs)#OnePride pic.twitter.com/7V8IXGe42A
— PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) October 21, 2020
San Francisco 49ers @ New England Patriots
Last week we saw the Patriots get worked on the ground by Denver. New England has allowed 4.54 adjusted line yards per carry and we know Kyle Shanahan’s scheme will give them running lanes. The 49ers have not had the best start to the year, Trent Williams did not look like himself the last couple of weeks before the Rams game also. The good thing is that during that Rams game we saw the line coming together finally. Starting to gel, open up the lanes a little wider, giving Jimmy G a little more time. There were a couple of injuries during that game, and one of them was Trent Williams (ankle), but imaging has determined that it was not serious so we should still see him this week. The other was to Ben Garland (C) who was placed on IR on Tuesday. Hroniss Grasu has already had playing time this year and will get the starts moving forward. I still think this group will continue on their performance from last week and follow the Broncos gameplan like the guys on Unscripted mentioned. Pound the rock, dink, and dunk, keep the ball out of Cam’s hands so he can’t get a rhythm going. I like McKinnon this week, but a deeper play this week could be JaMycal Hasty (aka Hasty McTasty on the Dynasty Rewind) if Jeff Wilson is sidelined this week.
New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers
This one is a bit of low hanging fruit here, obviously, we are all starting Kamara every week. But if there was ever another week to throw in Latavius Murray this would be it. I’d consider starting him over other borderline RB 2/3’s this week just for the touchdown upside.
Defensive Line Advantage
Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets
The Buffalo Bills aren’t exactly setting the world on fire with their pass-rushing as they are currently in the bottom 1/2 of the league in sacks with 11, and bottom 1/2 in sack percentage with 4.93%. However, the Jets are currently 27th in the league in getting their QB sacked with 3 per game. But with an expected negative game script for the Jets as the Bills offense has been red hot lately, there will be plenty of opportunities for the Bills front 4 to get after Joe Flacco. And the Bills should win those pass-rush opportunities as the Jets front 5 are one of the worst units in the league as Brad Wire has them ranked dead last. I really like the talent on the Bills defensive line, and Jerry Hughes is leading all edge rushers in win rate at 40%.
Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati has given up a league-worst 22 sacks on the year and the Browns should feast off that on Sunday. Their best lineman by far has been Jonah Williams only allowing 1 sack so far on the year. Myles Garrett has a chance to get the better of the rookie on Sunday, but he will do a lot more damage on the other side. Bobby Hart has looked absolutely lost at times on the right side. Garrett has been red hot since facing the Bengals last having at least 1 sack in each game since with 2 games with 2 sacks. If you have someone that is a viable replacement for Joe Mixon, it might be a good idea to throw them in as he averaged less than 3 yards per carry in Week 2. He was saved by catching all 4 targets for 40 yards though. The other bit of bad news is that Mixon has sat out back to back practices dealing with a foot injury after this week.
Battles of the Week
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Las Vegas Raiders
Tommy convinced me to move this one into a battle of the week after I originally had it in Offensive Line Advantage for Tampa Bay. Apparently, the Raiders D-Line has been playing better recently. I trust Tommy on this one as the resident Raiders fan, but I do still think RoJo has another nice game here. Ryan Jensen has been an absolute stud on the interior for Tampa Bay and has a decent matchup with Johnathan Hankins with a dose of Clelin Ferrill at times. RoJo has a shot to hit that 100-yard milestone this week again and should still get a little work in the passing game. The Buccaneers have continued their 2019 dominance along the D-Line and the Raiders are still without Richie Incognito. Right now the entire Raiders O-Line is in question due to Trent Brown testing positive for COVID also. This would be a disaster for them as this group has been their rock this entire season. This could get ugly quickly if they have to sit their entire line. At least Sam Young is healthy to replace Trent Brown with Denzelle Good already replacing Incognito.
Green Bay Packers @ Houston Texans
Yes, the 4-1 Packers have a battle of the week with the 1-5 Texans. This is strictly from an O-Line/D-Line perspective. We saw Tampa Bay with their dominant line get some pressure on Rodgers last week and going to JJ Watt’s house could be more of the same. Right now David Bakhtiari looks like he might be sidelined this week after suffering a chest injury last week too. Green Bay and Houston have similar sack numbers at 12 and 14 respectively, but both have not been good at handling the run game – both giving up over 5 yards per carry. The thought here is that the Texans O-Line might not be enough to stop the Packers D-Line, but they haven’t been playing up to their 2019 level just yet. Part of that is because Kenny Clark missed some time and just returned last week as well. I figure this is going to be another high scoring affair and one where the line is going to be a gridlock with it coming down to a few key stars making plays when it really counts.
Favorite Individual Matchups
Brad Wire – Derrick Brown (DT – Car) vs. Cesar Ruiz (G – NO)
This matchup of first round rookies was far and away my favorite for this week. We’ve seen what Brown can do, dominating inferior competition, but it will be good to see what Ruiz has learned so far in the NFL. Defense is always quicker to pick up than offense. Given the shortened offseason, and that Ruiz was out the first few weeks it will be a good test now that he’s had a few starts under his belt.
My LOVE language is Derrick Brown (#95) run stops
Outside zone right, meets the guard’s outside shoulder, runs through him, devours the ball carrier pic.twitter.com/39InPgTKvx
— Matt Weston (@Matt__Weston) October 21, 2020
Tommy Mo – Jerry Hughes (DE – BUF) vs. Mekhi Becton (LT – NYJ)
Hughes winning 2 out of every 5 pass rushes does not bode well for the return of Sam Darnold. The good news is his new anchor Mekhi Becton should also be making his return this week. If he can keep Darnold’s blindside clean then this game might be a little competitive. Either way, it will be good to see just how good Hughes is and if Becton can continue where he left off.
