The Lions won the game easily. Yes, the Packers made it “interesting” in the 4th quarter, but the dominance of the Lions run game was just too much for the Packers defensive front who struggled against David Montgomery all night. Love looked lost in the first half, then as the Lions defense eased back he started to look a lot better. I personally can’t complain about the game, it was entertaining and showed just how far the Lions have come.
Thought Results:
Love finally hits a wall
Result: Yeeeeeep
Love hit a wall alright, his first or second pass was picked off and the first half of the game was a disaster. Love started to figure it out as the game moved forward, but I think it had as much to do with the Lions softening their coverage.
Goff’s fantasy points will be fine, but it’s going to look ugly at times
Result: No doubt about it
You weren’t running to tell your friends how many points Goff got you in fantasy. Most people wouldn’t be happy with the outcome of around 12 points, I get it. It was 100% ugly at times and man was it head scratching. The second half the pass game was completely unneeded.
St. Brown puts up 100 yards again, Reynolds bounces back
Results: Wrong on St. Brown, right on Reynolds
The Lions didn’t need to rely on the pass game at all towards the conclusion of the game. It would be safe to say if the Packers put up a better fight St. Brown would have been even better. Still 56 yards and a TD is nice, but I called 100 yards. That part was incorrect. For Reynolds I think most people who put him in the flex were fine with almost 9 points. He’s a WR3.
Fade Christian Watson, start Doubs & Reed
Results: Yes on all 3, but I will need to explain Reed and Watson I am sure
Watson’s fantasy line isn’t something people are fully going to complain about. 25 yards on 2 catches and TD isn’t great but in HPPR you got 9.5.His involvement was limited so yeah Watson was a fade. Reed got you a flex worthy 8 points. Reed shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a WR3 with upside if Doubs or Watson are in. With Watson back Reed is closer to a WR4 moving forward. Doubs is looking more and more like a safe WR2 weekly. It’s nice to see, I thought he was a great player even last season.
The Rookie TE’s shine
Results: Laporta looked good, Musgrave injured so will say a draw.
Musgrave got injured, so it’s hard to say what he would have done. The backup TE’s for the Packers did get involved often. Kraft and Deguara had a total of 6 receptions. Laporta looked dominant in the first half but again wasn’t needed in the second. In a closer game Laporta looks to be the safety blanket on most routes. His ability to get downfield is going to make him special.
If Montgomery plays, he’s a flex play, Gibbs… I think we see something special
Results: Flipp’em, got it wrong
While Gibbs did not look bad he only saw a total of 12 touches. You're not going to scream home about your 8 points, that's for sure. I thought with the Packers larger, slower front that they would need to move to the outside for running room. I was incorrect as Montgomery made his own holes for most of the night. 32 carries for 121 yards and 3 TDs. From an efficiency standpoint it wasn’t pretty, but a fantasy standpoint who cares. Monty was by far the best fantasy player in this game.
Overall Results: You're not going to be mad, but you're not going to tell your family about it.
Not a bad week for my thoughts. A solid performance but I have room for improvement.
3 - 1 on Guessing Winner
Fantasy Notes:
You can play Love, but he is matchup dependent
Love has struggled over the past 2 weeks playing better defenses. Sure his rushing ability gives a bit of a floor, but we saw this issue he is going to have come out in this game. Teams are going to watch this and know now how to defend him.
Laporta is a Top 5 TE in my opinion for the rest of the season
Games aren’t going to be this easy for the Lion and the pass game will need to be involved in the second half. Laporta’s line didn’t change after halftime. His ability to move the chains and get behind the defense is special. He’s high end TE1 in my opinion.
Play Montgomery weekly, but be prepared for an injury
RBs can’t hold on for a full season running the ball 30 times a game, it’s just too much on the body. Monty had a good fantasy night, but 3.8 yards to carry isn’t anything to write home about. Volume is king, yes I know, but injury is his mistress. There is no way the Lions can expect to rely on Montgomery in this fashion week to week.
Doubs is a WR2, Watson should be viewed as a WR3 with WR2 upside, Reed is honestly droppable or a bench stash.
Love isn’t going to be able to carry 3 WRs all season, it’s just not happening. Doubs for now looks like the go to target in the offense. Love trusts him which helps. I personally think the Packers have a WR2 weekly with Doubs. Watson, we need to see what he looks like next week. He could overtake Doubs, but in my opinion, I don’t think so. Still he’s got talent. Reed is a bench stash moving forward or you can cut him. With Watson’s return Reed is going to be the odd man out.
Goff is a high end QB2 who will throw in some great QB1 games here and there.
I don’t think we can view Goff as a QB1 at this point. The issue is the offense is extremely run heavy even when the situation calls for a pass. Multiple times last night I thought the Lions should have thrown the ball and instead played clock management. Goff will get those 30 point performances here and there but weekly he is a QB2.
The offensive line is going to hold back Jones
Dillion is legit droppable, soooo moving on. Jones however was getting destroyed in this game. Multiple massive hits and you could tell the Lions knew who the leader in the club house was. With the o-line as banged up as it currently is we have to view Jones as an RB2 with upside at least until the line gets healthier.