Week 8 Reactions: Late Game Hammers

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Updated on October 29, 2017 10:06PM EST

After the completion of the 1 p.m. (EDT) games, it looked like we were heading for an overall low fantasy scoring day. Those happen every so often, especially on bigger bye weeks (the Cardinals, Packers, Jaguars, Rams, Giants and Titans are off this week) and as long as it's widespread enough, you can survive with Stefon Diggs (6.60 PPR points), Devonta Freeman (7.70), Brandin Cooks (7.60), Jay Ajayi (8.10), Christian McCaffrey (10.20), Julio Jones (10.40), A.J. Green (11.70) or Drew Brees (11.76) having relatively down weeks. We can't expect all of our big players to have big games every week, and if the struggles all happen at the same time, so be it. I mean, how excited would you be if you were told Sunday morning that these would be the fantasy scoring leaders after eight of 11 games?

Jack Doyle (33.10 points): 12 catches on 14 targets for 121 yards and one touchdown
LeSean McCoy (32.30): 27 carries for 151 yards and one touchdown, six catches on seven targets for 22 receiving yards
Jerick McKinnon (26.20): 14 carries for 50 yards and one touchdown, six catches on 10 targets for 72 receiving yards
Robby Anderson (25.50): six catches on six targets for 104 yards and one touchdown
Melvin Gordon (23.90): 14 carries for 132 yards and one touchdown, one catch on two targets for seven receiving yards
DeAndre Washington (21.80): six carries for 26 yards, eight catches on 10 targets for 62 receiving yards and one touchdown
Isaiah Crowell

Jack Doyle (33.10 points): 12 catches on 14 targets for 121 yards and one touchdown
LeSean McCoy (32.30): 27 carries for 151 yards and one touchdown, six catches on seven targets for 22 receiving yards
Jerick McKinnon (26.20): 14 carries for 50 yards and one touchdown, six catches on 10 targets for 72 receiving yards
Robby Anderson (25.50): six catches on six targets for 104 yards and one touchdown
Melvin Gordon (23.90): 14 carries for 132 yards and one touchdown, one catch on two targets for seven receiving yards
DeAndre Washington (21.80): six carries for 26 yards, eight catches on 10 targets for 62 receiving yards and one touchdown
Isaiah Crowell (20.80): 11 carries for 64 yards and one touchdown, four catches on six targets for 54 receiving yards (lost fumble)
Adam Thielen (20.80): five catches for 98 yards and one touchdown
Tom Brady (20.52): 32 of 47 passes for 333 yards and one touchdown, one carry for two rushing yards
Eagles defense (20.00): four sacks, two interceptions, one touchdown, 10 points allowed, 238 total yards allowed

I play in a weekly DraftKings league with a few buddies and we always joke when someone goes heavy with players in the late games as if there is some kind of strategy in choosing players based on the time of their games instead of their actual matchups. In fact, one of our biggest gripes about DraftKings removing the Sunday night game from its main Sunday slate is that we couldn't go heavy on that game to use that strategy (it's also a bummer since it's usually the best game of the week). Taking it a step further, one of my soccer colleagues, Schuyler Redpath, introduced me to the phrase "late game hammer" for a player in the last game of a slate who puts up a big score and vaults your team above everyone else in GPPs. It's a ridiculous concept that has no merit, and yet, if you played that way Sunday you likely won plenty of fantasy matchups.

The Redskins-Cowboys game had a decent 47-point over/under, one of the highest of the day, so it wasn't surprising to see people select players from that game. That said, it wasn't packed with multiple big fantasy producers, as Dak Prescott completed just 14 of 22 passes for 143 yards and no touchdowns while Dez Bryant caught four of six targets for a team-high 39 receiving yards. On the other side, Kirk Cousins completed 26 of 39 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown, though he was picked off once and lost one of two fumbles. Terrelle Pryor, who is now an overpaid backup, failed to catch his single target, while tight end Jordan Reed caught his only target for five receiving yards. At least Rob Kelley got in the end zone, but he also finished with 19 rushing yards on eight carries (including one that went for 10 yards). Chris Thompson put up a solid game, particularly in PPR leagues, as he rushed four times for 18 yards and caught eight of nine targets for 76 receiving yards. Additionally, Jamison Crowder caught nine of 13 targets for 123 yards, though he failed to find the end zone. If you're wondering who Cousins' lone touchdown pass went to, it was wideout Josh Doctson, who caught a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, which was preceded by ... two incomplete targets and nothing else.

So where was the fantasy value in this game? All bottled up with Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed 33 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns while adding one reception on two targets for four receiving yards. Elliott's 4.5 yards per carry average wasn't nearly as good as his 5.7 mark from last weekend's game against the 49ers, and he finished with 68 fewer receiving yards, but he's now scored at least two touchdowns in three of his last four games while eclipsing 100 total yards in four straight and five of seven this season. But as good as Elliott was, he would have been the sixth-highest scoring player in the Texans-Seahawks barnburner.

Known for having two strong defenses, even if the Texans are really banged up, no one expected Houston and Seattle to combine for 79 points, especially with a kickoff over/under of 45. In fact, the game had 42 points by halftime thanks to six touchdowns, including a 78-yard interception return by Earl Thomas. By the end of the game, which the Seahawks won after Jimmy Graham hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left, the quarterbacks combined to throw for 854 yards and eight touchdowns, while we also saw 175 yards on the ground. Understandably, there were some monster fantasy performances:

DeAndre Hopkins led all players in fantasy points (PPR scoring) by catching eight of 11 targets for 224 yards and a touchdown. Hopkins' big day helped rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson complete 19 of 30 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing eight times for a team-high 67 yards, making him the third-highest scoring fantasy player of the week. The one thing that held him back ever so slightly was his three interceptions, including one on the final play of the game, but it's tough to fault a guy who threw for more than 400 yards. Additionally, he now has 18 touchdowns through the first seven games of his career, the most in NFL history. Making it even more impressive is that Watson didn't even start the Texans' opening game against the Jaguars and he didn't throw a touchdown pass in Week 2 at Cincinnati. Since then he's thrown for two scores against the Patriots in Foxboro, four against the Titans (he rushed for another one), five against the Chiefs, three against the Browns and four against the Seahawks in Seattle. Why didn't this guy win the job out of training camp again?

Hopkins' huge game overshadowed the almost-as-huge one from Will Fuller, who caught five of eight targets for 125 yards and two touchdowns. After missing the first three games of the season while finishing up his recovery from a broken collarbone, Fuller now leads the NFL with seven receiving touchdowns. While that's an impressive feat in itself, it's even more so when you consider he has only 13 receptions this season, a total bested by 77 wide receivers, 32 running backs and 31 tight ends coming into this week. Fuller hasn't been racking up the yardage much, though he does have four touchdowns of at least 20 yards, which is tops in the NFL.

If you're sitting there reading about all of the impressive passing and receiving totals from the Texans and thinking "see, I knew Lamar Miller was going to be a bust this week," well, you'd be wrong about that one, as Houston's starting running back rushed 21 times for 54 yards and a touchdown while adding three catches on three targets for 19 receiving yards and another score. The yards per touch left plenty to be desired but it's tough to argue against a guy who found the end zone twice. If you're going to argue, at least focus on the fact that Miller hasn't broken 75 rushing yards this season while averaging more than 4.0 YPC once this season.

Oh, wait, the Texans lost that game despite four touchdowns from Watson. That's right, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson actually outplayed him by completing 26 of 41 passes for 452 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing four times for a team-high 30 yards. Two of Wilson's touchdowns went to tight end Jimmy Graham (including the aforementioned game winner), and he threw two more to Paul Richardson as part of his six-catch, 105-yard day. And yet, Tyler Lockett actually led the team with six catches on eight targets for 121 yards. After seeing fairly limited fantasy production in the early slate of games, the Texans and Seahawks accounted for five of the top seven fantasy scorers of Week 8, with Miller coming in 14th and Lockett 16th. Talk about some late game hammers.