Patriots run ball 65% of time in Week 1

Sep 14, 2020

The Patriots ran the ball by design on 65% of their plays Sunday, which was their highest rate in any game since the 2008 regular-season finale, according to ESPN's Stats & Information.

Furthermore, Cam Newton's 13 designed runs were the second most of his career, per ESPN Stats & Info.

"Some of those runs were option-type runs, so we don't know who's going to get the ball; depends on how the defense plays it," coach Bill Belichick said Monday. "That's just an unpredictable part of that play [so] I think those numbers are, with all due respect, a little bit skewed. We'll see how teams play us going forward on those type of plays if we run those again.

Fantasy Impact:

Sony Michel ran 10 times for 37 yards and a TD while Rex Burkead had a 7-32-0 line and James White a 5-22-0 line. J.J. Taylor even got in the action with a 4-28-0 line. If the Patriots get their way, it looks like they've adapted to be run-heavy team, assuming they can play in tight games or have a lead.

yesterday

Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson officially Out for Week 12

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 4:12 PM EST

Cowboys list TE Jake Ferguson as out for Sunday’s game vs. Washington due to his concussion.

Related Players: Luke Schoonmaker

Fantasy Impact:

This puts Schoonmaker more or less in TE streaming consideration, but there are far better options this week, which puts him low on the totem pole.

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith officially Out for Week 12

Mike Garafolo

yesterday · 4:04 PM EST

Eagles ruled out WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) for Sunday against the Rams.

Related Players: A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Dallas Goedert

Fantasy Impact:

It's a bit of a crapshoot as to who the "WR2" on the offense will be, but now that he's ruled out, Brown and Goedert should get a nice boost to their bottom line. That would lock Goedert into a no-doubt TE1 role in Week 12.