The Shadow Knows Week 9 2018

CORNERING THE MARKET: Week 9

This Sunday night's showdown between the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots is a big game, no doubt. But a pretty convincing argument can be made that the biggest game of Week 9 takes place in New Orleans, where the Saints will face the undefeated Los Angeles Rams.

It's going to be quite the matchup of offenses—Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara against Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Robert Woods.

It also means quite the busy day for some big-name cornerbacks—including Marcus Peters of the Rams.

Peters and Aqib Talib were brought in this past offseason to provide the Rams with a secondary on par with Jacksonville's. But Talib is on injured reserve, and as Bleacher Report's Matt Miller reported perception around the NFL is that Peters hasn't been close to what the Rams thought they were getting.

"Marcus Peters was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in a transaction that shocked the NFL world after the Kansas City Chiefs decided they would move on from his services," wrote Miller. "Peters, paired with the talent already assembled on the Rams defense, was expected to put the team over the top. The Rams are in fact over-the-top good with an 8-0 start and a solid defense, but Peters has been hardly heard from with just one interception. That might be a good thing—Peters made too many waves in Kansas City for his on- and off-field antics. A quiet Peters might be a good one, but NFL evaluators are still gloating that he's not been the All-Pro corner many expected. Or maybe they're just hoping he won't be."

Peters has indeed struggled this year—Pro Football Focus graded his 106th out of 111 qualifiers at his position. So if you were at all worried about Michael Thomas' prospects in a game that reeks of being a shootout, don't be.

Thomas will get his.

Here's a loo at some of the other big cornerback vs, receiver duels in Week 9—beginning with the flip side of the coin in Rams at Saints.

Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints (Cooper Kupp vs. Marshon Lattimore)

While speaking with Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate, Lattimore said the more opponents throw at him, the happier he is. “I don’t care about that, oh they not targeting me,” Lattimore said. “I want them to target me. I want to make plays on the ball, challenge myself in the game. All that so they ain’t throwing my way, so I’m a great player, I want them to challenge me.”

The new look New Orleans secondary is going to be sorely tested Sunday by one of the NFL's deepest receiving corps—a pass-catching corps that expects to get Cooper Kupp back from the knee injury that cost the 25-year-old the last two games. With six teams on a bye many fantasy owners will be glad to have Kupp at their disposal again—but between the layoff, drawing Lattimore in coverage and the other options at Goff's disposal this doesn't exactly set up as a great first game back.

Panic Level: 4 (This conflagration of circumstances is fantasy frustration four-fold…I got Word of the Day toilet paper this week.)

Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns (Sammy Watkins vs. Denzel Ward)

According to the team's website, Ward said during his weekly media availability that he's well-aware that the Kansas City offense is loaded with weaponry, whether it's quarterback Patrick Mahomes or the players catching his passes. “They have a good quarterback, too. It is not just speed," Ward said. "(Tyreek Hill) is a really good player. He is fast, but they have other weapons too like their tight ends and No. 14 (Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins) on their team. They have a lot of guys in each position that can make plays and it all starts with their quarterback.”

Observant, ain't he?

It's possible Ward could switch sides and shadow Hill Sunday, but with the speedster a question mark with an injured groin, it's equally possible Hill won't play. Perhaps even more so. Watkins had a huge game in Week 9 with Hill nicked up, and assuming he sees a bump in target share this week that should compensate for having one of the best young corners in football opposite him.

Panic Level: 2 (Love me some DW, but that Chiefs offense is whatever comes after a buzzsaw.)

Atlanta Falcons at Washington Redskins (Julio Jones vs. Josh Norman)

Jones somehow still hasn't found the end zone yet this year, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan told ESPN's Vaughn McClure that he expects that to change soon enough. "His production is through the roof," Ryan said. "He's going to find the end zone. People are accounting for him and are continuing to account for him, even with the production of other guys. So, he stays unselfish when he gets his opportunities and makes plays. Nobody plays harder than him. We'd love for him to get in the end zone, but we have to find ways to get into the end zone, whoever [it] is. And he's 100 percent on board with that, too."

I don't mention Jones because I expect facing Norman to adversely affect his fantasy value—Norman's more reputation than performance at this point in his career and hasn't even been Washington's best corner this season. I mention him instead so I can rail about the fact that we're eight weeks into the 2018 season, Jones is second in the NFL with 812 receiving yards and he still hasn't scored a damn touchdown. Not one.

Panic Level: 1 (THROW JULIO JONES A $#@!&^%$ TOUCHDOWN!!!)

Houston Texans at Denver Broncos (DeAndre Hopkins vs. Chris Harris)

Per Jeff Essary of SB Nation, Harris hasn't been pleased with Denver's execution on defense of late. “It’s about execution and right now we are very inconsistent on our execution.," he said. "We’re still not executing the defense properly. People can go off on Joe Woods or whatever, but we’re not executing right, in crucial moments on things that we practice and you expect to nail, that you gotta nail, in those games. So we have to raise our level of execution up and do our job better.”

Execution will be key for the Broncos Sunday at Mile High—the Broncos face a Texans team in Week 9 that has won five straight and just added Harris' old teammate Demaryius Thomas in a trade to replace Will Fuller. Thomas won't be close to up to speed with Houston's offense by Sunday, and Keke Coutee is questionable for the game with a balky hamstring. That should mean a boatload of targets for Hopkins, regardless of the presence of Harris in coverage and likely double-teams.

Panic Level: 1 (Who else is Deshaun Watson going to throw the ball to Sunday?)

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (Kenny Golladay vs. Xavier Rhodes)

As Chris Tomasson wrote for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, Rhodes said he was surprised to learn that he'd be facing Golladay Sunday after Golden Tate was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. “I was surprised about that,” Rhodes said. “He was their main guy on third downs. He was great, yards after the catch, one of the best. … I was pretty surprised by that. It was one of those situations where you were like, ‘Oh, let my check my phone.’ ”

The Tate trade was cause for celebration for Golladay owners, who have clamored for the explosive youngster to get more targets for some time now. Given that Rhodes will be playing hurt if he does suit up after missing last week with a bad foot I'm not about to freak out about Golladay drawing Minnesota's best cornerback, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the elevation in coverage against him—especially given how stingy Minnesota has been to wide receivers this season.

Panic Level: 3 (The Vikings are 30th in PPR fantasy points given up to wideouts in 2018.)

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (Darius Slay vs. Stefon Diggs)

At 3-4, the Detroit Lions are in last place in the NFC North. But that's somewhat misleading, since the team is also just a game back of the division leading Bears. Slay told Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit that makes this week's trip to the Twin Cities all the more important. "It’s real crucial, they count as two," Slay said. "We’re still in a good spot, we just have to go out there and keep competing. This is real big week for us, playing against Minnesota at Minnesota. Gotta handle our division because that’s where it starts."

Slay and the rest of the Detroit secondary face what has been a nearly impossible mission—slowing down Diggs, Adam Thielen and the Vikings passing game. Barring a schematic deviation, Slay will probably see more of the former than the latter. The two have plenty of familiarity with one another—in two games against the Lions last year Diggs averaged five grabs for 82 yards, although he was held out of the end zone.

UPDATE: It looks like Slay is the least of Diggs' problems. After missing practice all week with the rib injury he sustained last week, Diggs is the doubtful side of questionable for Sunday's game. Slay's nicked up too, but it tentatively looks like he'll at least try to give it a go.

Panic Level: 5 (It appears Diggs will sit.)