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The Shadow Knows Week 5 2018

By Gary Davenport

If you're the type of NFL fan that likes a classic offense vs. defense clash, then Week 5 is headlined by a game that's right up your alley.

Sunday in Kansas City, the NFL's No. 1 scoring offense and stingiest defense will do battle when the Chiefs host the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Chiefs are averaging over 36 points a game. The Jags are allowing just over 14.

Something, as they say, has to give.

The marquee matchup of that game is of course Jags cornerback Jalen Ramsey against Chiefs wideout Tyreek Hill—two of the best in the NFL at what they do.

Well, unless you ask Ramsey.

"I don't like how whoever has made it a matchup me against Tyreek," Ramsey said, via ESPN's Michael DiRocco. "He's good for what he does for their team. He made All-Pro as a return specialist -- let's get that right, as a return specialist -- his rookie year. He went to two Pro Bowls as a return specialist -- return specialist -- two years. I made All-Pro in my position as a corner. Went to the Pro Bowl as a corner. So it's not a wide receiver versus corner matchup, so we can get that out of the way off the bat."
Shots fired!

To be fair, Hill's a bit more than just a return guy—he's sixth in PPR fantasy points among receivers this season. And he's next to impossible to sit unless your depth at wideout is filthy. But the fact that a radio producer in Phoenix legitimately asked me about doing so in Week 5 shows that there's a legit level of concern about Hill's fantasy prospects this week—especially with complementary targets Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce banged up.

In Ramsey and AJ Bouye, the Jags have the best one-two punch at corner in the league. For Hill to have a top-10 week, he'll need to get lucky on a long one.

Hill vs. Ramsey is the highlight, but it isn't the only big-name duel between cornerbacks and receivers in Week 5.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions (Davante Adams vs. Darius Slay)

As Justin Rogers reported for the Detroit News, Slay has the respect of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “Well, the thing about him that you have to respect as an opposing player is he does — for years has done star coverage where he’s playing both sides and playing inside,” Rodgers said. “Not every top-rated corner does that. And for me, that gives a little bump in the respect category because it’s not easy playing right corner, left corner, and in the slot. And he obviously can do it all so he’s going to be matched up on obviously somebody they want to take away from us and we’ll have to smart when we’re throwing his way.”

If ever there was a week for the Lions to have Slay "shadow" Davante Adams, this is it—both Geronimo Allison (concussion) and Randall Cobb (hammy) are banged up and may not play this week at Ford Field. Slay's one of the more underrated corners in the NFL—he's annually ranked highly in coverage by PFF, and 2018 is no exception. But if Allison and/or Cobb do sit, Adams is going to be targeted approximately all the times—regardless of who is covering him.

Panic Level: 1 (ALL the targets, man. ALL OF THEM.)

Oakland Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers (Amari Cooper vs. Casey Hayward)

Amari Cooper is coming off a huge 8/128/1 win in Oakland's overtime win over the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, as Marcus Mosher wrote for Raiders Wire, that might actually be a bad thing. "Cooper clearly has the talent to be one of the best receivers in the NFL, but for whatever reason, consistency has been his biggest problem," Mosher said. "He hasn’t had back-to-back games with at least 70 receiving yards in his last 28 games. During that 28-game span, Cooper has been held to less than 30 receiving yards 11 times. Six times, he didn’t even crack double-digit receiving yards."

Cooper will see a familiar face this week in Casey Hayward of the Chargers, another one of the better corners in the NFL who rarely gets mentioned in conversations about the best at the position. Cooper's last four games against the Bolts are a microcosm for his career—in two of the four games Cooper topped 100 yards and found the end zone. In the other two he averaged two catches for 28 yards. Cooper's also dealing with a foot injury, although he's expected to play.

Panic Level: 3 (More because of the injury and Cooper's streakiness than the matchup with Hayward)

Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles (Xavier Rhodes vs. Alshon Jeffery)

Jeffery wasted no time making a dent in his first game action of 2018 last week, hauling in eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the Tennessee Titans. Per Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the veteran wideout cared a lot more about the game's result than having a big stat line. “All I care about is winning,” Jeffery said at his locker after the game. “I don’t care about my yards. All I care about is winning. First game back, we lost, so it wasn’t really a good first game back. It’s never fun when you lose. But it was fun being back in the huddle.”

Fantasy owners, unlike Jeffery, couldn't care less about the final score of the game—all that mattered to them was that stellar debut, although it may well have happened on many benches after Jeffery's long layoff. It was actually Jeffery's first 100-yard game with the Eagles, and he was very efficient, making that hay on nine targets. Rhodes, on the other hand, is trying to clear the cobwebs after he and the Vikings pass defense were scorched by the Rams last week. In last year's NFC title game blowout, Jeffery caught all five of his targets—for 85 yards and two scores.

Panic Level: 1 (Minnesota's pass defense is scuffling, and AJ had their number a year ago.)

Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles (Adam Thielen vs. Ronald Darby)

Thielen's off to a sizzling start and on pace to break a slew of team records, but he told Tim Yotter of 247 Sports that he's more interested in winning games than setting records. “Honestly, a lot of it is probably [predicated] from the fact that we’ve been losing a lot of ballgames and having to come from behind,” he said. “Sometimes stats don’t tell the whole story. Just because you have good numbers or bad numbers doesn’t mean you’re playing well or playing bad. For me, I’m just trying to win every route and win every play and try to judge not off numbers but off what I’m doing on the field.”

Thielen has at least four catches and over 100 yards in every game this season, and through four weeks the 28-year-old trails only Michael Thomas of the Saints in PPR fantasy points. Last year in the NFC Championship game Darby and the Eagles limited Thielen to just three catches for 28 yards, but Philly's secondary has struggled in 2018—the Eagles just gave up a huge game to Corey Davis and are surrendering the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers.

Panic Level: 1 (The theme this week appears to be, "Don't worry, be happy." Roll Thielen out with confidence.)

Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks (Marcus Peters vs. Doug Baldwin)

Peters is dealing with a calf strain, but head coach Sean McVay told reporters (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) that the ballhawk is improving. “He’s doing good,” McVay said. “I think he was sore just like anything else. You continue to come away impressed with just the toughness, what a great competitor he is. I think any time you’re talking about a soft tissue injury, especially from a corner spot, we want to be smart. We’ll probably monitor and kind of just alleviate what his typical workload would be to get him as fresh as possible for Sunday. But he’s feeling good and he’s making strides in the right direction.”

A banged-up Peters might be an exploitable matchup for Baldwin—were he not nursing a sore knee himself. The whole Seattle passing game in Seattle is out of whack, although as Baldwin rounds back into shape the hope is that will change. This will likely be a game where the Seahawks trail by a significant margin, and Seattle will try to scheme Baldwin off of Peters with Aqib Talib out. But this is hardly the sort of matchup Baldwin owners were hoping for in his second game back.

Panic Level: 3 (Garbage time may save the day here)

Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints (Josh Norman vs. Michael Thomas)

Norman's one of the better cover corners in the NFL, but the 30-year-old hasn't tallied an interception since 2016. He told Richard Thomas of the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he's not going to press and blow a coverage in the hopes of getting one. "It could have been last week (against the Packers)," he said. "It's out there for me. It's very close. You can see it, smell it and taste it. But I don't try to get outside my box, or play outside of everything. If a tip or something hits me in the face or hands and I'm there for it, so be it, great, and I'll toss one up to the Big Man, thank you for allowing me to catch it this time."

Norman will need to bring his "A" game coming off the bye, as the Redskins are traveling to the Superdome to face the Saints on a night when Drew Brees will all but certainly break the NFL's all-time passing record. All Norman has to do while trying to stop him is guard Thomas, who ranks seventh among wide receivers with 44 targets on the season and leads all wideouts in fantasy points.

Panic Level: 1 (Given how well Thomas and Brees are playing, who covers him really doesn't matter a lot.)