SEATTLE (at Arizona)
The Seahawks are 2-1, but they haven't been terribly impressive. Their wins came against 0-3 Bengals and Steelers teams, and they just lost at home to a Saints team missing Drew Brees. But their offense has been strong, averaging...
... 25 points and scoring 3-4 TDs in every game. Now they'll face a really soft Cardinals defense, that's allowed an average of 29 points and more than 3 TDs per game. Win or lose, Seattle should keep its good offensive numbers going. ... With Seattle favoring a ground-based attack last year, Russell Wilson averaged just 216 passing yards. That was probably the plan for this season, but it hasn't played out that way. The defense isn't as good (Seattle is allowing 26 points per game), and they don't have their run game dialed in (just 111 yards per game, down from 160 a year ago). The result is that Wilson is reminding everyone that he was a top-2 quarterback just a couple of years ago, throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 34 TDs (while running for 586 and 3 more). Wilson has thrown for multiple ...
This report is taken from today's Week 4 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 19 pages of matchup previews, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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... touchdowns in every game (7 total), has passed for at least 300 yards in two straight, and has run for an additional 81 yards and 2 TDs. When he looks across the field this week he might see a younger version of himself in Kyler Murray -- an undersized pass-run threat who will likely have a hand in most of the team's touchdowns. The Cardinals are playing without their starting cornerbacks, factoring into them allowing an average of 306 passing yards and 3 TDs per game. They've faced a decent trio of passers (Matthew Stafford, Lamar Jackson, Kyle Allen) but nothing any better than Wilson, certainly. Wilson threw for under 200 yards in both games (wins) a year ago, but his ground game and defense were better then. No reason why he can't put up top-10 passing numbers and also mix in some rushing production; this has the potential to be a wide-open, back-and-forth type of game. Thumbs up on Wilson. ... We're ranking Will Dissly higher than usual. Wilson likes to look for him in the red zone; he caught 3 TDs the last two weeks, and 5 in his last seven games dating back to last year. And Arizona seems to have no ability to cover tight ends. Not only have they allowed 5 TDs to the position (at least 2 more than every other team), but opposing starters have put up big yardage totals in each of the first three games, as well.
| Tight ends versus Arizona | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yds | TD |
| Hockenson | 6 | 131 | 1 |
| Andrews | 8 | 112 | 1 |
| Olsen | 6 | 75 | 2 |
Seattle traded Nick Vannett to the Steelers on Tuesday, so they'll have to add somebody (probably Jacob Hollister or Luke Willson) to even suit up another player at the position, ensuring Dissly plays pretty close to full-time. ... Tyler Lockett caught only 1 pass back in Week 1, sparking some concerns he'd struggle as the No. 1 receiver (Doug Baldwin was around most of last season). No worries: Lockett has seen 26 targets the last two weeks, catching 10 for 79 and 11 for 154 and a touchdown. And this is a better matchup, a secondary that has allowed multiple touchdowns to wide receivers in two of three games (the exception was Baltimore, which doesn't have much at the position behind Marquise Brown). DK Metcalf has locked down the No. 2 role, averaging 72 yards (over 60 in every game), with 1 TD. He's still learning the position and has caught only 5 of the 13 passes thrown his way the last two weeks, but size and speed count for a lot. David Moore is healthy and Jaron Brown (former Cardinal alert) has played three-quarters of the snaps in every game, but those guys don't look like threats to Metcalf's role. Brown has caught only 3 passes for 30 yards all season. Moore, in his first game back from a shoulder injury, played only a quarter of the snaps last week. ... Chris Carson has lost fumbles in each of the first three games, including a pivotal one in the loss to New Orleans. Pete Carroll offered a vote of confidence this week, but even he'll lose patience if those issues continue. But Rashaad Penny might not be available after picking up a hamstring injury in practice last week, and the other backs on the roster are third-down types. So it should be Carson getting most of the carries, and the matchup looks fine for him, too. Arizona is allowing 157 rushing yards per game, and while Baltimore and Carolina are good running teams, Detroit isn't (and they went for 116 in the opener). Nothing special about Christian McCaffrey's 76-yard touchdown run last week, just shoddy tackling and bad angles. Carson should put up good rushing numbers, and as long as he's in the lineup he should get a few chances as a receiver. The primary third-down back should be C.J. Prosise, who played more than half the snaps and caught 5 passes against New Orleans. But Carson's fumble and Seattle falling way behind were factors; ordinarily he won't play that much. Should be a higher-scoring game, giving Prosise some deep league potential, but injuries have long been a problem, and Seattle won't want to overwork him. ... Jason Myers went to the Pro Bowl last year, but Seattle hasn't got much out of him yet. Through three games he's only attempted one field goal, and that one a miss from 58 yards. Seattle has been too good at finishing drives with touchdowns rather than field goals, so Myers has only 10 points on the season. The matchup could help, with only four teams allowing more field goals than the Cardinals (6). Only two teams have allowed more extra points (10). ... The Seahawks Defense isn't the dominant fantasy group it once was, but it could put up those kind of numbers here. Kyler Murray has thrown 3 interceptions and taken 16 sacks, and he comes off his worst game in both areas (2 and 8 against Carolina). Seattle has an excellent returner in Tyler Lockett, too.