A Hail Mary To Remember

by Peter Overzet

3 weeks ago

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Bleacher Nation Fantasy:

Man, football is the best.

We entered yesterday wondering if Jayden Daniels would even play.

10 hours later, we all witnessed him throw a miraculous, game-winning 65-yard Hail Mary to Noah Brown as time expired.

What an incredible moment.

Obviously, Daniels being a special, special talent is the headliner here. But this moment featured so many other incredible angles.

There’s, of course, the epic play-by-call from Jim Nantz. “It’s a madhouse in Landover, Maryland!”

Then there is the sideline shot of Dan Quinn sweating the final play. You can see him get more and more hopeful as the ball travels through the air.

And then there’s the shot that captures Bears defender Tyrique Stevenson taunting the crowd while the play was going on and then tipping the ball to Brown. You can’t make this stuff up.

Congrats to Matthew and the rest of the Commanders fan base. Your squad is now 6-2 and one of the best, most exciting teams in football.

Read on for six other takeaways from Week 8, including, yes, a recap of National Tight End Day …

What else is in today’s newsletter?

Pete puts a bow on Week 8’s main slate of games.
Watercooler: Injury updates

Week 8 Takeaways: The TEs had a day

by Pete Overzet

It's time for my weekly recap column where I round up six things—the good, the bad, and the ugly—that caught my eye on the Sunday main slate.

Let’s dive in …

🎉 National Tight End Day does not disappoint

I'm still not sure why it exists and I'm very sure I didn't need to hear it mentioned a million times while watching RedZone, but everyone's favorite fake football holiday lived up to its name yesterday.

And this isn't being hyperbolic or stretching the truth for the sake of a convenient narrative. It was by far the highest-scoring week of the season for TEs with 16 total TDs.

Take a look at some of these stat lines:

Trey McBride 9/124
Kyle Pitts 4/91/2
Travis Kelce 10/90/1
Cade Otton 9/81/2
Tucker Kraft 3/78/1
David Njoku 5/61/1
Sam LaPorta 6/48/1
Tyler Conklin 3/42/1
Mark Andrews 5/36/1
Evan Engram 4/36/1
Dalton Kincaid 4/31/1
George Kittle 6/128/1

The death of the TE position appears to have been greatly overstated, though I'm a little worried about things returning to the status quo without the special occasion next week.

Petition to change it to National Tight End Year?

📈 The post-bye rookie bump, starring Ladd McConkey

You can't really blame Chargers rookie WR Ladd McConkey for a slow start this season. He plays in an offense that likes to pretend that throwing the football is a federal crime.

But nothing could hold him back in Week 8 vs. the Saints, as he turned just 6 targets into 111 yards and 2 TDs for nearly 30 PPR points. This monster 60-yard TD play showcased Ladd's versatile skill set—great ball tracking and elite speed/agility in the open field after the catch. Wow, I somehow wrote that description without using one of these crutches. Shout out to me!

There will be some inconsistency with Ladd's fantasy production going forward—that's just a harsh reality when you play in a low-volume passing offense—but it's hard not to be excited about a second-half breakout.

4 More Week 8 Takeaways

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