This a snippet of Adam Pfeifer’s NFL matchups column, previewing the Titans vs. the Broncos for Fantasy Football Lineups. Fantasy rosters needed protective spray because key players continue to miss extended time due to injury. Multiple backup quarterbacks are projected to start, and running backs and wide receivers are getting whittled down every week. As a result, we missed on plenty in this article, but we hit on plenty, as well. Back on the horse. With that in mind, let’s dig into some NFL DFS matchups and NFL game breakdowns for your Week 6 Fantasy Football Lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and FantasyDraft.
To read the FULL column, click HERE.
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Tennessee Titans @ Denver Broncos
Total: 40.5
Line: DEN -2
Titans passing game
To (hopefully) no one’s surprise, Marcus Mariota turned back into a pumpkin in last week’s tough matchup with the Bills. Things don’t get much easier this week, as the Titans head to Denver to take on a Broncos defense that just held Philip Rivers to 211 passing yards, two interceptions and zero touchdowns last week. After failing to generate much of a pass rush to start the season, the Broncos are now sporting a 27.1 percent pressure rate without blitzing, per ESPN, the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. That doesn’t bode well for Mariota, who is completing just 22 percent of his passes when under pressure, which ranks 32nd in football. They are also allowing 0.8 passing touchdowns per game, the fourth-fewest in the league. Do not consider Mariota most weeks, but especially this one.
Because Chris Harris is no longer exclusively in the slot, he is starting to shadow more often, which is bad news for Corey Davis, who continues to struggle when facing top-tier cornerbacks. He still isn’t getting many targets, ranking 56th in the league with an ugly 16.7 percent target share. Meanwhile, despite his upside, A.J. Brown is still playing less than 50 percent of the snaps. Because he is third in the NFL in yards after the catch per reception (9.50), he does warrant GPP consideration, especially if Davis gets shut down by Harris.
Despite usually having a high floor, Delanie Walker has caught just two passes for 14 yards on four targets over the last two weeks, which is just odd to see. You obviously don’t love the numbers but the tight end position is so bad that you have to keep rolling Walker out there.
Titans running game
With Tennessee remaining in games, Derrick Henry continues to get plenty of work. He is third in the league with 98 carries, averaging 19.6 per game. His touchdowns have been a bit lucky, as three have come from penalty and one came last week after Mariota was ruled down at the one-yard line. Of course, the Titans continue to pound the rock, calling run 46 percent of the time, the sixth-highest rate in the league. Henry has handled 100 percent of Tennessee’s carries from inside the five-yard line this year, tied for the highest rate in the league. The Broncos have been much more vulnerable against the run this season, coughing up six running back touchdowns already. In a game with a close spread, Henry should once again see around 20 carries and all of the goal line work.
Broncos passing game
While he isn’t shattering records or anything, Joe Flacco is playing much better than anyone thought he would while keeping two Denver receivers fantasy-relevant. Of course, there still isn’t a lot of upside in using Flacco, who has just one 300-yard game and six passing touchdowns through five games. The Titans are also bottom-12 in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks.
Courtland Sutton is emerging as the top receiver in Denver, scoring three touchdowns over the last two weeks, while seeing a healthy 16 targets. When the Broncos take shots down the field, Sutton is the recipient, seeing 35 percent of the team’s air yards, which is the 12th-highest rate in the NFL. And after Emmanuel Sanders started the season as the prime red zone option, Sutton suddenly leads the league with seven red zone receptions, while his 11 red zone targets are seventh-best in football. Sutton is catching 57 percent of his contested targets, the 13th-highest rate in the league. He is improving each and every week and should now be viewed as the top wideout in Denver. The Tennessee secondary is vulnerable and Sutton will line up against Malcolm Butler, who has allowed 25 catches for 334 yards and three touchdowns in coverage this season.
Sanders has been up and down over the last four games, posting stat lines of 1-9, 5-104, 2-10 and 11-98-1. He is still eighth in the league with four end zone targets, while Adoree’ Jackson is super inconsistent. View Sanders as a mid-range WR3 this weekend.
It didn’t work out last week but I have no issues going back to the well with tight end Noah Fant. He still played 67 percent of the snaps and remains very explosive. Fant gets another solid matchup with the Titans, who are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends this season (12.3), as well as the second-most touchdowns per game to the position (0.8).
Broncos running game
Phillip Lindsay looked fantastic last week, carrying the ball 15 times for 114 yards and a touchdown, while adding four catches for 33 yards. Lindsay remains the lead short-yardage back in this offense, seeing six carries from inside the five-yard line, while Royce Freeman has one such carry. That alone makes Lindsay the preferred play each week but because Denver has been so run-heavy, there has been room for both backs to have good games. Lindsay is averaging over 17 touches per game, while Freeman is averaging a solid 14.2 touches per game. Despite the tough matchup, both are viable flex options, with Lindsay making more of a case to be a RB2 play.
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