Week 9 Monday Night Fantasy Football Takeaways: DeAndre Hopkins Big in Chiefs' Win; Bucs' Cade Otton Continues Hot Streak
Discussing some fantasy football takeaways from the Monday night game between the Chiefs and Buccaneers.
Week 9 of the NFL regular season wrapped up with a fun game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Let’s dive into some fantasy football takeaways from the contest. Also be sure to check out the takeaway story from Sunday’s games, along with a story on the top IDP performances.
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Team Stats
Kansas City earned a 30-24 overtime win, overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit along the way.
The Chiefs had 384 total yards, with 124 on the ground and 291 through the air. KC was called for three penalties, was sacked four times and turned the ball over once. The Chiefs held the ball for 40 minutes.
The Buccaneers had 284 total yards of offense, with 95 coming on the ground and 200 in the air. Tampa Bay was sacked twice and called for six penalties, while not committing a turnover.
Hopkins and Kelce Shine for KC
It was basically a two-man show in the receiving game for the Chiefs.
Veteran tight end Travis Kelce was targeted a whopping 16 times, making 14 grabs for 100 yards. His only negative was losing a fumble.
Veteran wideout DeAndre Hopkins had eight catches on nine targets, going for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
I want to focus on Hopkins, because we already know what Kelce brings as a fantasy player. KC said Hopkins was going to be more involved this week, and after this performance, it looks like he’s the clear No. 1 wideout for the team.
The only other pass catcher over 40 yards was Justin Watson, and he had 43 yards on three grabs and four targets. Xavier Worthy was not even targeted.
There was room for Hopkins to step in and be an immediate fantasy asset, and now that he’s delivered, fantasy owners can trust him with starting spots. Even if you take away the touchdowns, Hopkins had a nice fantasy outing in PPR leagues. There’s some more favorable matchups ahead for him, so I’d get him in my lineup until there’s a better reason not to start him.
Mahomes also Delivers Good Showing
Patrick Mahomes has been pretty underwhelming as a fantasy player this season. As you might expect with 291 passing yards, Mahomes had a great fantasy showing.
He was 34-of-44 passing for 291 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He added nine rushing yards on two attempts to finish with 300 total yards.
Now that he’s got a proven wideout to throw to, along with Kelce and a good stable of running backs, Mahomes looks primed for more fantasy success moving forward. Fantasy owners can trust him to deliver every week again.
Hunt Leads Backfield
Speaking of the Chiefs’ running backs, the unit had a good game on Monday.
Kareem Hunt rushed for 106 yards and a score on 27 carries. He added an 11-yard catch on his only target.
Carson Steele got three carries, gaining nine yards. Samaje Perine rushed just once for 10 yards, but caught four of his five targets for 25 yards and a score.
Hunt remains a must-start fantasy player as long as Isiah Pacheco is out. Perine has some value in deep PPR leagues, but without a ton of success on the season, he’s a risky starting option. Steele looks like the most likely of the trio to lose his touches once Pacheco comes back.
FantasySP will cover the situation when Pacheco is activated again, so check back for that.
Otton Leads Bucs Again
With Chris Godwin out for the regular season and Mike Evans missing another game, I guessed Cade Otton would lead the Bucs’ passing game.
Otton delivered again, catching eight of his 11 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. That’s now three straight games over 75 receiving yards and at least eight catches, and he has four scores over the past four games.
I don’t know what else you need me to say. Otton needs to be in fantasy starting lineups, and I don’t think the return of Evans is going to affect his fantasy outlook all that much.
Tampa Bay’s Backfield is a Mess
Not one Buccaneer rushed for over 25 yards in the contest.
Bucky Irving suited up and rushed for 24 yards on seven attempts. He added 10 receiving yards on three catches and targets.
Rachaad White had 19 yards and a score on three carries. He caught all three of his targets for an additional 16 yards.
Sean Tucker had 11 rushing yards on three attempts and added a six-yard catch on his lone target.
Receiver Sterling Shepard got two rushing attempts, gaining 21 yards on them. He also caught four of his five targets for 48 yards. When Evans returns, I expect Shepard’s fantasy value to dry up, although he might still serve as the team’s No. 2 wideout.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield had 20 yards on four attempts.
The Bucs surprisingly kept this game close without a monster offensive display. The team’s backfield is an absolute mess right now, and the best starting options need to be determined based on the defensive matchup and who is available. FantasySP will continue to monitor and assess the situation.
Mayfield Solid Again
Along with his rushing stats, Mayfield had 200 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He completed 23 of his 31 passes.
It wasn’t a monster showing from Mayfield, but he did deliver another good fantasy score, like he’s done most of the season.
He’s survived without Godwin and Evans so far, so you shouldn’t have any trouble continuing to play Mayfield until Evans gets back in the lineup. There’s not extremely tough matchups looming over the next four weeks, so I’d continue to play Mayfield every week.
IDP Standouts
Tampa Bay’s Antoine Winfield Jr. had 12 combined tackles on Monday. Across five games this season, Winfield has 40 tackles, a fumble recovery for a score and a pass defensed. That’s enough fantasy production to play him in a ton of IDP leagues.
Bucs’ Vita Vea had 10 tackles and two sacks. It was his first time over five tackles in a game, so that’s a bit of an outlier, but he collected his fourth and fifth sacks, which makes him a pretty solid IDP on the line.
Tampa’s Calijah Kancey also had two sacks on Monday - those were his only tackles. In four games this season, Kancey has three sacks and 12 tackles. He should get some deep league IDP love after his two-sack performance.
Kansas City’s George Karlaftis III had four tackles, a sack and a pass defensed. He’s got a sack in three straight games, and has at least three tackles in those contests. Karlaftis is a better deep league option, but with the hot streak he’s on, it wouldn’t be crazy to add him in some more standard IDP setups.
Tampa Bay’s Josh Hayes had six tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed. Over the past two weeks, he’s got 11 combined tackles. That’s enough to get him added in deeper IDP leagues.
Tampa’s Tykee Smith had nine tackles, a pass defensed and a forced fumble on Monday. He’s had a handful of solid IDP outings this season, but hasn’t been quite consistent enough to roster/play in all IDP leagues. He’s one to keep a close eye on though.
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