Week 10 Thursday Night Fantasy Football Takeaways: Ravens' Lamar Jackson Still the Fantasy MVP; Bengals' Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase Erupt in Loss

Discussing some fantasy football takeaways from the Thursday night game between the Ravens and Bengals.

The 10th week of the NFL regular season got rolling with a fantastic game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.

Let’s take a look at some fantasy football takeaways from the contest.

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Game Stats

Baltimore rallied from a 14-point deficit and thwarted a late two-point conversion try to prevail 35-34.

Baltimore had 389 total yards of offense, rushing for 99 and throwing for 290. The Ravens were called for 11 penalties and didn’t turn the ball over or allow a sack.

Cincinnati had 470 total yards of offense, with just 49 on the ground and 428 through the air. The Bengals turned the ball over once, were called for three penalties and got sacked three times.

Jackson Continues to Shine

Lamar Jackson had a pretty pedestrian showing until the fourth quarter. He threw three touchdowns in the final quarter and finished with 290 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions on 25-of-33 passing.

Jackson added 33 rushing yards on seven attempts. He did not fumble.

Jackson has been the best fantasy player this season, and delivered another huge fantasy score in week 10. He not only might be the fantasy MVP this season, but he might win another NFL MVP.

Henry has Off Night

Derrick Henry has been one of the better fantasy players as well, but couldn’t get going on Thursday. He had 68 yards on 16 rushing attempts, but a rushing score helped him deliver a solid fantasy score. Henry caught his lone target for three yards.

It wasn’t a vintage Henry fantasy performance, but at least he scored to put up a decent amount of points. It was only the second time he finished below 70 rushing yards and he continued his streak of scoring at least once in every game.

Henry has some more tough matchups coming, but he’s still capable of delivering good fantasy totals by getting in the end zone. He remains a must-start fantasy player as a result.

Wallace Surprisingly Leads Baltimore Pass Catchers

On a team with Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman and now Diontae Johnson, it was Tylan Wallace who led the Baltimore pass catchers on Thursday.

Wallace caught an 84-yard touchdown and finished with 115 yards on three total catches and targets. He probably will get some waiver wire attention after the big showing, but I’d be skeptical of adding him outside deeper leagues, as Wallace now has just five catches and targets on the season. He’s a name to watch going forward at the very least.

With Isaiah Likely out, Andrews had 68 yards and a score on six grabs and seven targets. After his poor start to the season, Andrews has been much better over the past six contests. He’s scored five times over that span and gone for 292 yards on 24 grabs and 27 targets - that production makes him a pretty solid weekly starting option at a weak fantasy TE spot.

Bateman had 54 yards and a score on six catches and eight targets. Flowers was limited to 34 yards on four catches and six targets. Johnson had a six-yard catch across his two targets.

Nelson Agholor scored a six-yard touchdown across two targets. Charlie Kolar added a four-yard catch on his lone target, while backup RB Justice Hill had no yards on two catches and targets (and went backward two yards on two carries).

While some familiar names delivered solid fantasy showings, others underperformed. With Johnson still working his way into the mix, Likely rejoining the team in time and running back Keaton Mitchell also expected to factor in at some point, this Ravens’ offense is a work in progress.

Some weeks will see certain players step up, and the next week they might not do much at all. It could be a frustrating several weeks for the owners of the Ravens’ offensive playmakers, but many will remain in starting lineups because of the high-powered nature of the offense.

Burrow, Chase Incredible in Loss

Joe Burrow threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns on 34-of-56 passing. He didn’t throw a pick or lose a fumble, while adding six rushing yards on two scrambles.

His favorite target was Ja'Marr Chase. He went for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 11 receptions and 17 targets. 

With Tee Higgins out, Chase pretty much did it all for the Bengals’ pass catchers. Even when Higgins returns, Chase’s fantasy ceiling is high. He needs to be in fantasy lineups every single week.

Burrow delivered another big fantasy total and really has been good for most of the season. He’s now amongst the league leaders in fantasy points, and should remain up there even after the rest of the week 10 games are played. Burrow has tougher matchups coming, but he should remain one of the better fantasy starting options for the remainder of the season.

Brown Dominates Backfield

With Zack Moss now out for the season and Khalil Herbert not up to speed yet, Chase Brown was the workhorse back for the Bengals.

Brown rushed for 42 yards and a score on 13 carries and added 52 receiving yards on nine catches and 11 targets.

The Bengals pretty much abandoned the ground game, but a touchdown run would have made Brown’s fantasy night solid. Adding in the work he did as a pass catcher turned his solid fantasy showing into a great one.

I don’t see Herbert stealing many touches from Brown, so I view him as one of the better fantasy backs for the remainder of the season. He’s got a fairly average strength of schedule. He should be in almost every starting lineup the rest of the season.

Not Many Others Deliver

Without Higgins around, there was room for more pass catchers to step up.

Tight end Tanner Hudson had 43 total yards and a score on seven touches, but if you take away the score, it wasn’t a very good fantasy night.

I expected Mike Gesicki to deliver again for the Bengals, but he went for just 30 yards on four catches and nine targets. Higgins’ return will only likely hurt Gesicki’s fantasy outlook going forward.

Andrei Iosivas had 29 yards on two grabs and four targets. Jermaine Burton got five targets, but made just one catch for 11 yards.

The return of Higgins would help the Bengals’ offense out. If he remains out, expect Brown and Chase to continue to dominate, while Gesicki helps out occasionally.

IDP Standouts

Baltimore’s Roquan Smith had 12 combined tackles and a fumble recovery on Thursday. He topped 10 tackles for the fifth time this season, showing again why he’s such a good IDP option.

Ravens’ Nnamdi Madubuike registered all three sacks in the game. He had five total tackles and a forced fumble. It was a bit of an outlier game, as Madubuike now has five sacks and 21 tackles for the season. He should be played in deeper leagues, and now watched in standard IDP setups to see if he can stay hot.

Cincinnati’s Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson had eight combined tackles each.

Pratt is up to 89 tackles for the season, showing he’s another good weekly IDP starter. He also has four passes defensed, two forced fumbles, an interception and two fumble recoveries - those splash plays make him a great IDP option.

Wilson has 96 tackles for the season, making him another weekly starting option. He has a pass defensed, forced fumble and two fumble recoveries - while those aren’t as good as Pratt’s numbers, Wilson is still a great IDP option every week.

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