by Ray Kuhn

At this point I think it is time to face some facts. Offense is up… Way up. Now I’m not going to get all statistical on you, but it is just a general observation. Points are a plenty and they are coming at us from all, even unexpected, directions. We aren’t going to overreact instead the process will remain the same, look for trends and match-ups to exploit. The big thing to look for this season is going to be turnovers while accepting the fact that your defense very easily could allow over 20 points without blinking. Let’s take a look at how our options rank:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Houston
2. Los Angeles Rams – at San Francisco
3. Cleveland Browns – at Tampa Bay
4. Houston Texans – at Jacksonville
5. Arizona Cardinals – vs. Denver
6. Carolina Panthers – at Philadelphia
7. Buffalo Bills – at Indianapolis
8. NY Jets – vs. Minnesota
9. Chicago Bears – vs. New England
10. Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Carolina
11. Washington Redskins – vs. Dallas
12. New England Patriots – at Chicago
13. Detroit Lions – at Miami
14. Indianapolis Colts – vs. Buffalo
15. Atlanta Falcons – vs. NY Giants

Notes:

• One trend that has become common is targeting Buffalo’s offense with your defense, as they currently allowing the most points to opposing defenses through six weeks. The majority of this damage came with Josh Allen under center, but now with the rookie sidelined for the next few weeks things are looking even better for the opposition, which this weeks is Indianapolis. At least to start the game we aren’t going to be lucky enough to have interception machine Nathan Peterman under center, but things likely won’t be much better with new addition Derek Anderson starting at quarterback. Buffalo doesn’t have much in the way of offensive weapons, so while the Colts might give up some points it shouldn’t be worse than their last three weeks (a combined 105 points). I would also expect to see the Colts add to their six interceptions so far this season.
• Yes Tampa Bay did put up their share of points last week, but keep in mind that it came against the Falcons, and for the most part Tampa Bay has yet to really establish much of a running game. Their one dimensional offense, Peyton Barber isn’t scaring anyone on the ground should regress, and last week non-withstanding Cleveland’s defense is better than they get credit for. Despite giving up 38 points to the Chargers last week and 39 points to the Raiders in Week 4, the Browns are still in the Top-10 of fantasy defenses. It is interesting that in their other four games Cleveland has allowed a combined 68 points. Additionally it works to the Browns’ advantage that they already have nine interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and 16 sacks.
• The Dolphins have allowed the fifth most points to opposing fantasy defenses, and do we really think they can count on Brock Oswelier for the second straight week? Coming off their bye week the Lions do present as an interesting streaming option as they are owned in just 7.1% of ESPN leagues. With just three interceptions and four fumble recoveries on the season, Detroit certainly needs to work on forcing more turnovers. However they have have shown the ability to get to the quarterback with 17 sacks (minimum of two each week), and that should work to their advantage against Miami and their shaky offensive line.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 7 rankings: