Giants vs Lions Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 8

The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 8 New York Giants vs Detroit Lions Sunday afternoon game on October 27, 2019 at 1 pm ET.

NY Giants	Rank	@	Detroit	Rank
7		Spread	-7
21.5		Implied Total	28.5
18.9	25	Points/Gm	24.8	13
26.7	27	Points All./Gm	26.7	26
62.1	22	Plays/Gm	65.5	9
64.7	19	Opp. Plays/Gm	70	32
34.7%	28	Rush%	41.5%	16
65.3%	5	Pass%	58.5%	17
48.3%	29	Opp. Rush %	40.2%	16
51.7%	4	Opp. Pass %	59.8%	17

Detroit is allowing 84.3 non-passing fantasy points per game (31st) while the Giants are allowing 79.1 (23rd) per game.
Opposing teams are averaging 12.8 red zone plays per game against the Lions, the most in the league.
The Giants are averaging 7.0 red zone plays per game, 25th in the league.
20.6% of Matthew Stafford’s completions have gained 20 or more yards, the highest rate in the league.
24.3% of Stafford’s pass attempts this season have been on throws 15-yards or further downfield, the highest rate in the league.
53.7% (22-of-41) of those downfield pass attempts have been completed against the Giants, the third-highest rate in the league ahead of only the Dolphins (53.8%) and Falcons (56.8%).
Marvin Jones has caught 11-of-16 (68.8%) of those downfield targets, the third-highest rate in the league behind Amari Cooper (73.3%) and Michael Thomas (81.8%) for all players with double-digit deep targets.
Kenny Golladay has caught 6-of-16 (37.5%) of those targets, 31st out 41 players with double-digit deep targets on the season.
Golladay’s catchable target rate Per Pro Football Focus (55.3%) is the lowest for all 83 wide receivers with 20 or more targets on the season.

Trust (spike production for that player)

Saquon Barkley: He returned to play 86% of the snaps, handling all 23 of the backfield opportunities for 80 yards from scrimmage in Week 7. The Lions have been damaged by opposing backs, ranking 30th in rushing points allowed (18.6) and 28th in receiving points allowed per game (13.8) to opposing backfields.
Matthew Stafford: Stafford has his most passing yards through six games since the 2013 season. His league-leading 11.3-yard average depth of target is a match for this Giants defense that has struggled to defend the vertical pass. Even while holding down Kyler Murray a week ago, the Giants still rank 25th in passing yardage allowed per game (275.1 yards) to passers.
Marvin Jones/Kenny Golladay: Jones may feel like point-chasing, but the matchup is strong once again. Jones has higher efficiency on his vertical targets to sync up with the matchup, but Golladay is still the best bet for overall volume. Golladay had eight or more targets in every game prior to last week. The Giants had a reprieve last week when the Cardinals threw just 21 passes in the rain, but both boundary corners DeAndre Baker (1.79 yards) and Janoris Jenkins (1.45) rank fifth and 20th in yards allowed per coverage snap among the 81 cornerbacks to 50% of the snaps this season per Pro Football Focus.

On the Cusp (proxy of a player’s average)

Evan Engram: Engram has now reeled in just 11-of-23 targets (47.8%) for 102 yards (4.4 yards per target) over his past three games played. He gets another good matchup here against a Lions defense that ranks 29th in yards per game allowed (67.7), 30th in yards per target (9.9) to the position.
Golden Tate: Tate has received 29% and 31% of the team targets the past two weeks as he’s turned in WR8 (6-102-1) and WR21 (6-80) games. We’ll need to see if Sterling Shepard returns to the fold to threaten his current target share, but the Lions are 24th in the league in points allowed to opposing slot wideouts.

Bust (down-week production for that player’s standards)

T.J. Hockenson: After catching six passes for 131 yards in Week 1, Hockenson has 12 catches for 88 yards over the past five games with a game-high of 32 yards. He does still have five end zone targets (tied for second among tight ends) but is strictly a touchdown-chasing option until his usage rises.

If You Must (intriguing bench option or deeper league play)

Ty Johnson: With Kerryon Johnson sidelined, Johnson is elevated as the lead back for Week 8. With Kerryon out last week, Ty managed 14 touches (four catches) for 57 yards against a stingy Minnesota defense. This week, the matchup is much more promising at home against a Giants defense allowing 168.3 yards from scrimmage per game (28th) to opposing backfields and just allowed the RB1 overall in scoring a week ago to Chase Edmonds (35.0 points).
Daniel Jones: Jones has been under pressure for 46.9% of his dropbacks, the highest rate in the league. His turnover issues have limited his ability to be streamed confidentially, regardless of matchup. Jones has been the QB19 or lower in each of his past four starts. The Lions are 26th in passing points allowed per game (17.9) but Jones still requires a leap of faith after lower-end QB2 output against Washington (12.3 points) and Arizona (10.4) already over the past month.
Danny Amendola: He’s had games of 7-104-1 in Week 1 and 8-105 last week sandwiching 5-43-0 over his other three games played this season. With Golladay expected to bounce back this week, Amendola’s targets could disappear once again, but he does run into a strong matchup inside against Grant Haley (allowing the third-most yards per coverage snap) to keep him in play as a FLEX dart.