Packers preview

• Aaron Rodgers is 5-4 in Minnesota for his career, with a 20/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
• In his career, Rodgers is 28-9 in October and 8-1 in the sixth game of the season.
• The Vikings have sacked Rodgers (56) more than any other team - by a wide margin (21).
• Jordy Nelson has more touchdowns against the Vikings (10) than he does against any other team in the NFL.
• Stefon Diggs (182) and Adam Thielan (202) both exploded for career-high yardage outputs against the Packers last year.

Predictions

1. The Packers hold the Vikings to under 90 yards rushing – The Packers have held just one team (Seattle) to under 100 yards rushing, but they shouldn’t have much trouble bottling up Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray.

2. Martellus Bennett reaches the end zone – I made this prediction last week and it didn’t pan out – so I’m going to go ahead and make the same prediction this week. Bennett is bound to hit paydirt sooner rather than later. The Vikings have allowed scores to three diffrent tight ends so far in 2017.

3. Randall Cobb puts up less than 50 yards receiving – This isn’t a bold prediction. Cobb has totaled less than 50 yards in 6 of his 8 career games against Minnesota.

4. Aaron Rodgers gets his first rushing touchdown of the season – Rodgers ran for a touchdown in both games against the Vikings last season. The Vikings have the league’s 4^th best red zone defense, so Rodgers might have to do some extra work with his legs inside the 20.

Likes/Dislikes

Week 5 recap

Hits - Likes: Jameis Winston (QB9), Brian Hoyer (QB7), Doug Martin (RB7/RB10), Pierre Garcon (WR17/WR9), Devin Funchess (WR13/WR8), Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE12/TE8).

Hits – Dislikes: Jordan Howard (RB16/RB31), Keenan Allen (WR25/WR21), Alshon Jeffrey (WR41/WR38).

Misses – Likes: Bilal Powell (injured), Devante Parker (injured).

Misses – Dislikes: Cam Newton (QB5), Alex Smith (QB4), LeSean McCoy (RB12/RB11), Kelvin Benjamin (WR11/WR13), Zach Ertz (TE5/TE3)

Week 5 score: 9/16 (56%). Season – 75/129 (58%).

Week 6

Likes

Deshaun Watson – Watson has been on fire and the Browns have allowed the 4^th most points to opposing quarterbacks.

Philip Rivers – Rivers has scored more than 18 points in five of his last seven starts in Oakland. The Raiders have yet to intercept a pass this season.

Jacoby Brissett – The Titans have been extremely generous to quarterbacks, and Brissett has taken advantage of both of his soft matchups thus far.

Marcus Mariota – Only the Patriots have allowed more points to the position than the Colts. Mariota has a ton of upside if he plays.

Marshawn Lynch – The Raiders will likely have to lean on Lynch even if Carr is active. The Chargers have allowed the most rushing yards in the league.

Elijah McGuire – The Patriots have allowed the most receiving yards and touchdowns to opposing running backs. McGuire is a solid RB2 if Powell is out and flex-worthy if Powell plays.

Mike Gillislee – The Jets have allowed the 5^th most points to running backs and Gillislee is due to reach the end zone.

DeMarco Murray – Murray got 18 touches last week but didn’t do much against a surprisingly stingy Miami defense. He had a lot of success against the Colts last year and should be able to bounce back against them this week.

Devin Funchess – The Eagles have already allowed over 1,000 receiving yards to opposing wideouts. Funchess has received 8+ targets in each of his last three games.

John Brown – The Buccaneers have allowed an average of 30.3 points per game to receivers, which is most in the league. Brown seems to be getting healthier and has received at least seven targets in every game that he has been active.

Amari Cooper – Over his last three games, Cooper has caught just 4 of 15 targets for 23 yards – good for 1.5 yards per target (still better than Markus Wheaton). The two-time Pro Bowler is bound to break out of his slump sometime soon. In this matchup last year, Cooper posted a line of 6/138/1. (He needs to be downgraded significantly if Carr is out again).

Martavis Bryant – The Chiefs have been more susceptible to the big play than any other team in the league; and few receivers are as explosive as Bryant. Martavis has had only one stretch in his career where he has gone 4 consecutive games without scoring, and I don’t expect him to do that again now.

Ryan Griffin – I’m just going to keep streaming tight ends against the Cleveland Browns. It works.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins – The Patriots have been dreadful against tight ends and ASJ is rapidly becoming a go-to target for Josh McCown.

Dislikes

Tom Brady – Brady has averaged approximately 11.7 points in his last 4 games on the road against the Jets. I wouldn’t recommend benching him in season-long leagues, but be aware of his floor this week.

Alex Smith – I know I just named two of 2017’s top three quarterbacks, but hear me out. Smith is bound to come crashing down to earth at some point in the near future – the pace he’s currently on is unsustainable. The Steelers have limited opposing quarterbacks to three touchdowns and five interceptions (I know, they haven’t faced anyone decent), but they have given up the 3^rd most points to the running back position. This game has ‘Kareem Hunt’ written all over it.

Aaron Jones – Jones steamrolled the Cowboys last week for 125 yards on just 19 carries. He’ll find fewer lanes to run through against a stout Vikings defense. He could still post a respectable line, though don’t expect a repeat of last week’s performance.

Every Giants running back – The Broncos allowed just 167 yards and zero touchdowns to running backs through their first 4 games, and the Giants have no skill-position players to keep the defense honest.

Adrian Peterson – If you haven’t watched Peterson in his limited snaps over the last two years, let me fill you in – he stinks. The Bucs have a respectable run defense and the Cardinals have no offensive line. Don’t play him.

Tarik Cohen – Jordan Howard is the leader of this backfield and Benny Cunningham has cut into Cohen’s touches. The Ravens have been more vulnerable to traditional backs; as opposed to receiving backs like Cohen.

Demaryius Thomas – Janoris Jenkins is a fantasy black hole.

Mike Evans – Dez Bryant’s 2/12/1 remains the best line posted against Patrick Peterson this year.

Sammy Watkins – Jalen Ramsey is the real deal. Leave Watkins on your bench.

Jarvis Landry/Devante Parker – A) Jay Cutler is their quarterback. B) The Falcons are the 7^th ranked defense against receivers. C) See A.

Cameron Brate – Brate has scored in 4 consecutive road games; though prior to that, he was abysmal on the road. The Cardinals haven’t been as effective against tight ends as they were in recent years, nevertheless, they still need to be respected.

Jordan Reed – The 49ers have allowed a mere 94 yards and zero touchdowns to tight ends this year.

Rankings

Note: Due to this being my first year doing rankings, I am not yet part of Fantasypros’ accuracy competition. This is how I would have ranked in week 5:

• 104^th in quarterbacks (Big Ben just threw another interception)
• 1^st in running backs (I know, I’m shocked too)
• 84^th in wide receivers
• 85^th in tight ends
• 80^th in D/ST

Without further ado, here are my week 6 rankings: (The final update will be on Sunday at 12 PM ET)