The Dud Zone - Week 8

It was an interesting week this past week for the NFL and fantasy football. From the Seattle Seahawks losing their second-straight game to normal studs looking like duds, the NFL continues to confuse us on a weekly basis.

This week at The Dud Zone, we’re going all-in. There is a big surprise for our dud of the week, and we look at two potential Week 8 duds who have been two of the best fantasy football players over the past handful of seasons.

With all that said, let’s dig in.

Dud of the Week, Week 7

Seattle Seahawks Defense

This is a first in our weekly The Dud Zone, but Seattle’s defense needs to be called out for their terrible Week 7 performance.

Overall, the Seahawks don’t even find themselves inside the top 10 as an overall graded defense. Their biggest struggles have come in the passing game where they have a -3.8 grade on the season.

With that said, Week 7 was easily their worst performance on the year. They finished with a negative 3.1 team grade with nearly half of their players who saw playing time record a negative grade.

The two things that ultimately killed Seattle were missed tackles and the inability to put quarterback Austin Davis on the ground. The team had a whopping seven missed tackles over the game and zero sacks.

We also can’t forget that in fantasy football the defense and special teams are intertwined, so Seattle giving up a punt return for a touchdown also hurts. All in all, Week 7 was a performance that the Seahawks will likely want to forget for the rest of the season.

Potential Week 8 Duds

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

Here’s a quick question: Which defense currently is the third-best in the league in pass coverage? Would you have guessed the Green Bay Packers?

Well, that’s the truth and that’s who the Saints play on Sunday night. The Packers have been great in coverage and have been getting better with each week on getting pressure on the quarterback. The Saints currently have a negative 18.5 grade in pass blocking, which certainly won’t help in stopping Green Bay.

With the Packers defense increasing and Brees having one of his worst seasons since getting to New Orleans, this one could turn ugly.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seattle Seahawks

Lynch has been one of the most consistent runners in the game for fantasy owners. However, against the Rams in Week 7, Lynch had his worst-graded game of the year.

What ultimately makes this scary for Lynch is that he struggled against a mediocre run defense. The Rams literally sit right in the middle of the pack against the run.

Furthermore, Lynch only averaged 2.9 yards per carry, easily his worst average of the season. He also only forced one missed tackle on 18 attempts. That’s his lowest total of the season since Week 2 where he forced one missed tackle but on only 6 rushing attempts.

With Lynch going up against a Carolina Panthers team that is looking for a way to claw back into the NFC South, it could be tough sledding to pick up yards.