NFL Notebook, Week 7: Patrick Mahomes’ injury, trades, awards and more
By Zach Cohen
![DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on October 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on October 17, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/e7698a48f484495b0a0efc6da810fe6a6b82751d99ff8780036778a9d666948a.jpg)
Fantasy Fixture
As the season rolls on, it’s only appropriate that every week I discuss a little about America’s new favorite past-time: Fantasy Football.
I’ve never been a fan of drafting defenses early in fantasy football; I prefer to stream my defenses. I’ve always said that no defense will consistently provide you enough points every week, whereas you can always pick up a stellar option each week.
While the latter is and always will be true, the Patriots’ defense has been dominating enough to have warranted an early draft pick. To say New England’s defense has been fantastic would be an understatement:
Patriots now have outscored their opponents by 175 points this season, the 2nd-biggest point differential through 7 games in NFL history, trailing only the 1920 Buffalo All-Americans (+218), per @EliasSports.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 22, 2019
Better than ‘85 Bears, 2000 Ravens and everyone but ‘20 All-Americans.
(Trust me, there are way too many other incredible stats that I include here, too.)
I looked at fantasy points (per ESPN Fantasy) and the Patriots D/ST has put up the following points each week:
- 7
- 35
- 14
- 23
- 15
- 28
- 23
I went back and dove deeper into the numbers. Four times this season, the Patriots had the highest-scoring fantasy D/ST. The only time the Patriots were not in the top three was in Week One against the Steelers (13th).
Again, you’re probably fine streaming defenses each week, but if you have New England, then congratulations to you. Considering they would be the highest-scoring tight end in fantasy, you should be fine for the rest of the season.