Redraft Hero IDP Hero and Villain: Week 13

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WOW, that's really the only way to describe Week 13 in the NFL. The amount of shock that went across the league when the Eagles defeated the Patriots 35-28 in Foxboro was astounding. I, an Eagles fan myself thought for sure that the Patriots would come back just because that's what they do. Instead, the Eagles offense and surprisingly Sam Bradford were able to step up and make a big play to shut it down. Not only that, but the Giants blew a lead against the Jets, another 4th quarter blow up for the G-men and the Redskins lost to the lowly Cowboys on Monday night creating even more havoc in the NFC East.


While the NFC East is a dumpster fire, other divisions aren't fairing much better in terms of competitivness. The NFC North seems to be the only division that is still up for grabs. A lot of the reason for the gaps between 1st, 2nd and beyond in the divisions this year are the defenses. Teams like Cincinnati, Denver, New England, and Carolina all have top defenses. That's what wins championships we have seen a perfect example of that over the past few season with Seattle stopping the No.1 Offense in it's tracks in the Super Bowl and we all know the infamous pass play that cost Seattle a repeat. It's probably still to soon to discuss that game huh Seahawks fans? Well then let's just look into this weeks Hero and Villain and see who stepped up and who really let their team, fans, and fantasy owners down....

Villain: The Chicago Bears came into the season without any expectations, they had a new coach, a new offensive system, and a new way of playing. A lot of experts expected them to finish with only 3-4 wins and be set up for another high draft pick. They have come out this season surprising everyone and standing at 5-7 with an outside chance at the playoffs. This week though they had a legitimate chance at 6-6 going up against the 49ers and Blaine Gabbert. The Bears did what they do best and blew the chance for the win and then gave up a huge TD pass, which is somewhat surprising seeing how Chicago has done so well with holding teams to short plays this year instead of huge gains. The 49ers and specifically Gabbert, ended up making huge plays with his arms and legs all day and that just can't happen. It did though and one reason is that Lamarr Houston played poorly and recorded only 1 tackle in the game.


Houston has been all over this year and I don't mean making tackles left and right, I mean production wise. He has 5 sacks on the season, but he has had multiple weeks of producing 3 points or less. Except it seemed he had turned a corner in his season by averaging 9.425 fppg over his last four games total. Then he went out against a poor offense and couldn't help the defense in anyway. When a guy is costing $7 million a year, you expect high production or at least consistent production and Houston has not been able to do that. He is stealing money from Chicago at this point

Hero:

I mentioned at the beginning how much the Eagles beating the Patriots shocked a lot of people. Well that would not have happened without some big plays such as the blocked punt returned for a TD, or the Byron Maxwell INT in the endzone on a deep throw by Brady. The key play for me and probably most others on defense was the Malcolm Jenkins pick six. I mean Jenkins has been doing a lot for the Eagles this year playing safety and nickel corner at times and making a large impact at both, even with the struggles the Eagles had over the past few games, Jenkins was a lone bright spot. That is why he is week 13's IDP Hero:


He did a lot for the Eagles to hold off the mighty Patriots recording 6 solo tackles to go along with 2 tackles for a loss a pass deflected and of course the pick six I mentioned earlier to give him a nice 18.50 points for the game.  I am not going to lie, the best part of Jenkins pick six may have been the Brady "tackle" attempt


Overall, great game by the Eagles and Jenkins.

That's my stance, let me know yours.

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