Numbers can say what you want them to say. That's why every week I will put together the stats I think you need to know that also might make you think.
But that's just it. I'm only going to give the stats, and then you will decide how to use them.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
Jameis Winston completed 27 of his 35 pass attempts for 299 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions in his last meeting with the Falcons. He's thrown 12 touchdowns to two interceptions over the course of his career against Atlanta, even though the Falcons lead the all-time series 25-24 and have won the past three.
Julio Jones averaged five touchdowns per year from 2013 to 2017. Calvin Ridley has six touchdowns this year, even after not logging a single catch in Week 1. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan is on pace for 5,123.2 passing yards, 35.2 touchdowns, and 6.4 interceptions.
Carolina Panthers at Washington Redskins
Cam Newton holds the all-time rushing touchdown record for quarterbacks. He has run it in 57 times in 113 games played. Steve Young held the record for post-merger quarterbacks at 43 rushing touchdowns, and Newton surpassed that on September 8, 2016. Tom Matte held the pre-merger record at 45, and Newton surpassed that on October 16, 2016. Michael Vick scored 36 rushing touchdowns in his 143 games played. Newton has three rushing touchdowns this year, Alex Armah has one, and Christian McCaffrey has zero.
Five running backs average 50-plus receiving yards per game this season: Alvin Kamara, Saquon Barkley, James White, Melvin Gordon, and Chris Thompson.
Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders
Tyler Lockett scored four touchdowns in five games. He's catching 40 percent of the touchdowns that Russell Wilson is throwing. He has an 83.3 percent catch rate, the sixth-best among wide outs with at least 12 targets this season. He hasn't logged a single drop this year and 205 of his yards and four of his touchdowns have come on passes 20 yards or more downfield.
Over the course of five games, Jared Cook is on pace for 96 receptions, 1,248 yards, and 6.4 touchdowns. Last year, Travis Kelce had the most receptions for a tight end (83). Rob Gronkowski had the most yards (1,084). And only six tight ends scored more than six touchdowns (Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Kyle Rudolph, Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce, and Tyler Kroft).
Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets
From Weeks 3 to 5, Nyheim Hines was the 11th-highest scoring running back in PPR formats. His most productive fantasy game came in Week 4 at home against the Texans when he only carried the ball four times for 10 yards, but caught nine passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns.
The New York Jets have only allowed 97 points in five outings, the eighth-fewest in the league. They are tied for the fifth-most interceptions (7). Tied for the fourth-most fumble recoveries (four). And they are tied for the 10th-most interceptions (14). These combined stat lines make them the second-highest scoring fantasy defense, only behind the Chicago Bears.
Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings
Heading into Week 6, only Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, and Melvin Gordon had more total touchdowns than David Johnson.
Both Adam Thielen and Larry Fitzgerald are Minnesota natives. Thielen got a lot of attention this week for being the third wide receiver in NFL history to post 100-plus yards in each of his first five games. His worst game this season was in Week 1 when he caught six passes for 102 yards. However, Stefon Diggs is on pace to catch 118.4 passes for 1,286.4 yards, and 9.6 touchdowns.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Antonio Brown leads all wide receivers with 65 targets, he's tied with JuJu Smith-Schuster for the seventh-most receptions (35), and he's tied for second with five touchdowns on the season. Only Calvin Ridley has more. But his 54 percent catch rate is tied for 89th among wide outs who played at least 25 percent of the team's offensive snaps.
Two wide receivers have over 400 receiving yards and five touchdowns: Cooper Kupp and A.J. Green.
Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland Browns
Philip Rivers has the second-most passing touchdowns in the league (13), only behind Patrick Mahomes (14). Six of those were scored by Melvin Gordon (3) and Austin Ekeler (3).
According to Pro Football Focus, Nick Chubb averages 11.4 yards after contact, the absolute most in the league. Duke Johnson averages 3.4 yards after contact, the eighth-most among running backs with at least 12 carries. Carlos Hyde has the second-most carries this season (100) while averaging 2.4 yards after contact.
Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans
The Bills only have 772 receiving yards on the season, the absolute fewest in the league. They only have two receiving touchdowns, the absolute fewest in the league. But Arizona isn't far ahead, with only 786 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.
Lamar Miller has only scored one more fantasy point in PPR formats than Alfred Blue over the course of the season.
Chicago Bears at Miami Dolphins
In Week 4 before the Chicago bye, Tarik Cohen carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards, but also caught seven of his eight targets for 121 yards and a touchdown. The Miami Dolphins have allowed at least 59 receiving yards and/or a receiving touchdown to a running back in each of their last four games.
Ryan Tannehill threw for 100 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and lost a fumble in Week 4 at New England. The following week he threw for 185 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and one fumble at Cincinnati. This week he'll face the top scoring fantasy defense who has allowed a league-low 65 points to the opposing teams (16.25 points per game).
Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos
Todd Gurley averages 4.1 yards per carry while having the absolute most carries this season (101). He also averages 14.2 yards after the catch, the absolute most among running backs with at least 10 receptions. C.J. Anderson and Adrian Peterson lead the league in yards after the catch, but have fewer than 10 receptions.
Four rookies have over 250 yards from scrimmage and three or more touchdowns through Week 5: Saquon Barkley, Calvin Ridley, Nyheim Hines, and Royce Freeman. However, Phillip Lindsay's 393 yards from scrimmage is second-most among rookies.
Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans
Michael Crabtree leads the league with eight drops in five games. And yet he leads the team with 46 targets, 12 of which came last week at Cleveland.
Marcus Mariota has thrown two touchdowns this year. He's also thrown four interceptions. He's averaging 169 passing yards per game. He's only completed 64.9 percent of his passes attempted when not under pressure. When kept clean, only Joe Flacco, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Josh Rosen are worse. Three of those four players are rookies.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Dallas Cowboys
T.J. Yeldon is the eighth-highest scoring running back in PPR formats. He's scored three touchdowns over the last two weeks. Corey Grant is out for the season with a foot injury. Leonard Fournette was called out for Week 6. The team signed Jamaal Charles, but Charles hasn't averaged over 26 total scrimmage yards per game since 2015.
The Dallas Cowboys defense is tied for the seventh-most sacks in the league (15). And yet they have a league-low one interception.
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Sammy Watkins has five or more targets in all but one game this season. He only has 10 fewer targets on the season than Tyreek Hill.
James White has 44 targets on the season. That's the third-most among running backs, and is the fourth-most among tight ends. He also has four receiving touchdowns, the most among running backs, would be the second-most among tight ends.
San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers
C.J. Beathard was the sixth-highest scoring quarterback in Week 5. He threw for 349 yards, scored two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. He also threw for two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Since 2016 two wide receivers have 26 receiving touchdowns: Antonio Brown and Davante Adams.
