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Thursday Night Football starts/sits and matchups analysis for Week 5 of the 2019 NFL season. Which Rams and Seahawks to start or sit for fantasy football lineups.
Talk about a Thursday night thriller!
A hotly contested battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers provided fantasy owners with plenty to be happy about. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed for over 400 yards and threw two touchdowns to one interception, while stud wide receiver Davante Adams was on a roll with 10 receptions (on 15 targets) for 180 yards before turf toe forced him out late in the contest. Although Philadelphia was led by a dominant ground game that featured a resurgence of former Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard (15 carries, 87 yards, two rushing touchdowns), quarterback Carson Wentz managed to throw for three scores en route to an Eagles win.
Football fans get an NFC West clash for this iteration of Thursday Night Football, with the Los Angeles Rams travelling to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. Expect both teams to come out swinging to fight for the divisional crown. Let's dive in to Thursday Night Football Matchups Analysis for Week 5!
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Los Angeles Rams @ Seattle Seahawks
Date and Start Time: October 3 at 8:20 PM ET
Notable Injuries and Status:
- Rashaad Penny (RB, SEA) - Hamstring - Active
Offensive and Defensive Rankings in 2019:
| Rams | Seahawks | |
| Passing Yards | 4th | 11th |
| Rushing Yards | 22nd | 16th |
| Pass Defense | 18th | 17th |
| Rush Defense | 24th | 27th |
Must Starts
Top Performers That Have To Be In Your Lineups
Cooper Kupp (WR, LAR)
Kupp has seemingly returned from a torn ACL even better than he was before. Fantasy owners should set and forget with this season's WR-4, who leads the Rams in targets and has had over 100 yards receiving in three straight games.
Tyler Lockett (WR, SEA)
Since being targeted only two times back in Week 1, Lockett has caught 25 of his 30 targets for 284 receiving yards and a touchdown. He now draws a matchup against a Rams team that gave up 172 receiving yards to Tampa Bay slot wide receiver Chris Godwin last week.
Solid Options and Sleepers
Which Players Will Have Solid Games and Which Could Surprise?
Solid Option: Todd Gurley (RB, LAR)
A shootout against the Buccaneers in Week 4 limited Gurley's rush attempts, but a concerted effort by Rams head coach Sean McVay to get him more involved in the passing game helped to mitigate some of the pain (11 targets compared to six in the Rams first three games). Hopes of Gurley returning to RB1 form are unlikely to be answered, but he should be relied upon more than usual to exploit the Seahawks bottom-five run defense.
Solid Options: Brandin Cooks/Robert Woods (WRs, LAR)
After Cooper Kupp, one of Cooks and Woods is likely to be heavily involved in the Rams passing offense when the team is not in the red zone. Predicting which one is virtually a dart throw, but Cooks is likely to draw the softer coverage matchup against Seattle corner Tre Flowers who currently has a 52.8 position grade out of 100 according to Pro Football Focus.
Solid Option: Russell Wilson (QB, SEA)
Unlike their blowout win against Arizona, this Thursday night game will pose more of a challenge for a Seahawks offense that could be forced to play from behind. Wilson has played exceptionally well from a turnover standpoint (zero interceptions) and offers fringe QB1 value this week.
Solid Option: Chris Carson (RB, SEA)
In a show of Seattle head coach Pete Carroll's "absolute support" for Carson, the clear cut lead back in this Seahawk offense accumulated 145 total yards against the Arizona Cardinals last week. However, the return of a healthy Rashaad Penny could signal reduced snaps for Carson, which appeared to be the case prior to Week 4.
Sleeper: D.K. Metcalf (WR, SEA)
Metcalf was averaging around six targets per game before getting only four looks in a throttling of the Arizona Cardinals that got out of hand quickly. He will be a volatile play for fantasy purposes, but the upside could come to fruition in the event of a shootout against Los Angeles.
Sleeper: Will Dissly (TE, SEA)
The Rams Defense has been stout against the tight end position, having never given up more than 40 receiving yards and only having been scored on once by a tight end in their last four games. That said, Dissley is tied for third in the NFL in red zone targets and his quarterback has given high praise suggesting that the scoring opportunities are not going anywhere.
Consider Sitting
Players To Avoid Putting In Your Lineup If Possible
Jared Goff (QB, LAR)
The Seattle Seahawks are a ball-control offense (ranking ninth in time of possession on the season) and have a ferocious pass rush. With the offensive line troubles in Los Angeles spelling trouble for Goff, it is hard to see him getting enough opportunities to support a high weekly finish.
Gerald Everett (TE, LAR)
It took a game in which both teams combined for 95 points to finally have Everett perform like a startable fantasy tight end. This matchup doesn't profile like one where Everett's targets are going to spike, as Seattle has done a great job of limiting the snaps for opposing offenses.
Rashaad Penny (RB, SEA)
It's a complete bill of health for Penny, who seems to be fully recovered from a hamstring injury after logging full practices all week. Nonetheless, Penny was only playing on 29.8 percent of snaps before the injury and was more of a limit on lead dog Chris Carson's snaps than a startable fantasy asset.
