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Pollard's three touchdowns top Week 7, even in a Titans loss
Tony Pollard's 36.5 PPR points led a week where only two players cleared 30 and it took 26.0 to reach the top 10.
36.5
Pollard's points, the most of the week
5.2
Pollard's edge over Smith-Njigba
26.0
points needed for the top 10
2
players with 30 or more
Tony Pollard didn't need a win to own Week 7. The Titans running back scored three touchdowns and piled up 36.5 PPR points in a 27–24 loss to Cleveland. That was the top score of a 14-game week, and it finished 5.2 points clear of anyone else.
That gap stood out in a crowded week. Thirty-one players reached 20 points, but only two cleared 30, and it took 26.0 to crack the top 10.
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Pollard's line was built on volume: 25 carries for 129 yards and three scores, with a long of 36. He added 3 catches on 3 targets for 26 yards. In a game that ended one score apart, the Titans kept handing him the ball, and that workload is what fantasy managers want from a lead back.
He got going fast in the Sunday early window, posting 19.2 points in a single quarter. After halftime he climbed to 24.1, good for second behind Drake Maye. Then his third touchdown pushed him to 36.5 and onto the top of the board. Nobody got closer than 5.2 points the rest of the week.
Smith-Njigba's one big quarter
The only other player to clear 30 did most of his damage in 15 minutes. Jaxon Smith-Njigba's Sunday night started slow, then he put up 23.8 points in the second quarter. That was the biggest single quarter of the week.
He climbed to 27.7 and fourth place before finishing second at 31.3. He caught 9 of 12 targets for 150 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 33, and added 13 yards on two carries in Seattle's 20–3 win over Kansas City. Take away that second quarter and he scored 7.5 points the rest of the night.
Cincinnati's second half in Baltimore
The Bengals' 35–13 win at Baltimore put three players in the top seven. Two were Bengals, and the second half did the work. Joe Burrow threw for just 43 yards before the break and 249 after it. He finished 22 of 30 for 292 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for 28.9 points, third on the week.
Tee Higgins was his most efficient target. He caught 6 of 7 for 148 yards and a score, a long of 44, and finished seventh at 26.8.
The losing side delivered too. Zay Flowers had 24.0 points by halftime and finished fifth at 27.7, on 8 catches from 11 targets for 137 yards, a touchdown and a long of 48.
Thursday's leader, Monday's chase
Maye held the top spot longer than anyone but Pollard. Travis Burden III had 23.7 at halftime Thursday night. Then Maye's third touchdown, two passing and one rushing, pushed him past at 26.4. He finished at 28.4 in a 30–24 loss at Chicago, going 24 of 31 for 321 yards with one interception and adding 26 rushing yards. His lead survived Paris, where Jaylen Warren topped the window at 16.7, and lasted until Pollard's third score.
The Sunday late games filled out the bottom of the top 10. Trey McBride scored 9.1 late to reach 27.1, sixth for the week, on 10 catches from 13 targets for 111 yards and a touchdown. Jameson Williams turned 5 catches into 91 yards and two scores for 26.1. His teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown had 153 receiving yards but no touchdown and stopped at 24.2, outside the 10. Bo Nix ran 7 times for 73 yards, including a 62-yarder, and scored once on the ground to finish at 26.2.
The final spot went to Malik Willis at exactly 26.0. He threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns and ran one in during Miami's 28–25 win over the Jets. The other side of that game just missed: Mason Taylor scored 25.2 on two touchdown catches, and Geno Smith posted 24.5.
Monday night couldn't move the board. Saquon Barkley opened with 13.1 and Dak Prescott had 16.8 at halftime. CeeDee Lamb climbed to 24.4 on two touchdowns, though he caught only 5 of 12 targets. It left him 1.6 short of the top 10.
The top 10
- Tony Pollard (RB, TEN) — 36.5
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR, SEA) — 31.3
- Joe Burrow (QB, CIN) — 28.9
- Drake Maye (QB, NE) — 28.4
- Zay Flowers (WR, BAL) — 27.7
- Trey McBride (TE, ARI) — 27.1
- Tee Higgins (WR, CIN) — 26.8
- Bo Nix (QB, DEN) — 26.2
- Jameson Williams (WR, DET) — 26.1
- Malik Willis (QB, MIA) — 26.0
