BBNFL Week 9: Wan'Dale Robinson scores first touchdown of the season
Wan’Dale Robinson now accounts for 10 percent of the New York Giants’ total touchdowns on the season. That’s right, the G-Men’s putrid offense has only put up 10 touchdowns through nine games, good for dead last in the NFL. However, the good news is that a former Kentucky wide receiver now has one of them.
In the 4th quarter on Sunday, while the Giants trailed the Las Vegas Raiders 27-0, Robinson caught a pass in the back of the endzone from the third-string quarterback, Tommy Devito (who sounds like he might be a discarded Sopranos character), for his first TD of the year.
It was a bit of a backyard play, with Devito scrambling and Robinson doing his best to leak behind the defense while keeping his feet in bounds.
Starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, tore his ACL earlier in the game, making the Giants’ already rough season that much worse. It is a shame because Robinson is now healthy after dealing with a knee injury of his own for much of his rookie season, but he simply doesn’t have a high-quality QB to get him the ball.
Still, it was great to see him find paydirt for the first time this year. Robinson finished the game with four catches for 35 yards and the score.
No repeat magic for Will Levis
The NFL debut of Will Levis was legendary. The former Kentucky quarterback suited up for the Tennessee Titans last week and threw four touchdown passes, exciting seemingly everyone around him with the exception of head coach Mike Vrabel.
The stoic coach encouraged humility after Levis’s rockstar premiere and this conservative approach may have carried over to Thursday night’s game strategy. Play calls were clearly geared to be short, low-risk throws combined with a healthy dose of runs. Even down four points in the 4th quarter with the ball around midfield, the Titans ran the ball three times before being forced to pass on 4th down. They did not convert.
Sure, the Titans have Derrick Henry who is, you know, pretty good, but three straight runs in that situation shows a lack of confidence in the passing game that seems unfounded after what Levis did last week.
Levis finished with 22 out of 39 on the day for 262 with one interception and zero touchdowns. At least his passing yards total hit for those who played that prop.
Carrington Valentine has a big game for Green Bay
Carrington Valentine has played intermittently for the Green Bay Packers during his first season in the NFL, but he balled out on Sunday. The former ‘Cat got the start against the Los Angeles Rams and made Packers executives feel good about trading Rasul Douglas, the player ahead of him on the depth chart.
Valentine put up an extremely impressive PFF grade of 84.9, the sixth-highest rating of all cornerbacks in Week 9 who played in at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps. While he had just two tackles, the receiver he was covering was targeted eight, yet he only gave up one catch for 14 yards. Moreover, he forced three incompletions including two pass breakups, and when thrown in his direction, the quarterback’s rating was a paltry 39.6.
He mostly guarded Puka Nacua, one of the better wideouts in the league thus far. Afterward, Carrington said, “I’m here. Honestly, I watch the film. I know what it is, and I’m here. I’m here to compete. [Nacua] had a lot of hype coming into the game, and I took the challenge.”
Take the challenge he did. Have a day, Mr. Valentine.
BBNFL snap counts and PFF player grades for Week 9
PFF grades reflect the players’ respective offensive or defensive grades unless the first snap count listed is special teams (ST), in which case it is the special teams grade.
| Player | Pos | Stats | PFF Grade |
| Za’Darius Smith (CLE) | DE | 30 snaps, 2 tackles, 4 pressures, 1 sack | 87.9 |
| Carrington Valentine (GB) | CB | 58 snaps, 2 tackles, 2 pass breakups | 84.9 |
| Chris Rodriguez Jr. (WAS) | RB | 17 ST snaps, 1 tackle | 76.5 |
| Landon Young (NO) | OT | 4 snaps, 0 pressures allowed, 5 ST snaps | 71.8 |
| Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) | WR | 34 snaps, 5 targets, 4 catches, 35 yards | 68.2 |
| Lonnie Johnson Jr. (NO) | CB | 7 snaps, 17 ST snaps | 63.8 |
| Jamin Davis (WAS) | LB | 64 snaps, 6 tackles, 3 assists, 1 pressure | 61.8 |
| Lynn Bowden (NO) | WR | 14 snaps, 0 targets, 4 ST snaps | 60.2 |
| Will Levis (TEN) | QB | 74 snaps, 39 att, 22 comp, 262 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT | 50.8 |
| Bud Dupree (ATL) | LB | 44 snaps, 4 pressures | 47.7 |
| Brandin Echols (NYJ) | CB | 2 snaps, 1 tackle, 23 ST snaps | 43.5 |
| Mike Edwards (KC) | S | 29 snaps, 1 tackle | 29.8 |
| Josh Allen (JAX) | LB | Bye | |
| Josh Paschal (DET) | DE | Bye | |
| Luke Fortner (JAX) | C | Bye | |
| Kelvin Joseph (MIA) | CB | Inactive | |
| Randall Cobb (NYJ) | WR | Inactive | |
| Josh Ali (ATL) | WR | Injured Reserve |
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