Some key injuries played roles in the outcomes of games in Week 6 and some guys we haven’t seen show up previously had good weeks in terms of Red Zone performances. As we’ve learned from previous week’s though, just because a player has success in the Red Zone one week, doesn’t mean it will continue the next week as match-ups are very important in the NFL.

Red Zone Passing Attempts

Kyler Murray , QB ARI – Murray took full advantage of his match-up against the Falcons soft secondary and posted his third game of seven or more pass attempts inside the 20 already in six games. Three of those attempts went for touchdowns as the Cardinals notched a win against Atlanta. Murray used the running backs for two of those scores and three catches as both Chase Edmonds and David Johnson scored and caught passes in the Red Zone. The rookie quarterback has been improving each week and is starting to show he can put together a full game performance-wise and next up he gets another defense that should help him do just that in the Giants.

Sam Darnold , QB NYJ –  Darnold returned from missing about a month with a bout of Mono and led his team to a win over the Cowboys. In the process of getting the win, he threw it seven times in the Red Zone, thrice inside the 10 and once for a touchdown while also carrying it twice on rushing attempts. There isn’t much to go off of here in terms of history with Darnold this year since he’d previously played only one game under Adam Gase’s system, but this was a good showing against a pretty solid defense in Dallas. Next up is a Monday night meeting with the Patriots in Week 7 which may slow down Darnold and company after the surprise win in Week 6.

Russell Wilson , QB SEA – Wilson just keeps being Russell Wilson . The man can’t stop putting up big days for his fantasy owners and going against the Browns was no different in Week 6. He had seven passing attempts in the Red Zone, two of which resulted in scores while he also had three carries inside the 20 and one of those went for a rushing touchdown. Wilson continues to prove that it doesn’t much matter who’s around him, he will win with them including when Will Dissly left the game with an Achilles injury, he simply turned to using Jaron Brown as a target instead. Looming next is a meeting with the Ravens, who’s pass defense hasn’t been that great nor has their Red Zone defense either.

Red Zone Rushing Attempts

Chris Carson , RB SEA – Carson was part of a big offensive day against the Browns in Week 6. He toted the rock seven times, five of which inside the 10, and one of those carries went for a touchdown. Carson seems to be over the fumbling issue that was causing his owners consternation earlier in the season and with Rashaad Penny being inactive the last two games, there’s really no other threat for Carson in the backfield. While the yardage he’s been putting up is nice, getting the chances by the endzone is where the money carries come for fantasy owners as touchdowns are how you really win at fantasy football. The Ravens are next and they haven’t been great at stopping folks on the ground when facing a team that can actually run the ball like Seattle.

Jamaal Williams , RB GB – Williams was the lead back for Green Bay on Monday night against Detroit and that showed in the Red Zone carries as well as Williams had four rushes along with a catch and score inside the 20. He was given the lead load due to an Aaron Jones fumble early in the game but he did do something with his chances, unlike earlier this year when they used the running back by committee approach and Williams didn’t do much. Jones is likely to be the lead back against next week but it’s possible that Williams did enough to at least get part of the work inside the 20 going forward.

Nick Chubb , RB CLE – Chubb has been proving why he should’ve been considered an RB1 heading into the season. He eight carries against the Seahawks in Week 6 nearly equaled his season total to this point and he made the most of them with two rushing touchdowns and half of them being inside the 10. He also caught a ball as well. There has been plenty of chatter as Kareem Hunt gets closer to returning from suspension, just what Hunt’s role will be, but at this point, we can rest assured that Chubb is the top back and Hunt shouldn’t be anything but a few-carry-a-game spelling type back for the Browns. Feel free to keep using Chubb as a plug-and-play option each week.

Red Zone Receiving Targets

Mike Evans , WR TB – Jen Piacenti touched on Mike Evans in her Hot Route video prior to Week 6 and told you to hold steady on him because he’s always been a guy who goes up and down over the season. Well, that paid off in Week 6 as he was targeted five times in the Red Zone and caught three of them against the Panthers in London. He didn’t manage to snag a touchdown, but the volume is good to see as that nearly equaled his previous total targets in the first five weeks of the season. Tampa has a bye in Week 7 but if they found a way to get him involved going forward, he could start paying dividends for the owners that took him high in their drafts.

Adam Thielen , WR MIN – After seeing no Red Zone targets in the first three weeks of the season, he’s seen increasing amounts each of the last three weeks. He finished Sunday’s game with three targets and catches inside the 20 and snagged one of those for a touchdown. It was easy for Thielen to get overshadowed by Stefon Diggs and his three-touchdown day, but Thielen continues to be the favorite target close to the goal line and that will make him more valuable going forward as well. Is it possible that both Diggs and Thielen have big weeks in the same week? Yes, but right now Thielen is the guy who’s more likely to get the work and value so keep rolling him out there.

Michael Thomas , WR NO – The Saint keep rolling along even without Drew Brees under center and the trick has been to keep the ball flowing to Thomas all over the field. In Week 6, Teddy Bridgewater had six passing attempts in the Red Zone and Thomas saw five of them go his way, catching three of them. He didn’t have a touchdown on those chances but the sheer volume is impressive. Thomas stands to be a dominant force when Brees returns, likely after the bye week, as he’s been quite good with Bridgewater and he’s still getting his feet under him in game situations.

Jaron Brown , WR SEA – Brown is a guy who most don’t pay attention to in the Seattle offense because he has relatively few targets that go his way. As an example, he had 13 total catches last year, though five of them went for scores. Sunday was another example of the latter statement. He was targeted three times and caught two of them including one for a score as the Seahawks looked his way when Dissly left the game with the Achilles injury. It remains to be seen how he fits into the offense going forward, and he’s certainly not reliable enough to be owned in season-long but in the right match-ups he might be worth a DFS look going forward.

Red Zone Defense

Jacksonville Jaguars D/ST – The Jaguars have been known as a stout defense for most of the last few years and this year it’s been no different, especially in the Red Zone as they’ve allowed only nine touchdowns on 19 trips made by opponents and they haven’t allowed more than two Red Zone scores in any game this year. However, a key piece of their defense was just shipped out of town this week in the form of Jalen Ramsey . It will be interesting to see how that departure affects the stoutness of the defense, especially in close to the endzone as they no longer have the best cover corner in the league locking down one half of the field.

Los Angeles Ram D/ST – The Rams were supposed to be a good unit, but that hasn’t really been the case this season to this point as they’ve struggled and especially in the Red Zone as they’ve allowed nearly 61-percent of opponent trips to end in a touchdown with 14 given up in 23 trips. However, they were the ones that traded for Jalen Ramsey and so you would think that would help out. Though to be clear, they also sent Marcus Peters to Baltimore in a trade and put Aqib Talib on IR this week so Ramsey may not be the only piece missing right now. Getting Ramsey should help overall though in the long run at least reduce the number of trips they’re giving up as they are averaging nearly four a game right now.

Baltimore Ravens D/ST – As mentioned above, Baltimore received Marcus Peters as they desperately look to help their pass defense that has given up over 340 yards passing in each of the last few games and is missing Jimmy Smith at the moment. The Ravens have allowed 20 trips to the Red Zone by opponents this year and 11 of those have ended in scores. They to, much like the Rams, are hoping that getting Peters will help sure up the pass defense in general but also help the Red Zone defense. The plan, according to their coaching staff, is for Peters to play as much as possible this week, against a familiar opponent in the Seahawks, so we may see dividends right away.