Immediate fantasy football takeaways from NFL Week 9 Thursday Night Football

The Indianapolis Colts beat the New York Jets 45-30 to kick off Week 9 on Thursday Night Football.

Indianapolis’ offense dominated, scoring touchdowns on six of the first seven drives. Colts running backs Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines tore through New York's defense all evening. Jets quarterback Mike White started off very strong but suffered a forearm injury that kept him out the rest of the game, putting a damper on the Jets' chances.

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Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties like offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts

• Jonathan Taylor: 19 carries, 172 yards, 2 TDs (6.7 yards before contact per carry), 2 receptions, 28 receiving yards
• Nyheim Hines: 6 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD (3 explosive runs), 4 receptions, 34 receiving yards

Add Elijah Moore: The promising rookie receiver put together his best game of the season in terms of receptions (six) and yards (67) a week ago, which made him a waiver-wire target for some fantasy managers. He followed that up this week by scoring his first and second receiving touchdowns of his NFL career, and he set a new career-high in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (84).

He’s been competing with Keelan Cole for snaps all season. This was the second time that the second-round pick out-snapped Cole while they were both healthy. Moore's playing time is just as good of a reason to be optimistic about his second half of the season as the touchdowns.

Start Nyheim Hines: The Colts' top two running backs saw their fantasy floor rise before the game even started when Marlon Mack was a healthy inactive. Jordan Wilkins was released a week ago, making this a clear two-man backfield for the night.

Hines put together a dominant performance, and there is reason to believe that will continue moving forward. The Colts have one of the easiest schedules for running backs the rest of the season.

Buy low on Michael Carter: The Jets rookie had a relatively disappointing game with 49 yards on the ground and 37 in the air. His low rushing total can largely be explained by facing a Colts run defense that is among the five best in the league. The lack of production in the passing game largely had to do with the quarterback change. Carter’s role in the offense was unchanged compared to recent weeks, so he should have better games ahead.

Monitor the Tyler Kroft injury: Kroft suffered a chest injury late in the first half and missed the rest of the game. He had been splitting the tight end duties with Ryan Griffin prior to the injury, but Kroft played slightly more snaps. In his half of play, he caught two passes for 38 yards and was second in receiving yards for the Jets at the time of the injury. Griffin saw the majority of snaps the rest of the game and scored a touchdown. 

Even if Kroft's injury is serious, Griffin would only be a waiver-wire target in rare leagues that start two tight ends. The Jets haven’t used their tight ends enough this year to be too optimistic about either tight end.