If nothing else, Sunday's game between the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals should be high-scoring. Both defenses are bad, and both offenses have the talent to take full advantage of the ineptitude.
In fantasy football terms, it's one of the those "start your (insert team nickname)" games. There are some question marks on either side, but a case can be made to start any name-brand Lions or Cardinals player depending on how injuries or byes are impacting a given roster in Week 5.
Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa has been up and down this season, but he has at least 66 yards in back-to-back games with a gain of at least 49 yards in each contest. In Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers, he had four catches for 95 yards on a season-high eight targets.
Against offensive coordinator Drew Petzing's previous grain, the Lions have been in "11" personnel (three wide receivers at the seventh-highest rate in the league so far (64.42 percent, according to Sumer Sports). In line with that, TeSlaa has played been on the field for at least 67.5 of the offensive snaps in three of four games.
Lions need to take advantage of Isaac TeSlaa's matchup advantage in Week 5
Among his wide receiver/cornerback matchups to target or avoid in Week 5, Nic Bodiford of Pro Football Focus tabbed TeSlaa vs. Cardinals cornerback Denzel Burke as on fantasy managers should target.
Bodiford noted how TeSlaaa is seeing high-value opportunities betweem the numbers and in the red zone. Over the last three games, he had seen five "centerfield" targets and three red zone targets (one on each game on the latter front).
The Cardinals are also allowing the most yards per pass play in the league (9.1). Per Bodiford, no team has had more "centerfield" targets against them then their 29.
READ MORE: The Detroit Lions cannot waste their top-rated pass rush
Outside of his overall PFF coverage grade, which is 65th out out 87 qualifying cornerbacks entering Week 5, the other metrics Bodiford cited for Burke aren't egregiously bad.
TeSlaa's target volume has been expectedly up-and-down through four games: 1, 5, 3 and 8. But like Bodiford noted, he has not been confined to a "typical sideline-bound No. 3 wide receiver role" with high-value targets going his way in recent games.
"Starting TeSlaa requires comfort with volatility, yet the requisite environmental settings and usage are present for big-play-based flex results", Bodiford wrote
With Jameson Williams' issue with drops apparently not going away, maybe TeSlaa earns a more prominent role in the Lions' offense moving forward.
Putting TeSlaa in a fantasy lineup is as much of a boom-or-bust proposition as it gets. Week 5, for those looking for a flex option in a deeper league or a cheap DFS dart throw, is looking like a boom opportunity for the second-year man.
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