By Lonnie Z|Faze Fantasy Sports

The 2025 NFL season has been one of the strangest, most unpredictable, and most revealing seasons in recent memory. We’re 11 weeks in, heading into the home stretch, and I’ve learned more this year about coaching philosophies, player usage, fantasy football traps, and league-wide trends than in any other season I can remember.

This is my midseason deep dive — my personal assessment of what’s happening on the field, on the sidelines, and behind the scenes.And I’m going to say it straight:

The NFL is changing. Coaching tendencies have become the most important factor in fantasy, betting, and even real-world team success.

Let’s break it down.

1. Justin Fields: A Talent Ruined By Bad Situations, Not Ability

Justin Fields is being benched again — this time in New York — and everyone’s acting like this is the end of the story. But the truth is simple:

We have never seen Justin Fields in a system built for Justin Fields.

He was mishandled in Chicago. He was a poor stylistic fit in Pittsburgh. He’s being misused in New York.

Fields isn’t a pure pocket quarterback, and he never will be. But he is an elite athlete with Lamar Jackson-level upside if you create an offense around:

• 7–15 designed QB runs

• Bootlegs

• RPO looks

• Quick reads

• Moving pockets

• Sideline-hugging runs that avoid heavy contact

Every successful dual-threat QB in modern football had a system tailored to their strengths. Fields never got that.

He was drafted into chaos, traded into skepticism, and placed into systems that actively worked against his natural skillset.

In the right fit, Fields could still thrive. Just ask Lamar, Hurts, Kyler, or Josh Allen.

But the Jets aren’t the right fit — and neither were the Bears or Steelers. This one’s on coaching.

2. J.J. McCarthy: A Rhythm Quarterback Being Forced to Overthink

The Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy 10th overall, a massive investment. And Kevin O'Connell — a smart coach with a quarterback-friendly background — clearly believes in him.

But McCarthy’s first five starts revealed something important:

1. He plays worse when he has too much time to think.

2. He plays better when the offense speeds up.

McCarthy is:

• Not a true scrambling QB

• But mobile enough to be dangerous

• A player who thrives on rhythm

• A natural instinct-based thrower

In slow, methodical, structured offenses, he tightens up. The ball sails. Reads feel heavy. Momentum evaporates.

But when the Vikings push the tempo — 2-minute drill, 4-minute offense, no-huddle — McCarthy comes alive:

• Quicker decisions

• Cleaner mechanics

• Accurate throws

• Reacting, not thinking

• Playing free, not tight

  
  

His comeback drive vs. Chicago was the perfect example. He played like a seasoned veteran once the pace accelerated.

If O’Connell wants McCarthy to flourish, the offense needs:

• Tempo

• Simplified reads

• Quicker playcalls

• More rhythm-based drives

McCarthy is a clutch-flow QB, not a ball-control manager. Build the offense around his strengths — not around an idealized system.

3. Seattle Seahawks: The Most Frustrating RB Usage in the NFL

From a pure football standpoint, Seattle’s RB room is strong.From a fantasy standpoint?

It’s a nightmare.

Kenneth Walker III: ~135 carriesZach Charbonnet: ~105 carries

Walker is more efficient (4.5 YPC vs ~3.8), more explosive, and more reliable.But Seattle refuses to treat him like a true RB1.

Instead, they run a pure timeshare — a 1A/1B system that makes weekly projections impossible.

Goal-line touches?Random.Drive usage?Random.Hot-hand moments?Random.

It’s bad enough from a fantasy perspective, but it also ties into a theme I’ve noticed:

Some teams are becoming intentionally unpredictable — which benefits sportsbooks and betting markets.

If you can’t predict:

• Red-zone usage

• Drive distribution

• Touch shares

• Hot-hand rotations

…you can’t reliably bet player props.

This is becoming a league-wide trend.

And Seattle is Exhibit A.

4. Buffalo Bills: The Blueprint for the NFL’s New Unpredictable Era

This Bills team is one of the strangest fantasy offenses I’ve ever watched.

Some weeks, Josh Allen looks like the MVP:

• 3 passing TDs

• 3 rushing TDs

• 40+ fantasy points

Other weeks? He barely cracks 8.

James Cook started the season as the best fantasy RB in football. Then the Bills abandoned the feature-back model altogether.

In week 10 Josh Allen threw to 11 different players in a single game.

And the perfect example?

Tyrell Shavers stat line was 4/90/1

A WR5/WR6 on the depth chart. Barely known. Suddenly catching a 43yrd touchdown!

That’s the Bills.

And then there’s the Keon Coleman situation:

• He missed a team meeting Friday

• Was benched

• Announcement broke Sunday at 11:12 a.m. ET

• With a 1:00–1:25 kickoff window

Fantasy managers had maybe 1–2 hours to react — and most didn’t. DFS players got burned. Season-long players got burned.

Buffalo is unpredictable by design.

This is where the NFL is heading:

• Less reliance on WR1s

• More distribution

• Harder-to-project usage

• Greater variance

• More volatility

And volatility helps one group: Vegas.

If you can’t predict a WR1’s 60 yards, you can’t beat player props.

The Bills are the prototype for this new NFL chaos.

5. International Games: Growing Exposure… and Growing Problems

The NFL scheduled a record seven international games this season across five countries. The final one — Commanders vs Dolphins in Madrid — just wrapped up in Week 11.

And while the league is thrilled about “global growth,” I’m here to say:

International games hurt teams more than people realize.

It’s midseason travel. Across oceans. Across time zones. With brand-new environments. New locker rooms. New food. New routines. New distractions.

These aren’t vacationers — these are athletes who depend on meticulously controlled routines.

Some players adapt. Some don’t. Some teams treat it like business. Others get caught up in the global stage.

And the product on the field suffers.

The Madrid game? Not good football.

• Washington was depleted

• Jayden Daniels was hurt

• Jacory Croskey-Merritt was demoted

• Their offense had no identity

• Miami looked disjointed

• No Tyreek Hill

• No Darren Waller

• Tua inconsistent, as usual

• And Mike McDaniel… making baffling decisions!

Including a 4th-and-goal attempt instead of a chip-shot go-ahead FG with seconds left — a moment EVERYONE questioned.

Meanwhile, Miami fired GM Chris Grier on Oct 31 — but somehow did not fire McDaniel, despite the coaching issues being far more glaring.

But all of this feeds the bigger point:

International travel exposes teams already dealing with instability.

It amplifies dysfunction.

It reduces the quality of play.

If the NFL truly pushes for weekly international games?

It will hurt:

• Players

• Coaches

• Game quality

• Competitive fairness

• And fantasy/betting reliability

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Teams like the Vikings and Jaguars — who travel overseas almost every year — are at a real disadvantage.

The league might gain fans overseas…But it risks losing something far more valuable:

The integrity and consistency of the actual product.

Final Thoughts: 2025 Is the Season of Coaching Tendencies

If there is one lesson I’ve learned from 2025 — it’s this:

🔥 Talent matters. But coaching tendencies matter more.

Justin Fields’ misuse. J.J. McCarthy’s tempo mismatch. Seattle’s RB chaos. Buffalo’s unpredictable target distribution. International travel draining teams midseason.

Fantasy football. Sports betting. Even real-world team success.

All of it now revolves around one thing:

How coaches think.

How they scheme.

How they adjust — or fail to adjust.

And how predictable (or unpredictable) they choose to be.

If you’re not studying coaching tendencies in 2025?

You’re already behind.