Sunday Recap: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Houston Texans at New York Giants:
There wasn't a lot to love on the Texans side of the ball. The rookie Alfred Blue had a respectable first game and the biggest thing to note is that Grimes only got 1 carry. Blue is the true back up to Arian Foster. I am a bit surprised by DeAndre Hopkins having the better game over Andre Johnson. Johnson led the team in targets but Hopkins was able to convert more of them. Fitzpatrick was able to salvage his fantasy performance with his legs and running in a TD, he is a sneaky consideration for bye week plays coming up if the matchup is right.  

I think Eli Manning is slowly beginning to grasp this offense he is now 47/67 in his last two games which is a 70% completion rate. If he continues this play I think it is safe to say he may move back into the top 20 especially limiting the turnovers. The real story was Rashad Jennings who carried the ball 34 times 176 yards and a touchdown. He is slowly becoming a player that should be considered a RB1 with how bad some of the top guys are performing. Larry Donnell to me is still outside the top 10 but should begin getting some consideration in 12 team PPR leagues. This is back to back good games for Victor Cruz safe to say you can begin starting him again in all leagues. Rueben Randle led all Giants with 10 targets he seems to be racking up the targets the last two weeks I might look to stash him away in deep leagues.

San Diego Chargers at Buffalo Bills:
Philip Rivers continues to show that last year wasn't a last hoorah as he continues to put up solid fantasy numbers every week. Donald Brown did not run the ball that well but the Bills have a good run defense. He did get 36 touches though and because of that and Woodhead getting hurt he might be a RB1 next week. Keenan Allen & Antonio Gates both came into the game on the injury report, so their lackluster performances are nothing I would worry about. Ladarius Green showed that if Gates is to every miss significant time he can fill in nicely for him.

EJ Manuel is doing a nice job not turning the ball over but other than that he doesn't do enough in the passing game to use him as a QB or a back up QB. C.J. Spiller disappointed yet again and if it wasn't for his decent game last week I would say Bryce Brown owners be ready it might be his time soon. Sammy Watkins admitted he may have taken a play off today after a poor showing (which was expected just not this poor).

Dallas Cowboys at St. Louis Rams:
Another lackluster performance from Tony Romo, this is clearly a run first team and I think Tony might be outside my top 15 now. Demarco Murray wasn't able to keep up with crazy numbers from the first two weeks but he was still a very good play this week. I honestly think in a Dallas Cowboys offense Dez Bryant is the only receiver/tight end I want to own. Witten is outside the top 12 and no other WR is worthy (even though Williams has been respectable with a TD grab this week).

Austin Davis broke all of Brett Favre's records at Southern Mississippi and is starting to get some confidence here in the NFL. I liked  Jared Cook this week and he didn't disappoint with 7 catches for 75 yards on 9 targets which led all Rams. Zac Stacy still is only a flex player for me for the time being he just isn't a player who is going to do anything special. The most surprising thing for me was Kenny Britt saw more targets than Brian Quick and Britt finished with more catches but Quick was able to explode for a 51 yard TD. Might be time to think about selling high on Quick, may want to give it one more week if you are willing to chance it.

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles:
Kurt Cousins we all knew had a good matchup this week but I didn't expect him to hang 420+ yards and 3 TDs. He is a legit own in all leagues and I could honestly see a Nick Foles type finish in fantasy except a few more interceptions. Pierre Garcon showed last week was just a one time thing he is the top target and Desean Jackson is close behind. Niles Paul still put up a respectable game but I think my ranking in the bottom 10 for him was realistic. Alfred Morris had a quiet game and one of his tougher ypc games I've seen from him in awhile.

If they can't do it one way they do it the other way. Lesean McCoy & Darren Sproles had very quiet games this week. McCoy clearly not living up to his #2 draft ADP this season so far. Nick Foles had his best passing game of the season and found rookie Jordan Matthews for two of his three TD passes. Matthews saw 9 targets and I am beginning to think he has overtake Riley Cooper for the #2 WR in this offense. Zac Ertz only saw three targets which is concerning but he is a big play guy and others made those plays today. Jeremy Maclin is looking like a top 10 WR right now if he is healthy I think he can finish there too.

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints:
Not a lot to say about the Vikings this week in fantasy other than it is Teddy Bridgewater time. Greg Jennings led in targets like I thought he would. Cordarelle Patterson just isn't a reliable route runner yet to be trusted to go to on short and intermediate clutch routes. Matt Asiata is only worth owning but I am not starting him because I think eventually the team is going to go to Jerrick McKinnon.

Drew Brees finally showed late in this game which made many fantasy owners rejoice. Hopefully this is the start of the old Brees coming back. Khiry Robinson had a decent game and Pierre Thomas did the same but he was able to add a touchdown to his total. Brandin Cooks had a nice game and I think this inconsistent play should be a regular thing the first couple of weeks entering into the season. Marques Colston had a TD catch but not much else and is looking like a receiver on his way out of fantasy relevance rather than holding onto his spot.

Tennessee Titans at Cincinnati Bengals:
The Titans had to go against a very good Bengals defense and I don't have a lot to say about it. Nothing really surprised me in this game except for the fact that it might be time for Bishop Sankey in this Titans offense. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry and looked much more explosive than Greene. If he is available in your league add him quickly before someone else does.

First bad game for Giovani Bernard but it is nothing I would be worried about. Andy Dalton certainly does not look like the QB who slung it around all last season. AJ Green is a must start no matter what injury report or no injury report. No other skill player is worth adding currently for the Bengals.

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns:
From how this season was going I am very surprised Joe Flacco only threw the ball 31 times. Lorenzo Taliaferro  looks like it might be his time as the rookie impressed with 91 rushing yards and a touchdown. Justin Forsett had a respectable game as well and a good flex play in PPR leagues. Dennis Pitta went down with a dislocated hip and I think it is safe to say his season is over. Steve Smith Sr. is the real deal and is the clear wide receiver to own over Torrey Smith who I would say is a safe drop for all teams.

Brian Hoyer had another good game and is entering the top 20 talk as well as some other QBs are falling down the list. Andrew Hawkins is a must own in all formats and Miles Austin isn't to far behind him. It is still a cloudy picture in the Browns backfield but I think Isiah Crowell will be taking over the load here soon enough as Terrence West put up a below average performance but made it decent with the early TD run. Jordan Cameron was non existent and I don't see him having any truly big fantasy weeks any time soon.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions:
Eddie Lacy is a good buy low candidate for most analysts right now but I am still weary on him. He has had tough match ups the first 3 weeks and if you are desperate at running back that I'd make an offer because if he has a big game this week against the Bears than he will no longer be able to be acquired for cheap. Everybody disappointed in the Packers passing offense leaving the only guy to catch a TD pass from someone who isn't owned in the majority of fantasy leagues.

The Lions OC held strong to his words as Reggie Bush  saw more targets this week than Joique Bell and rewarded his team by scoring a TD on a long touchdown run. Calvin Johnson was the only other Lion to put up good fantasy numbers as what was thought might turn into a shootout ended up being a defensive battle.

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars:

 Andrew Luck continues his run as one of the top quarterbacks in the league and making a serious push to be considered a top 3 fantasy quarterback. He threw 4 passing touchdowns to raise his season total to 9 already on the season and is on pace to throw 48 of them this season. This was another very good game by Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson looked better running the ball as well at times. Clearly the Colts are still giving Richardson more carries which is fine because it is making Bradshaw more effective in what he does get and keeping him healthy. TY Hilton, to me seems like the new go to guy for Luck over the last two weeks and that Reggie Wayne has fallen to his second favorite target. I liked Donte Moncrief coming into this game to start surpassing Hakeem Nicks and while Nicks had a TD catch Moncrief saw one more target. I like Moncrief over Nicks going forward.

The big story for the Jaguars is rookie Blake Bortles will start from here on out for them. He looked good in his first game but had some rookie mistakes. He isn’t going to be as good as he was in the preseason and I expect some up and down games along the way but he is worth stashing in dynasty and keeper league formats. Denard Robinson had more carries than Toby Gerhart, and did decently with them but he is to small to carry a full load himself. Allen Robinson had back to back strong games now. I know the Jaguars really liked the rookie out of the preseason and this isn’t unexpected. Cecil Shorts saw his targets but I would wait to play him to see how he fits with Bortles as his new QB.

Oakland Raiders at New England Patriots:

Not a lot to say here regarding the Oakland Raiders offense. We knew they were going to struggle as most rookie QBs do against a Patriots team. Only thing to note for me is this is the second game this season in which Denarius Moore has led the team in targets. He hasn’t been converting many of his targets to catches but if he does he could become a low end flex play in deeper leagues.

Tom Brady is playing well enough for his offense to win and if you’re a fan of the Patriots than you are ok with that, but if you own him in fantasy you aren’t. No wide receiver other than Julian Edelman had more than 4 catches even Rob Gronkowski had a quiet game except for his touchdown. Stevan Ridley had a subpar game for what we thought was a great matchup. Not sure what to expect from the Patriots running backs going forward as Shane Vereen had another disappointing outing as both a runner and a receiver.

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals:

Colin Kaepernick once again showed he doesn’t have to have a monster game in the passing department to have a good fantasy day as he ran for 50 yards as well. Very surprised at how little this team ran the football and I don’t think it’ll be that way again. But disappointing game from both Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde as neither did anything all day long. The surprise of the day was from Stevie Johnson word out of San Francisco was that he is an unconventional route runner and it has taken some time for him and Kaepernick to work out their timing. In the last two weeks it seems Kaep is looking his way often and is worth owning in most leagues. Michael Crabtree led the team in targets and caught the lone touchdown. If this team decides the passing game is their future than owning their 3 big receivers wouldn’t be too crazy a notion.

I will apologize now to all Michael Floyd owners. When I watched Drew Stanton play last week I didn’t see a quarterback willing to take shots down field. Because of that I like Larry Fitzgerald more, but clearly no matter who is running a Bruce Arian’s offense the ball is going deep. Larry will go back to my lower ranks because of this and Floyd will move back to where I think he belongs which is top 15 this season. John Brown saw 1 less target than Fitzgerald but did way more with his converting two of them for touchdowns. I like Brown as a deep league add for now. Andre Ellington had a respectable game going against a very good run stuffing defense and he looked fluid and healthy which is a good sign.

Kansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins:

Alex Smith looked like the QB from last season that played top 15 fantasy football. The surprise was Joe McKnight in the passing game, I thought his role would’ve been played by De’Anthony Thomas but clearly it wasn’t. Not sure if McKnight keeps this role but he could be a very good stash guy if he does. Kniles Davis showed the Chiefs aren’t missing to much if they need to let Jamaal Charles rest his ankle a couple of weeks with a big game. He has top 10 potential every week in this offense and should be owned in all leagues even if Charles is back next week.

The Dolphins probably should have ran the ball more while the game was close since Lamar Miller averaged over 7 yards per carry. If he continues playing at this level I am not sure Knowshon Moreno has a job waiting for him when he returns. Ryan Tannehill really disappointed people today with his accuracy and hopefully it was just a one game thing because he was showing signs of improvement. Mike Wallace is clearly his top target and continues to play top 15 level wide receiver this season. Jarvis Landry tied Brian Hartline in targets this week but Hartline had the better day because of his touchdown. I like Landry more from here on out though.

Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks:

Peyton Manning had a better game than I expected with his two late touchdown drives. Emmanuel Sanders looks to be not only Peyton’s favorite target but also the most consistent receiver. Demaryius Thomas isn’t coming close to Sanders production and when they get near the redzone Peyton is clearly looking for Julius Thomas who is now up to 5 touchdowns on the season. Monte Ball disappointed again for me and even though it was the Seahawks he isn’t involved in the passing game the way Moreno was last year. He is outside the top 10 for me for now until he can show me something.

Marshawn Lynch continues to show he might be the best first round draft pick in any fantasy league this season. Clearly his 400+ touches last season are not hampering his production this season like many (not myself) thought. Percy Harvin was said to not be targeted enough in last week’s loss, they made up for that this week with 9 targets. He turn it into 7 receptions for only 40 yards. He is still a WR3 for me and the reason I have been down on his ranking all year long. Russell Wilson is looking like a top 10 quarterback like I projected and I think he continues to stay in that conversation all season long.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers:

Le’Veon Bell lost some weight to improve his quickness and man does it show. He looks a lot like Shady McCoy did when he first burst onto the scene. This guy is going to finish as a top 3 running back this season and possibly #1 if he keeps his play up. A great steal for all of you who were able to draft him late after his preseason off the field incident. Legarrette Blount also put up a great night running the ball and both these backs did it against a top defense in the NFL in Carolina. Antonio Brown is still the only Steelers receiver I am starting but I am still holding onto Markus Wheaton who will have big games when the Steelers need to be more of a passing team.

Cam Newton is getting crushed behind this offensive line and he got hurt again late in this game. If I am a Cam owner I am making sure I have a quality backup because it looks as though this might be a common thing for him this year. Other than that he was having a nice fantasy production game and probably would have completed one more TD pass by games end like Derek Anderson did after he left the game. As for Jonathan Stewart he left the game with a knee contusion and did not come back in to play. That is something to monitor because he and DeAngelo Williams could both be out next week. Philly Brown had a very nice game and saw a lot of targets but still the only two Panther players I am starting every week are Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen. Philly could be a good add in deeper leagues looking for a player who could turn into something.