Week 7 was about as insane as you can imagine. The Browns have now beaten the past three Super Bowl champions the year after their glory. The Bills, the last winless team, just about beat the Ravens in Baltimore. Jay Cutler threw four interceptions, all to the same guy and the Bears still lead their division. The Raiders went into Denver and embarrassed the Broncos, putting 59 points on them. The Browns punter had more rushing yards than Chris Johnson. And that’s just a sample of the crazy burger fried up in week 7. Here’s a little larger helping:
Darren McFadden could have walked into the end zone with some of the holes he was given on the left side of the line yesterday. The Broncos defense never actually showed up so the Rockies had to suit up. Tulowitzki and Helton made a valiant effort, but were run over for the most part.
The self declared 70%, backup running back totaled 196 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 18 touches, which I hear is a good game in the football league. He’s obviously the #1 back and the only thing that can hold him back is his ability to stay healthy, which he has had trouble doing. Michael Bush had a TD in garbage time, but it was truly garbage time.
Kenny Britt: I will be the first to admit when I was wrong. And I was wrong about Britt this week. Especially after hearing that backup QB Kerry Collins had lost the tip of his index finger on his throwing hand to a wombat attack, or something similar. And add to that Britt’s bar altercation and starting him against the Eagles was not high on my priority list. But he decided to go all Jerry Rice Monday Night Football on us with 225 yards and 3 touchdowns. Will the stars align like this again? No, but he’s worth giving the benefit of the doubt. And of course he is worth grabbing if he’s still on your waiver wire.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: His good games this season seemed kind of like a novelty. In his first start he had 2 touchdowns, then 2 again, then 3, and now 4! Four passing touchdowns against the Ravens is pretty darn good, but also says a little something about the Ravens, but never the less, he’s worth grabbing in deeper leagues and as a backup if yours is sucking.
Lee Evans: There were a lot of fantasy points left on the bench or in free agency this week and many of those from Bills players. Evans had 105 yards and 3 touchdowns and sadly he probably won’t score another touchdown until week 17.
Steve Johnson: All this guy does is score touchdowns, and have an extremely boring name. I guess you can’t ignore him anymore, which means he will crawl back into the hole he came from.
Roddy White: There is no doubt that Rowdy Roddy White is a top 3 receiver and this game moves him a little closer to Andre Johnson. The Bengals aren’t the worst pass defense in the league and dropping 201 yards and 2 touchdowns on them is no easy task.
Michael Turner: This was the game we’ve been waiting on from the Burner. He had averaged a touchdown per game for the Falcons, but had only 1 through 6 games this season. The world order is slowly, um, getting more ordery with Turner’s 144 total yards and 2 touchdowns. Hopefully you got him on the cheap.
Carson Palmer: 412 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions was not the line I foresaw in my fantasy football Magic 8 Ball, but it was the line I saw after doing an 8 ball. Can he do this again? Sure, but I’m not going to risk my fantasy life on it until I see some consistency.
David Gettis: Matt Moore did about 4 Sam Bradfords better than Jimmy Clausen, but of course Gettis and not Steve Smith was the beneficiary of 125 yards and 2 touchdowns. If, and that is a huge if, Moore can put together some semblance of a passing game it looks like Gettis will get hi 5-8 targets a week. That isn’t saying much, but in deep leagues it is better than nothing. But in 12 team leagues he isn’t going to be consistent enough.
James Jones: Donald Driver had gone 133 games with a reception, but last night that streak ended and Jones had 8 targets to Driver’s 1. Jordy Nelson had 7 targets, but Jones did more with his targets catching 4 for 107 yards and coming this close to a touchdown (I am currently holding my thumb and pointy finger very close together for those of you without imaginations). It’s hard to say this is the changing of the guard because the targets through the first 7 games are all over the place, but I am leaning toward Jones being fairly consistent toward playoff time.
Beanie Wells: He once again had more carries than Tim Hightower while Tim fumbled, which The Whiz has a Kubiakan disdain for. Also Wells finally got into the end zone. Hightower runs with a little more urgency at times, but Wells has more patience and skill. Wells owners (like me) can’t be happy with the QB situation, but if Wells becomes the go to guy he is easily a RB 2 going forward.
Ray Rice: R&R was probably the most disappointing fantasy player of the day. He was fine, but only rushed 16 times for 72 yards. Why you don’t give the ball to your most dynamic player 20+ times no matter what, is beyond me. Yes, the Bills punched the Ravens square in the jaw, but it’s not as if Rice isn’t an asset on passing downs. Of course he ended up with 1 reception for 1 yard. I see no reason to worry too much. Rice is still the guy and will get his.
Jordan Shipley: He returned from his concussion to a lucid 131 yards receiving and a touchdown. He still only had 6 targets out of Palmer’s 50 attempts so I’m not going to go crazy here. He is worth keeping an eye on, but don’t break the bank for him just yet.
Knowshon Moreno: He was the only Bronco who can hold his head higher than Bob Costas. He had 2 receiving touchdowns and 90 total yards and didn’t injure himself. Add to that his nice rest of the season schedule and you have a chance at a nice stretch run from him.
Dwayne Bowe: He was only targeted 5 times and only caught 3 of those, but made the most of them gaining 81 yards and 2 touchdowns. I’m still not all in on Bowe and could see selling high at any time, but his next 4 games are good matchups, so don’t give him away.
Marques Colston: Well, it took 6 games and a drubbing by the Cleveland Browns, but Colston finally got into the endzone and topped 100 yards. Aliens have abducted Drew Brees.
Kevin Kolb: He threw the ball 48 times, but only ended up with 231 yards 1 TD and 2 INTs. There is no quarterback controversy in Philadelphia.
Mike Williams (SEA): When you get 16 targets and 15 the week before. you are going to catch a few of those. He got into the endzone for the first time this year and had 11 receptions for 87 yards. If he can continue to get close to these numbers of targets he will continue to be worthwhile in PPR leagues at the very least, but is worth a pick up in non PPR too.
LaGarrette Blount: He had 11 carries for 72 yards and has no doubt taken over the lead back role. Caddy will probably still get the passing down work, but Blount is a man-beast. He is up there with AP, SJax and Hillis in running backs you don’t want to meet one on one. If he’s available, he is a must grab.
Ryan Torain: I didn’t expect Torain to run for 125 yards in Chicago, but he did. His fumble hurt since he didn’t get a TD, but compared to some of the crap jobs by running backs yesterday you can’t be too disappointed.
