This game was very close for most of the game, but finally Cam Newton (287 total yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) committed a few errors in leading the Panthers to their 5^thloss in 6 tries.  The Falcons finally played a game with better balance, with Matt Ryan (170 total yards, 2 TDs) throwing only 22 efficient passes on the day.  Since dialing back the passing a bit helped get the Falcons another win, this may be the type of passing day we’ll see more often than not from Ryan going forward.

The Panthers passing game was mostly bottled up for the day; but to no surprise, Steve Smith (5-66), Greg Olsen (5-42), and Jeremy Shockey (4-60) once again led the Panthers’ receivers.  Going forward both TEs are worth owning and playing with the bye weeks continuing, but other than Smith you’d be hard pressed to find value with the rest of the receivers.

When you only throw 22 passes for 163 yards and your lone passing touchdown went to the fullback, value in the Falcons receivers will be scarce.  That was the case here; with Harry Douglas (2-57) leading the way, but both Tony Gonzalez (3-29) and Roddy White (2-21) were silenced.
The Panthers had nearly 150 yards rushing; unfortunately for the Panthers RBs three runners had right around 50 yards with Newton having the most yardage (50), but Jonathan Stewart (7 car., 48 yards, 1 TD; 3 rec., 24 yards) did get in the endzone.  Deangelo Williams (12 car., 44 yards; 1 rec., 2 yards) got the most carries, but didn’t do a whole lot with them.

With Mike Smith’s decree that the Falcons would return to a more balanced attack, Michael Turner (27 car., 139 yards, 2 TDs; 1 rec., 8 yards) stood to benefit the most and he indeed made the Panthers pay.  Going forward Turner should be a great play against suspect defenses like the Panthers, and can still be a solid play against better teams with the Falcons’ new found commitment to the run.

As expected, the Bengals used a stifling defense to put a ton of pressure on Curtis Painter (202 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), resulting in a lot of pressure all day and Painter’s first INT on the season.  Andy Dalton (264 yards, 1 TD) continues to play like a salty veteran, always efficient and always takes what the defense gives.  The playcalling is a little on the boring side, but Dalton is getting it done for the 4-2 Bengals.

The top three receivers for the Colts were all actually useful for the first time this season, with both Reggie Wayne (5-58) and Pierre Garcon (8-52) getting several catches and Dallas Clark (6-53, 1 TD) added a touchdown.  With Painter at the helm, Garcon is becoming an every week play, with Wayne and Clark strong considerations.

Jerome Simpson (6-101) re-emerged with a team high in catches and yards for his second 100 yard receiving day of the year.  AJ Green (5-51, 1 TD) got the touchdown score though, as he continues to be Dalton’s first read.  Jermaine Gresham (4-23) continues to get several catches and is a consideration during bye weeks for TE mandatory leagues.

Delone Carter (14 car., 45 yards) got the start and most of the carries for the Colts, but Donald Brown (5 car., 35 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 16 yards) shared quite a bit of time and scored the touchdown.  Until Addai comes back, these two will probably split time fairly evenly, which means neither will be very valuable.

Cedric Benson (16 car., 57 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 5 yards) had another workman-like day and did manage to get in the endzone to make for a decent fantasy day.  Bernard Scott (11 car., 29 yards; 1 rec., 5 yards) shared the ball quite a bit with Benson, as Scott’s touches have slowly increased over the past few games.
 

This was a physical defensive slugfest for the most part, but Alex Smith (130 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) did just enough with getting a late touchdown pass to lead the 49ers to a huge road win against the previously undefeated Lions.  Matthew Stafford (302 total yards, 2 TDs) was pressured all day, but did get it going in the second half to finish with a nice fantasy passing day.

With Smith only passing for 125 yards on the day, there wasn’t going to be much note-worthy with the 49ers receivers.  Only Michael Crabtree (9-77) did much of note; it is interesting to see that Smith looked his way most of the game.  Going forward, Crabtree looks like he’s become the favored receiver.
Calvin Johnson (7-113) ended up with a good fantasy day even though he started out slow, but he failed to reach the endzone for the first time this year.  Brandon Pettigrew (8-42, 1 TD) also turned in a good day as he caught one of Stafford’s touchdowns.  NateBurleson (4-34, 1 TD) also re-emerged after two games of being mostly invisible.

Frank Gore (15 car., 141 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 5 yards) continues the resurrection of his fantasy career, rolling close to 150 total yards and busting some big timely runs to help the 49ers salt this one away.  Kendall Hunter (8 car., 33 yards) shared quite a bit of time to keep Gore fresh, but doesn’t look near as spry as Gore does at this point in the season.

Jahvid Best (12 car., 37 yards; 6 rec., 73 yards) had a tough time running against the 49ers front seven, but did make up for it in the passing game and ended with a solid 110 total yards.  Maurice Morris (5 car., 20 yards; 1 rec., 8 yards) played quite a bit on third downs and is still getting more snaps than Best owners would probably like.

The Rams didn’t get completely blown out the way some people expected, and Sam Bradford (321 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) got his second 300 yard passing game of the year, but just couldn’t get the Rams into the endzone to make this game at least a little closer.  Aaron Rodgers (325 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) started the game out a couple of huge scores, but seemed to put it on cruise control in the second half, as he didn’t have to do a whole lot at that point to secure the win.

Danario Alexander (6-81) continues to lead the Rams in receiving and looks like he could be a decent flex option going forward.  Greg Salas (8-77) made a blip on the fantasy radar, putting in a very Amendola-esque stat line.  Lance Kendricks (4-71) even made an appearance finally as he caught enough passes to be fantasy note-worthy for the first time this year.

Jordy Nelson (2-104, 1 TD) caught his requisite long bomb touchdown (93 yards) and was pretty much done after that.  Greg Jennings (6-82) had another solid day of receiving, and James Jones (1-35, 1 TD) only caught one pass but made it count for a TD.  More concerning for fantasy owners is the fact that Jermichael Finley (1-20) was quiet once again, as Rodgers just spreads the ball around too much for Finley to be reliable.

Steven Jackson (18 car., 96 yards; 4 rec., 29 yards) returned full-time to the lineup and ended up with over 120 total yards for a solid outing.  Cadillac Williams (4 car., 24 yards; 2 rec., 10 yards) was the main backup, but didn’t share too much time with Jackson to be a concern.

James Starks (13 car., 49 yards; 2 rec., 17 yards) got most of the touches for the Packers running game, but Ryan Grant (9 car., 25 yards; 2 rec., 27 yards) got almost as much playing time.  Once again, these two cannibalized touches from one another making neither one a strong fantasy play.
 
In a big statement game for  both teams, Ryan Fitzpatrick (252 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) handled the intense pressure of the Giants defensive line fairly well, but in the end had a couple of costly interceptions that ended up helping the Giants stay out in front.  Eli Manning (292 yards) did not throw a touchdown pass, but was interception free, and that was good enough to erase the memory of losing at home last week to the Seahawks.

David Nelson (4-62) turned in his first decent fantasy game in the last couple of weeks, but Naaman Roosevelt (1-60, 1 TD) made a big splash with his only catch of the day, scoring on a bomb in the first quarter.  Stevie Johnson (5-39, 1 TD) didn’t rack up the yards, but did end up catching a touchdown.
Hakeem Nicks (4-96) led the way for the Giants receivers, but both Jake Ballard (5-81) and Mario Manningham (5-56) had decent days; Manningham just missed on a touchdown being marked down at the half foot line, so he almost had a much better day.  Recent waiver wire darling Victor Cruz (2-12) all but disappeared here.

Another week and another big game for Fred Jackson (16 car., 121 yards, 1 TD; 5 rec., 47 yards), who took a carry in the first quarter 80 yards to the house to continue his big-scoring ways.  CJ Spiller (5 rec., 39 yards) actually spent a lot of time split out wide, which was an interesting development for owners in PPR leagues and bears monitoring.

With no Brandon Jacobs for the second straight week, Ahmad Bradshaw (26 car., 104 yards, 3 TDs; 2 rec., 26 yards) finally broke out in a big way for the first time this year, rolling up 130 total yards and the touchdown hat trick.  Going forward Bradshaw will be a solid weekly start, even when Jacobs returns.
 
The Jaguars started this game off very slowly, but eventually got off the mat to give the Steelers a game in the second half.  Blaine Gabbert (125 total yards, 1 TD) didn’t do a lot of passing, but he was fairly efficient and didn’t make any costly errors.  Ben Roethlisberger (209 total yards, 1 TD) took his shots down the field early, but hardly passed the ball in the second half, which was a little puzzling considering it was working well early on.
With Gabbert throwing for such a low yardage total, there wasn’t a lot to be had by the Jags receivers.  They were led by Mike Thomas (4-36) who continues to get the lion’s share of targets, but it was Jason Hill (2-29, 1 TD) who got the score.

Mike Wallace (2-76, 1 TD) got a couple of big pass plays early on, but was pretty much quiet once Roethlisberger started handing the ball of most of the second half.  Hines Ward (3-47) and Heath Miller (4-27) each had a few catches, while Antonio Brown (1-16) just missed on a touchdown when Roethlisberger overthrew him.

Maurice Jones-Drew (22 car., 96 yards; 2 rec., 8 yards) continues to have solid yardage totals, going over 100 total yards for the third time this year.  Fantasy owners would probably like him to get in the endzone more, but for that to happen the Jags simply have to get better on offense as a whole, as they are one of the lower scoring teams in the league.

Rashard Mendenhall (23 car., 146 yards, 1 TD) comes off a missed game due to a hamstring injury and shredded the Jaguars for over 140 yards, including a 68 yarder where he showed that hamstring injury is a thing of the past.  Isaac Redman (4 car., 22 yards; 1 rec., 2 yards) went back to serving as Mendenhall’s caddy, but he is the handcuff should Mendenhall re-tweak that hammy in the future.

This was a hard fought game and give Michael Vick (291 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and the Eagles credit; they played a gritty game and earned that second win of the season.  “Bad Rex” reared his ugly head once again, and now Redskins fans (along with Mike Shanahan) know why the Bears were glad to be rid of Rex Grossman (143 yards, 0 TDs, 4 INTs).  John Beck (131 total yards, 1 TD) took over and sparked the team; it will be a surprise if Beck doesn’t get a shot at starting next week.

Jeremy Maclin (5-101) led the way for the Eagles receivers, as more often than not he’s been the most valuable amongst Vick’s pass catchers.  Desean Jackson (3-46) had a decent showing, and Brent Celek (4-42, 1 TD) just about tripled his offensive output on the season, and even found the endzone.
While the Eagles feasted on Grossman, they didn’t have an answer for Fred Davis (6-95) who has officially usurped Chris Cooley.  Jabar Gaffney (2-55) and Santana Moss (2-38) did not have good games, as the Eagles secondary finally lived up to their top billing in the preseason.

Lesean McCoy (28 car., 126 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 13 yards) had a big game as the Eagles mixed quite a few passes to help keep the Redskins pass rush from teeing off on Vick.  McCoy is easily a top 5 back and is absolutely an every week start regardless of the defense he’s playing against.

The Redskins rushing game was a disaster as Shanahan forgot he had decent running backs and inexplicably let “Bad Rex” submarine the Redskins’ chances of holding on to the NFC East lead.  Ryan Torain (10 car., 22 yards) got the start and most of the carries, while Tim Hightower was nowhere to be seen.
 
The Texans went on the road to face a very physical Ravens team and ended up taking it on the chin.  Matt Schaub’s (223 total yards, 1 TD) numbers didn’t look that bad, but are not indicative of the amount of pressure he was under for most of the game.  Joe Flacco (305 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) got over 300 yards passing, but overall mostly just had to get his team into field goal range to win this one.

Jacoby Jones (4-76, 1 TD) actually did a decent job of making up for Andre Johnson missing this game, but the rest of the Texans passing game wasn’t too impressive.  Kevin Walter (6-52) had a few catches, but Owen Daniels (2-13) was silenced by the stifling Ravens defense.

Anquan Boldin (8-132) had his first big game of the year, as the Texans had no answers for the big rangy receiver.  Torrey Smith (3-84) once again got the start for the injured Lee Evans and did a good job of being the team’s deep threat.  After several solid games, Ed Dickson (2-20) finally had a quiet outing.

The Ravens are very tough to run on, as Arian Foster (15 car., 49 yards; 6 rec., 52 yards) found out.  Foster still had over 100 total yards as he made up for slow going in the ground game by catching passes out of the backfield.

Ray Rice (23 car., 101 yards; 5 rec., 60 yards) continues to shine as one of the few true feature backs left in the league, as he piled up another 160 total yards.  Rice didn’t make it in the endzone, but with his solid yardage totals every week, he’s proving to be well worth the top 3 pick that was used by fantasy owners to select him.
 

The Raiders were well on their way to hammering the Browns into submission in the first half by jumping out to a 24-7 lead in the first three quarters, but then Colt McCoy (231 total yards, 2 TDs) led the charge in the fourth quarter and very nearly brought his team back.  While the Raiders won the battle, they may have lost the war as Jason Campbell (68 total yards) ended up with a season-ending collarbone injury.  Kyle Boller (109 total yards) took over, and the team did not look near as good as it did with Campbell at the helm.

Greg Little (6-72) got the start and actually did a good job down the stretch as a favored target for McCoy.  Mohammad Massoquoi (3-30, 1 TD) got the touchdown but otherwise had a quiet day.  Ben Watson (3-35) also had a quiet day, but still got enough targets to be considered a decent bye week option during the coming weeks.

Once again, Darrius Heyward-Bey (6-82) had a good fantasy day, making that three games in a row.  Going forward owners should be a little weary of DHB, as Kyle Boller will now be his quarterback.  Kevin Boss (1-35, 1 TD) was the next most effective receiver, but he only caught one pass on a fake field goal, which happened to be a touchdown.

So what happened to Peyton Hillis (6 car., 14 yards)?  There must be something going on behind the scenes, as Hillis gave way early to Montario Hardesty (11 car., 35 yards; 2 rec., 18 yards) and never got back in the game.  The trading deadline is on Tuesday, and there are bound to be a ton of rumors about Hillis until then.

After a quiet week last week, Darren McFadden (20 car., 91 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 2 yards) got back on track with over 90 yards and a touchdown.  McFadden might find a lot more eight man fronts going forward though with Boller as the quarterback. 
 

This game didn’t quite live up to the offensive billing that fantasy owners were salivating for, but it was a very good defensive chess match.  Tony Romo (334 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) ended up with pretty decent stats, but it was Tom Brady (306 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) who ended up the hero on a last minute fourth quarter drive to seal the victory.

Both Dez Bryant (4-78) and Miles Austin (7-74) were healthy and posted good fantasy days, and Jason Witten (4-48, 1 TD) was covered closely most of the day but still managed to get a score.  While the stats were defense, most owners were expecting a lot more fireworks from this receiver crew.
The Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski (7-74) and Aaron Hernandez (8-68, 1 TD) led the way for Brady, as they both were huge in the fourth quarter and Hernandez was the one who caught the go ahead touchdown.  Wes Welker (6-45, 1 TD) had a fairly quiet game for him, but he still managed to find the endzone to continue his torrid receiving pace.

While the Patriots were supposedly vulnerable to the run, the Cowboys couldn’t exploit that as once again Felix Jones (8 car., 14 yards; 2 rec., 19 yards) showed his fragile nature by suffering an ankle sprain in the second quarter.  Demarco Murray (10 car., 32 yards; 1 rec., 7 yards) took over most of the rushing duties, but didn’t look much better.  Murray will probably get the most carries if Jones misses time, but that might not be worth much fantasy consideration.

The Cowboys are fairly stout against the run and showed that against the Patriots.  BenJarvis Green-Ellis (14 car., 58 yards; 1 rec., 11 yards) got decent yardage but wasn’t anything special.  Stevan Ridley (3 car., 19 yards) played early in the first quarter, but didn’t show up much after the first drive.
 

The Buccaneers defense finally showed up in time to bring some pain to Drew Brees (404 total yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) and the Saints, who uncharacteristically turned the ball over at some inopportune times.  Josh Freeman (306 total yards, 2 TDs) actually looked more like he did in 2010, passing for over 300 yards and two scores on his way to leading his team to a huge divisional win.

For the fourth game in a row Jimmy Graham (7-124) went over 100 yards receiving, and is on pace to shatter all of the tight end receiving records.  Marques Colston (7-118, 1 TD) also looked like he is finally healthy and back on track.  Even with those two putting up big games, it wasn’t enough to keep the Saints out of the loss column.

The starting Bucs receivers finally got back to fantasy relevancy, as both Arrelius Benn (3-83, 1 TD) and Mike Williams (6-59) had their best games of the year.  Kellen Winslow (5-40) also ended up with five receptions, as the passing game finally had the look of a group to be reckoned with.

Mark Ingram (9 car., 22 yards; 1 rec., 6 yards) led the way in total carries for the Saints, but didn’t do much with them; he did score a touchdown to save his fantasy day though.  Darren Sproles (1 car., 16 yards; 8 rec., 46 yards) only got one carry, but did catch eight passes.

Earnest Graham (17 car., 109 yards; 2 rec., 22 yards) did a great job of filling in for the injured Legarrette Blount, piling up over 130 total yards.  Going forward Graham will be a solid flex player as long as Blount remains out, and may have earned a little more of a timeshare even when Blount is healthy.
 
Now here was a game that went a little more as expected for the Bears, as Donovan McNabb (177 yards) just couldn’t get much going against the intense pressure from the Bears defense and finally gave way to rookie Christian Ponder (107 total yards).  Jay Cutler (267 yards, 2 TDs) looked very good as he finally got some help from his much maligned group of receivers.

Percy Harvin (7-78, 1 car., 5 yards) returned to having a solid yardage day, but after six weeks has yet to find the endzone.  Bernard Berrian (5-54) also crawled out of his coach’s doghouse and posted decent stats, and Visanthe Shiancoe (5-45) also posted a useful stat line.

Lo and behold, the Bears receivers finally did something useful as a group.  Devin Hester (5-91, 1 TD) had his best game of the season, while even Roy Williams (3-50) and Johnny Knox (2-41) managed to catch a few passes.  Dane Sanzenbacher (1-13, 1 TD) continues to lead the receivers in scores though, catching his third TD.

Adrian Peterson (12 car., 39 yards, 1 TD) was locked up for most of the day by the Bears defense, but did end up scoring a late touchdown to make his fantasy day not a complete disaster.  Even though he had no luck in this game, he didn’t have to share hardly any of his carries.

Matt Forte (17 car., 87 yards; 6 rec., 36 yards) had another good day running and catching the ball, as he was able to compile over 110 total yards on the day.  Alarmingly for Forte owners though, Marion Barber (11 car., 32 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 3 yards) did get some carries in close earlier in the game and scored in the first quarter.
 

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