For the second week in a row, Mark Sanchez (252 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) looked very much off-target, throwing a costly pick six to an opportunistic Broncos defense and failing to put his team into position to take what was a very winnable game.  Count me amongst the Tim Tebow (172 total yards, 1 TD) converts.  The Passion of the Tebow was on display once again, and did anyone really doubt he was going to go 95 yards to score the go ahead TD?  While I thought it was going to be unlikely, it was not surprising in the least considering his track record of looking terrible for 55 minutes, and divine for 5.  If the Broncos manage to make a run here and squeeze into the playoffs, will anyone want to play them?  Tebow has his teams and the fans believing anything is possible.

Plaxico Burress (4-64), Dustin Keller (5-40), and Santonio Holmes (4-39) were largely ineffective this week, as the Broncos defense was up to the challenge of stopping the Jets fading passing attack.  Sanchez just kept missing open receivers, as he wasn’t able to connect with Holmes on a couple of plays that could have been much-needed touchdowns.  Until Sanchez gets it turned around, all three will be iffy plays.

Tebow barely completed enough passes and yards (9 for 108) to keep the Jets honest, and even then, there wasn’t anything of note for fantasy purposes.  As long as Tebow is running that option attack, none of their receiving options should be in fantasy lineups.

Shonn Greene (3 car., 10 yards; 1 rec., 4 yards) went out with a rib injury in the first quarter and Joe McKnight (16 car., 59 yards; 6 rec., 62 yards) took over the main RB duties.  McKnight did a great job, rolling up over 120 total yards and looks like he deserves to have more playing time going forward as he looked far more dynamic than anything the Jets have been fielding back there this season.

Outside of Tebow (68 yards, 1 TD), there wasn’t much of note for the Broncos rushing attack either.  Willis McGahee (12 car., 18 yards) was healthy enough to get the start, but did next to nothing with his carries.
 
For the second game in a row, Andy Dalton (405 total yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) and the upstart Bengals were just a touchdown short against one of their main division rivals, showing that perhaps the Bengals are close to being a solid contender, but are perhaps a year of seasoning away.  Joe Flacco (268 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was able to complete some big passes down the field against a Bengals secondary that was missing Leon Hall.  Flacco seems to be at his best when he throws less than 30 passes in a game, which was the case in this game.

Without AJ Green, Dalton dialed in on Jerome Simpson (8-152), who had his biggest game of the year by far.  Andre Caldwell (3-63, 1 TD) ended up getting the lone passing TD, and Jermaine Gresham (3-48) had one reversed on a Ravens challenge when it was shown that the ball moved slightly in his hands when he went to the ground in the endzone.

Torrey Smith (6-165, 1 TD) did most of the damage for the Ravens receivers, and is looking more and more comfortable with each passing week as Joe Flacco’s big play guy.  Anquan Boldin (1-35, 1 TD) got loose for one touchdown, but that was his only catch on the day.  A week after exploding for 10 catches in Seattle, Ed Dickson (2-21) went back to his normally quiet statline.

Cedric Benson (15 car., 41 yards, 2 TDs) got the expected 40 yards or so against the stout Ravens rush defense, but he did manage to punch in two close range TDs to make for one of his better fantasy days of the season.  Bernard Scott (9 car., 40 yards) also had 40 yards rushing while playing on every third series or so.

A week after having pretty quiet day on the ground, Ray Rice (20 car., 104 yards, 2 TDs; 5 rec., 43 yards) got back to his normal self with over 100 yards rushing and two scores.  Rice also added over 40 yards through the air and was the second most targeted receiver next to Smith.
  Well hey, Blaine Gabbert (220 total yards) actually managed to just about double his average amount of yardage per game that he normally throws!  The bad thing of course is, double the yardage still meant only about 200 yards, and of course didn’t translate into any passing scores.  Colt McCoy (226 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) also only threw for about 200 yards, but he at least got a score which ended up being the difference in the game.

Marcedes Lewis (7-64) surprisingly showed up fairly big in this game, and I swear he just about doubled his catches and yards for the entire year in this one game.  Jason Hill (3-49) also finally caught more than one pass in this game, while Mike Thomas (3-23) continues to be not quite on the same page with Gabbert.

Greg Little (5-59) ended up being the top receiving target for the Browns, but it looks like when McCoy needs a score he likes to look Josh Cribbs’ (3-20, 1 TD) way.  He also managed to get one big play to Jordan Norwood (1-51), but no other receiver did anything of note.

Like death and taxes, one thing that is for sure is that Maurice Jones-Drew (21 car., 87 yards, 1 TD; 4 rec., 31 yards) is going to get his numbers in each game this year.  Jones-Drew has been automatic, usually getting around 100 total yards, and usually scoring a TD.  Jones-Drew is a lock this season to end up either just inside the top 5 for RBs or close to it on the year.

Chris Ogbonnaya (21 car., 115 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 19 yards) got another start in place of the injured Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty and actually made the Browns’ inept offense look balanced for once.  If the Browns can keep a game close and both Hillis and Hardesty remain out, Ogbonnaya could be a viable option for fantasy purposes.
  Cam Newton (317 total yards, 3 TDs, 4 INTs) ended up throwing several picks in this game that ultimately gave the Lions the ability to stay in the game and take a lead 4^th quarter lead they wouldn’t relinquish, but he also got three TDs and made for a worthwhile fantasy start.  Matthew Stafford (337 total yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs) shook off two early picks and ended up getting back on his horse after a couple of bad games to throw 5 scores and get a much needed win for his team.

Steve Smith (5-41, 1 TD) led the Panthers in catches and got the lone passing score, as Newton did a good job of distributing the ball to seven different receivers.  Brandon LaFell (3-51) and Legedu Naanee (3-41) were the next highest targeted players next to Smith, but ultimately not enough receivers made plays for the Panthers in the end.

On a day when Stafford throws 5 scores, it was a little disappointing for fantasy owners that Calvin Johnson (5-89) didn’t catch even one.  Johnson did lead the team in yardage, but that was a small consolation for not scoring.  Nate Burleson (7-63, 1 TD) had his second straight good fantasy game, while Brandon Pettigrew (4-37, 1 TD), Tony Scheffler (2-24, 1 TD), and Titus Young (2-14, 1 TD) all got in on the scoring action.

Different game, same story.  Deangelo Williams (10 car., 73 yards; 1 rec., 32 yards) got his obligatory 10 carries, while Newton was the one who got the rushing scores.  Jonathan Stewart (8 car., 22 yards; 6 rec., 87 yards) didn’t do much with his 8 carries, but did a lot of damage in the passing game.

Welcome back to the NFL, Kevin Smith (16 car., 140 yards, 2 TDs; 4 rec., 61 yards, 1 TD)!  After spending most of the season at home rehabbing from an injured knee, the Lions brought him back last week and gave him a little bit of playing time.  This week, he exploded for over 200 total yards and three scores, which may end up helping the Lions in deciding to not to risk Jahvid Best’s health the rest of this year.  Looking for a spark for the fantasy playoffs?  Smith might be just the ticket.
  Josh Freeman (347 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) and the Bucs came into Lambeau Field and gave the Packers all they could handle on the day, and very nearly was able to pull off what would have been the upset of the year.  Aaron Rodgers (327 total yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) ended up with his regular 300 and 3 on the day, but the team looked a little listless and may have been guilty of looking ahead to the short week and the matchup on Thanksgiving with the Detroit Lions.
After constantly being stuck around 40 or 50 yards all season long, Kellen Winslow (9-132) exploded for over 130 yards, his best receiving day in the last couple of years by far.  Mike Williams (7-83, 1 TD) also happened to wake up finally, posting the type of numbers that fantasy owners were expecting when they drafted him.  Arrelius Benn (5-75) also showed up and had some good numbers, as the top three receiving targets were the three starters for the first time this year.

Jordy Nelson (6-123, 2 TDs) had a huge game as he ended up being the obvious #1 for Rodgers on this day.  Donald Driver (4-72) also showed up for the first time in several games, while Greg Jennings (2-6) and Jermichael Finley (1-30) were both disappointing.  Nelson has started to get more and more consistent this season, and is the clear #2 for the Packers and might actually be more of a #1B to Jennings’ #1A.

Legarrette Blount (18 car., 107 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 6 yards) had one of the best runs of the year in running through the tackles of almost every Packers defender on his way to a 54 yard TD rumble.  As long as Blount is healthy, no other Bucs runner will matter.

James Starks (11 car., 38 yards; 6 rec., 53 yards) had a slightly disappointing day considering he was playing against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, plus he hurt his knee to boot.  Ryan Grant (4 car., 16 yards) was quiet as usual, but could make some noise next week if Starks misses time.
  Here are two teams that are obviously going in completely opposite directions.  Defenses have seemingly figured the Bills out, as Ryan Fitzpatrick (225 total yards, 2 INTs) has been downright awful the last few weeks, as he threw another two INTs, giving him 13 on the year.  Matt Moore (162 total yards, 3 TDs) didn’t throw for a lot of yards, but he did throw three touchdowns, which was more than enough for the Dolphins to secure their third straight win.

TE Scott Chandler (5-71) ended up leading the Bills in receiving, which was a good indicator of things not going well for the Bills in this game.  Both Stevie Johnson (2-16) and David Nelson (1-0) were non-factors, as the Bills passing game is quickly becoming one to avoid altogether.

With only 160 passing yards and a lot of the damage being done by the running backs, there wasn’t a lot left over for the Dolphins receivers.  Davone Bess (2-25, 1 TD) and Anthony Fasano (2-8, 1 TD) managed to turn their two receptions each into scores, while Brandon Marshall (1-5) was very nearly shut out.
Fred Jackson (7 car., 17 yards; 5 rec., 50 yards) finally had a very poor game, plus he left later in the game with a leg injury, which means the Bills offense will be completely punchless if he ends up missing any time.

Reggie Bush (15 car., 32 yards, 1 TD; 4 rec., 34 yards) ended up having another decent day rushing, but he did share the ball almost evenly with rookie Daniel Thomas (15 car., 50 yards).  Going forward Bush is the best play in the backfield, but owners should be aware that as long as Thomas is healthy, this will be around a 50/50 backfield split.
  Carson Palmer (169 total yards, 2 TDs) led the Raiders into Minnesota and ended up doing just enough to secure a hard-fought victory and return home the sole leader in the AFC West race. Christian Ponder (282 total yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) had a few moments of brilliance, making plays with his arms and his legs; but he also had a few moments of rookie mistakes, throwing three costly INTs.

Palmer finally started finding Darrius Heyward-Bey (4-43) in this game, but unfortunately Heyward-Bey ended up having to leave the game on the cart with a scary neck injury.  Kevin Boss (5-37) also caught several passes, as Denarius Moore (1-14) ended up with very quiet day.

Ponder has seemingly realized that Percy Harvin (6-73, 1 TD; 5 car., 21 yards) is one of his best weapons as he tries to get the ball in his hands as much as possible.  Harvin is a good play as a solid WR2-WR3 for the fantasy playoffs.  Michael Jenkins (4-30) had the second most catches for the Vikings as no other Vikings WR did anything of note.

The Raiders leaned heavily on Michael Bush (30 car., 109 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 20 yards) in this game and he answered the bell to the tune of nearly 130 total yards and a TD.  As long as Bush continues to roll up yards in a dependable manner, the Raiders can take their time in bringing Darren McFadden back from his foot injury.

Fantasy owners everywhere held their collective breaths when Adrian Peterson (6 car., 26 yards, 1 TD) went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter of the game.  Peterson was seen after the game walking around without much of a limp, so it looks like owners may have dodged a bullet with the fantasy playoffs just around the corner.
  Tony Romo (291 total yards, 3 TDs) was brilliant once again, collecting nearly 300 yards passing and another three touchdowns; most importantly he didn’t throw any interceptions and was a key factor in leading his team to the game winning field goal in OT.  Rex Grossman (299 total yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) moved the ball well in the game, looking like the coaches have finally put their faith in the right man for the QB job for the rest of this season.

Dez Bryant (3-68, 1 TD) and Jason Witten (3-85, 1 TD) both stepped up for scores to keep the Cowboys in a position to win the game, while Laurent Robinson (4-34, 1 TD) was once again solid in relief of the injured Miles Austin.  As long as Romo continues to play good turnover-free football, all three of these players are worth a play every single week
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Jabar Gaffney (7-115, 1 TD) stepped up in a big way with both Santana Moss and rookie Leonard Hankerson out with injuries.  Fred Davis (6-49) ended up second on the team in receptions as Grossman’s favorite outlet when he needed to check it down, while Donte Stallworth (4-51, 1 TD) came out of nowhere to post a solid fantasy day.

Demarco Murray (25 car., 73 yards; 6 rec., 32 yards) finally looked human, as he found it tough sledding against a motivated Redskins defense.  Felix Jones (5 car., 18 yards; 1 rec., 4 yards) returned but did not cut much into Murray’s production as the change of pace back.

Who knows who starts here every week, but it was Roy Helu (8 car., 35 yards; 2 rec., 3 yards) who looked like the best running back for the Redskins.  Not like that’ll matter for the Shanahans, but if you had to play any Redskins back, your best bet is to roll the dice on Helu as he appears the most talented.
  Well, it didn’t take long for the John Skelton (99 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs) love fest in the desert to come to a crashing halt.  Skelton was terrible, throwing three picks no scores, and less than 100 yards passing before getting the hook in the 4^th quarter.  Apparently Kevin Kolb is better than people thought he was only a week ago.  Alex Smith (284 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) did more passing than he normally does, throwing 38 passes on his way to over 280 total yards and two scores as the 49ers continue to breeze toward home field advantage for the playoffs.

Larry Fitzgerald (3-41, 1 TD) was having no luck at all against the 49ers defense until Richard Bartel came in to quarterback the team and got Fitz a late TD in what was turning out to be a bitter disappointment of a game.  Early Doucet (6-50) and Andre Roberts (3-51) also benefited from the QB change, salvaging their days with some garbage time passing.

Michael Crabtree (7-120) turned in his best effort of the season with Smith throwing so much, and is obviously his first read on most pass plays.  Vernon Davis (5-67, 1 TD) also had a very good game, getting just as many targets (10) as Crabtree.  Kyle Williams (5-54, 1 TD) also is a puzzling favorite for Smith, as the kid has an uncanny knack for coming up with scores when the 49ers are at home.

Beanie Wells (8 car., 33 yards) once again had a terrible outing as the Cardinals fell behind early and never really gave Wells a chance to get going, even though he did get a respectable 4.1 yard per carry average on the few carries he got.

There was talk Frank Gore (24 car., 88 yards; 1 rec., 6 yards) might be limited in this game, but he ended up with a very workmanlike 90+ total yards for a decent fantasy effort.  Kendall Hunter (11 car., 27 yards; 1 rec., 15 yards) was a popular sleeper play this week, but fizzled with Gore being effective enough to get the lion’s share of carries.
  It’s really too bad the Seahawks only now started to put things together in the last month or so, because they’re playing solid enough defense and scoring just enough on offense to have made a run at the playoffs, had they not dug themselves such a big hole early in the season.  Tavaris Jackson’s (158 total yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) numbers didn’t look very good, but with the defense playing lights out in this game, he didn’t have to do much to secure the win.  Sam Bradford (181 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) continues to look dreadful, as he had a good TD strike early in the first quarter and couldn’t do much else the rest of the way.

Mike Williams (2-62) caught a bomb on the first play from scrimmage from Sidney Rice (3-35, 1 TD 1 pass for 55 yards) of all people, but it was Rice who ended up with the lone receiving score.  Doug Baldwin (3-60) also showed some nifty moves on a couple of big gainers, but overall this was a disappointing day for the Seahawks receivers.

Brandon Lloyd (5-67, 1 TD) continues to be the favorite target of Bradford’s by far, as he seems to be the only Rams receiver who actually understands the Josh McDaniels offensive system.  Going forward Lloyd is the only Rams receiver worth considering, as the others are barely roster-worthy, let alone playable.
Marshawn Lynch (27 car., 88 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 1 yard) lost the whole right side of his offensive line to season-ending injury, but he still was able to churn out a solid 88 yards on the ground and score for the sixth straight week.  Lynch is turning into a solid RB2 and his schedule isn’t too bad going forward.

After a few weeks of solid performances, Steven Jackson (15 car., 42 yards; 3 rec., 19 yards) just couldn’t get on track against the stout-once-again Seattle rush defense.  Better days are ahead for Jackson though, this just happened to be a tough opponent that sold out to stop the rush.
  Matt Hasselbeck (141 total yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) wasn’t able to get anything going except for a lone drive for a field goal in the first half and left with an elbow injury in the 3^rd quarter, so Jake Locker (151 total yards, 2 TDs) came in and actually sparked the Titans to make a run at stealing the game.  Matt Ryan (319 total yards, 1 TD) was his same steady self and has seemingly shaken off the early season troubles he was having.  He should be a solid play from here on out.
Nate Washington (9-115, 2 TDs) was having yet another quiet game until Locker took over, throwing both TD strikes to Washington.  If Hasselbeck misses any time and Locker gets another start or two, Washington becomes a good play since it was obvious that the rookie liked to look his way often.  Jared Cook (5-51) also benefited from the change, as most of his catches and yards came at the hands of Locker.  Damian Williams (1-16) on the other hand looks like he was hurt by the switch even though he was targeted the most (11 targets, most from Hasselbeck) so if you were playing him you might want to keep an eye on this QB situation going forward.

Roddy White (7-147) finally showed up after having one of his most disappointing seasons in recent memory as he obviously benefited from Ryan throwing a little more and Julio Jones being out with another hamstring tweak.  As long as Jones is hurting, White should be a solid play.  Harry Douglas (4-51) started for Jones but was fairly quiet, while Tony Gonzalez (5-74, 1 TD) continues to turn back the clock and is starting to look like a lock to finish in the top 5 of tight ends in this his 15^th NFL season.

Whew, and I thought I was going to have to go back on my CJ0K action figure that curls up into the fetal position under a stack of cash when you touch it!  Chris Johnson (12 car., 13 yards; 3 rec., 15 yards) went back to his extremely disappointing ways as he was not even able to top 30 total yards in the game.   Javon Ringer (3 rec., 35 yards) didn’t even get a carry and still logged more total yards than Johnson (35 vs. 28)… sad.

Michael Turner (21 car., 100 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 9 yards) on the other hand ran strong and turned in another nice effort as he’s slowly becoming almost like an NFC version of Maurice Jones-Drew in terms of reliability of late.
  Philip Rivers (280 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) had a solid day throwing the football in terms of fantasy numbers, but he again really hurt his team with two more INTs against the suddenly very opportunistic Bears defense that has forced 15 turnovers in the last 5 games.  Jay Cutler (297 total yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) actually took to the air effectively in this game, but unfortunately he ended up with a fractured thumb that may cause him to miss significant time.

Vincent Jackson (7-165, 1 TD) continues his maddening ways, going from 7-140+ and a couple of scores to 1-22, to 7-165 and a touchdown in his last three games.  Good luck guessing when those huge games are going to hit and when the stinkers are going to hit, but at this point you have no choice but to play him every week and hope for the best.  Antonio Gates (4-63, 1 TD) had a solid day again as he’s been able to remain healthy, and no other Chargers WR did anything of note.

Lo and behold, Earl Bennett (3-75) wasn’t the only Bears receiver worth anything this week, as both Johnny Knox (3-97, 1 TD) and Roy Williams (5-62) made some big catches in this game.  It’s too bad Cutler got hurt because if these three finally started showing up on a regular basis, Cutler could have become an attractive fantasy QB.

This was an ugly game on the ground for both teams, but the Chargers were especially putrid.  Ryan Mathews (13 car., 37 yards; 2 rec., 14 yards) had the most carries and yards, but that wasn’t really saying much with only 51 total yards.  Mike Tolbert (3 car., 14 yards; 5 rec., 24 yards) also got several touches, but did just as little with them.

Matt Forte (21 car., 59 yards; 4 rec., 26 yards) ended up with a quiet game on the ground, as his yardage wasn’t very good (for him anyhow) and he never got in the endzone.  Marion Barber (6 car., 23 yards, 1 TD) continues to vulture TDs off of Forte, but Barber is scoring just low enough to not be considered for fantasy lineups.
 

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