New England Patriots – 41, Denver Broncos – 23

Let’s not crown a new prince of the NFL just yet, as
Tom Brady (322 total yards, 3 TDs) showed that he’s still the cream of the crop in this league, beating down
Tim Tebow (287 total yards, 2 TDs) and a Broncos team that hung for most of the first half before being clearly out-classed by a better team. Brady was his picture-perfect self, hitting 8 different receivers and effectively carving up a defense that has been hot for over a month now. Tebow didn’t have a lot of trouble moving the ball, but he couldn’t get the scores when they counted, even though they were playing against one of the worst defenses in the league.
This was finally the week that it was
Aaron Hernadez’s (9-129, 1 TD) turn to blow up from the tight end position, as the Broncos obviously set out to stop the likes of
Wes Welker (4-41) and
Rob Gronkowski (4-53). Welker and the Gronk have had huge success this year because teams didn’t sell out to stop them, or couldn’t; the Broncos did, and Brady made them pay by looking at Hernandez for most of the game. Hernandez is still uber talented, and in leagues where you don’t have one of the top five or six guys, Hernandez is one of the most attractive TEs left because of his extremely high upside.
Demaryius Thomas (7-116) has clearly taken over as the #1 option for Tebow, almost to the exclusion of all other receivers. It’s apparent this style of offense has room for only one fantasy-relevant receiver, and Thomas is it.
The Patriots mess at running back continues as both
BenJarvus Green-Ellis (10 car., 17 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 32 yards) and
Danny Woodhead (7 car., 40 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 12 yards) scored, but at the end of the game it was
Stevan Ridley (11 car., 65 yards) that ended up with the most carries and yards. Avoid this mess if you can.
This was a down game for
Willis McGahee (7 car., 70 yards), mostly because he left in the second half with an apparent leg injury. McGahee should be fine for next week when he gets another juicy matchup, the Buffalo Bills.
New York Jets – 19, Philadelphia Eagles – 45

While no one was terribly surprised the Jets didn’t win this game, no one really expected them to get blown out of the building.
Mark Sanchez (153 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) wasn’t too terrible but he wasn’t very good either, with his two scores coming after the Jets were down by four scores or more, and were balanced out by three turnovers.
Michael Vick (306 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) won his second game after returning from a painful rib injury to keep the Eagles alive in the playoff hunt. While it’s probably too little too late for the Eagles, it is good to see them continuing to fight and not rolling over like it looked like there doing only a few short weeks ago.
Dustin Keller (3-73) had the most yards for the Jets receivers, but it was
Santonio Holmes (4-40, 1 TD) that led in targets, catches, and scored a touchdown. Overall Keller and Holmes are the only ones even worth considering for lineups, but even then only if you’re desperate.
Brent Celek (5-156, 1 TD) ended up with a huge game, including catching a 73 yard bomb that got the Eagles into prime scoring position. With Celek blowing up, both
Jeremy Maclin (3-57) and
Desean Jackson (2-28) ended up having very quiet games.
After stringing together a couple of good games in a row,
Shonn Greene (18 car., 73 yards) returned to his normal 70 yard outing. He still continues to get the vast majority of carries though, so if the Jets don’t get blown out he’ll end up with a valuable stat line.
Lesean McCoy (18 car., 102 yards, 3 TDs; 2 rec., -5 yards) just keeps on scoring, as he punched in another three touchdowns to make it 19 total for the year. For all the things that went wrong for the Eagles this year, McCoy is one of the things that went extremely well for them, and he’ll be the centerpiece of the offense for years to come.
Baltimore Ravens – 14, San Diego Chargers – 34

Like what’s become a theme for the Ravens this year, Baltimore looks like world beaters at home, but then stinks it up when they’re on the road. Nothing was more indicative of this than the terrible play by
Joe Flacco (238 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs), who threw two costly interceptions and didn’t throw his second touchdown pass until there was less than two minutes left in a game that was thoroughly in hand. The worst thing is, with two games to play the Ravens have opened the door for the Steelers to control their own destiny by winning out.
Philip Rivers (270 yards, 1 TD) was efficient in throwing only 23 total passes, and didn’t turn the ball over even once, one of the precious few times that’s happened this year. The Chargers still have a pulse for the post season, and Rivers revival is a big part of that.
Torrey Smith (6-77, 1 TD) ended up with the biggest day amongst the Ravens receivers, and he looked good despite the fact that his team looked so bad in most phases of the game. Ed Dickson (3-36, 1 TD) did score as well, while Anquan Boldin (2-51) had a quiet two catch night.
Malcom Floyd (5-96, 1 TD) led the Chargers in receptions, targets, and touchdowns as he finally looked truly healthy for the first time in a while. Vincent Jackson’s (3-84) day was quiet as a result of Floyd emerging, but he still hauled in a 58 yard beauty of a pass. Antonio Gates (2-31) had a dud of a game in the same week the other old timer TE uber stud Tony Gonzalez put up a stinker.
Ray Rice (10 car., 57 yards; 9 rec., 55 yards) ended up with decent yardage totals, going over 100 total yards for the game, but I’m sure his owners who are fighting to get into their league’s championship rounds were really hoping for at least one score against one of the softer defenses in the league.
Ryan Mathews (26 car., 90 yards, 2 TDs; 2 rec., 19 yards) had a big game for the Chargers, running with authority and quickness against one of the more stout run defenses in the league. Even Mike Tolbert (8 car., 40 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 18 yards) found success in this game with his limited touches, making him a worthwhile Flex play going forward.
Jacksonville Jaguars – 14, Atlanta Falcons – 41

Hopefully for the Jaguars faithful, this isn’t a sign of things to come with the new regime. As bland as Del Rio’s crew was, at least they didn’t get blown out of the building very often.
Blaine Gabbert (146 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) looked like he regressed, which is pretty bad considering he wasn’t that far ahead as it was.
Matt Ryan (224 yards, 3 TDs) on the other hand looked like he was well in the groove, which is just the right time to be clicking for fantasy owners. In fact, all of Ryan’s damage was done in the first three quarters, as he wasn’t even needed for the 4
th quarter, which I’m sure fantasy owners wished the Jags would have at least put up a little more of a fight so Ryan would have to keep passing.
Chastin West (3-38, 1 TD) got his first start of the season and actually made a little bit of something from it with a garbage time touchdown catch. None of the other receivers mattered for the Jags, which has been the story all season.
This was easily the best game of the year for
Roddy White (10-135, 2 TDs), who was having a down year until a couple of weeks ago. Just like with Ryan’s timing, it couldn’t be any better for fantasy owners in the middle of the playoffs.
Julio Jones (5-85, 1 TD) also had a very nice game fantasy-wise, while the Roddy love really hurt
Tony Gonzalez’s (1-14) numbers.
Maurice Jones-Drew (17 car., 112 yards; 1 rec., 1 yards) just keeps chugging along, tallying yet another 100 yard rushing game. It’s too bad he didn’t get into the endzone in this game, but fantasy owners have to be happy with the production yardage-wise.
Michael Turner’s (19 car., 61 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 4 yards) yardage was disappointing in this game, but he at least got a touchdown out of it to salvage his fantasy day.
Dallas Cowboys – 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 15

No late season swoon for
Tony Romo (249 yards, 4 TDs), who’s been playing lights out the last couple of weeks. If the Cowboys don’t end up making the playoffs, it won’t be because of any failings of Romo this season. The Buccaneers continue to look terrible, as the game wasn’t nearly as close as the score seems to indicate. This could have easily been a bigger blow out, but the Cowboys took their foot off the throttle in the second half.
Josh Freeman (185 total yards, 1 TD) looked terrible for most of the game, but did manage to salvage a TD late in the game.
Romo did a good job of spreading the love, as
Miles Austin (5-53, 1 TD),
Dez Bryant (4-40, 1 TD), and
Laurent Robinson (3-29, 1 TD) all had touchdowns and fairly decent yardage games. With all three receivers healthy, fantasy owners can expect good but not great production.
Jason Witten (4-77) led the way in yardage, which was good to see after a couple of down games.
This was a big mess of a game for the Bucs receivers, as
Mike Williams (0-0) got shutout,
Kellen Winslow (4-37) didn’t have a great game, and
Dezmon Briscoe’s (3-36, 1 TD) day was saved the lone late score. Hopefully you weren’t relying on any of these guys to carry you to your league’s championship game.
Felix Jones (22 car., 108 yards; 3 rec., 23 yards) continues his revival for the second week in a row, showing that maybe it wasn’t so much Demarco Murray, but the Cowboys blocking that was really the cause of the run game’s improvement mid-season.
Sammy Morris (12 car., 53 yards) even had quite a bit of success, which also is indicative of the line’s play.
This was a bad bad game for the Buccaneers all around, and none was worse than
Legarrette Blount (9 car., 21 yards). This effort is bound to submarine several fantasy team’s that had hopes of moving on in the fantasy playoffs.
Miami Dolphins – 30, Buffalo Bills - 23

So far so good for the first post-Tony Sporano game for the Miami Dolphins as
Matt Moore (217 yards, 2 TDs) had a solid game throwing the football against a beleaguered Bills defense. Moore seemingly has played into at least being a consideration as the Dolphins starting QB for 2012.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (323 total yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) was signed to a contract that pretty much makes him the Bills starter in 2012, but this late season swoon that Fitz was central in guiding has to make the Bills front office sweat… maybe Fitz isn’t the guy to lead them to the next level? We’ll find out when the draft rolls around in April.
Brandon Marshall (3-84, 1 TD) got most of his yards on one long catch, and he did drop a couple of other passes around the endzone that could have made his day much bigger than it was.
Anthony Fasano (2-28, 1 TD) caught another TD, making him semi-useful the last few weeks in terms of scoring production. None of the other Dolphins receivers did much.
Stevie Johnson (5-82) and
David Nelson (6-60) had fairly decent games in terms of catches and yards, but overall this unit continues to underwhelm. Chan Gailey’s system has evolved into one that centers around the RB for most of the offensive production, limiting a group that was already limited for most of the season.
Wow. Perhaps the Saints didn’t really know how to best use
Reggie Bush (25 car., 203 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 6 yards), afterall. It’s apparent that Darren Sproles is doing well in the Saints offense, but maybe Bush was actually meant to be a feature back. Who knew? Bush was electric, rolling up yards in chunks and flashing the will to pick up the tough yardage. Going into next season, he’ll be a great player to target at a reasonable RB2 price.
Speaking of feature backs,
CJ Spiller (12 car., 91 yards, 1 TD; 9 rec., 76 yards, 1 TD) is making a case to at least be in the conversation to be the Bills starting RB in 2012. It’s unfortunate for Fred Jackson, but Spiller is younger and has a better pedigree with a higher ceiling... you’ve got to think the Bills will at least think about making Spiller the centerpiece of their offense.
Seattle Seahawks – 38, Chicago Bears – 14

Too bad for the Seahawks that they didn’t get their business in order earlier in the year, as they’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league the last few weeks. Save for one hiccup against the Redskins a couple of weeks ago, the Seahawks have been playing lights out football, and if they do somehow make the playoffs, they could make some noise as a dangerous underdog.
Tarvaris Jackson (225 total yards, 1 TD) managed this game well like he has the others recently, while
Caleb Hanie (145 total yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) short circuited both his chances at remaining with the Bears next season the same way he’s short circuited the Bears playoff chances.
Golden Tate (4-61) was the lead Seahawks receiver, but that wasn’t worth a whole lot this week.
Doug Baldwin (1-13) was a big favorite as a WR3/Flex for a lot of teams this week, and he flopped big time. With as little passing as the Seahawks are doing, it’s tough to rely on any Seahawks receiver with any confidence.
Speaking of not relying on receivers, don’t look at the Bears receivers for any help. They couldn’t help Hanie, and they can’t help you… move along, move along.
Marshawn Lynch’s (20 car., 42 yards, 2 TDs; 2 rec., 5 yards) yardage was low as was predicted in a matchup against the Bears defense, but he did score twice to continue his hot streak in which he broke Shaun Alexander’s team record for most games with at least one touchdown (Lynch has scored in 10 straight). Lynch is pretty much unbenchable at this point, even against a tough 49ers defense next week.
This week,
Kahlil Bell (15 car., 65 yards; 5 rec., 43 yards, 1 TD) stepped up as the Bears lead running back, as
Marion Barber (11 car., 33 yards) was mostly ineffective. With the Bears playoff chances pretty much DOA at this point, Matt Forte may be held out the rest of the year.
Carolina Panthers – 28, Houston Texans – 13

In a week full of upsets, this was probably one of the least shocking. The Panthers have been close to breaking through with wins, giving up late leads or having rallies fall just short. This week,
Cam Newton (204 total yards, 2 TDs) led the Panthers to a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish, as the Panthers were able to get both the offense and the defense rolling on the same week.
TJ Yates (227 total yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) finally looked like the 3
rd string rookie that he is, which has to concern the Texans faithful going into the playoffs.
Even though Newton only passed for 149 yards this week,
Steve Smith (5-82, 1 TD) still had a good game, accounting for more than half Newton’s yardage and scoring one of his two touchdowns.
Jeremy Shockey (2-35, 1 TD) had the other touchdown, as there wasn’t much left over for the other Panthers receiving options.
This was a weak game all around for the Texans passing game, as both
Owen Daniels (2-29) and
Kevin Walter (2-26) were the leaders of the receivers… and when you look at those paltry numbers, you know it was a bad day for the Texans and for anyone starting pieces of the Texans passing game.
Deangelo Williams (15 car., 61 yards, 1 TD) had a big game (for him) running the ball, but had to gallop in a touchdown from 24 yards out in order to not have a score vultured by his own QB.
Jonathan Stewart (11 car., 43 yards; 2 rec., 8 yards) disappeared for the most part, as this was Williams’ week to shine.
Arian Foster (16 car., 109 yards, 1 TD; 5 rec., 58 yards) had another big game, even though the Texans were behind for most of the game. Foster is one of those rare backs that is effective no matter what the score is, which is bound to lead fantasy teams to victory even when the Texans are losing.
Tennessee Titans – 13, Indianapolis Colts – 27

Well, looks like the members of the 2008 Colts can crack the bubbly as no team, not even one as bad as the 2011 Colts, will equal that special 0-16 mark for a season. Sigh. I was sure the Colts were going to hit that magical mark, considering the shear amount of ploppers they’ve dropped into this season’s commode.
Dan Orlovsky (79 total yards, 1 TD) didn’t have to do much of anything at all, he just let the running games and the inept Titans do all the work. The Titans were embarrassingly bad in this one, as it was obvious that
Matt Hasselbeck (222 total yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) wasn’t quite right, but he got the start anyhow.
Jake Locker (117 total yards, 1 TDs) came in during the 4
th quarter and immediately looked like the spark the team needed, but it was too little too late.
Jared Cook (9-103) finally erupted the way a lot of fantasy owners predicted when he was drafted as a favorite sleeper… too bad it took until Week 15 for that to happen. Maybe a little earlier in 2012, eh Jared?
Nate Washington (7-62, 1 TD) had a nice game once Locker came into the game, and
Lavelle Hawkins (8-88) also did quite a bit of receiving damage out of the slot.
When your QB throws for 82 yards, it’s not like a lot is going to happen with the receivers. Well hey, at least
Reggie Wayne (3-33, 1 TD) was kind enough to catch a touchdown!
Chris Johnson (15 car., 55 yards; 8 rec., 54 yards) couldn’t get off the deck enough to shred a Colts defense that has been one of the worst at stopping the run all year. Not sure what’s the deal with Johnson this year, but he’s had a couple of flashes of brilliance sandwiched between two big ol’ loaves of suckage. Good luck to those drafting Johnson way too high next year, because that ain’t gonna be me.
Most of
Donald Brown’s (16 car., 161 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 2 yards) yardage came on one run, but if you started him, hats off to you! Brown has at least played his way into the conversation of being the top dog in the Colts’ running game in 2012, which could actually mean something with a real QB under center.
Green Bay Packers – 14, Kansas City Chiefs – 19

Well, guess the Packers decided to get their one loss out of the way here rather than in the playoffs when things will really matter.
Aaron Rodgers (267 total yards, 2 TDs) and the Packers looked almost disinterested at points, and the team was just not in sync for the entire game.
Kyle Orton (294 total yards) got his first start and actually looked like a decent QB compared to Tyler “Noodle Arm” Palko. Seriously… I think Palko was the thing that finally put Todd Haley on the unemployment line, as no one thought that guy was a serious NFL QB.
Jermichael Finley (3-84) at least looked halfway decent after getting shutout last week. The rest of the receiver corps did a poor job of making up for Greg Jennings’ absence, as
Jordy Nelson (2-29) and
James Jones (2-17) were next to useless.
Randall Cobb (4-53) actually did better than both of those guys combined, while
Donald Driver (2-7, 1 TD) caught a TD and little else.
Orton did a good job of distributing the ball to both
Dwayne Bowe (4-49) and
Steve Breaston (4-50), as both WRs prospects are looking up a bit with Orton under center.
Leonard Pope (2-72) had a couple of big catches, but the rest of the Chiefs receivers were pretty much invisible.
Ryan Grant (12 car., 66 yards; 3 rec., 35 yards) got another week with the starting RB gig all to himself, and he was able to grind out over 100 total yards against a defense that was jacked up to hand the Packers their first loss. If the Packers would just commit to one RB, that RB could be worth quite a bit in fantasy terms.
Jackie Battle (10 car., 37 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 7 yards) managed to score a touchdown for the Chiefs while
Thomas Jones (15 car., 48 yards; 1 rec., 27 yards) led in yardage, as Kansas City decided to run almost 40 times to try to keep the Packers high flying offense off the field.
New Orleans Saints – 42, Minnesota Vikings – 20
Drew Brees (416 total yards, 5 TDs) exploded just in time for fantasy owners to undoubtedly vault them into their fantasy championship games. No QB is hotter than Brees over the second half of the season, and with the Saints still fighting for a bye k he may be the most desired QB for fantasy purposes going into the last two weeks of the season.
Christian Ponder (154 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) gutted out a game where he was obviously still not right from his injury recovery, but he did manage to toss a couple of scores despite the low yardage total.
The Saints were a fantasy bonanza this week, as
Marques Colston (8-91),
Jimmy Graham (7-70, 1 TD), and
Lance Moore (5-91, 2 TDs) all had big games for the Saints passing attack. If you have Colston and Graham, you’re obviously starting them; if you have Moore, you could do worse than rolling with him as your WR3/Flex going into the fantasy championship.
What a disaster for
Percy Harvin (3-8) owners. Harvin had been hotter than any other receiver over the past month, but he laid an egg right when fantasy owners could least afford it. Not like any other Vikings receiver did any better though, but that’s hardly comforting.
Another game, another three headed attack where all three were useable but not as great as they could have been if even one of the three were eliminated from the rotation.
Darren Sproles (8 car., 33 yards; 5 rec., 79 yards, 1 TD) was the most valuable in PPR leagues, while
Pierre Thomas (8 car., 44 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 41 yards) got a touchdown and
Chris Ivory (18 car., 74 yards) had the most carries and rush yards.
Adrian Peterson (10 car., 60 yards) returned to the lineup and looked decent in limited action. Hopefully you weren’t counting on him, as he didn’t play enough to be too effective for fantasy points.
Toby Gerhart (2 car., 12 yards; 4 rec., 46 yards, 2 TDs) got a lot of work, and even caught two touchdown passes.
Washington Redskins – 23, New York Giants – 10

Not quite the shocker of the Packers-Chiefs game, but this one was a bit of a surprise in its own right.
Rex Grossman (185 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) and the Redskins went into the New Meadowlands and crushed the Giants’ postseason hopes. Of course,
Eli Manning’s (257 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs) implosion had a lot to do with that, as it became readily apparent that Eli is definitely not Peyton. If it weren’t for the Eagles, we might be talking about the Giants being the top underachieving team this year.
Jabar Gaffney (6-85) has acted like the lead receiver for about a month now, and has continued that trend even with
Santana Moss (2-40, 1 TD) returning to action. Moss scored the touchdown, but Gaffney looked like the more effective option.
With Manning misfiring, his receiving crew didn’t have great games even though yardage was ok for some.
Hakeem Nicks (5-73) had the best game, while
Mario Manningham (3-57) was able to get deep on one pass.
Victor Cruz (5-44) fell back to Earth, letting down his fantasy owners that were expecting a big week against a suspect secondary.
Roy Helu (23 car., 53 yards; 3 rec., 16 yards) didn’t find much success against the Giants defense, but he did continue to get the most carries which was something. This game was a bit of a disappointment considering the Redskins had the ball most of the game, and the Giants defense was tiring in the second half.
Ahmad Bradshaw (10 car., 58 yards, 1 TD; 3 rec., 21 yards) returned to the lineup full time and pushed
Brandon Jacobs (8 car., 33 yards) back to the secondary option where he belongs. As long as Bradshaw is getting the majority of snaps, he’s worth a play as a RB3 or Flex.
Cincinnati Bengals – 20, St. Louis Rams – 13

The Bengals mostly looked like they were sleepwalking through this game, which was still good enough to secure a win. This was definitely not one of
Andy Dalton’s (179 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) better games, but he did ok and that’s all that’s needed to beat the Rams these days.
Kellen Clemens (238 total yards, 1 TD) got the start this week for an injured Sam Bradford and he looked, well… at least as good as Bradford has looked this year. Bradford is supposed to be a difference maker, but if he load his play from this season up against the play by Clemens and AJ Feeley, you’d have a tough time telling which one was the franchise QB.
Even though it was a slow day for Dalton,
AJ Green (6-115) was extremely busy as the top target in the Bengals’ attack. Even in Dalton’s worst days Green is still a good play as long as he’s healthy.
Jermaine Gresham (3-16) was the second target, but that wasn’t worth a whole lot this week.
Danario Alexander (3-52, 1 TD) seemingly popped up out of nowhere to catch a touchdown pass and post the most yardage by a Rams receiver.
Brandon Lloyd (5-42) got the most catches and targets again, but it will be interesting if Lloyd is back next year to see if the Rams can get a secondary threat opposite him to take the double team heat off of him.
Cedric Benson (22 car., 76 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 11 yards) didn’t look so good for much of the game, but he did score a second half TD to salt the game away for the Bengals. Benson is boring, but he gets the job done and usually has enough fantasy points to make him a worthwhile start as a RB2.
Steven Jackson (18 car., 71 yards; 9 rec., 72 yards) had a very good game in total yardage going up over 140 yards against a pretty stout run defense. It’s unfortunate that Jackson has wasted the best years of his career with a Rams team that offers so little support for a guy who would put up awesome numbers every week in a real offense.
Detroit Lions – 28, Oakland Raiders – 2 7

For a while it looked like the Raiders were going to get the best of the Lions and deal a severe blow to the Lions post season hopes… but the Lions roared back with two touchdowns in the last five minutes of the game to steal one on the road against the Raiders.
Matthew Stafford (396 total yards, 4 TDs) was the major reason for the turnaround, throwing four touchdown passes and getting his team in position to reach the post season for the first time in several years.
Carson Palmer (367 total yards, 1 TD) also had a big game, but in the end couldn’t score enough points to keep the Raiders playoff hopes alive.
Finally, there’s the Megatron we’ve been looking for the last half of the season.
Calvin Johnson (9-214, 2 TDs) had a career day right when fantasy owners needed him most to vault many a team into the championship round.
Nate Burleson (7-81, 1 TD) also had a big game as a result of the Lions having to play catch-up, and even
Titus Young (5-21, 1 TD) got in on the scoring action.
Darrius Heyward-Bey (8-155, 1 TD) had a huge game for the Raiders, as its obvious that Palmer is finally getting on the same page with the talented but underachieving wideout.
TJ Houshmanzadeh (6-52) had a pretty good game with his old friend Palmer, while
Denarius Moore (2-13) was nowhere to be seen.
Kevin Smith (15 car., 43 yards; 1 rec., 3 yards) returned to the lineup after missing last week with an ankle sprain. Smith’s day wasn’t very good with the Lions having to throw most of the game, but at least he got almost all the carries.
Michael Bush (18 car., 77 yards; 7 rec., 62 yards) posted another solid yardage outing, with the only thing missing being a trip to the endzone. As long as Bush is the starter, you’ve got to be starting him as well.
Cleveland Browns – 17, Arizona Cardinals – 20

The Cleveland Browns almost went into Arizona and stole a win from a Cardinals team that’s still barely alive in the playoff race. Of course, the Browns almost won in the same way they’re almost a mediocre football team… almost there, but still not even that good.
Seneca Wallace (247 total yards, 1 TD) got the start and moved the Browns better than Colt McCoy has for most of the season, making people wonder if Wallace shouldn’t be the starter at least for the remaining games this year.
John Skelton (320 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) got another start for the injured Kevin Kolb, and he produced yet another win for the Cards. So far Skelton’s winning percentage is much better than Kolb’s, so again you’d have to wonder if Skelton shouldn’t at least be in the conversation to be the Cardinals go-to QB.
Greg Little (5-131, 1 TD) finally had a big breakout performance due in no small part to the 76 yard TD bomb he caught from Wallace in the third quarter. Little hadn’t shown much in the way of big play ability until that catch, but that might have something to do with the quarterback play.
Mohammed Massoquoi (3-42) was a distant second in terms of catches and targets, as no other Browns receiver ended up mattering.
Todd Heap (7-69) came out of nowhere to post his best game in terms of catches, yards, and targets in recent memory.
Larry Fitzgerald (3-65) had a lot of targets as well, but never really got on track in this contest.
Andre Roberts (6-60, 1 TD) continued his late mini-surge with a solid game, leading the team in targets with 10 total. Still, Fitz is the only receiver worth truly considering out of this bunch.
Peyton Hillis (26 car., 99 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 9 yards) got all the carries for the Browns, and hey, they seemed to be better for it. Hillis has been a huge disappointment this year, but at least he’s showing signs of life before he gets ready for free agency. It’s hard to imagine Hillis being back with the Browns, and it’s equally hard to see any team giving him the full time starting gig… no matter what, he probably will end up sharing the football at his next destination, which would limit his value.
Beanie Wells (20 car., 67 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 6 yards) had another grind-it-out type of day, tallying only 3.4 yards per carry but like last week, squeezed out a touchdown to save his fantasy day.
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