Heading into Week 6, it took a lot of balls (or desperation) to plug Dwayne Bowe into your lineup. On the season, he was only averaging 2.3 catches for 38 yards and 0.3 TD, but there was a sense that he’d have a chance for a nice game against the Texans, who have been bad against the pass this season. Well, Bowe (6-108-2) did have a nice game, and owners that were ballsy (or desperate) enough to plug him in were well rewarded. Looking at the KC backfield, Thomas Jones (20 touches, 110 yards, TD) and Jamaal Charles (20 touches, 117 yards) split the duties evenly, though Jones got both carries inside the Texans’ five yard line. Meanwhile, it looks like Matt Cassel (201 yards, 3 TD) is coming on after a poor start to the season. He now has six pass TDs in his last three games, and should have had another last week if not for a Bowe drop in the endzone. For the Texans, Andre Johnson (8-138-1) looks fine, and Owen Daniels (5-79) seems to be getting back to his old self. He was the second most targeted (7) Houston receiver. Kevin Walter was shut out. (He wasn’t even targeted.)

It looks like Seattle plans to use Marshawn Lynch (20 touches, 53 yards, TD) quite a bit. Justin Forsett (11 touches, 56 yards, TD) also got a lot of work. I’m starting to see him hit the waiver wire in a few leagues and he’s definitely worth rostering. Mike Williams 1.0 (10-123, 15 targets) was the big winner with Deion Branch gone, but Deon Butler (4-47-1) made the most of his four targets. Johnny Knox (5-120) was the only standout fantasy player for the Bears, who struggled offensively.

Speaking of Deion Branch (9-98-1), Tom Brady (292 yards, TD, 2 INT) certainly made him feel welcome, targeting his new/old receiver 12 times, which was the most of any Patriot player. I think it’s safe to cut Brandon Tate (0-0, 4 targets) whose potential value was torpedoed by the Branch trade. I actually had to start Danny Woodhead (16 touches, 115 yards) in two PPR leagues and was rewarded with a nice day thanks to his five catches. He actually got one more carry (11) than BenJarvus Green-Ellis (10 carries, 20 yards, TD).

I’m a Packer fan, and it was tough to watch Green Bay’s fairly impotent performance against the Dolphins. The Packers said this week that they wanted to get Greg Jennings (6-133-1) involved, and they succeeded. Unfortunately, that was their only success of the afternoon. Davone Bess (5-37-1) scored again for the Dolphins, but Brandon Marshall (10-127) was the big story for Miami in the passing game.

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- What can I say about Tom Brady (380 yards, 6 TDs)? This was the kind of day fantasy owners were expecting when they took him as the first QB off the board back in August. He completed 29 passes while the opposing QB, Kerry Collins, went just 2/12 for -7 yards.

- Matt Schaub (392 yards, 4 TD, INT) looks like an every-week start as long as he stays healthy. I’d keep a good backup on my bench, however.

- Predictably, Aaron Rodgers (358 yards, 2 TD, INT) torched the Lions.

- Brett Favre (278 yards, 3 TD) had a very nice game against a Ravens defense that has traditionally been pretty good against the pass.

- Drew Brees (369 yards, 4 TD) rewarded owners who had faith in the Saints’ offense despite a tough match against a very good Giants’ defense.

- The Steelers let Ben Roethlisberger (417 yards, 2 TD, INT) throw, and he turned in a nice fantasy day. He’s a solid every-week starter going forward.

- The Redskins benched Jason Campbell (89 yards, TD) and finished the game with Todd Collins (75 yards). This is a bad sign for the Washington pass offense.

- The Eagles’ offense was terrible against the Raiders. Oakland brought a lot of pressure and Philly didn’t adjust. Donovan McNabb (269 yards) had a decent day yardage-wise, but didn’t throw a TD.

- Coming into the game, Arizona had the worst passing defense in the league (in terms of yards allowed), but they held down Matt Hasselbeck (112 yards, INT), who torched Jacksonville last week. It just goes to show you how quickly things can change in the NFL.

- Trent Edwards (43 yards) was knocked out of the game with a concussion and Ryan Fitzpatrick (116 yards, TD, INT) was pretty shaky in his stead.

- Surprisingly, the NFL’s leading rusher, Cedric Benson (16-44-1), had a pretty quiet game against a suspect Texans rush defense.

- Steve Slaton (25 touches, 145 yards, TD) didn’t do much in the rushing game, but had 6-102-1 through the air.

- Maurice Jones-Drew (38 touches, 178 yards, 3 TD) had a day worthy of the second overall pick in fantasy leagues this year.

- Steven Jackson (22 touches, 128 yards) didn’t score, but the Rams got him involved in the passing game.

- Ray Rice (20 touches, 194, 2 TD) had a monster game against a pretty good Minnesota rush defense. Rice did much of his damage through the air (10-117).

- He didn’t score, but Adrian Peterson’s Week 6 performance (26 touches, 166 yards) is nothing to sneeze at. (Does anyone ever “sneeze at” anything?)

- The Saints’ RBBC worked out this way: Pierre Thomas (15 carries, 72 yards), Mike Bell (15 carries, 34 yards, TD) and Reggie Bush (7 touches, 24 yards, TD). When the Saints were inside the five, it was Bell who got most of the work. Thomas appeared to score on one play, but the replay did not show enough for the Saints to challenge.

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- Fresh off his “lady-friend rendezvous” suspension, Mike Sims-Walker (9-120) posted another nice game. He is averaging 7-100-0.8 per game over the last four games played. Torry Holt (5-101) was also a factor against his old team.

- Donnie Avery (1-17-1) started the day with a TD catch, but left the game with a bruised hip. The guy just can’t seem to stay healthy.

- Sidney Rice (6-176) is turning into a pretty startable wideout. He is averaging 4.8-91-0.5 over the last four games and Brett Favre looks his way often.

- Derrick Mason (7-97-1) scared some people off with his goose egg last week against the Bengals, but he posted 5-118-1 in Week 3 and 7-88-1 in Week 4 to go along with a nice performance this week.

- Lance Moore (6-78-1) finally looks completely healthy and seems to be the Saints’ WR2 once again. Meanwhile, Marques Colston (8-166-1) made it clear that he’s the team’s WR1.

- Steve Smith 2.0 (4-44) had a quiet game, while rookie Hakeem Nicks (5-114-1) and Mario Manningham (4-50-1) both had nice games. Eli Manning just missed Smith on a TD pass in the first half. He’s still an every-week start.

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Be sure to check back for some random fantasy thoughts about the QB, RB and WR positions.

- Owen Daniels (7-78-2) is turning into one of the very best pass-catching TEs in the league. He is averaging 5.3-62-0.7 this season.

- Jermichael Finley (5-54) had another solid game and is starting to look like a starting-caliber TE.

- Visanthe Shiancoe (4-48-2) has four TD in the last three games. Brett Favre has always loved to throw to his TE around the goal line, and that hasn’t changed now that he’s quarterbacking the Vikings.

- Heath Miller (5-80-1) has been on fire of late. Over the last three games, he is averaging 6.0-68-1.3 and should be in starting lineups until he cools off.

- Zach Miller (6-139-1) has started to hit waiver wires, but he shouldn’t last long. Even with the erratic JaMarcus Russell throwing the ball, he’s worth rostering.

- Greg Olsen (5-57-1) has caught a TD in each of the last three games.