Ah, Week 14…
In most leagues, this is the week where all the teams good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to get a bye duke it out in the first round of the playoffs. There’s generally no room for error due to the quality of the competition so every surprise performance and every disappointing outing is magnified.
Here’s a look at a few heroes and a few goats from Sunday’s action.
HEROES
Darren McFadden
In a must win game? How does 209 total yards and three TDs suit you? DMC went absolutely nuts against Jacksonville, scoring on a 67-yard pass, and runs of 51- and 36-yards. And believe it or not, the Jags were playing well enough of late for this to be considered a bad matchup. With the Broncos and Colts on deck at home over the next two weeks, McFadden is primed for a BIG finish.
Tom Brady
Deion Branch
Last week, I had a 30-point lead with just Brady to go against a pretty good Jets defense and lost because Brady scored 32. This week, in another league, I figured Brady might have a mediocre game in wintry Chicago conditions in another bad matchup. Yeah…no…369 yards, two TDs. Nothing can stop Brady right now, not even a blizzard. As for Branch, do you think he’s happy being out of Seattle. The guy is on fire right now — he has four TDs in the last three weeks.
Pittsburgh DT
This is why fantasy owners drafted the Steelers DT in the late-middle rounds. Seven points allowed, three sacks, three picks and two interception return TDs. Next week the Steelers host the reeling Jets and in Week 16, Jimmy Clausen and the Panthers come to town. Wow.
Santana Moss
Be honest. Are there any Moss owners out there that were expecting 7-82-1 this week? I know Aqib Talib was out, but still, Moss only mustered a total of 64 yards (and zero TDs) in his previous two games, and it looked like Anthony Armstrong was stealing targets. Moss came up big in the clutch.
Michael Turner
I’m sure there were some nervous Turner owners out there after Week 6, when he only had 45 yards rushing against the Eagles, and only had one rushing TD on the season. Since then, Turner has scored 10 TDs over the next seven games, including three against the Panthers on Sunday.
Marques Colston
I had Colston ranked #7 this week and he didn’t disappoint, catching five passes for 49 yards and two TDs against a Rams defense that has struggled against opposing WRs this season. Sometimes the Saints’ spread-it-around style bites fantasy owners in the butt…but with seven TDs in his last seven games, Colston is playing big when it matters.
Vernon Davis
In a time when stud TEs are far and few between, Davis is turning it ON. He had 5-70-1 against the Seahawks a week after going for 5-132-1 against the Packers. Davis had a fairly brutal four-game stretch before this outburst, so he has definitely rewarded those fantasy owners that stuck with him in crunch time.
Jason Witten
Speaking of tight ends, Witten upped the ante in the evening game, racking up 7-69-2 to keep the Cowboys in the game against the Eagles. He now has three strong games in a row, just when fantasy owners need them the most.
DeSean Jackson
He only had four catches, but if he’s going to average 52.5 yards per reception, that’s all right. Jackson was electric on Sunday night, catching a long bomb to open the game and then scoring on a 91-yard strike that essentially won the game for the Eagles.
GOATS
Kyle Orton
Brandon Lloyd
What happened to you two? This was a good matchup for Lloyd, but you wouldn’t know it by his final numbers (3-32). Orton only looked his way six times, which was the fourth-most on the team. Speaking of Orton, as Week 12 came to a close, he had just thrown eight TDs in three games. In his last two outings, he hasn’t topped 166 passing yards or thrown for a score. What a dud.
Cincinnati Offense (not named Ochocinco)
T.O., really? One catch for 22 yards? I know the Steelers have a good defense, but fantasy-wise they are only mediocre against wide receivers. Owens was only targeted six times by Carson Palmer, who threw three picks, including two that were returned for TDs. On the whole, it was a horrendous day for the Bengals offense. And Cedric Benson only mustered 45 yards, but that was somewhat expected.
Rashard Mendenhall
Matt Forte
Here are two backs that were widely ranked in the top 15 and they both failed to produce much of anything. You expect these numbers against good rush defenses, but both players had nice matchups and didn’t produce in crunch time.
Mike Williams (TB)
Paging Mike Williams…Please proceed to the nearest courtesy counter. Williams was targeted a team-high five times, but only caught one pass for 15 yards against one of the worst pass defenses in the league.
Jay Cutler
Cutler had been playing well enough the last few weeks that he was starting to get back into fantasy lineups. The conditions were tough, but Tom Brady didn’t seem to have any problems and the Patriots defense has struggled all season against the pass. Maybe they’re not as bad as the numbers say…or maybe Cutler is who we thought he was…
Jamaal Charles
Dwayne Bowe
With Matt Cassel out, KC was supposed to employ a run-heavy attacked that featured Charles, but he only managed 49 yards on 11 touches. Part of the problem was Brodie Croyle (7/17, 40 yards), who was terrible, and that hurt both Charles and Bowe (1-3), whose production has totally fallen off a cliff after a fantastic midseason run.
Tashard Choice
The Cowboys didn’t use Choice as much as the news reports out of Dallas led us to believe. He only got eight touches and was visibly itching for work when he caught his only pass for 17 yards. Felix Jones (83 total yards, TD) got most of the work, especially after Choice failed to score inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line in the first half.
Jeremy Maclin
When the guy on the other side goes for 210 yards, that doesn’t leave much for you. Maclin had just one catch for 11 yards, and was only targeted three times all night. It was his worst game of the season, and it came in a great matchup at the worst possible time. He’s suddenly looking benchable with two tough matchups (NYG, MIN) coming up.
I’m sure I missed a few in each category — who are your heroes and/or goats?
