Fantasy-wise, here’s everything you need to know (and a lot that you don’t) from NFL’s Week 13 action…
QUARTERBACKS
Joe Flacco (280 yards, 2 TD) had another nice day. He has 11 TD in his last seven games…Peyton Manning (125 yards, 2 INT) and the rest of the Colts offense had a miserable day, but Indy still got the win…Matt Ryan (207 yards, 2 TD) threw for a TD for the first time in three games…Phillip Rivers (149 yards) surprisingly struggled against the Falcons, who were 24th against the pass heading into the game…He got off to a sketchy start, but Ben Roethlisberger (179 yards, 2 TD, INT) bounced back with a solid game…Clearly, Matt Cassel (169 yards, 2 INT) isn’t playing well enough to overcome a matchup with the best defense in the league…
RUNNING BACKS
LeRon McClain (25 carries, 86 yards) out-touched Ray Rice (15 touches, 55 yards). Willis McGahee didn’t play…DeAngelo Williams (24 touches, 86 yards, 4 TD) continues his late season push. Over the last five games, he has averaged 118 total yards and 1.8 TD per game…Steven Jackson (22 touches, 110 yards) returned and looked pretty good…With Reggie Bush (8 touches, 32 yards) back, it was Pierre Thomas (12 touches, 54 yards, TD) not Deuce McAllister (4 touches, 16 yards) that was the Saints’ change of pace back. Thomas is much more explosive and is the better fantasy play down the stretch…Peyton Hillis (22 carries, 129 yards, TD) continues to produce as the Denver RB1…Thomas Jones (18 touches, 159 yards, 2 TD) is rolling and is virtually a must-start in most leagues…Sammy Morris (11 touches, 57 yards, TD) was the one who scored, but Kevin Faulk (13 touches, 121 yards) had more touches and yards…
WIDE RECEIVERS
After five straight games without a TD, Isaac Bruce (5-67-1) is suddenly a legitimate threat at WR again. He has posted 13-192-2 over the last two weeks…With Plaxico Burress in trouble with the po-po, Amani Toomer (5-85-1) and Domenik Hixon (5-71) picked up the slack. It looks like those two will be Eli Manning’s top targets with Burress out…Chris Chambers (1-2) and Vincent Jackson (0-0) struggled mightily against Atlanta and can’t be trusted heading down the stretch…Denver has struggled against the pass this season, so it is surprising that Jerricho Cotchery (4-40) and Laveranues Coles (2-2) struggled so mightily on Sunday…Eddie Royal was supposed to be highly questionable against the Jets, but still posted better numbers (5-84-1) than did Brandon Marshall (5-55)…Wes Welker (4-30) got rocked in the second half and didn’t return to the game. Keep an eye on his status this week…Top wide receivers like Dwayne Bowe (2-27) continue to struggle against the Raiders secondary. This is a matchup to avoid down the stretch…After three straight subpar games, Bernard Berrian (4-122-1) got back on track with a very nice line, which included the rare 99-yard TD reception early on…Devin Hester (3-67-1) continues to progress as a fantasy receiver. He has caught at least three passes in four of the last five games and has gained at least 42 yards in each of those games.
TIGHT ENDS
Kellen Winslow (3-15) was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury…Jeremy Shockey (4-52) has reestablished himself as a legitimate fantasy TE. He has 15 catches in the last three games…In the Jets/Broncos game, the two tight ends – Tony Scheffler (7-90) and Dustin Keller (7-77) – both had nice games…Heath Miller has posted 8-104-1 in the last two games and is once again a viable starting fantasy tight end…Zach Miller (5-79) has caught at least three passes in the last four games…
FREE AGENTS
Now for a few guys that are probably sitting on your league’s waiver wire…
Mark Clayton (5-164-1, pass TD) is making a late-season push towards fantasy respectability. He posted 2-76-1 last week against the Eagles…Todd Heap (4-39-1) had a nice game against the Bengals. He has posted 14-139-3 over the last four weeks….Brandon Jackson (12 touches, 86 yards) was more impressive than Ryan Grant (12 carries, 39 yards), who sat out most of the second half. Jackson has more wiggle, while Grant showed better speed last year. But with Grant struggling to break runs this season, Jackson seems to be the better back at this point….After 5-87 last week, Davone Bess posted 6-84 this week and has taken over the role of Greg Camarillo in Miami’s offense.
