Updated Dec 6, 2009 11:22 PM ET
Rolling right along through the final month of the regular season. Some of you who spent the afternoon shopping for gifts need to pay close attention.
Jets 19, Bills 13
• Those of you who started
Ryan Fitzpatrick, well ... let's just say I hope you never have to confess to it. He had 98 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, which is what you'd have expected from Cleveland's
Derek Anderson on a bad week. It's never a good thing to be compared to a Browns QB nowadays.
• Ah, there you are,
Marshawn Lynch. His 60 yards and one touchdown weren't that bad, and he rendered
Fred Jackson (13 carries, 31 yards) effectively useless. Looks like we can't throw the final shovel of dirt onto Lynch's fantasy value just yet.
•
Thomas Jones is an absolute machine. He doesn't do anything except rush for 100 yards on a seemingly weekly basis. He's a darkhorse candidate for all-fantasy team at RB.
Eagles 24, Falcons 7
• Those of you who didn't see this game probably saw the final score and expected to discover that
Donovan McNabb had a strong outing. He didn't — just 14-for-25 for 238 yards and a score. It wasn't pathetic, but hardly overwhelming against this defense, either.
• Six carries for two yards for
LeSean McCoy. That's as inexcusable as it is shocking. Andy Reid looks like he's going to get Leonard Weaver (100 total yards, one TD) more involved in the offense. McCoy just isn't ready to be a featured back yet, which isn't a good sign for his future fantasy value.
•
Chris Redman had 235 yards, one touchdown and two picks against Philly. Atlanta couldn't run the ball to save their lives, so you'll take that kind of production from Redman if you were forced to start him in a pinch, won't you?
Colts 27, Titans 17
•
Vince Young wasn't as outstanding as he was against the Titans, but he finished with a more than respectable 241 yards and two scores. Looks like VY is here to stay as a fantasy starter.
• Remember the 2003 season when
Jamal Lewis ran for 2,066 yards, and any effort to hold him even in the ballpark of 100 yards was considered solid for a defense?
Chris Johnson had 113 yards and no scores on 27 carries here. All things considered, that was a nice job of shutting him down by the Colts. Every yard was hard-earned. How much more could you have asked from them?
•
Joseph Addai is almost quietly putting together a very, very strong season. He rushed for 79 yards and two scores here, which was his first multi-TD game on the ground. He's not really a yardage machine (hasn't reached 80 rushing yards in any game), but he has scored at least one touchdown in seven of his last nine games.
Broncos 44, Chiefs 13
•
Correll Buckhalter (12 carries, 133 yards) and
Knowshon Moreno (21 carries, 86 yards, 2 TDs) did their best impression of when
DeAngelo Williams-
Jonathan Stewart are both on their games and just tag-team opponents to death. If they could run against the Chiefs every week, they'd probably go 1-2 in fantasy drafts. I'm not kidding.
• I don't know what it is, but for whatever reason,
Matt Cassel has really regressed in recent weeks. For a while, you could count on him to throw for 200-plus yards and a pair of scores. That sure isn't the case lately, though. His Week 13 stat line of just 84 passing yards, no scores and two picks was downright awful, especially considering that the Chiefs had a lot of garbage time they could have used to amass some cheap stats.
•
Jamaal Charles keeps on going, having posted 56 yards and a score on the ground. His production is limited by the lousy offense he plays with, but he could develop into an above-average RB2 next season, which is a lot more than we said or projected for him when the '09 campaign kicked off.
Jaguars 23, Texans 18
•
Maurice Jones-Drew owners had to have circled this game on the calendar after their fantasy hero rushed for three TDs and over 100 yards the first time these two teams met. MJD had a pretty disappointing 76 yards on 24 carries in this game, which was somewhat untimely since a few fantasy playoff seasoned commenced today.
•
David Garrard was near flawless today, throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns. I have never owned him in any fantasy league I've played in and simply refuse to do so. He has to be the most maddening guy to try to predict. Just when you're ready to write him off, he comes out of nowhere and has a game like this. I wouldn't even trade him for free at this point. I don't think my sanity could handle it.
•
Matt Schaub had a somewhat disappointing 207 yards with just one touchdown pass. Is it just me, or does it seem like his white-hot start to the season happened ages ago? And by the way, does anyone even care that
Steve Slaton was inactive for this game with a shoulder injury?
Panthers 16, Bucs 6
• The good news for
Josh Freeman: 321 passing yards. The bad news: no touchdown passes and five interceptions, including a few very costly ones. Looks like
Jake Delhomme isn't the only quarterback in the league who seems to get freaked out by playing in front of aqua blue seats.
•
Cadillac Williams is a solid yardage guy. He didn't score today, but rushed for 92 yards on 17 carries. He's usually good for somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-100 yards on most weeks.
• Jonathan Stewart (120 yards, one TD) subbed very nicely for the absent DeAngelo Williams, but that was probably the result of Carolina's staff not trusting
Matt Moore enough to let him throw. He didn't really need to against this defense.
Saints 33, Redskins 30 (OT)
• The Redskins actually have a pretty decent pass defense, but
Drew Brees seems to be at his best when his back is against the wall. His two touchdown passes were OK, but he totaled a whopping 419 yards in the air. Wow. Is there anything this guy can't do?
• Brees going wild meant little production from the Saints backfield (very little, in fact).
Mike Bell and
Pierre Thomas combined for 52 rushing yards. At least Thomas was able to post 64 receiving yards out of the backfield, but Bell didn't register a single catch.
• Coming out party of sorts for
Devin Thomas? He had seven grabs for 100 receiving yards and a couple of scores. We've seen the potential from him ever since he was drafted. He might finally be getting around to realizing it.
Raiders 27, Steelers 24
• It was unthinkable a few weeks ago, but
Bruce Gradkowski might very well be competing for the starting job next season. He led the Raiders offense on three touchdown drives to end the game and finished with three TD passes, 308 yards and no interceptions. Believe it or not, he has some advantageous upcoming matchups. If you're a serious gambler, he might not be a bad late pickup.
•
Ben Roethlisberger had 278 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, but probably should have done a little better for his owners.
• As expected,
Rashard Mendenhall got on track in a big way against this defense — 103 yards and a score on the ground. Almost every running back going against Oakland nowadays should be in your starting lineup.
Bengals 23, Lions 13
• It wasn't quite the breakout game we were hoping for, but
Carson Palmer at least made strides in the right direction against the Lions. His 220 yards and one touchdown pass weren't great, but not bad, either. His production over the last three weeks, considering the opposition, has to have you a little worried if you own him.
•
Cedric Benson returned in a big way — 36 carries for 110 yards. He didn't find the end zone, but you have to imagine he's completely healed if his coaching staff is prepared to give him a workload like that.
Larry Johnson had two carries for four yards. Like we all imagined, L.J. basically has no fantasy value if Benson is in there doing his thing.
•
Kevin Smith had one of his better games of the year here with 75 yards and a touchdown run. That's kind of sad to point out, isn't it?
Dolphins 22, Patriots 21
• Most of
Chad Henne's recent performance have been abysmal, and he was facing a secondary which was completely exposed by Brees only six days earlier, so don't get terribly psyched about his 325-yard performance against the Pats. No need to pick up someone like him at this stage of the season.
• I've seen
Davone Bess on a couple of waiver wires lately, and I can't really understand why. He had 10 catches for 117 yards and a score and has become one of Henne's go-to guys. Even if Henne doesn't post a huge stat line, Bess seems to find a way to at least produce an acceptable effort.
• I kept telling every
Laurence Maroney owner that the crash was imminent. It happened today, even though the Pats found running room against Miami early in the contest. Maroney had just 41 yards and no scores on 13 carries at one of the least opportune times for a poor outing. You can't rely on him for the playoff stretch.
Bears 17, Rams 9
•
Steven Jackson had 112 rushing yards. Kyle Boller had 113 passing yards. Think about that for a second. Would the Rams offense even cross midfield with the ball if they didn't have Jackson?
• The best which can really be said about
Jay Cutler is he didn't throw an interception, but his yardage (143) was pretty awful. He did manage to toss a touchdown pass, but all his stats should effectively count for half as much since it came against the Rams. Actually, wouldn't that be a cool scoring stipulation for a fantasy league? The better or worse the defense a team faces, the more or less (respectively) your production counts for. Hmm.
•
Matt Forte's 91 yards and a touchdown on the ground shouldn't have come as a huge surprise. His specialty this season has been performing well against lousy run defenses, and the Rams certainly qualify. The question becomes whether Forte can ever be counted on as a weekly start again.
Chargers 30, Browns 23
• God, is this Browns defense awful.
Philip Rivers had 373 passing yards and two touchdowns, which is hardly a shock. But he did it almost effortlessly throughout the game. Rivers literally could have flirted with 500 passing yards if he was interested.
• Congrats to
LaDainian Tomlinson for passing another great running back (Jim Brown) for eighth place on the all-time rushing yardage leader list. But L.T. has rushed for eight touchdowns in his last six games and has at least one in five of those last six. Just when you thought his season was a bust ...
• Yes, a lot of it came in garbage time, but
Brady Quinn is looking like he has the potential to develop into a decent long-term option for the Browns. If he was incapable of doing the job, he wouldn't have topped 300 yards and thrown for seven total touchdowns in two of his last three games. Depending on what kind of offseason additions the Browns make, Quinn might just be a deep sleeper for drafts next season.
Giants 31, Cowboys 24
•
Brandon Jacobs' big game is the equivalent of a guy who forgets his anniversary, so he rushes out to find some flower shop that's open 24-7 and hastily assemble a sloppy bouquet at this 11th hour for his wife. Too little, too late, Brandon.
• Ditto for
Jason Witten. The 156 receiving yards were very nice today. So, where the hell was this kind of production all season long, Jason?
• Two straight games over 300 passing yards for
Tony Romo. Nice timing — he carried me into the next round of the playoffs in one of my leagues.
Seahawks 20, Niners 17
• It's either feast or famine with
Frank Gore. Nine carries for 25 yards and no scores? Against the Seahawks? Wow. These are the kinds of games that prevent Gore from becoming a top fantasy RB.
• The
Vernon Davis express keeps on rolling. He had six catches for 111 yards and a score and has basically been posting WR1-like numbers all season long. In fact, his overall stats are better than those of some prominent WR1s.
• What a weird game this was.
Justin Forsett spends a month looking like the real deal, then only manages nine lousy yards on five carries. At least he caught a touchdown pass, but
Julius Jones was the featured back for the afternoon. Why are the Seahawks still fooling around with Jones? Weren't Forsett's recent performances enough to convince them he's their RB of the future?
