In an effort to avoid being "that guy," I will refrain from talking about the plethora of running backs that were injured early in their games, causing me much fantasy football consternation. Instead, we'll talk about the 'Boys bludgeoning, the Raiders reeling, and the Seahawks, well, sucking.
THE BLOWOUTS (Texans 41, Titans 7; Cowboys 34, Rams 7;
Saints 62, Colts 7)
TRIUMPH: The
Cowboys had rushed for just under 85 yards per game coming into this contest,
for a total of 424 yards. They ran
for 294 yards in this game, 253 of which came from rookie Demarco Murray. The Rams were bottom-five in the league
in run defense heading into the game.
Guess that wasn’t a statistical anomaly.
TRAGEDY: Arian
Foster had more yards receiving (119) than he had rushing (115) in the
Texans-Titans game. So did Chris
Johnson – except he had 24 receiving yards. Wop wop wop.
TREND: Saints TE
Jimmy Graham’s worst statistical (read: fantasy) game of this season was a
six-catch, 79-yard performance against a Bears team whose defense is built to
contain the big play. Absent a
monstrous game that skews his statistics, he is legitimately on pace for 100
catches, 1500 yards, and 10 touchdowns.
TRAIL MIX: Murray’s
253 yards harkens me back to fellow Oklahoma alum Adrian Peterson’s
record-breaking 296 yard performance in his
rookie year. Also, while this is
not surprising given the fact that each team was winning big, but the Texans,
Cowboys, and Saints averaged 250 yards rushing.
CHIEFS 28, RAIDERS 0
TRIUMPH: Michael
Bush ran 17 times for 99 yards (5.8 avg) after Darren McFadden left the game
with an injury in the first quarter.
Yes, Bush more than tripled any of his rushing totals this year, and he
had two 100-yard games in McFadden’s absence last year, but this is DMC’s team. Don’t forget that.
TRAGEDY: The
Raiders were in the bottom ten in the NFL in pass defense coming into the game,
and Matt Cassel was coming out of a bye after a 4-TD game in Week 5. Not surprisingly, Cassel threw all over
the lot … oh, he didn’t? What,
only 2 TD? No? Then, what’d he – no touchdowns, 2
interceptions, and less than 6 yards per attempt, huh? Odd.
TREND: Darrius Heyward-Bey, much maligned
due to his disappointing first two years in the league after being drafted 7th
overall, has caught at least four passes for at least 80 yards in each of the
last four games. This is a
noticeable trend, considering he had either caught four passes or had 80 yards
receiving just three times in his first
two seasons.
TRAIL MIX: Twenty-four
teams played in games on Sunday. Eight
quarterbacks played in those games who do not have a full season of NFL
starting experience (John Beck, Kevin Kolb, Cam Newton, Christian Ponder, Matt
Moore, Tim Tebow, Charlie Whitehurst, Curtis Painter). Those players threw a combined 6
interceptions. The Raiders had two
quarterbacks play in this game, Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer, who had combined
for ten seasons’ worth of game experience. They threw 6 interceptions.
BROWNS 6, SEAHAWKS 3
TRIUMPH: Kudos to
Browns kicker Phil Dawson for making two 50+ yard field goals. Yeah, that’s pretty much the only
triumph in this game.
TRAGEDY: Aside
from the final score, I would say that the tragedy (at least for fantasy
owners) was Marshawn Lynch hurting his back in warmups and missing the game
without anyone outside the stadium knowing about it until the game had already
started. Maybe he could have gone
into Beast Mode and gotten the ‘Hawks another couple field goals to win the
game.
TREND: Opponents
have run against the Seahawks 33 times per game this season (4th
most in the league). The Seahawks
have allowed 3.2 yards per carry this season (best in the league). Think you might want to start passing
on them?
TRAIL MIX: The
Cleveland Browns (3-3) have a better record than the Philadelphia Eagles (2-4),
despite being in the bottom ten in the league in passing and rushing. Their secret? Their wins have come against teams who are a combined
2-17. The Eagles’ losses have come
against teams who are a combined 17-8.
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