Did you know? It's a game that Ray Flowers is very fond of. In the column that follows he will point out plenty of statistical markers that might, just might, throw you off kilter a bit. Will you reassess the value of players based upon what you read? That will be up to you to decide.

THROWERS

Drew Brees is a disappointment. I keep hearing that. All depends on what you're talking about I assume. I know exactly why people think he's been a failure - it's the lack of touchdowns. To be clear, fair, honest and true, Brees has seen his touchdown rate drop. After 3-straight seasons of at least 39 scores it seems a relative certainty he won't reach that number this season. At the same time Brees has 19 touchdown passes in 10 games. That's 1.9 scores a contest. His career rate? It's 1.95. That means he's been the same as aslways. What is his pace this season? Well, how about 30.4 scores. What is Brees average since his first 30 TD season in 2008? He's thrown at least 30 scores every year from 2008-13 by the way. Over those six seasons he's averaged 38 scores a year. Yes, he's behind that pace, but a couple of four score outings down the stretch could still get him close. Then there is this. Brees is on pace for 4,900 yards and 30 touchdown passes. Do you know how many times that Aaron Rodgers had done that? Try zero. Peyton Manning? Once. Matthew Stafford? Once. Tony Romo? Zero. Tom Brady? Once. You get what I'm laying down here?

A week after one of the worst passing performances in 25 years Andy Dalton rebounded for the Bengals as 18 of his 21 passes that were targeted (not thrown away), hit his receivers in the hands. He also has a QB Rating of 140 on plays in which he was under pressure. 

Austin Davis must be Mark Sanchez's hero. Davis has thrown four pick-sixes this season and had two fumbles returned for scores as well.

Peyton Manning was dealing with the loss of Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas, and it showed in Week 11. On the 13 drop backs in which he faced pressure in Week 11 he went 5-for-11 for 53 yards and two interceptions. Manning has nine picks in 10 games this season. His first two seasons in Denver he averaged 10.5 picks a season. 

Kyle Orton completed three of eight passes over 10 yards in Week 11. There are rumblings he might lose his grip on the starting job with the Bills as his performance has slowed greatly the last two games. Still, what I see is the following. (1) Orton has only thrown three picks in six games including none in his last three outings. (2) Orton has a 93.5 QB Rating. He's never bettered that mark in a career that began in 2005. I'm not counting 2012 when he threw 10 passes all year. (3) His 64.0 percent completion percentage would be the best of his career in a season in which he appeared in five games. (4) He averages 1.15 touchdown passes a game for his career. This season that mark is 1.67. Anyone complaining about his effort - looking right at you Bills - simply has removed themselves from reality. 

Mark Sanchez is the problem with fantasy football. In Week 11 against the Packers he was awful. He sailed passes, missed receivers badly, tossed two picks and lost two fumbles (one pick, and one fumble were returned for scores). It was a simply dreadful outing. Alas, the Eagles fell so far behind that the Packers just sat back late and let Sanchez pick them apart as the clock ran out (the Pack still won 53-20). In the end Sanchez threw for 346 yards and two scores. Fantasy = solid game. Real world = horrible game. 

Ryan Tannehill went 26-for-30 for 240 yards on passes thrown under 20 yards in the air in Week 12. He didn't complete a pass of 20-yards. 

Alex Smith (108 yards) and Russell Wilson (178 yards) combined to throw for 286 yards in Week 11. Combined. The following QBs are averaging more yards than that per game this season: Andrew Luck (339), Peyton Manning (330), Drew Brees (307) and Ben Roethlisberger (297). Back to Wilson. He's thrown for less than 200-yards in 4-straight games, and in 3-straight he's been under 180-yards. Simply dreadful. Think about that for a second. The last three weeks he's averaged 176 passing yards a game. There are seven quarterbacks who are averaging more than 275 passing yards a game this season. 

RUNNERS

2: The number of running backs that were released Tuesday, seemingly for being jackholes. Ben Tate and LeGarrette Blount are now looking for jobs. There was a point in early August that if Tate was your RB2 and Blount was your RB3 you were feeling pretty solid about your fantasy football team. 

Le'Veon Bell scored on the ground in Week 11 for the first time since Week 1. He's on pace to catch 83 passes. He caught 45 passes as a rookie last year. 

Alfred Blue carried the ball 36 times, a Texans record, on his way to 156 yards on the ground. Eighty-eight of those yards came after contact. The previous five games for Blue resulted in 91 total rushing yards. 

Ahmad Bradshaw is done for the year with a significant leg injury. Hate to say I told you, but I told you an injury was inevitable. The last time, the only time in eight years in which he appeared in 16 games, was in 2010. In his eight year career an average Bradshaw season is 12.1 games played meaning he's missed nearly 25 percent of game action since he stepped on to an NFL field. 

Jamaal Charles finally had a 100 yard rushing day as he ran over the vaunted Seattle defense for 159 yards and two scores on 20 carries. Last season Charles hit triple-digits four times. Charles has also been a scoring monster of late with six scores in four games and 10 in his last seven outings. 

Did you know that Matt Forte has more receiving yards - 575 - than Eddie Lacy has rushing yards (547)?

Jonas Gray scored four times on the ground in Week 11. The first 10 weeks of the season the entire Patriots roster scored three times on the ground. Might want to pump the breaks on Gray in Week 12 too as the Patriots face a Lions club that is allowing 69 yards a week on the ground and just four rushing scores all season. 

Anyone realize that Fred Jackson has 37 receptions in eight games, a season long pace for 74 catches?

Marshawn Lynch produced 61 yards after contact in Week 12 as he was hit at the line of scrimmage, or behind it, on nine of his 24 carries. The last three weeks an average Lynch game: 22 carries, 110 yards and two scores. 

LeSean McCoy is averaging 72.9 yards per game on the ground. For his career that mark is 73.8. By the  way, over his last six games he's averaging 89.5 yards on the ground. 

Lamar Miller is averaging 4.9 YPC this season. That's also the mark of Jerick McKinnon, and Jeremy Hill, and Le'Veon Bell. It dwarfs the marks of guys like Matt Forte (4.2) and Frank Gore (4.1). 

RECEIVERS

14: The number of wideouts that have seen at least 90-targets this season. Only two men have failed to reach 600-yards in Rueben Randle (521) and Vincent Jackson (561). Moreover, only three have failed to hit 700-yards (Andre Johnson has 631 yards).

Keenan Allen has caught at least six passes in three of his last four games. Over those four outings an average effort has been 6.75 receptions on 11.25 targets. Maybe he's not useless after all?

Doug Baldwin averaged 48.6 yards a game last year. He's at 48.5 this season. Also has two scores in 10 games. Yippee.

Antonio Brown is averaging eight receptions and 105.5 yards a game this season. His worst game numbers are five receptions and 74 yards. His worst. An average Calvin Johnson game this season is 4.86 receptions and 74.3 yards. #JustSaying

Martavis Bryant... wait, didn't someone warn you about him? Bryant caught two balls for 11 yards in Week 11. I know the touchdowns are great, but here's the reality with Bryant - you cannot trust him on a weekly basis. In three of five games he hasn't hit 45 yards receiving. In three of five games he's had three or fewer receptions. In three of five games he's had five or fewer targets. Do you know who averages three receptions, five targets and 45 yards a week? Kenny Britt (2.5 receptions, 4.7 targets, 44.0 yards).

Mike Evans is the leading point producer, per game, over the last five weeks at the wide receiver position in a traditional PPR setup (1 pt. for catch, 1 pt. for 10 yards, 6 pts. for TD). You might have guessed that. Would you have been able to guess that Brandon LaFell is ranked 10th? How about Anquan Boldin 14th? Larry Fitzgerald 21st? Back to Evans. The last three weeks he's averaging 32.3 points a contest. That is literally double the marks of Calvin Johnson (17.6) and A.J. Green (14.4).

Travis Kelce is the only tight end in football with a YAC mark over seven (minimum 300 yards). Kelce is at 7.9 yards after the catch. The seven tight ends above him in receiving yards... not a single one is even at 6.0 YPC.

Brandon Marshall scored twice in Week 11 to give him eight scores on the year. His 16 game pace of 13 touchdowns would be a career-high (he has 11 and 12 the past two seasons). Too bad he's at just 58.6 yards a contest. Since 2007 that number has been at least 72.4 yards per game every year. 

Greg Olsen is averaging 65.4 yards a contest. Jimmy Graham is at 62.3. 

Rueben Randle saw a career-high 15 targets in Week 11. He didn't score for a 5th straight game but he did haul in seven passes for 112 yards. He's really been a target monster, even if the results don't always impress. In his last three games he's been targeted at least 10 times, and he's hit double digits in six of eight games with the only two times he missed being two 9-target efforts. Despite all the looks he's only scored once in that run and has been over 75-yards just twice. 

 

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