In the Trenches: Wk.9 - Studs vs. Duds

Posted by Ray Flowers on 11/04/2012 | 0 Comments

Tags: Dwayne Allen, Eric Decker, Matt Forte, Arian Foster, T.Y. Hilton, Calvin Johnson, Hakeem Nicks, Chris Johnson, Mikel Leshoure, Andrew Luck, Marshawn Lynch, Peyton Manning, Brandon Marshall, Doug Martin, Carson Palmer, Adrian Peterson, Isaac Redman, Golden Tate, Jermichael Finley, Joe Flacco, Josh Gordon, Fred Jackson, Rashad Jennings, Eli Manning, Brandon Pettigrew, Christian Ponder, Kyle Rudolph, Jonathan Stewart, Titus Young. Marcel Reese, Brandon Myers

There are still games to be played in Week 9 of the NFL season, the Sunday Night Football game is still going on as this is being written, and there is of course the Monday Night football game as well, but we at Fantasy Alarm wanted to update you as to what occurred on the field as quickly as anyone in the business, so here is a quick hitting review of the players that lived up to expectations as well as those that left a void for their owners in the fantasy game in Week 9.

STUDS

Dwayne Allen took advantage of Coby Fleener being out of the mix Sunday hauling in six passes for 75 yards for the Colts. His fantasy value is tied directly to Fleener being on the field.

Eric Decker just continues to get it done. He hauled in eight balls for two scores, and the only possible downside to his effort would be if you are in a bonus yardage league – he had “just” 99 yards.

Matt Forte killed the Titans, well the Bears throttled the team from Tennessee in their 51-20 shellacking. Forte touched the ball just 14 times but was able to produce 148 yards an a score. He's all the way back from that ankle injury.

Arian Foster has played eight games. He has scored in each of his eight games (11 total). He scored once and had 111 yards rushing in Week 9.

T.Y. Hilton had six grabs for 102 yards an a score as he was targeted a Colts high 11 times in the game. Keep an eye on the health of Donnie Avery's hip – it will tell the tale of the value of Hilton moving forward.

Calvin Johnson failed to score, again, but with everyone afraid he wouldn't even play in Week 9, or possibly be limited to a handful of plays, he has to be considered a big time stud given that he caught six balls for 111 yards – in the first half (he had seven receptions for 129 yards in the game). Despite the knee being an issue, he still got it done.

Can we finally stop the Chris Johnson is a bum talk? Johnson had another huge day against a stout Bears' defense as he carried the ball 16 times for 141 yards an a touchdown. He's now averaging 115 yards a game on the ground over his past six contests. He did fumble the ball twice, but no one is perfect – not even yours truly.

Have a day Mikel Leshoure. He only ran for 70 yards, but no one gives a darn about that in fantasy as he scored three times in the first half as the Lions laid a whopping on the Jaguars.

Andrew Luck went bonkers on his way to 433 passing yards, the most in football history by a rookie (one yard more than Cam Newton last year and two yards more than Ryan Tannehill earlier this season). Luck also tossed two scores as he continues to impress on a weekly basis as he's on pace for 4,800 yards passing and 20 scores – as a rookie.

Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 26 times, a season-high, on his way to 124 yards an a score. He's matchup proof.

Peyton Manning had another huge day – 291 yards and three scores. He did toss two inceptions while also falling nine yards short of a 5th straight 300-3 game which would have tied Steve Young's NFL record.

This is why you never bench Brandon Marshall. He and Jay Cutler torched the Titans to the tune of three scores, nine receptions and 122 yards. Three of the last four games that he has played he has hit the nine reception level. An absolute monster.

Doug Martin ran for 31 yards in the first half setting himself up for a rather blah afternoon. You know what happened in the second half though – he ran for 220 yards (he went for 137 yards on back-to-back carries at one point). All told that total of 251 yards is the third highest by a rookie in league history (Adrian Peterson 296, DeMarco Murray 253). The yardage alone made him a fantasy superstar. Add in the four touchdowns, and four receptions for another 25 yards, and this may have been the greatest rushing performance in the history of fantasy football.

Brandon Myers had played 49 NFL games without scoring a touchdown. That changed in Week 9 as he scored not just once, but twice including a highly athletic dive to the pylon. All told he caught eight balls for 59 yards.

Carson Palmer became the third Raiders' QB to throw for 400 yards and four scores in a game (he completed 39 of 61 passes for 414 yards and three interceptions). The others were Cotton Davidson in 1964 and Tom Flores in 1963.

Adrian Peterson is a beast. Please tell me that you didn't turn away from him because of the lack of touchdowns or because of some perceived difficult matchup. You didn't did you? A.D. did what few in the game can do – he flat out dominated a dominant run defense on his way to 182 yards and two scores on just 17 carries. A monster.

I say it all the time, but sometimes it's as much about the system as it is the player. With Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Dywer sidelined Isaac Redman went off, like out of his mind, rushing the pigskin 26 times for 147 yards and a score for the Steelers. Redman is still nothing more than the third back to own in Pittsburgh despite the outing when the other two are healthy.

Marcel Reece is a solid football player, and he showed it in Week 9. With Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson both out with injury, Reece stepped to the fore and caught eight balls for 95 yards an a score. His value moving forward obviously hinges on the health of the other two runners.

Golden Tate caught four balls for 28 yards. Yippee. Two touchdowns were had on those four receptions though included one were he dove into the end zone before getting blasted. He doesn't seen enough work to be considered a weekly lock, but you gotta be impressed with what he did with his limited touches.

DUDS
*** None injury related, so guys like Darren McFadden and Jordy Nelson do not qualify.

Jermichael Finley had one catch for six yards. I almost didn't even bother to list him as a “dud” since this type of effort has become the norm for him. Might as well add Jared Cook to the party as well as he had two catches for six yards (he made a fantastic grab in the end zone but couldn't get both feet down in the field of play or he would have added a score).

Joe Flacco threw for 153 yards and one score. That leaves Flacco throwing for an average of 180 yards over his last four games during which time he has thrown for three scores. So much for the Ravens opening up the offense.

Josh Gordon had two catches for 38 yards. He also received only three targets in the game. You shouldn't be surprised. He's such a boom or bust option given that he's yet to catch more than three passes in any game this season, not one.

Fred Jackson has to share the backfield every week with C.J. Spiller, but it's still disheartening to see six carries for 21 yards. At least he caught five balls for 14 yards.

Rashad Jennings was a non entity on Sunday. He ran the ball 12 times for 45 yards and caught three balls for seven yards. He also let a ball pop out of his hands that led to an interception as he lost playing time late to Jalen Parmele.

Eli Manning, what the hell has happened to you? Ten completions for 125 yards? Really? After going 24-straight games with at least 200-yards passing, the second longest streak in league history, Eli has now failed to throw for 200 yards in three of his last four outings. Shocking really. Manning's ineptitude killed Hakeem Nicks who caught one measly pass for 10 yards (he was open on a bomb that would have scored from about 70 yards right off the hop but Manning missed him).

Brandon Pettigrew forgot he was playing football on Sunday. He caught one ball for 11 yards. Can't totally blame him though as Matthew Stafford only threw two passes his way.

Christian Ponder started the season so well, but he's not only turned that frown upside down of late, he's caused that frown to turn into a retching drunk in the corner of the bar on Saturday night. Ponder threw for 69 yards, the second time in three weeks that he failed to throw for 70 yards (read that again). If it was 1942 that might be OK, but it's 2012 so it's simply dreadful.

Kyle Rudolph – zero receptions. He's failed to reach 25 yards in five of his last six games. Shame on you Christian Ponder and a coaching staff in Minnesota that simply doesn't know how to utilize their offensive weapons properly.

Jonathan Stewart... were you lied to like the rest of us were? The Panthers have been saying for a couple of weeks that JStew is now their lead back. If that's the case, why in the hell did they only give him 11 touches in Week 9? He produced a solid total of 57 yards, but the truth is this – HC Ron Rivera continues to lie about how the club will utilize Stewart, and that is killing his fantasy owners.

Titus Young you bum. After a huge Week 8 he caught two balls for 20 yards in Week 9.

Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87, Monday through Thursday at 7 PM EDT and Friday's at 9p-12a EDT. Ray's further analysis can be found BaseballGuys.com an at the BaseballGuys' Twitter account.