Week 5 isn't quite in the books, the Texans take on the Jets in Monday Night Football, but there is still plenty o' stuff to review with the vast majority of the week in the books.Drew Brees threw for four touchdowns, the 17th time he has done that. Amazingly, that only ties him for fourth in NFL history (Brett Favre did it 23 times). Brees also set an NFL record by throwing a score in his 48th straight game. Marques Colston, who caught three scores in Week 5, has scored 25 times during those 48 games.Jamaal Charles lit up the Ravens in Week 5 . He touched the ball 33 times, two weeks after he racked up 39 touches. "I wish he could get it more because he can run for a touchdown," HC Romeo Crennel said. While his fantasy owners LOVE hearing that, if the Chiefs think they can give Charles 30 touches a week the rest of the way... it's just not going to happen. Charles will die under that workload. For his career Charles may have been slightly underutilized as the team âprotectedâ him, but at 5'11â, 195 lbs, that seems to make a lot of sense. Over the last three weeks Charles has touched the ball 92 times, an average of 31 a week. Over the first 51 games of his career he averaged 12.6 touches a week. Enjoy it while it lasts for sure but be very wary of Charles being able to stay this productive with that heavy a workload.Jimmy Graham hurt his ankle in Week 5, but luckily for the Saints and Graham owners the club is on a Bye this week. He caught only one pass for four yards on the day however. He's been a disappointment this season, but even with all the struggles we're still looking at a season of 80 receptions and 10 scores â not bad at all for a âterribleâ start to the season.Robert Griffin III suffered a concussion in Week 5. He says he will play in Week 6. The team seems somewhat confident that he will play in Week 6. Do not add me to that list of believers. RGIII apparently didnât remember the score of the game or what period the game was in after his âmildâ concussion. If you suffer from memory loss it's not a âmildâ concussion. I wouldn't be planning on playing RGIII this week â the 'Skins can't risk their franchise player if he isn't 100 percent.Devery Henderson blew up in Week 5 catching eight balls for 123 yards an a score for the Saints. I can't say I'm surprised, I did recommend starting Henderson in my Week 5 NFC Article. At the same time, Henderson is still a deep threat that is likely going to be hit an miss all season long. Plus, when Lance Moore is back, he's bound to get some of those targets that went Henderson's way even though they are totally different players.
First round draft pick Chris Johnson has failed to run for 25 yards in four of his five games this season. In Week 5 he carried the ball 15 times for 24 yards and on the year he is averaging a mere 2.9 yards a game. While the team would like to move to at least giving Javon Ringer a more substantial role, Ringer injured his left knee and the early reports are that the club expects him to miss 4-6 weeks with an MCL injury. If so, the Titans will likely to have no choice but to continue to give the rock to their dancing runner who needs to be more decisive, even with an O-line that can't open up the holes.Rashad Mendenhall looked great yesterday. Really impressive actually. He showed strength and a burst we didn't see from him last year, proving that the ACL tear he suffered is in the rear view mirror. Mendenhall ran for 81 yards on 14 carries and scored as well. RB2 status, welcome back Mr. Mendenhall.Cam Newton completed only 41.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 141 yards in Week 5 against the Seahawks. He also ran the ball seven times for 42 yards in what was a terrible fantasy effort. Life is so funny. People are screaming about how terrible he has been this year. Consider this. His completion percentage is only 1.2 percent off his career rate. His QB Rating is only 3.4 percent below last year. He's averaging 231 yards passing a game. That mark was 207 over his last eight games last season. He's averaging 2.3 yards less a game on the ground. The touchdowns are down â an average of 1.4 a week after 2.2 per game last year â but otherwise I've got a newsflash for you, he's been pretty much the same player this year since the start of the second half last year.
The Niners did something they had never done before in Week 5. They had a 300 yards passer (Alex Smith three for 303 yards and three scores), two 100 yard receivers (Michael Crabtree caught six balls for 113 yards an a score while Vernon Davis caught five balls for 106 yards) an a 100 yard rusher (Frank Gore had 14 carries, 106 yards, one score) in the same game. They also racked up 621 yards against an anemic Bills' defense, the third highest single game total since 1970 in a non OT game (the Dan Fouts led Chargers had 661 yards in 1982).
The Patriots have run for three scores in each of their last two games, the first time the club has pulled off that trick since 1978. Here are the numbers of those backs the past two weeks.Brandon Bolden: 30 carries, 191 yards, one scoreTom Brady: five carries, two yards, two scoresSteven Ridley: 50 carries, 257 yards, three scoresShane Vereen: two carries, one yard, one scoreDanny Woodhead: seven carries, 47 yards (no scores)Steve Smith has failed to record a touchdown this season. He's also failed to record five catches in any of his last three games. Add in his total of 92 yards the past two weeks and it's clear that he's suffering from the lack of connection with the struggling Cam Newton. Hell, both are struggling.Michael Vick has turned the ball over nine times in the red zone the past two years. No other QB in the game has turned the ball over more than five times in this scenario. Big shocker â Vick has always been a turnover machine. He's also been awful this year. Pathetic in some respects. Still, he's the #11 QB in the fantasy game. Read that again â #11. Here's the truth.
1 â Vick isn't going to lose his starting job unless he is hurt.
2 â He will be hurt at some point and miss time.
3 â He is going to continue to turn the ball over.
4 â He's averaging 264.2 yards passing per game. A career best.
5 â He's on pace to throw for 19 touchdowns. The past two years he's averaged 19.5 TD passes.
6 â His completion percent is 58.4 percent, 2.2 percent above his career rate.
7 â His QB Rating is 77.8. Last year it was 84.9 percent and his career mark is 80.7.
8 â Other than the turnovers, he's pretty much been the same passer he's always been.
I hate the person that Michael Vick is, and I don't use that term lightly, and he's been an up and down disaster on the field this season. Still, he's been a a top-12 QB this year in the fantasy game, and there's no reason to think that he won't be a QB1 this season whenever he's healthy an on the field.Reggie Wayne caught 12 passes for 212 yards and a score in Week 5. Brace yourself, but here is his season long pace: 144 receptions, 2,024 yards and eight scores. Wayne's career bests are 111 receptions, 1,510 yards and 12 scores. The single season reception record is 143 by Marvin Harrison (another Colt), while the yardage record is 1,848 by Jerry Rice. Wayne wasn't the only receiver who blew up in Week 5. Here are some of the others who had whopping contests:Marques Colston: Nine receptions, 131 yards, three scoresVictor Cruz: five receptions, 50 yards, three scoresJosh Gordon, James Jones, Robert Meachem: two scoresJulio Jones: 10 receptions, 94 yards, one scoreBrandon Marshall: 12 receptions, 144 yards, one scoreDemaryius Thomas: nine receptions, 188 yardsWes Welker: 13 receptions, 104 yards, one scoreRay 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 9 PM EDT. Ray's analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys' Twitter account. Player News
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