Welcome to the 2016 Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Football Game Recaps! Nobody watches more NFL football than yours truly mostly because it is impossible to do so. Each week I’ll open up my notepad to all of our Fantasy Alarm readers so that you guys can go beyond the boxscore to get the information you need to win your league.

Fantasy football can be so immensely frustrating. You prepare all week long going over matchups, getting the latest injury news and piecing together the best lineups that you possibly can. When it all works out the way you expected there is great joy and celebration. When it doesn’t work out there is anger and regret. Those are two very easy emotions to understand and to deal with.

Then there are weeks like this week. There were 79 points scored in the Panthers/Saints game yet Mark Ingram and Willie Snead struggled to return value. Then you see that Coby Fleener had more rushing TD’s than Ingram and you just want to vomit. How about the Rams moving the ball at will against the lowly Lions defense only to decide that Case Keenum would not only throw the ball every play but also take away goal line carries from Todd Gurley?

Then there are the cases of Arian Foster, Ryan Mathews and anyone on the Pittsburgh Steelers. This week was a lesson in being in the right place but not having it work out quite the way it normally would. Let’s go over everything that went right and wrong in fantasy football this week.

Here are the Week 6 Fantasy Football Game Recaps:

 

16 – San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills – 45

Fantasy Player of Game: LeSean McCoy, RB, Bills – 19-140-3 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Jeremy Kerley, WR, 49ers – 2-12 receiving

I predicted that Colin Kaepernick and Tyrod Taylor would combine for 150 rushing yards today but I was wrong. They only got 134 combined rushing yards between them both.

As lopsided as the score was today, we definitely learned that Kaepernick is much more equipped to run this offense than Blaine Gabbert was. Better times are ahead for Kap and we could be a top 12 fantasy QB the rest of the way.

We say it all of the time. When there is a QB change, it effects the pecking order of all the WR’s in terms of fantasy production. Today we saw Jeremy Kerley not be a factor while Torrey Smith was much more active. I suspect that Smith will be Kaepernick’s favorite target moving forward. You can consider cutting Jeremy Kerley from your roster as well.

49ers CB Rashard Robinson left the game with a concussion.

As good as LeSean McCoy was today, this was a simple case of the Bills offensive line pushing around the 49ers defense. The Bills as a team ran for 44-312-4 today. This O-line has been absolutely dominant over the last four games.

McCoy left the game with a right knee injury but was cleared to return after missing just one series.   

The Bills don’t have a primary wide receiver. The only target that I would even consider here for fantasy purposes is TE Charles Clay and even that makes me very nervous.

20 – Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins – 27

Fantasy Player of Game: Matt Jones, RB, Redskins – 16-135-1 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Ryan Mathews, RB, Eagles – 9-60 rushing

Doug Pederson has already proven that he is in over his head right now as a head coach. For a team to start out 3-0 and then come back and lose back to back games against inferior competition means there was no improvements during that break.

Another point about coaching is that it is impossible for a team to play a close game, have your RB averaging seven yards per carry and then only give it to him nine times.

This was the Eagles second consecutive game of 110+ yards of penalties enforced against them. That is basically just giving the opposing team a touchdown. You can’t win with that lack of discipline.

Carson Wentz was awful today. Over throwing receivers, not stepping up in the pocket, getting hot feet and rushing his throws. These are the things that happen with a young QB. I still really like him going forward but the schedule and thus the pressure is going to get a lot harder as we go.

Vernon Davis had two catches called back for penalties so his line of 2-50-1 is a little misleading. He is definitely the TE to own in Washington if Reed misses significant time. Though his penalty for excessive celebration directly led to the Wendell Smallwood kickoff return for TD.

Every couple of weeks we talk about Matt Jones and how he has the look of a upper tier running back. The issue is that Jones feasts off of inferior competition. There are certain matchups where he has huge games as he did today. Other weeks he is a complete bust in other matchups. Good running backs find a way to be useful and productive no matter what the matchup entails.   

26 – Cleveland Browns at Tennessee Titans – 28

Fantasy Player of Game:  Marcus Mariota, QB, Titans – 17-24, 284 yards, 3 TD passing; 7-64 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Isaiah Crowell, RB, Browns – 9-16 rushing

I really dropped the ball with Terrelle Pryor this week. I loved his matchp against Perish Cox who is widely regarded as the worst CB in the NFL. I had Pryor ranked highly, had him in the DFS NFL Playbook for this week and yet, failed to put him in a single lineup.   Hopefully you guys did better.

Corey Coleman is just two weeks away from his return but keep an eye on rookie WR Ricardo Louis who has developed geat chemistry with Cody Kessler. I am not all that high on any of these Browns WR’s but Louis isn’t on the radar of anybody who doesn’t watch the game every week.

I love the way that Marcus Mariota is playing now. It’s so good to see the shackles taken off of the kid over the last two games. Mariota is the kind of QB that can rack up huge fantasy points in any given week. I’m now willing to take a shot on him as my backup QB in larger leagues.

The Tajae Sharpe run is over. I really, really like the kids ability but he just hasn’t been able to beat NFL coverage yet. Kendall Wright’s outburst today will lead to less snaps for Sharpe. I’m not a Wright guy because his floor is low and ceiling very low.

Wright’s TD today came on a beautiful diving catch in which he rolled five yards into the endzone. That tells you just how open he was on that play.

23 – Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants – 27

Fantasy Player of Game: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Giants – 8-222-2 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants – 4-25 receiving

The Ravens blew yet another game late today. After a 70 yard bomb from Flacco to Mike Wallace, the Ravens weren’t able to get into the endzone on three consecutive runs by Terrance West.

I noticed very little difference in the Ravens offense this week with Marty Morninwhig compared to the previous five games with Marc Trestman calling the shots. There was a little more urgency in throwing down the field but those are reads by Flacco not play designs.

Ravens CB Jimmy Smith left the game late in the first half due to a concussion. He will be placed in the concussion protocol and reevaluated during the week.

The Ravens actually play another road game in the same stadium next week as they take on the Jets at MetLife Stadium next Sunday.   

Odell Beckham Jr., had quite a game. He fumbled on the very first play of the game giving the ball to the Ravens and putting his team in a hole. Later on he left the game due to a hip injury and missed a couple series. Then, he made Baltimore’s secondary pay with two long TD catches that won his team the game.

I am getting a bit restless with Sterling Shepard but will stand pat with him as a true WR3 most weeks in fantasy football.

Rashad Jennings played a bunch today in his first return to action since tearing a ligament in his thumb. The production wasn’t there and I actually felt as though Jennings was favoring his hand quite a bit throughout the ballgame.

38 – Carolina Panthers at New Orleans – 41

Fantasy Player of Game: Drew Brees, QB, Saints – 34-49, 465 yards, 4 TDs

Fantasy Disappointment: Mark Ingram, RB, Saints – 16-51 rushing

This is the first time in NFL history that a Super Bowl team from the previous year has started the following season 1-5.

Cam Newton confirmed in his postgame news conference that he was asked not to run and take on extra contact. Without the running ability Cam is still an elite level QB but he loses quite a bit of his baseline projections on a weekly basis if this trend continues.

Panthers kicker Graham Gano missed an extra point that would have tied the score at 31. The miss seemed to really take the steam out of the Panthers offense.

Kelvin Benjamin has a touchdown catch that was reviewed and determined that he was out of bounds.

Ted Ginn was open by a confirmed 20 yards on a deep ball by Newton to which he stopped and jumped about 7 yards too short of the ball for absolutely no reason. It was such a bad play that even the commentators couldn’t determine what in the hell he was even trying to accomplish.

This was Drew Brees 15th game throwing for 400 yards or more. That puts him into sole possession of first place all time on that list passing the recently retired Peyton Manning.

Coby Fleener became the first TE since 2013 (Rob Gronkowski) and only the sixth ever to both run and catch a TD in the same game.

Speaking of Fleener, his TD catch was not even intended for him. It was a pass to Willie Snead in which Fleener ran the wrong route and just plucked the ball out of the air and rumbled all the way for the score. It was easily one of the worst yet best performances by a player all season

The Saints lost LT Andrus Peat to a left leg injury late in the first half. Peat was already filling in on the left side for the injured Terron Armstead.   

17 – Jacksonville Jaguars at Chicago Bears – 16

Fantasy Player of Game:  Cameron Meredith, WR, Bears – 11-113 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment:  Allen Robinson, WR, Jaguars – 3-49 receiving

This game made me impossibly happy. I am a Bears fan but am rooting very hard for them to lose. You see, it doesn’t take much to turn around a team in today’s NFL. The Bears aren’t going to win anything this season and I knew that going in. So why not do all that you can to get a super high pick and continue to rebuild through the draft and free agency. The worst thing in sports is when your team is constantly in the middle. Being in the middle sucks and for some franchises that seems to be the goal every year.

The Jaguars misspelled the last name “Amukamara” on the back of the Jersey of CB Prince Amukamara. He played the entire first half in the jersey reading “Amuakmara.”

Raise your hand if you actually knew that Arrelious Benn was still in the NFL. My hand is not in the air and I do this for a living. Benn was once a very good WR prospect but injuries have derailed his once promising career. His TD catch and run was the first for him in five years. Do not even think about picking him up on waiver no matter how deep your league is.

Allen Robinson had a TD all wrapped up but let the ball pop up and into the arms of a diving Tracy Porter for the interception.

As I said all week long, Chris Ivory started and was the Jaguars primary RB all day long. All I heard all week was that T.J. Yeldon had overtaken Ivory because of folks reading the snap counts from three weeks ago in London when Ivory was still banged up.

Brian Hoyer threw for just over 300 yards today marking the fourth consecutive time he has reached that mark this season. He’s playing well enough for the Bears coaching staff to consider staying with him when Jay Cutler is eligible to return here in a week or two.

I didn’t think that Cameron Meredith would have another stellar outing this week but indeed he did. Meredith has great chemistry with Brian Hoyer and as long as Hoyer is starting, he will be a usable FLEX option in fantasy football.

Eddie Royal left the game with a toe injury late in the fourth quarter. He did not return and his status would have to be deemed as highly questionable for Thursday night against the Packers.   

28 – Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions – 31

Fantasy Player of Game:  Kenny Britt, WR, Rams – 7-136-2 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Justin Forsett, RB, Lions – 5-5 rushing

The Rams are a poorly coached team. They had this game dead to rights and got caught up in Case Keenum’s fine performance and suddenly forgot their identity. This is not an offense that is used to throwing the ball 35 times and when they do bad things always seem to happen. Sure enough, Keenum gave the game away on his late interception which gave the game to the Lions.

The Rams decision to abandon the run absolutely killed me in DFS this week. Gurley was shredding the Lions early before Keenum got on his streak of consecutive completions. Gurley did have a TD run that was literally stopped in progress when the referees decided to review the previous play which was a Kenny Britt catch right at the goal line. The stoppage allowed the Lions defense to rest and then what do you know…they stop Gurley on the final play before half.

Todd Gurley also had a TD reception that was reviewed to be down on the one yard line. Case Keenum than ran a naked bootleg for the TD.

You should not pick up Kenny Britt. The Rams will figure out what their identity is again and when that happens the handcuffs will be put on this passing game.

The Lions went for it on fourth down and goal early on and Stafford throws a terrible pass but was bailed out by Andre Roberts who made the grab for TD.

The Lions lost DT Stefon Charles with a leg injury late in the first half. He did not return. The Lions were playing with DE’s playing in the middle and yet the Rams still wouldn’t run the football.  

15 – Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami Dolphins – 30

Fantasy Player of Game:  Jay Ajayi, RB, Dolphins – 25-204-2 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Antonio Brown, WR, Steelers – 4-39 receiving

Let this game serve as a reminder that there are no gimme’s in today’s NFL. As surprising as the outcome was here the thing that will stun you is that it really wasn’t even close. The Steelers stopped playing after they scored the first TD and the Dolphins were in charge the rest of the way.

Ben Roethlisberger suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and will miss at least one game and probably more. He will have surgery this week and will miss week seven against the Patriots. This really hurts the value of Antonio Brown, Sammie Coates and even Le’Veon Bell.

The Dolphins got LT Branden Albert, LG Laremy Tunsil and guard Anthony Steen back from injury this week and it made a profound difference. Last week Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times against the Titans but was not sacked once today.

The RB situation in Miami is much different than the one in Kansas City. There is a very good chance that Arian Foster does not regain his starting job with the way that Jay Ajayi is running right now. You have to grab Ajayi if he is available in your league.

Dolphins TE Dominque Jones had a TD catch nullified by an illegal formation penalty. DeVante Parker also dropped a would be TD in this game.

Miami lost CB Tony Lippett (hamstring) and TE Dion Sims (concussion) to injuries today.

17 – Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots – 35

Fantasy Player of Game:  Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots – 7-162-1 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Jeremy Hill, RB, Bengals – 13-38 rushing

The Bengals defense played much better in this game than the score indicates. They really frustrated Tom Bray and company in the early stages but eventually the flood gates opened as the Patriots adjusted their strategy.

Both Adam Jones and Vontaze Burfict got into arguments turned scuffles with Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski today. Burfict was caught on film deliberately trying to take out Gronk’s knees when he was far away from the ball. Burfict is as dirty a player as there is in the NFL.

Something is really wrong with Jeremy Hill. I am not sure if its physical as he has had rib and chest injuries or a coaching decision that has Hill off the field so much over the last four weeks. The Bengals had a goal line situation early in this game that could have given them the lead but they allowed Gio Bernard to take two carries and get stuffed each time.

The Bengals lost starting center Russell Bodine to a right knee injury in the third quarter of the game and he did not return.

Chris Hogan had just one target in this game but it was a big one. Hogan caught a crossing route toward the end of the first half and turned it into a 39 yard reception. He is not quite an every week starter in fantasy but there will be some big weeks in Hogan’s future.

James White worked ahead of Legarrette Blount today which if you listened to the SiriusXM show at all this week should not have come as a surprise. The Patriots are going to ease off of Blount for a while and use White’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield to supplement the run game.

The Patriots lost LB Elandon Roberts to a head injury and Woodrow Hamilton to a shoulder injury during today’s game.

26  – Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders – 10  

Fantasy Player of Game:  Spencer Ware, RB, Chiefs – 24-131-1 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Michael Crabtree, WR, Raiders – 2-10 receiving

Andy Reid coached teams are now 16-2 coming off of a bye week. That is the mark of a real good coach when their teams use the bye week to get better.

So many people are yelling at me about the Spencer Ware/Jamaal Charles split this week. Ware obviously got more snaps and touches than Charles this week but it is important to understand why. The Chiefs dominated the Raiders this week and thus they didn’t risk Charles at all in the second half. With each passing week you are going to see less and less of Ware until Charles is back up to full stamina. Both need to be owned but Charles is the guy to have moving forward if you can only have one.

Hey everybody, what happened to that big game that Alex Smith was going to have against the lowly Chiefs this week? Don’t ever be sucked into an Alex Smith is a big upside play thing because it is a fairy tale that will never come to fruition.

Chiefs DT Dontari Poe scored on a third down run late in the third quarter. Poe had scored a TD last year against San Diego as well.

DeAndre Washigton did average nearly five yards per carry today but the Raiders got down by so much that they simply abandoned the run in the second half. The Chiefs can be ran against by teams with the WR power that the Raiders have.

The Raiders scored just one field goal after marching down the field on the first drive and scoring a TD.  

24 – Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks – 26

Fantasy Player of Game:  Julio Jones, WR, Falcons – 7-139-1 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons – 5-10 rushing

This game was played in a steady rain early and windy conditions throughout. The rain wasn’t nearly as bad as we were told it could be in the morning but it limited each team’s offense for sure.

The Falcons had this game in hand but gave it all away. Matt Ryan caught fire in the third quarter when he went 13-17 for 220 yards and two TD’s. The 21 points scored in the quarter were the most against the Seahawks in Seattle since the turn of the century.

Tevin Coleman is nothing more than a FLEX option in a deeper league right now and the handcuff to Devonta Freeman. Sure he’ll have some big games but it will be too hit or miss to rely on.

Even though C.J. Spiller got four touches and Alex Collins stole a goal line TD from him, this is still Christine Michael’s backfield.

Steven Hauschka is usually very reliable for the Seahawks but he was a disaster today. He missed a field goal and an extra point either of which would have given the Seahawks the win a lot easier this afternoon.

Seahawks DE Michael Bennett and his Brother Martellus who is on the Patriots, are among the most ridiculous people on earth. Michael Bennett tried playing through a leg injury but was eventually taken out for good.

The Seahawks also lost TE Luke Wilson to a right leg injury late in this ballgame.

30 - Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers -  16

Fantasy Player of Game:  Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys – 18-27, 247 yards, 3 TD’s

Fantasy Disappointment: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers – 31-42, 294 yards, 1 TD

The Cowboys head into the bye week with a real sticky situation on their hands. There is a good possibility that Tony Romo will be healthy enough to rejoin the team after the teams week seven bye week. Though I wouldn’t put anything past Jerry Jones, I don’t think there is any way that they remove Dak Prescott from the starting role.

How did that Green Bay tough run defense work out? The Cowboys ran for 33-191 today with Ezekiel Elliott going for 28-157 himself. Be very careful about early season defensive rankings.

Ezekiel Elliott became the first rookie RB ever to rush for 130+ yards in four or more consecutive games.

Brice Butler had a catch called back for holding giving him three catches in each of the last three weeks that were called back by penalty. Dez Bryant will be back after the Cowboys bye week which will once again relegate Butler to the bench.

Dak Prescott had two turnovers in this game but still played very well. The fumble was actually more of a strip sack than anything so it isn’t anything to worry about. His streak of 176 pass attempts without an interception sets a new NFL record.

The Cowboys lost CB Morris Claiborne to a concussion in the second quarter of today’s game. He is in the leagues concussion protocol and will be reevaluated later in the week.

Major media is starting to catch whiff that Aaron Rodgers isn’t playing good right now. There is really no other way around it as he continuously sails the ball over his receiver’s heads. Aaron Rodgers isn’t a top give QB in the NFL anymore.

The Packers lost another CB today when Damarious Randall re-aggravated his groin injury in the second quarter and could not return.

23 - Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans – 26

Fantasy Player of Game:  Lamar Miller, RB, Texans – 24-149-1 rushing; 3-90 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: T.Y. Hiton, WR, Colts – 3-49 receiving

There is a very good chance that by the time you read this on Monday morning, the Colts will have fired head coach Chuck Pagano. The avalanche is hanging above him right now and it could drop at any given time.

Adam Vinatieri now has 41 straight consecutive field goals which is just one short of former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt’s all time record of 42.

Frank Gore rushed for 106 yards today which breaks the Colts streak of 55 consecutive games without a 100 yard rusher. The last Colts to run for 100+ yards was Vic Ballard back in 2012.

Colts TE Dwayne Allen went down with an ankle injury early on and was ruled out immediately. He did remain on the sidelines for a while with his ankle tied up with ice bags but there is a good chance he could miss multiple weeks. Jack Doyle would be the primary TE while Allen is out.

The Texans had Will Fuller active on Sunday night but he did not actually play a single snap. Fuller missed out on practice most of the week due to a hamstring injury and wasn’t ready to give it a go last night.