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I watch all of the games so that you don't have to and every week I pick fill out my legal pad with news and notes that you will not get anywhere else. These are the notes from a fantasy football perspective and can only be told by someone who actually witnessed the moments.
Here are the recaps for NFL Week 9:
28 – New Orleans at Carolina – 10
I’m sick of Cam Newton and his lack of energy he has been bringing to the table recently. If Newton was a radio show they would have pulled his plug already. He is no longer an every week starter in fantasy football.
As bad as Newton was, Kelvin Benjamin played worse tonight. Benjamin had another three drops in this game giving him seven in his last three ballgames. Two of those drops were in the endzone also which is brutal for those who played him this week.
Drew Brees is one of the best fantasy QB’s ever because he finds a way to produce every single week. Despite throwing just one TD tonight, he rang up 297 yards passing and scored on a rushing TD as well.
Make no mistake about it, when Pierre Thomas and Khiry Robinson return from injury, Mark Ingram will have very little fantasy impact. He has been straight cash the past couple of weeks and thus you should trade him to a fool who thinks this will continue right now.
Jimmy Graham is the best TE in football and in fantasy football. Rob Gronkowski is fantastic too but he is not in Graham’s zip code.
Injuries: No injuries reported
17 – Tampa Bay at Cleveland – 22
The Browns running game just isn’t the same without C Alex Mack. Ben Tate is having a terrible time finding the cut back lanes and it led to his benching today. Terrance West carries the ball 15 times to Tate’s 10 in what will be the talk of fantasy football heading into week 10.
Don’t let the Browns 5-3 record fool you, they are still a below average football team.
Brian Hoyer threw for exactly 300 yards today, the first time he has done so this season.
Bobby Rainey was tearing it up in the first half but completely ran out of gas in the second half.
I am surprised at how little touches Mike James got today. I figured him for 10 touches including short yardage, which would have made him fantasy viable.
Injuries: RB Doug Martin (inactive), RB Charles Sims (inactive)
28 – Arizona at Dallas – 17
Brandon Weeden is an awful QB. The Cowboys really have to consider bringing in another backup QB who would be able to lead the offense if/when Romo misses extended time.
This is what happens to an offense when you make it one-dimensional. DeMarco Murray is held under 100 yards for the first time all season as the Cardinals just bombarded him every time he touched the ball today.
It should be noted that Lance Dunbar ran ahead of Joseph Randle today. Randle had all kinds of confrontations with teammates this week and there could be a depth chart shift here that fantasy owners need to pay close attention to.
Just because I am sure you all will be asking: I am not giving up on Michael Floyd still. #ToTheDeath
Marion Grice is indeed the Cardinals short yardage RB as he picked up the one yard TD run today.
Injuries: LB Rolando McClain (knee), DT Tyrone Crawford (knee)
31 – Philadelphia at Houston – 21
Nick Foles got knocked out of this game early with what appears to be a broken collarbone. Mark Sanchez was uneasy in this game but if he starts he has a ton of fantasy appeal.
You might not know it but LeSean McCoy is really playing well right now. Chris Polk usurped him for a TD today but unless you watched the game you didn’t realize that McCoy had single handedly run the Eagles into the red zone on that drive.
Every week I rank DeAndre Hopkins over Andre Johnson and every week I get assaulted on Twitter about it. Hopefully we can finally put this constant debate to bed after this week.
The Texans defense, even against tough opponents are a good fantasy start nearly ever week. As long as you have J.J. Watt, this defense will be formidable at least.
Injuries: CB Jonathan Joseph (concussion), CB Kareem Jackson (knee), RB Arian Foster (groin), QB Nick Foles (collarbone), RG Todd Herrmans (ankle), LB DeMarco Ryans (Achilles)
10 - N.Y. Jets at Kansas City – 24
Listen to the words that I say: Michael Vick does NOT WANT TO PLAY FOOTBALL ANYMORE. His reaction to being pushed down gingerly in the fourth quarter said it all. Vick grabbed his head as if he had been shot. But the doctor quickly realized there was nothing wrong with him and basically forced him back into this game.
One thing that is for sure is that Michael Vick loves throwing the football to Percy Harvin. I don’t trust either of them or anybody on the Jets offense but felt you should at least know this much.
The Anthony Fasano TD was really a tipped pass that somehow landed in his hands while he lay on the ground at the goal line. All Fasano had to do was extend his arms while on the ground and it was a touchdown.
Justin Houston had two sacks on the day which gives him at least one sack in his last six games.
Injuries: No injuries reported
23 – Jacksonville at Cincinnati – 33
This game shouldn’t have been this close. The Bengals are in a lot of trouble if they cannot put away teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars who looked just as shocked as we all were that they were challenging the Bengals all the way until the end.
Allen Hurns is truly a good WR prospect but his role here in Jacksonville if far too inconsistent to pick up or even start in fantasy football.
Before you go nuts about Denard Robinson’s solid day, know that Toby Gerhart averaged 6.3 YPC today as well. I need to see Robinson do something against a tough defensive matchup.
Jeremy Hill was very impressive today. What impressed me most was that he returned to the game after going down with what looked like a significant leg injury early on.
It was great to see A.J. Green back and playing well. He played sparingly today but came out of the game clean and will step it up starting next week.
Injuries: RT Andre Smith (ankle), CB Leon Hall (concussion), LG Brandon Linder (shoulder), LB Jeremiah George (ankle)
0 – San Diego at Miami – 37
This was a complete whitewashing. The Dolphins defense isn’t messing around right now and is definitely a top 10 unit in fantasy as well.
The Branden Oliver experience is over. This kid had a nice three game run but has crashed down to earth and will head toward oblivion now with Ryan Mathews and Donald Brown returning from injury.
Ryan Tannehill has had at least 47 yards rushing in his last four games. He has had at least 35 yards rushing in his last five games. This trend is not going to change and gives him a nice fantasy boost as well.
Lamar Miller left the game in the third quarter with what is being called a neck stinger. Miller said that he was fine after the game but we will have to watch his status throughout the week.
Injuries: RB Lamar Miller (neck), DT Sean Lissemore (quad), C Rich Ohrnberger (ribs)
26 – Washington at Minnesota – 29
The Redskins team buses crashed into each other this morning while on their way to the stadium. There were no major injuries though quite a bit of damage to th busses. Redskins RB Silas Redd was inactive after suffering a back injury as a result of the collision.
Pierre Garcon was targeted early on but then completely forgotten about today. I still have faith that RGIII will find his old pal Garcon often as the season goes on.
Matt Asiata’s 3 TD game may be one of the greatest gut punches in fantasy football history. Jerick McKinnon was running well in this game but was replaced in every goal line situation today. Asiata completely sucks and should not be reclaimed via the waiver wire despite the output today.
Teddy Bridgewater sucks. I was not impressed today and I feel that if more people actually watch the game and not just read the boxscore they would feel the same.
Injuries: No injuries reported
13 – St. Louis at San Francisco – 10
The 49ers had a first and goal at the Rams 1 yard line with just one minute left in the game but Colin Kaepernick fumbled a QB sneak attempt and thereby lost the game for the 49ers.
I just don’t know why the 49ers won’t give the ball to Frank Gore on the goal line anymore. Jim Harbaugh needs to be fired.
The Rams should have had a safety at the end of the first half when Tavon Austin tried returning a 53 yard field goal by Phil Dawson that came up short. Austin caught the ball in the back of the endzone then danced around for awhile before trying to run the ball out and being tackled back into the endzone.
Speaking of Tavon Austin, later on he had a punt return for a TD called back due to an illegal block in the back.
Injuries: DE Williams Hayes (ankle), LB Dan Skula (ankle), WR Brandon Lloyd (hamstring)
21 – Denver at New England – 43
Julian Edelman verified why I had him ranked firmly inside the top 10 of fantasy WR’s in PPR formats. He should be considered as such moving forward now as well.
Brady is as locked in as any QB in the NFL right now. He is firmly a top five QB option right now and is only behind Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck on the food chain.
Ronnie Hillman scored twice today but was completely ineffective running the football. He has officially hit his peak value and should be sold high if you have the means.
Emmanuel Sanders left the game after inuring his shoulder/ribs making the tackle on Peyton Manning’s first INT. He missed one series but returned to post another very solid games.
Julius Thomas only catches touchdowns. It is great when that happens but if he doesn’t the 2-14 yard performances will ruin your season.
Injuries: WR Wes Welker (back), LB Nate Irving (knee)
24 – Oakland at Seattle – 30
If there were any doubts about how far the Seahawks have fell this was it. The Raiders had a legitimate shot to tie this game late which is just shameful for the defending Super Bowl champion.
Marshawn Lynch got back on track today with his two TD runs. If he wouldn’t have performed today I would have been ready to sell him at whatever price I could get.
Mychal Rivera’s two TD’s will definitely land him in everybody’s waiver radar but he has been coming on strong leading up to this performance. Derek Carr is becoming more and more reliant on the TE and Rivera could wind up being quite useful during these high volume bye weeks.
Injuries: LG James Carpenter (ankle)
23 – Baltimore at Pittsburgh – 43
Ben Roethlisberger’s six TD’s tonight set a number of NFL records. His 12 TD’s over the past two weeks are the most by a QB in NFL history. Roethlisberger also set a record for most fantasy points by a QB in a two week period with 79.
Martavis Bryant is a TD machine. He is the single difference between the Steelers settling for FG’s at close distance or scoring TD’s. He is approaching WR3 spectrum in standard scoring leagues.
Terrell Suggs blatantly tried to take out LeGarrette Blount’s legs from behind late in this game. This play should have resulted in Suggs being ejected from the game but it was clear the referees didn’t see it go down.
Owen Daniels got the start and went for 6-53 just a week after arthroscopic knee surgery. For what it is worth, Crockett Gillmore caught a one yard TD from Joe Flacco himself.
Injuries: S Troy Polamalu (ankle)