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.

It’s so great when everything that you preach about on a daily basis all comes together. Start your studs. Julio Jones ruined many owners weeks last week when he caught just two passes on a high scoring Monday Night Football game last week. This week he ruined everybody that he played against as he racked up 300 yards receiving against the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers.

We also hit on a lot of our sleeper players such as Zach Miller, Brice Butler and  Allen Hurns. It was an incredible weekend for Fantasy Alarm Nation so let’s take a stroll back and recap everything we saw and some of the things that we missed.

Here are the Week 4 Fantasy Football Game Recaps:

27 – Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars – 30 (Played in London)

Fantasy Player of Game: Blake Bortles, QB Jaguars – 19-33, 207 yards, 2 TD passing; 7-36-1 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: Chris Ivory, RB, Jaguars – 8-29 rushing  

I don’t like these London games. They are just way too early for those of us on the west coast and they never involve teams that people actually like.

If the Colts could play the way they do in the fourth quarter for the other three quarters of the game, they would likely be 3-1 instead of 1-3. It is like this team isn’t even trying until their backs are up against the wall. I joked on the air that if the Jaguars found a way to blow this game, Gus Bradley shouldn’t even get on the plane back to the states. Perhaps, I named the wrong coach in that scenario.

Colts TE Jack Doyle had two catches that were called back because of penalties. These catches would have went for a combined 61 yards. The other TE Dwayne Allen had two awful drops in this game as well so overall not a good day for these Colts TE’s.

Colts RB Frank Gore has been incredibly successful in these out of country games throughout his career. He is 66-264-4 when playing outside of the United States.

Even though both of the Allen’s caught TD’s this week, I don’t think that fantasy football can sustain both of them being every week starters. Allen Robinson is definitely in your lineup each week but at this point Hurns has got to be on the outside looking in.

20 – Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans – 27

Fantasy Player of Game: DeMarco Murray, RB, Titans – 25-95-2 rushing

Fantasy Disappointment: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Texans – 1-4 receiving

The Texans were set to run away with this game going up 14-0 right from the jump, but decided to take their foot off the gas and let the Titans back in.

Marcus Mariota is one of if not the worst starting QB in the NFL right now. Listen, I loved him just as much as any of you did coming out of school but this kid has regressed significantly since the end of last season. This is a coaching issue because if the front office brings in the talent it is up to the coaching staff to make sure they develop that talent. That sure isn’t happening here in Tennessee right now.

Speaking of bad coaching, the Titans were poised to let the Texans punt the ball away at the end of the first half but a penalty for too many men on the field brought them into field goal range and broke a 17-17 tie.

There are going to be many questions this week suggesting anything from DeAndre Hopkins is not a WR1 to benching him against the defensive tough Vikings. The answer to all questions concerning Hopkins is simply, “no.” Nuk is a WR1 in fantasy football and will be absolutely fine this year. Remember Julio Jones struggling on Monday night last week? Yeah…I didn’t think so.

TE C.J. Fiedorowicz was knocked out of this game late in the first half with a left knee injury and did not return.

Will Fuller is good but remember that you can’t count on long catches and punt returns for a touchdown all of the time.

20 – Cleveland Browns at Washington Redskins – 31

Fantasy Player of Game: Jordan Reed, TE, Redskins - 9-73-2 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: DeSean Jackson, WR, Redskins – 1-5 receiving

The Browns are not a good football team and they don’t have a lot of talent. But they are getting better and that is a direct reflection of their head coach Hue Jackson. The Browns have a strong running game that is here to stay. If you has Isaiah Crowell, you got yourself a great deal as he’s reached RB2 status now in fantasy football.

I am still trying to figure out how the referees gave the ball to the Redskins on Duke Johnson’s fourth quarter fumble. The ball hit the ground, there was a pileup but Duke came out with the ball. Yet, somehow the referees claimed the Redskins recovered. It was as strange a play as you will ever see and what’s worse is that it wasn’t reviewable.

The Browns lost backup turned starting center Austin Reiter with a left knee injury and he did not return. Backup TE Randall Telfer was also knocked out of the game with an ankle injury and didn’t return.

DeSean Jackson is a punk. His injury last week was as fake as anything I’ve seen on a football field and this week he made a statement by wearing shoes with police caution tape on them in order to bring awareness to police brutality. Listen, I have nothing against bringing awareness to injustice, I just wish it was done by a person that has a shred of credibility.

The Redskins lost perhaps their best pass rusher in LB Ryan Kerrigan in the second quarter due to an elbow injury. He is set to have an MRI on Monday but be advised that the news will not be good.

LB Su’a Cravens also was knocked out of the game today due to a concussion.

27 – Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets – 17

Fantasy Player of Game: Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks – 23-32, 309 yards, 3 TD passing

Fantasy Disappointment: Matt Forte, RB, Jets – 14-27 rushing

After today’s game, Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin dropped a nugget about teammate Tyler Lockett admitting that Lockett is playing through a torn PCL ligament in his knee. Lockett hasn’t been playing much anyways but this certainly would explain the lack of explosiveness and production out of the second year receiver.    

Jimmy Graham’s back to back 100 yard performances reminds me of last season’s breakout by Doug Baldwin. It’s like all of a sudden Russell Wilson realized he has a giant TE who can catch anything in his hemisphere. Although he won’t consistently put up these huge performances I do think that Graham is an every week starting TE again in fantasy football.

I was wrong about Russell Wilson. Everything about Russell Wilson. This week I thought he was not worth taking a risk on because of the knee injury and brace that he had to wear. Clearly, I was today and have been wrong about Wilson for a long, long time.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing awful right now. His three interceptions today was a big improvement from last week when he tossed six, but this is completely unacceptable. The Jets are sinking fast and there could be a QB shakeup coming here very shortly.

The Jets lost starting right guard Brian Winters to a concussion in the second quarter. He will be placed in the concussion protocol and reevaluated during the week.

16 – Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots – 0

Fantasy Player of Game: LeSean McCoy, RB,  Bills – 108 total yards, 1 TD

Fantasy Disappointment: Julian Edelman, WR , Patriots – 1-16 receiving

This was the first time ever that the Patriots have been shutout in Gillette Stadium. The last time that the Patriots have been shut out at home was in 1993 at the old Foxboro Stadium.

The most exciting part of this game actually took place before it started. The teams got into a pregame scuffle when Bills safety Robert Blanton shoved Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett for some unknown reason. A mini melee ensued and a few punches were thrown but nobody was ejected and order was soon restored.   

The Bills leading receiver without Sammy Watkins will be Robert Woods. But Woods is barely even on the fantasy radar now or moving forward. The only real fantasy option here is LeSean McCoy.

The Bills lost CB Corey White with a concussion in the third quarter and he did not return.

The Patriots actually moved the ball well on their first drive but Brissett fumbled the ball away inside the Bills 10 yard line and the Patriots never got that close again.

Everything you know about the Patriots this season is over. Tom Brady is back next week and they are playing the Cleveland Browns. Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and even James White will all regain the value we held them to in our drafts this year.

33 – Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons – 48

Fantasy Player of Game: Julio Jones, WR, Falcons – 12-300-1 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons – 8-19 rushing

If I live a thousand years I will never understand what Cam Newton was doing on the two point conversion run where he slowed up purposely to initiate contact with the Falcons Deion Jones. The hit gave Newton a concussion and knocked him out of game. It was an absolutely insane move by Cam and I will be ranting about this on the show Monday for sure.

In case Cam misses any time, it should be noted that Kelvin Benjamin did not receive a single target from Derek Anderson. Anderson seemed to prefer the underneath receivers like Corey Brown, Ted Ginn and Fozzy Whittaker.

The Panthers lost LB Thomas Davis due to a hamstring injury in the third quarter. He did not return to the game and will be evaluated on Monday.

Julio Jones absolutely abused Panthers rookie CB James Bradberry. The Falcons attacked this matchup right out of the gate and by the time the Panthers tried to change coverage it was over.

Is anybody questioning who is the lead back in Atlanta now? Devonta Freeman saw the vast majority of snaps and outproduced Tevin Coleman three to one. Coleman is still a potential FLEX play on a weekly basis but until Freeman gets injured there just isn’t enough production here for him.

The Falcons lost LB’s Deion Jones and Sean Weatherspoon due to calf injuries today. Jones was able to come back in but did leave again for good later.   

28 – Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens – 27

Fantasy Player of Game:  Michael Crabtree, WR, Raiders – 7-88-3 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Latavius Murray, RB, Raiders – 8-19 rushing

I’ve been riding Michael Crabtree in cash games in daily fantasy football since last year and this has led to a terrific windfall during that time. But I have a feeling after today’s performance that he will finally be priced way up. This could come at the expense of teammate Amari Cooper who has taken a complimentary role to Crabtree this year.

Derek Carr is very confident throwing the ball to Seth Roberts. The Raiders have been playing a lot of three wide receiver sets this year leading to Roberts generating a 70% snap rate. He is a decent flier in deeper fantasy leagues.

The Raiders are stacked at the RB position. I wouldn’t doubt that current starter Latavius Murray is inactive by the time we reach week 10.

TE Lee Smith was lost for the day after being carted off due to an ankle injury today. The Raiders also lost LB Malcolm Smith late in the game due to a groin injury.

It wasn’t quite the game that I thought Joe Flacco would have but his yardage total of 298 yards and his second rushing TD of the season was enough to at least not hurt any of my DFS lineups.

Speaking of Flacco’s rushing TD, that was a bold call by John Harbaugh to not only go for it on fourth down but to call a QB sneak was just straight up balls.

With Terrance West’s performance today and the return of Kenneth Dixon next week, it is safe to go ahead and cut Justin Forsett from your fantasy team.

The Ravens lost CB Maurice Canady to a quad injury early on in this game and he did not return. 

14 – Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears – 17

Fantasy Player of Game:  Brian Hoyer, QB Bears 28/36 302 yards 2 TDs passing

Fantasy Disappointment: Matthew Stafford, QB Bears 23/36 213 yards 2 INTs passing

The Vegas line had 48 points being scored in this game and anticipation of Matthew Stafford throwing for a ton of yards against the Chicago Defense that has given up a lot of yards to running backs, yet they only allowed 49 yards by RBs in this game.

Golden Tate continued to disappoint with only 1 catch.  Worse than that, he caused an interception with :16 left in the half and the Lions driving when he ran an up route instead of an out route.  Stafford was livid and did not get over it as Tate was targeted just four times.

Jordan Howard played the way everyone expected.  He has great burst through the hole and does a nice job breaking tackles.  His 23 carries proves he will be the bell cow in Jeremy Langford’s absence.

Eddie Royal had 7 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, but Kevin White was targeted more so he and Alshon Jeffery should be back to getting most of the work in future weeks.

The Lions ground game could not get going, because Theo Riddick is not good.  He had 9.8 fantasy points in a PPR, but against tougher defenses, his production will get worse.  Dwayne Washington never got started.

For the late Sunday Matchups, click Next

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27 – Denver Broncos at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 7

Fantasy Player of Game: Emmanuel Sanders, WR Broncos – 8-88-1 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Every player on the Buccaneers

Well, they say that lightning cannot strike twice in the same spot.  Well, even though the game was delayed just like last week, lightning didn’t strike twice as the Buccaneers who played well offensively last week, crapped the bed this week.

Jameis Winston threw for only 179 yards while throwing no touchdowns and two picks.  His lone good moment was a rushing TD.

Charles Sims totaled 35 yards from scrimmage and his longest run was six yards.

Cameron Brate saw eight targets catching five of them, but he was the lone bright spot.

Trevor Siemian left the game with a shoulder injury and Paxton Lynch was forced to find Emmanuel Sanders after Demaryius Thomas did most of his damage with Siemian under center.

Aqib Talib’s two interceptions in the first half were turned into 14 points including a touchdown just 1:34 into the game.

 

17 – Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals – 13

Fantasy Player of Game: John Brown, WR, Cardinals – 10-144-0 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Tavon Austin, WR, Rams – 2-14-0 receiving plus -6 yards rushing

All draft season, Todd Gurley was drafted as the first running back of the board.  It will be amazing how many people will call in this week and talk about trading Gurley.  Hold the line.  He will be fine against lesser defensive fronts than the Cardinals.

Brian Quick caught only two passes but they both went for touchdowns.  He is still not as fantasy relevant as even Kenny Britt, but the NextGen stats showed that he broke 20 MPH on that 65 yard touchdown run.

With 5:40 left in the game, Carson Palmer was sacked and his head hit the ground.  He went to the locker room to go through the concussion protocol and was replaced by Drew Stanton. Stanton promptly threw two interceptions plus what looked like a third if Trumaine Johnson toe taps instead of allowing his heel to touch the sideline.

The Cardinals outplayed the Rams in this game, but the outcome largely turned on one play by the fantasy disappointment, Tavon Austin.  He is the hero in real life as he took a punt return 47 yards immediately following Palmer’s exit which lead to the short field winning touchdown catch by Brian Quick.

Kenny Britt was a steady middle of the field presence for Case Keenum as that role is usually filled by Tavon Austin who was shadowed by Patrick Peterson all day.

35 – New Orleans Saints at San Diego Chargers – 34

Fantasy Player of Game: Phillip Rivers, QB, Chargers – 28/43 321 yards 2 TD 1 INT passing

Fantasy Disappointment: Travis Benjamin, WR, Chargers – 4-48-0 receiving plus a crucial fumble

It would be easy for many to say that John Kuhn was the fantasy star of the game, but really, how many lineups did he break into this week. Sure, he had 3 total touchdowns including the go ahead score with

Dontrelle Inman was the recipient of a 57-yard catch and run as part of his seven catches for 120 yards. Unfortunately, on a crucial 3rd and 22 late in the game Rivers placed the ball perfectly, but a slight tip in front of him caused him to miss the ball even though it hit both hands.

Melvin Gordon was held to very low yardage, but the fantasy production was great.  Two rushing touchdowns on 36 yards to go with six catches for 43 yards.

Similarly, on the other side of the ball, Mark Ingram rushed 18 times for 56 yards and a touchdown while adding six catches for a similar 49 yards.

Michael Thomas led all Saints’ receivers with four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Hunter Henry turned in a nice game, but had awful footwork on what would have been a touchdown catch because he could not get a toe tap in.  This is not college and he did not look great on routes or catching the ball today.

Drew Brees could easily be the biggest disappointment in this game, but you should have been listening to us this week talking about how different a player he is on the road.  In 2015, he threw for 800 more yards and 14 more touchdowns at home with a 112.5 to 87.7 passing rating difference.  This year is no different.  He has 799 passing yards at home in two games with 7 touchdowns.  On the road, he has 470 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.  Play him at home only.

24 – Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers – 17

Fantasy Player of Game:  Ezekiel Elliot 23-138-1 rushing plus 1-19 receiving

Fantasy Disappointment: Torrey Smith 1-3-0 receiving

Late in this game, Ezekiel Elliot was calling for the ball by turning to the sideline and making a motion that he wanted to be feed by scooping an imaginary spoon to his mouth. Zeke was spelled late the game on drives by Alfred Morris who was effective enough to help them win.

Dak Prescott managed the game effectively and still has yet to throw an interception.  His 245 passing yards with 2 touchdowns ranked him 9th among quarterbacks who have played this week.

Jeremy Kerley had six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Four of his nine targets were on the last drive.  He is fast becoming more relevant than Torrey Smith.

Garrett Celek ranked 8th among tight ends with his five catches for 79 yards while running great routes. Blaine Gabbert found a way to get the ball to him even in tight traffic. 

For the receiving corp of the Dallas Cowboys, it is hard to rely on any of them going forward.  As bad a job as Jason Garrett has done in previous years abandoning the run, he stuck with it to close this one out with a single exception of a safe wide receiver screen to Cole Beasley that he turned into a 47 yard gain.

14 – Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers – 43

Fantasy Player of Game:  Ben Roethlisberger 22/27 300 yards 5 TDs passing

Fantasy Disappointment: Jamaal Charles 2-7 rushing plus no catches.

This game marked the return of Le’Veon Bell from suspension and he did not disappoint at all. He is a much different runner than D’Angelo Williams. He is much more patient and on a play late in the game, a pulling Mike Pouncey got downfield as Bell waited for him so that he could get 10-12 more yards.  Bell should be the leading running back in fantasy scoring for the rest of the season.

The Steelers scored 29 points before the Chiefs scored any points so this was over long before it got started.  Big Ben threw the ball deep early connecting on four balls of more than 30 yards.

Antonio Brown scored two of the five receiving touchdowns but had less than 10 targets for the first time since October 25th of last year and his lowest number of targets since December 30th 2012.  Don’t read anything into this as it was a blowout from the beginning.

Sammie Coates led Steelers with six catches for 79 yards and has had a catch of longer than 40 yards in each of the first four games this season.

D’Angelo Williams scored a touchdown on a short goal line run.  Don’t read into this as Williams being the goal line back.  Le’Veon Bell carried the ball on a long run the play before that.  He was just get a rest.

Alex Smith spread the ball around to all his receivers and had 5 receivers with more than five catches in Jeremy Maclin, Chris Conley, Albert Wilson, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.