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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 7:
25 – N.Y. Jets at New England – 27
The Jets need to play as if they are playing the Patriots every week. It’s obvious that they do not have the horses to be a competitive team but they need to play with more aggression as they did tonight.
The Jets need to keep the ball on the ground to be effective. Chris Ivory is running quite well lately and swapping him out for Chris Johnson every now and then is a very good idea. Ivory is a low end RB2 on my board right now.
It should be noted that rookie RB James White was a healthy scratch tonight whereas Jonas Gray, who was just activated from the practice squad was active. As we said all week, Brandon Bolden was not involved on offense as he is primarily a special teams player. Jonas Gray may be worth an add off waivers this week.
I know that it is frustrating that Julian Edelman isn’t getting the ball anywhere near the endzone these days. But he is still getting 10+ targets per game and racking up great reception numbers. If you are in a PPR league, Edelman starts every week no matter what.
Injuries: RB Bilal Powell (foot)
7 – Atlanta at Baltimore – 29
The Falcons are terrible away from the Georgia Dome. Their defense is one of the worst in the NFL especially against the run.
You cannot establish a running game but splitting 16 carries amongst four different RB’s. The Falcons coaches are terrible strategists and will undoubtedly be fired at the end of this season.
Justin Forsett didn’t have quite as good of a game as I thought that he would but 23-95 is still a quality outing. As much as I liked him this week I am going to slide him down considerably going into week eight’s matchup with the Bengals.
Steve Smith got into two more altercations this afternoon one of which drew a penalty for offensive holding. Smith is already hitting the wall this season and thus we are starting to once again see him mix it up with the DB’s that are shutting him down.
Injuries: C Peter Konz (knee), LS Morgan Cox (ACL tear)
17 – Tennessee at Washington – 19
Kirk Cousins was replaced after halftime by Colt McCoy which proved to be a great decision by Jay Gruden. Cousins is a very strong armed QB but has proven to be far too turnover prone to keep the starting job. Please don’t let anyone tell you though that McCoy did anything today that would make him the least bit fantasy worthy because he didn’t. Robert Griffin III will likely return to the starting job in week eight.
Alfred Morris looks lost in this offense right now. He tweaked his ankle early on in this game but it really didn’t seem to matter. Roy Helu has been getting a lot more playing time even in non passing situations.
DeSean Jackson missed one series due to a knee injury. It appeared that D-Jax may have sustained a significant injury as it was a non-contact knee buckle, but he was able to come back on the Redskins next offensive drive.
While I will fully admit that Bishop Sankey looked good in this game, he just doesn’t have much fantasy value. The offensive line is getting no push, Sankey continues to split with everybody from Shonn Greene to Jackie Battle and the Titans offense just doesn’t score enough points.
Injuries: LB Brian Orakpo (stinger), LB Quentin Groves (ankle)
26 – Seattle at St. Louis – 28
The Seahawks were almost bailed out on a late Tre Mason fumble that was eventually recovered by the Rams. But this team and specifically the Seahawks defense isn’t what it was just a year ago.
Special teams plays won the game for the Rams today. First it was a 75 yard kickoff return to set up Tre Mason’s 6 yard TD run. Then a 90 yard punt return for TD by Stedman Bailey padded the Rams lead before a fake punt on fourth and three put the final nail in the Seahawks coffin.
I will continue to say that there is something wrong with Marshawn Lynch. He hasn’t been the same player for three weeks now and hasn’t been practicing either.
Don’t count on Russell Wilson throwing 36 times again this season. The Seahawks passing numbers are way higher than they normally are today. It’s fair to say that Doug Baldwin is now the “go to guy” here but still has very little fantasy upside.
Tre Mason is the only Rams RB to own right now. I still wouldn’t start him but he is the only one worth a roster spot at this point. Zac Stacy received zero snaps though he was technically active today.
Injuries: CB Janoris Jenkins (leg)
6 – Cleveland at Jacksonville – 24
Ben Tate and Brian Hoyer played terrible and are to be blamed for this loss. Hoyer couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with most of his throws today. Tate didn’t locate his cut back lanes well at all today. There were some big gains that he left on the table by hitting the hole straight ahead instead of sidestepping and hitting the bigger hole.
I tried to warn all of you about Jordan Cameron this week. Cameron benefitted from two completely broken plays last week to have his first 100 yard game as well as his first TD.
Allen Robinson was temporarily knocked out of this game early after sustaining a huge hit in the first quarter. Despite the missed time Robinson was still the Jaguars leading receiver today.
No way in hell do I buy Denard Robinson after his 22-127-1 performance today. The Browns run defense is awful and I don’t think that I have ever seen a more unimpressive 127 yard rushing day in my life.
Injuries: DE Andre Branch (groin), LB Paul Posluszny (shoulder)
0 – Cincinnati at Indianapolis – 27
Today marked the first time that the Bengals were shut out since week 17 of the 2009 NFL season.
Jermaine Gresham hauled in 10-48 yards today. All other Bengals receivers combined for just 8-78.
Both teams were pretty bad on third down today. They went a combined 0-14 on third down in the first half of this game. This was the first time that two teams have been this bad on third down since the Bengals and Jaguars went 0-12 early in 2012.
Ahmad Bradshaw got the goal line carry for the Colts before Trent Richardson departed with a hamstring injury.
Colts TE’s combined to go 8-136-1 in today’s game. Dwayne Allen is an every week starter at this point whereas Coby Fleener is also a decent FLEX option in certain matchups.
Injuries: LB Jerrell Freeman (hip), RB Trent Richrdson (hamstring), LB Vontaze Burfict (neck), CB Leon Hall (back)
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16 – Minnesota at Buffalo – 17
The Bills won this game on a Kyle Orton to Sammy Watkins TD pass with one second remaining in the game. Orton has proven to be the right choice for the Bills right now but he is still not an answer for anyone in fantasy football.
There is a very good chance that Bryce Brown could be the Bills starting RB next week. C.J. Spiller is out for the year with a broken collarbone and Fred Jackson is likely out at least a couple of weeks with a groin injury too. Anthony Dixon was active today but is not considered the longterm answer at RB.
Bridgewater’s second quarter TD pass to Cordarrelle Patterson was the first since week two for the Vikings.
Injuries: RB C.J. Spiller (broken collarbone), RB Fred Jackson (groin), C John Sullivan (concussion), RG Vladimir Ducasse (knee)
27 – Miami at Chicago – 14
The Bears simply cannot put to halves together in a single football game on offense. Jay Cutler looks equal parts Andrew Luck and Matt Cassel and it is that randomness that keeps the Bears, Cutler and this entire offense from glory.
Alshon Jeffery caught the first two passes of the game for the Bears but was completely shut out the rest of the way. He did have a catch that was called back because of holding late in the third quarter.
The Dolphins read-option is on fire since they found their group last week against the Packers. Ryan Tannehill is a much more athletic player than he gets credit for and now that defensive coordinators see that he is willing to run the ball himself, the rest of this offense should have a bit more room to operate.
Lamar Miller had a fourth quarter TD called back due to offensive holding.
Jarvis Landry has officially become the second most valuable fantasy WR on the Dolphins. If you were holding Brian Hartline please stop.
Injuries: CB Kyle Fuller (hand, hip)
23 – New Orleans at Detroit – 24
So much for Matthew Stafford not being able to put up numbers without Calvin Johnson. Sure it is a lot easier but against a weak Saints defense, Stafford really rose to the occasion just when we needed him the most.
Golden Tate has proven himself to be a legitimate WR1 for the Lions and even in fantasy assuming a PPR format.
Reggie Bush was in and out of this game dealing with ankle issues. He will likely be limited in practice during the week.
Jimmy Graham was active today but played very little getting just two targets in this game. I was definitely telling people to start him today despite the limited snap count and obviously I was completely wrong.
Kenny Stills had another big game coming out of the Saints bye week. Last season Stills went for 3-129-2 after the bye week against the Buffalo Bills.
Mark Ingram got the majority of carries for the Saints today but did absolutely nothing. He was running with a lot of obvious hesitancy which is death for an NFL RB.
Injuries: RB Pierre Thomas (rib), C Jonathan Goodwin (leg), NT Brodrick Bunkley (concussion), DE Glenn Foster (knee)
17 – Carolina at Green Bay – 38
The Head Linesman in this game was knocked out after getting run over on a second quarter play. Surprisingly the NFL has no backup officials available and thus the other officials had to pick up the slack the rest of the way.
Aaron Rodgers joined Tom Brady as the only QB ever to throw at least three TD passes with zero interceptions over four or more consecutive games.
Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb each have at least one TD in each of the Packers five wins this season.
The Panthers defense is awful. Sure the Packers have a very strong offense but this was just way too easy for them today. The Panthers have become the defense that you load up as many players against as you possibly can.
Panthers LB and reigning defensive player of the year Luke Kuechly was ejected from this game late in the third quarter for throwing punches. Kuechly got pissed off after failing to come up with a fumble recovery.
Injuries: RB James Starks (ankle), CB Davon House (finger), WR Philly Brown (concussion), LT Byron Bell (elbow), RG Trai Turner (knee)
23 – Kansas City at San Diego – 20
I was never comfortable in anointing the Chargers as one of the best teams in the AFC or the NFL. Too many holes on defense and some major offensive line deficiencies keep San Diego from being a serious contender.
I had predicted that Branden Oliver would go bust this week against a tough Chiefs defense. Although his overall numbers weren’t that good at 15-67, I have to say that he played much better than that today. He’s going to be hard to replace if and when Donald Brown and even Ryan Mathews gets healthy.
Jamaal Charles rushed for 95 yards today and in the process because the Chiefs all time leading rusher with 6,113 yards. Priest Holmes had held the record with 6,070 yards rushing.
I know that Travis Kelce is the hot new thing as far as fantasy TE’s go but give me Antonio Gates for the rest of the season. Kelce is an exciting player but doesn’t have the hands or chemistry with his QB the way that Antonio Gates does.
Injuries: WR Junior Hemingway (hamstring), CB Brandon Flowers (concussion)
24 – Arizona at Oakland – 13
The Raiders are 0-6 for the first time since 1962, the season before Al Davis bought the team.
I don’t like Derek Carr. He has backup QB written all over him. If you notice in each of his starts, Carr gets fixated on one receiver and goes to him over and over again to a fault. The problem is that is seems to be a different target every game. Denarius Moore, Rod Streater, Andre Holmes (twice) and James Jones have led the team in targets this year.
Every time I watch Brice Butler I see a guy who could be a star in this league. His 55 yard catch down the left sidelines was masterful and was pretty much the only Raiders highlight of the game.
Andre Ellington is a tough kid but his slight frame is starting to catch up with him at the time being. He left the game with both foot and rib injuries today leading to 14 touches for Stepfan Taylor. It appears that Taylor is the next man up in the Cardinals running game if anything should happen to Ellington.
Chandler Catanzaro hit his 15th consecutive field goal to start his career which broke Greg Zuerlein’s rookie record.
Injuries: S Usama Young
21 – N.Y. Giants at Dallas – 31
DeMarco Murray’s 28-128-1 today breaks Jim Browns record for most consecutive games of rushing for 100+ yards to start a season.
Murray left the game temporarily after pulling up lame on a third quarter carry. This is something that we all know is going to happen eventually with the workload that Murray is being asked to handle. Joseph Randle is an absolute must grab right now.
There is no reason to consider Cowboys TE Gavin Escobar on waivers this week. He doesn’t play enough and this performance is just one of those random occurances that happen during the course of a season.
The Giants have been outscored by 34 points in the first quarter this season second only to the Buccaneers who have given up 55 points.
There is absolutely no way I am getting sucked back into the Larry Donnell vortex again. It was a very nice outing today but I will not consider him a TE1 when the Giants return from their bye.
The Giants desperately need Rashad Jennings back. Andre Williams is too slow and plodding to be an every down RB at this level. Williams is doing a terrible job all around. Jennings should be able to practice after the teams bye in week eight.
Injuries: LB Jon Beason (toe), DT Cullen Jenkins (calf)
17 – San Francisco at Denver – 42
Unless you have been under a rock you know that Peyton Manning threw four TD’s today breaking Brett Favre’s all time career mark of 508 TD’s. Manning now has 510 career TD’s and counting.
Manning was 6-6, 162 yards and 2 TD’s using play action against the 49ers. The 49ers have been very susceptible to play action dating back to last season.
Ronnie Hillman has cemented himself in as the Broncos feature RB for the rest of the season. He is outproducing anything that Montee Ball was capable of doing and then some.
The 49ers were already without RT Anthony Davis, G/C Marcus Martin and LG Mike Iupati going into this game but then lost starting C Daniel Kilgore with a broken leg. What was at the start of the season the best offensive line in football, now is in complete shambles.
Michael Crabtree had a 17 yard TD reception called back due to offensive pass interference in the fourth quarter.
Injuries: C Daniel Kilgore (broken leg), LB Steven Johnson (ankle), CB Omar Bolden (concussion)