It's very difficult to write any sort of reactionary piece on the heels of Week 8 that doesn't just totally hone in on the plethora of injuries that struck the NFL this past week. Many of these blurbs will relate to them, but we'll attempt to look at some fallers that may have slipped through the cracks thanks to the huge headlines surrounding the loss of names like Le'Veon Bell, Steve Smith, Keenan Allen, Matt Forte, and so on.

Let's stroll on past the infirmary a bit and take a gander at some other falling situations around the league.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Fallers

Andy Dalton – QB, CIN

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Rut roh Raggy. It would appear that all is not going to be sunshine and rainbows for Andy Dalton in 2015. He completed 60% of his passes against the Steelers, but threw two interceptions and only managed 231 yards and a touchdown by the end of the game. The Bengals didn't need him to do anything ridiculous as they still held down Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers' offense themselves, winning the game 16-10 and remaining undefeated. The point here is that many were very tentative to believe in Andy Dalton's early-season success, and perhaps this poor performance can be capitalized on by other owners looking to get Dalton. It probably won't tarnish Dalton's reputation too much to his current owners, but it's worth a shot as he has matchups against the Browns and Texans on deck.

The Dalton owner in my hometown league started him over Drew Brees, and that bad taste in the mouth can push some people into short-term mistakes of selling Dalton lower than he deserves. It's worth reaching out to see what the deal is if you need a quarterback. All of that being said, we just saw the Bad Andy Dalton that has haunted fantasy owners, and it serves as a reminder that he is still prone to the stinker game.

Chris Ivory - RB, NYJ

This is strictly posted in the hopes that Ivory owners are freaking out about a horrible game out of Ivory and might overreact as most leagues have their trade deadline bearing down on them. Ivory had a terrible 17 yards on 15 carries in a game where he was without the anchor of the offensive line, Nick Mangold, and obviously Ryan Fitzpatrick left the game early as well. Geno Smith filled in admirably considering he hasn't gotten any work with the first time in eons, but it was clear that the Jets were deflated on Sunday, and Ivory's game suffered accordingly.

Fitzpatrick shouldn't be gone that long, and even if Geno Smith is the Jets' quarterback this week, they are facing the Jaguars and should be able to execute their regular game plan. The big thing to keep tabs on is whether Nick Mangold can go, because he spearheads that strong offensive line. Throw an offer out to the Ivory owner in your league, and if you own Ivory, don't be rattled by the box score. That said, any 1.0 YPC effort where the guy isn't hurt in the first quarter is going to ding a player's stock.

Danny Woodhead – RB, SD

Much like the Chris Ivory feedback, Danny Woodhead is someone who people should target after a poor week. Woodhead already gets a questionable eye from many owners as being a truly reliable source of fantasy production, and for some, all it may take is a bad performance and an upcoming bye week to be able to pry Woodhead away. Melvin Gordon got plenty of opportunities in the running game, but continued his run of ineffectiveness. To be fair, the offensive line is absolute dirt right now. They are so banged-up that it's admirable that they can pass-protect for Rivers as well as they do. Asking them to get a push against defensive lines and open up lanes is too much though.

The Chargers are going up against the Bears on Monday night, and Woodhead should get usage that is more in line with games outside of this past week. The Chargers lost Keenan Allen and Ladarius Green, so Woodhead should see more usage anyway. Buy low on Woodhead if you can.

Ameer Abdullah – RB, DET

Well, that preseason hype train for Abdullah has less power right now than a Thomas the Tank Engine toy. Abdullah might be worth less than one of those as well to most owners. Seriously, I know that the Lions fell behind early and didn't have much of a use for the running game, but Abdullah still only had one carry for three yards, and zero catches on just two targets. That is horrible--sad, really. Combine this with Joique Bell's 56 yards on only seven carries, and there's really nothing left for Abdullah to do. He's looked ineffective, Bell finally looked good and has the pedigree behind him, and Theo Riddick has the passing-down role pretty much on lockdown. Be done with Ameer this year.

Martellus Bennett - TE, CHI

Bennett hasn't scored since Week 4, and he only has two touchdowns on the year. The loss of Matt Forte might mean that Bennett gets more involved, but he only saw five targets on Sunday compared to his three previous games where he saw at least 11 per game. Look for there to be some uptick compared to this past week, but it doesn't look like he's going to return value on the higher draft pick that most owners used to snag Bennett as he came off of a 2014 effort that saw him rack up 916 yards and six touchdowns.

Other Fallers to Note: Andre Ellington (RB, ARI), Mike Wallace (WR, MIN), Joseph Randle (RB, FA).

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