Now that we’ve gone beyond the halfway point of the NFL season, the 2015 fantasy playoffs are coming in hot. I would imagine that if you’re reading this week’s recap you’re likely still in the thick of playoff contention so congratulations are in order as well. Given the plethora of injuries this year on top of a slew of underperforming studs, even just making the playoffs is a feat in itself this season so take some pride in fighting for a spot.

Speaking of injuries, two key players left their respective contests on Sunday, one more severe than the other. The first, less concerning injury was to that of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben has been diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain and is expected to miss one or two weeks. Unfortunately, t’s Roethlisberger’s second injury of the season but on the plus side he’s become notorious for coming back from his ailments rather quick. The Steelers host the Browns in week ten followed by a bye in week eleven so it’s certainly possible that Ben only ends up missing one game. In his place is third-year player Landry Jones who has shown he can be competent enough to get the ball to Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. Obviously he’s a big step down from Roethlisberger so the team’s wide receivers will take a bump in the rankings but ultimately they’ll still be start worthy, especially if it’s just for one game against Cleveland. We’ll know more about just how much time Ben should miss after the bye.

The second, and far more devastating injury to come out of week eight was to New England running back Dion Lewis. Lewis is set to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. That’s a massive blow for any fantasy owners who had been riding the hot hand with Lewis since he broke out in week one. This is the type of injury that actually means a hell of a lot more for fantasy purposes than it does for real life. The Patriots tend to rotate running backs like crazy so the “next man up” philosophy is absolutely in play as far as real-life football is concerned. Fantasy wise, LegGarrette Blount should see a nice uptick in touches with Lewis sidelined. You should also expect to see some more of James White and Branden Bolden, particularly White when it comes to PPR formats. Lewis was the clear pass-catching back for the Patriots so those opportunities will likely be split between White and Bolden with the former getting the larger share of snaps. White is worth an add in most formats while Bolden is simply a deeper league add for now. Like I said, the Patriots rotate backs at will so it’s hard to trust any RB not named LeGarrette Blount until we see how this actually shakes out on the field.

Luckily those were the only two major injuries this week. Some other players were banged up as well but they’re better served mentioning in their individual games.

 

Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals

It would appear that Gary Barnidge might not be quarterback proof after all. The breakout tight end of 2015 had his first truly disappointing game here with Johnny Manziel throwing to him. If you’ve been fortunate enough to roll with Barnidge to this point I still believe he’s worth starting but be wary of the prospect of having Manziel under center. Isaiah Crowell trumped Duke Johnson in touches out of the backfield in this game but I don’t think that should have any long lasting effects on either player’s fantasy prospects. Johnson is still the running back you want to own and start in Cleveland so it’s best to just chalk this game up as an issue of strategy and game flow.

The Jeremy Hill nightmare continued here with a tasty matchup against a porous Browns run defense being completely wasted. Hill finished with just 52 yards compared to Giovanni Bernard’s 72. Neither guy had a particularly stellar day but the fact of the matter is that this is closer to a timeshare than the Bengals want you to believe. They keep saying they want to lean on Hill yet outside of their previous game against the Steelers, they aren’t actually committing to that prospect. I still prefer Hill to Bernard but I don’t view either guy as a must start anymore. It all depends on who else you have. Lastly, Tyler Eifert had a monster game here and is clearly an upper tier tight end this season. His three touchdowns reinforce him as a top five option alongside the likes of Greg Olsen and Travis Kelce.

 

Tennessee Titans @ New Orleans Saints

Marcus Mariota and Delanie Walker derailed the New Orleans Saints turnaround hype train with the Titans edging out a win in overtime. This was Mariota’s first game back from injury as he looked for his tight end early and often in Walker. Granted, one of Walker’s touchdowns was a fluky play that should have been easily intercepted by the Saints but nevertheless a two-touchdown outing is nothing to sneeze at. With Mariota in the lineup, Walker is a dependable fantasy tight end who I much prefer over the likes of Jason Witten, Jordan Cameron, and Julius Thomas. New head coach Mike Mularkey stayed true to his word in claiming running back Antonio Andrews would be the team’s workhorse back as he finished the day with 19 rushes for 88 yards. Listen, with how absolutely dreadful the RB position has been this year it’s hard to find a fresh face off the waiver wire at this point so Andrews is absolutely worth adding.

Drew Brees had another big game here with 387 yards and three touchdowns with a rushing score as well. Willie Snead continues to be the team’s primary receiver while Brandin Cooks managed to reel in a touchdown for himself. It’s still hard to trust any particular Saints pass-catcher in general given how often they spread the ball around but I certainly prefer Snead over Cooks. Cooks has really only had three good games this season while Snead has been the more consistent of the two. Both players are WR3’s with upside going forward.

 

Green Bay Packers @ Carolina Panthers

In what should have been the best game of the week, the Panthers turned this into a rout in the second quarter. Carolina went up by 20 heading into the second half before Aaron Rodgers decided to take over the game for himself. This was essentially a battle between two quarterbacks with both Rodgers and Cam Newton going off for their respective teams. For the Packers, there were a couple key takeaways in this game. First, the Eddie Lacy drama isn’t going away any time soon. Lacy reportedly came out of Sunday’s contest with a groin injury and was completely outplayed by James Starks anyway. Even if Lacy were to suit up against the Lions in week ten, I think it’s time to move Starks ahead of him. Starks is simply the better back at this point and there’s only so many weeks you can survive Lacy disappointing you as you head toward the playoffs. Second, it was nice to see a healthy Davante Adams rack up 93 yards on seven receptions. He might turn out to be a dependable WR2 down the stretch after all, relegating James Jones to flex status. Lastly, Randall Cobb had his best day of the year with 99 yards and a score, showing that patience was the key in owning him all along. I wouldn’t exactly call this situation fixed just yet but it’s a positive sign that Cobb could still end up having a solid fantasy year despite his early struggles.

On the Panthers side of things there really isn’t all that much news to report. Cam Newton is back to being a top-10 fantasy quarterback while Jonathan Stewart continues to rack up carries. The sheer amount of usage Stewart is getting is enough to lock him in as a high-end RB2 for the season. Passing wise, Greg Olsen remains the primary option but Devin Funchess made a little noise here with 71 yards and a touchdown. He’s worth a speculative add in deeper leagues but I’m not confident in starting him just yet.

 

Oakland Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Both Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree continue to put up fantastic numbers and remain legitimate fantasy options the rest of the way. Cooper borders on WR1 status while Crabtree has snuck up into being a low-end WR2. A lot of their success is tied to quarterback Derek Carr having himself a tremendous season. He’s turned out to be a legitimate QB2 for those of you in two-quarterback leagues. Running back Latavius Murray did leave this game with a concussion, however, so it’s not all good news for the Raiders. Concussions are always tricky to monitor this early in the week so we’ll have to wait a few days to find out Murray’s availability for week ten’s matchup against the Vikings.

Antonio. Freakin. Brown. A franchise record 17 receptions for 284 receiving yards is just completely bonkers. It’s a shame that Ben Roethlisberger got injured in this game as those numbers aren’t even repeatable with a healthy starting QB, let alone a backup. Either way, Antonio is clearly the best wide receiver in the league so he should be fine with Landry Jones throwing to him for the next game or two. The Steelers also benefitted immensely from running back DeAngelo Williams filling in for the injured Le’Veon Bell. Williams rushed 27 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns in this game and is clearly a high-end RB1 going forward. This is a team that can score at will so you’re basically starting your Steelers if you own them even with Big Ben out.

 

St. Louis Rams @ Minnesota Vikings

Wide receiver Tavon Austin of the Rams had an impressive day that included eight rushes for 66 yards to go along with his four receptions. Austin is the type of player that needs to see touches in bunches so as long as the team is willing to utilize him in a variety of ways he should be able to keep it up as a low-end WR3 in most fantasy formats. Other than that, there isn’t really anything else worth mentioning for St. Louis. Todd Gurley is amazing. What else do you need to know?

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was literally knocked out on a nasty play in this game so we’ll have to see how he recovers in the coming days. If he misses any time, wide receiver Stefon Diggs would take a slight hit in the rankings but he’s still only one big play away from salvaging a fantasy day. I would still start him with moderate confidence if Shaun Hill were to get the nod under center.

 

Washington Redskins @ New England Patriots

To the Redskins credit, their defense actually managed to not get completely blown out by the New England Patriots. A 27-10 loss isn’t exactly a close game but many expected this showdown to be an absolute blood bath. Unfortunately for Washington, their offense just couldn’t keep pace. Both Matt Jones and Alfred Morris continue to be completely ineffective out of the backfield with neither guy warranting a roster spot anymore. Tight end Jordan Reed managed to reel in a garbage time touchdown but hey, those count just the same in fantasy. Reed is a stellar fantasy TE for as long as he’s healthy. I typically don’t like to own more than one tight end if I have a reliable option but in the case of Reed, I’d be sure to scoop up a backup in the event he gets hurt again. DeSean Jackson returned to action here but only had three receptions for 15 yards. Luckily for him, the Redskins face a terrible New Orleans defense next week so look for the potential breakout game to come sooner rather than later.

We already touched on what the Dion Lewis injury means for the Patriots backfield so let’s focus on the passing game for a second. Brandon LaFell led the team in yards here with 102 on five receptions. It was nice to see LaFell manage to limit his drops in this game so hopefully he’s able to keep it up and emerge into a low-end WR2. In terms of actually starting him, I’d like to see him string together another solid game or two before I’m confident in using him. This is another case of it depending entirely on what your other options are until LaFell starts putting up solid numbers in bunches.

 

Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills

It would appear as if the Dan Campbell kickstarter campaign has come to a screeching halt thanks to the returning Tyrod Taylor and the Buffalo Bills. The Dolphins were actually able to get the ball moving with some consistency here but couldn’t really find the endzone outside of Lamar Miller’s two touchdowns. Miller’s usage has seen a massive surge since the team made a coaching change so you can expect him to be locked into being a top-12 fantasy running back in the playoffs. His rushing total wasn’t crazy in this game but his seven receptions for 97 yards is assuring that he’s a dependable fantasy asset. Passing wise, Ryan Tannehill managed to throw for 309 yards without any touchdowns here, all the while spreading the ball around to his receivers. Jarvis Landry is a PPR machine with another 11 receptions for 69 yards but other than that there isn’t really a major standout in this team’s passing game right now.

Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy ended this game with a shoulder injury but claims he’ll be ready to go for Thursday’s tilt with the New York Jets. Both McCoy and Karlos Williams had huge days out of the backfield while Tyrod Taylor only needed 12 passing attempts to come out with a victory. Eight of those attempts went for completions to Sammy Watkins who finished with 168 yards and a score. That stat line should be viewed as somewhat of a one-off showing for Watkins. He’s always been a rather inconsistent player and his health injury has shown that he can’t stay on the field for any significant length of time. If you’ve made it this far into the season without depending on Sammy Watkins I can’t imagine you’ll want your fantasy championship hopes to hinge on a guy with such massive boom or bust potential.

 

Jacksonville Jaguars @ New York Jets

This was a matchup that featured two extremely underrated offenses as both teams have a pair of wide receivers that are absolutely contributing to plenty of fantasy owners’ playoff hopes. Jacksonville’s duo of Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns keep racking up yards and touchdowns while tight end Julius Thomas is essentially droppable. He’s the third passing option on this team and as underrated as the Jaguars are, they’re not a potent enough offense to support three consistent fantasy playmakers. Hurns is reported to have a foot sprain but considering he didn’t actually miss any time with the injury coming on the last play of the game, it will likely be a few days before we have any sort of clarity on the severity of the injury.

For the Jets, their wide receiver pairing of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker keeps finding the endzone as well. Both receivers scored a touchdown in this game and more importantly than that they had Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing to them. Fitzpatrick almost missed this game with an injury to his non-throwing hand so it was a huge sigh of relief for Marshall and Decker owners everywhere to see Fitzpatrick play through it. Chris Ivory, on the other hand, is starting to become worrisome for the Jets offense. He did manage to run in for two touchdowns but 26 yards on 23 carries is problematic. Ivory now has back-to-back games with sub-par numbers so I’m concerned about relying on him late in the season. You likely have to keep starting him unless you have some serious RB depth but it might be worth shopping Ivory to see what you can get for him.

 

Atlanta Falcons @ San Francisco 49ers

In a game in which the Atlanta Falcons should have won easily, a makeshift San Francisco offense managed to pull off a massive upset. The combination of Blaine Gabbert and Shaun Draughn of all people was enough to edge out a home victory against a now struggling Atlanta team. Honestly, the 49ers possess zero fantasy value so let’s just move right along to the Falcons side of the ball.

Running back Devonta Freeman had a down game by his 2015 standards, finishing with just 12 rushes for 12 yards. Luckily, he had eight receptions for 67 yards and a score to salvage his fantasy day. 137 of Matt Ryan’s 303 yards went to Julio Jones, which should surprise no one. Julio should reclaim the top spot in fantasy rankings over Antonio Brown for as long as Ben Roethlisberger is out. Interestingly, tight end Jacob Tamme has been racking up the yardage in the absence of wide receiver Leonard Hankerson. I had initially poo-pooed the idea of Tamme being a consistent contributor but with Hankerson out, he’s managed to prove me wrong. If your team is struggling at the TE position and you’re looking for a temporary fix, Tamme is absolutely worth an add for as long as Hankerson stays sidelined.

 

New York Giants @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This was a fairly standard game offensively for the New York Giants. Odell Beckham Jr led the team in receptions and yards while all four of the team’s running backs shared the workload. That’s just about what you should expect out the G-Men; Odell Beckham will lead the charge through the air while Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams, Shane Vereen, and Orleans Darkwa rotate in and out. I will say that in case you haven’t noticed, Vereen is the clear lead pass-catching back so he possess the most value in PPR formats.

On the Buccaneers side of things Mike Evans had a great game here with eight receptions for 152 yards. Evans is locked in as a high-end WR2 and with Vincent Jackson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins still sidelined, expect him to keep racking up yardage until either or both return. Doug Martin and Charles Sims each had a fumble in this game so neither back really came away with a big fantasy day. Martin did manage to out-touch Sims but it was Sims who broke a big 59-yard run. Expect these two to continue to split the workload with Doug Martin getting the edge as a RB2 for fantasy purposes.

 

Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts

I’m not sure there’s been a greater fantasy headache this season than the combination of Denver running backs C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. Every time it looks like we can take a firm stance on what to do with either of these guys the exact opposite happens. Coming into this game, it became evident that Hillman was the starter and worth using for fantasy yet he only ended up with one rushing yard. Not only that, but he and Anderson ended up splitting the workload at seven carries a piece anyway. I think both guys are back to being bench-worthy but now that I’ve said that, you can expect one of them to go off next week against Kansas City. If you were to ask me which one I’d prefer to start I would be completely honest with you and say I’m going to flip a coin.

The Colts righted the ship here by coming away with a victory in a game that featured a supposedly injured T.Y. Hilton. It’s reports like this that make me question how genuine teams are being when they discuss their injured players. I understand not wanting to expose a weakness to an opponent but when a player is apparently in a walking boot and not expected to suit up ends up being the team’s leading receiver something is definitely fishy there. Hilton had five receptions for 82 yards in a game virtually no one (in their right mind) started him in. Hilton aside, the Colts moved the ball with some diversity amongst their pass-catchers while Frank Gore had another solid outing on the ground. Gore finished with 83 yards and a touchdown, reinforcing his status as a high-end RB2. It won’t be pretty for Gore but production is still production so he’s more than worth starting every given week.

 

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

This game started out pretty lackluster in the first half before turning on the jets in the second. The Eagles ended up winning in overtime on the heels of a walk-off touchdown from Jordan Matthews. I’d like to think that Matthews finishing with nine receptions for 133 yards is a sign that he puts up some bigger numbers in the second half of the season but I’m hesitant to fully buy into that. He’ll have some nice games, sure, but like I’ve said all along with the Eagles, they’re a team that has randomized fantasy production with no way of knowing who exactly is going to breakout. I think Matthews is a serviceable low-end WR2/high-end WR3 but I’m not ready to claim that he’s now a must start.

If you were to just take a look a the box score for the Dallas Cowboys you might assume that this was a fantasy friendly outing. The truth, however, is that a lot of the offensive production Dallas put up in this game was rather fluky. No one should even be owning Cole Beasley so his nine receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns can be thrown out the window right off the bat. Secondly, Dez Bryant’s big touchdown was basically the equivalent of a Hail Mary so that too was pure luck. I know Bryant is a household name and all that but Matt Cassel literally just heaved the ball toward the endzone in the hopes that a Cowboy would come down with it. It was a spectacular play that was fun to watch but there isn’t any significant takeaway to make of that for fantasy purposes. It’s not something you can rely on. What you can rely on though is the production from Darren McFadden for as long as he’s healthy. The Cowboys finally decided to give all of their carries to one running back and McFadden’s 27 rushes for 117 yards proves he can be a high-end RB2 for as long as he stays on the field. I would bet he gets hurt at some point so enjoy this ride will it lasts.

 

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