Backfields in Motion

Keeping up with last week’s R&B opening, this week’s title is brought to you by soul duo Mel and Tim, best known for their 1969 hit Backfield in Motion.

Entering Week 7, running backs carried the ball on just 41.5 percent of plays, the lowest percentage in history. NFL backfield’s were all over the map, however, as the story of a hectic Sunday.

The last-minute (literally) revelation of Marshawn Lynch’s back injury was an inauspicious beginning, leaving fantasy owners with a goose egg at one starting spot. From there, feature back began dropping like clay pigeons. Stud back Darren McFadden (foot) touched the ball just three times before leaving with nary a fantasy impact. Earnest Graham (torn Achilles’) wasn’t much better with just one fantasy point while Beanie Wells (knee) pulled up limp after just four fantasy points.

A thumb injury had Ryan Mathews in and out of the lineup, leaving him with just 65 yards and his worst fantasy output of the season. Tim Hightower surprisingly reclaimed his feature-back role from Ryan Torain before going down with what is believed to be a season-ending ACL injury. The Shanahans’ shenanigans left Torain’s fantasy owners with negative points.

The fantasy albatross of the 2011 season, though, remains a sluggish Chris Johnson, who managed just 45 yards on 16 touches compared to 48 yards on four touches for backup Javon Ringer. Johnson swore up and down after the game that he's the same player he's always been, and insinuated that subpar blocking is behind this year's struggles. The game film and his opponents tell a different story. Said one undisclosed Texans defender, "Something is wrong, cause he wasn't even trying after awhile." Other Texans used phrases like “You hit him early, it deters him," "He gets frustrated and and can't get into a groove" and "Running slow."

Charting the game for Rotoworld, I noted that Johnson remains hesitant to make a cut, moving in slow motion when he finally does so. He failed to make defenders miss even in open spaces, showing no sign of his once elite speed and lateral agility. The fastest player in the league two years ago now moves like his ankle is caught in a bear trap.  The Houston Chronicle’s Jerome Solomon described Johnson’s running style as “simply walking into the hole and almost giving up. He looked so bad, I thought he was sick.”

According to the sources of long-time beat writer Terry McCormick, Johnson's conditioning level was not as good as it needed to be when he first reported to the Titans and it "could be a factor" in his early-season struggles. Whatever the case, it’s clear that the problem rests more with Johnson than the offensive line. As a multi-league CJ0K owner, I’m no longer holding out hope of RB1 production at any point this season.

Running Back Game Balls

The other side of the backfield coin featured monster performances from Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, and first-time starter rookie DeMarco Murray.

Foster racked up 40 standard-league fantasy points as the fourth player since the 1970 merger to pile up 100 yards rushing and receiving on top of three touchdowns. The other three players were Brian Westbrook (2007), Priest Holmes (2002), and Larry Brown (1973). The Texans dominated the Titans to the extent that backup Ben Tate also cleared 100 yards, a first in franchise history.

As the New York Times’ Andy Benoit points out, the Texans are expanding Foster’s role out of the backfield by splitting him out wide this year. In addition to the typical backfield screens and dumpoffs, Foster is also being utilized on bubble screens and underneath pass patterns to explain his 287 receiving yards over the past three weeks. There’s no more valuable fantasy back going forward.

Still the most violently explosive runner in the league, Peterson raced out to tackle-breaking gains of 25, 29, and 54 yards against a Packers defense that was allowing just 83 yards per on the ground through six games. In many ways it was a more impressive performance than Foster’s, reminiscent of Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Jim Brown. Now the NFL’s leading rusher, Peterson heads into a perfect-storm matchup against the Panthers’ spineless defense in Week 8. A late-game ankle injury is worth monitoring, but it’s a good sign that he returned to finish out the next drive.

The Mike Martz self-correcting mechanism has been in full effect over the past month, with 25 rushing attempts in four consecutive games. The Bears have gone 3-1 over that span behind Forte’s 160 rushing yards per game and an eye-popping 1,091 yards from scrimmage on the season. His current 5.3 yards per carry average is nearly a yard more than his previous high and 1.5 yards higher than his career average. Forte’s 32-yard field-reversing touchdown run highlighted the increased lateral agility that has made him arguably the best running back in the league this season. He has a juicy Week 9 matchup against the Eagles' pathetic run defense coming out of next week’s bye.

The first carry of Murray’s first career start went for 91 yards, the opening shot in his assault on Felix Jones’ starting job. By the time the game was over, Murray had cruised past Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett (206) and Emmitt Smith (237) for the most single-game yards in Cowboys history. Murray’s 253 yards are the most by any back this season, just two fewer than Jones’ season total, and second only to Peterson’s 296 among rookies. It’s the ninth-best single-game total of all time, just ahead of Spec Sanders' 250-yard game for the Yankees against the Chicago Rockets in 1947. While it’s worth noting that Murray’s performance was aided by the league’s worst run defense, Jones can consider himself Wally Pipp-ed.

Keeping up with last week’s R&B opening, this week’s title is brought to you by soul duo Mel and Tim, best known for their 1969 hit Backfield in Motion.

Entering Week 7, running backs carried the ball on just 41.5 percent of plays, the lowest percentage in history. NFL backfield’s were all over the map, however, as the story of a hectic Sunday.

The last-minute (literally) revelation of Marshawn Lynch’s back injury was an inauspicious beginning, leaving fantasy owners with a goose egg at one starting spot. From there, feature back began dropping like clay pigeons. Stud back Darren McFadden (foot) touched the ball just three times before leaving with nary a fantasy impact. Earnest Graham (torn Achilles’) wasn’t much better with just one fantasy point while Beanie Wells (knee) pulled up limp after just four fantasy points.

A thumb injury had Ryan Mathews in and out of the lineup, leaving him with just 65 yards and his worst fantasy output of the season. Tim Hightower surprisingly reclaimed his feature-back role from Ryan Torain before going down with what is believed to be a season-ending ACL injury. The Shanahans’ shenanigans left Torain’s fantasy owners with negative points.

The fantasy albatross of the 2011 season, though, remains a sluggish Chris Johnson, who managed just 45 yards on 16 touches compared to 48 yards on four touches for backup Javon Ringer. Johnson swore up and down after the game that he's the same player he's always been, and insinuated that subpar blocking is behind this year's struggles. The game film and his opponents tell a different story. Said one undisclosed Texans defender, "Something is wrong, cause he wasn't even trying after awhile." Other Texans used phrases like “You hit him early, it deters him," "He gets frustrated and and can't get into a groove" and "Running slow."

Charting the game for Rotoworld, I noted that Johnson remains hesitant to make a cut, moving in slow motion when he finally does so. He failed to make defenders miss even in open spaces, showing no sign of his once elite speed and lateral agility. The fastest player in the league two years ago now moves like his ankle is caught in a bear trap.  The Houston Chronicle’s Jerome Solomon described Johnson’s running style as “simply walking into the hole and almost giving up. He looked so bad, I thought he was sick.”

According to the sources of long-time beat writer Terry McCormick, Johnson's conditioning level was not as good as it needed to be when he first reported to the Titans and it "could be a factor" in his early-season struggles. Whatever the case, it’s clear that the problem rests more with Johnson than the offensive line. As a multi-league CJ0K owner, I’m no longer holding out hope of RB1 production at any point this season.

Running Back Game Balls

The other side of the backfield coin featured monster performances from Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, and first-time starter rookie DeMarco Murray.

Foster racked up 40 standard-league fantasy points as the fourth player since the 1970 merger to pile up 100 yards rushing and receiving on top of three touchdowns. The other three players were Brian Westbrook (2007), Priest Holmes (2002), and Larry Brown (1973). The Texans dominated the Titans to the extent that backup Ben Tate also cleared 100 yards, a first in franchise history.

As the New York Times’ Andy Benoit points out, the Texans are expanding Foster’s role out of the backfield by splitting him out wide this year. In addition to the typical backfield screens and dumpoffs, Foster is also being utilized on bubble screens and underneath pass patterns to explain his 287 receiving yards over the past three weeks. There’s no more valuable fantasy back going forward.

Still the most violently explosive runner in the league, Peterson raced out to tackle-breaking gains of 25, 29, and 54 yards against a Packers defense that was allowing just 83 yards per on the ground through six games. In many ways it was a more impressive performance than Foster’s, reminiscent of Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Jim Brown. Now the NFL’s leading rusher, Peterson heads into a perfect-storm matchup against the Panthers’ spineless defense in Week 8. A late-game ankle injury is worth monitoring, but it’s a good sign that he returned to finish out the next drive.

The Mike Martz self-correcting mechanism has been in full effect over the past month, with 25 rushing attempts in four consecutive games. The Bears have gone 3-1 over that span behind Forte’s 160 rushing yards per game and an eye-popping 1,091 yards from scrimmage on the season. His current 5.3 yards per carry average is nearly a yard more than his previous high and 1.5 yards higher than his career average. Forte’s 32-yard field-reversing touchdown run highlighted the increased lateral agility that has made him arguably the best running back in the league this season. He has a juicy Week 9 matchup against the Eagles' pathetic run defense coming out of next week’s bye.

The first carry of Murray’s first career start went for 91 yards, the opening shot in his assault on Felix Jones’ starting job. By the time the game was over, Murray had cruised past Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett (206) and Emmitt Smith (237) for the most single-game yards in Cowboys history. Murray’s 253 yards are the most by any back this season, just two fewer than Jones’ season total, and second only to Peterson’s 296 among rookies. It’s the ninth-best single-game total of all time, just ahead of Spec Sanders' 250-yard game for the Yankees against the Chicago Rockets in 1947. While it’s worth noting that Murray’s performance was aided by the league’s worst run defense, Jones can consider himself Wally Pipp-ed.

Tight Connections

Drew Brees / Marques Colston / Jimmy Graham / Darren Sproles - The Saints’ 62 points tied with four teams for the most since the 1970 merger, and it was the first 60-point game in the 21st century. Brees threw more touchdowns (5) than incompletions (4) on his way to a 88.6 percent completion rate -- the second highest of all-time for QBs throwing more than 30 passes. Brees was the first QB this season to go 12-of-12 on throws longer than five yards and 3-of-3 on throws longer than 10 yards while compiling 43 fantasy points in just three quarters. Brees now leads the NFL in completions (212), attempts (299), and yards ( 2,477) while placing second in touchdowns (18) and completion percentage (70.9).

Colston has wasted no time in regaining stud status after returning from a collarbone injury. With his trademark physicality and ridiculously wide catch radius, Colston has led all fantasy receivers in Week 6 (17 points) as well as Week 7 (21 points). Graham failed to clear 100 yards for a fifth straight game, yet still managed to top all tight ends in fantasy points (17) for the third time in four weeks. Matchup nightmares Graham and Sproles are tied for the NFC lead with 45 receptions. With the 12th-most fantasy points among running backs, Sproles is knocking on the door to must-start RB1 status. The Saints even have fantasy’s top kicker, as John Kasay leads the league with 73 points on 25-of-25 XPs and 16-of-18 field goals.

Aaron Rodgers / Greg Jennings - A Vikings secondary missing both starting cornerbacks had no prayer against a surgical Rodgers leading Green Bay’s fast-breaking aerial attack. Rodgers hit six different receivers on the opening touchdown drive while completing his first 13 throws of the game. His 146.5 passer rating, 11.17 YPA, and 80.0 completion rate were all season-highs on his way to a career-high sixth 300-yard passing game. Playing out of his mind, Rodgers boasts a 125.7 passer rating, 20:3 TD-to-INT ratio, 71.5 completion percentage and an average of 338 yards per game as the first player in NFL history with seven consecutive 110+ passer ratings to start a season.  “If this were 1764,” says Kerry Byrnes of ColdHardFootballFacts.com, “he’d be burned at the stake for witchery.”

Thanks in large part to blown coverage on a 79-yard touchdown, Jennings’ 20 fantasy points finished second only to Colston’s 21 in Week 7. Jennings is tied with Steve Smith for the fourth-most fantasy points on the season.

Cam Newton / Steve Smith - Speaking of Smith, he and rookie Cam Newton continue to make magic in Carolina. Buoyed by a rookie record seventh rushing touchdown and 8-of-8 second-half passes for 152 yards, Newton posted 27 fantasy points -- behind only Brees, Rodgers, and Ben Ben. "I’ve got to take my hat off to Cam Newton," said losing coach Mike Shanahan. “He made some plays that most quarterbacks don’t make. He did a great job with his feet, I thought he hung in the pocket and he made some throws that you don’t see very many pros make, especially young players. I take my hat off to him. That’s one of the better days I’ve seen from any rookie quarterback." Next up on Newton’s rushing touchdown list: Daunte Culpepper (2002) and Billy Kilmer (1961) with 10 apiece, Kordell Stewart (1997), Tobin Rote (1956) and Johnny Lujack (1950) with 11 apiece, and record-holder Steve Grogan (1976) with 12.

After wasting away with 65.5 yards per game in 2009 and 39.6 last season, Smith is averaging a career-best 116.9 yards with Newton under center this year "As far as me being re-energized, just a spade calling a spade," Smith said. "I've been sitting on the shelf for about two years, just collecting that dust. Get the cobwebs off, throw on a little WD-40 and let me go to work." Leading the league with 818 yards through seven weeks, Smith is on pace for 1,870.

Ben Roethlisberger / Mike Wallace - Big Ben spent last week in OC Bruce Arians’ ear, lobbying for more spread and no-huddle sets. Arians didn’t disappoint, devising an aggressive attack against Arizona’s speed-challenged secondary. Much like the Packers offense with Donald Driver on the sidelines, the Steelers added an extra gear in three-wide sets with Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Emmanuel Sanders once Hines Ward went down with an ankle injury. Wallace blew by Richard Marshall for a 95-yard touchdown -- his seventh consecutive game with a reception of 40+ yards. ESPN’s “Football Scientist,” K.J. Joyner, now considers Wallace the NFL’s best receiver. He’s behind only Calvin Johnson and Wes Welker in fantasy points heading into a potential shootout with the Patriots in Week 8.

Major League?