Seattle Seahawks
Doug Baldwin: 6-3-5-10-2-8-2 (36), Golden Tate: 1-3-3-3-4-7-7 (28), Mike Williams: 3-1-5-3-2-2-4 (20), Ben Obomanu: 2-2-4-4-2-1-3 (18), Marshawn Lynch: 2-7-2-3-0-2-2 (18), Zach Miller: 0-4-1-2-2-3-5 (17), Justin Forsett: 3-0-1-1-0-5-1 (11), Michael Robinson: 0-0-1-1-4-2-2 (10), Anthony McCoy: 2-2-0-1-0-1-1 (7), Deon Butler: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2-2 (4), Cameron Morrah: dnp-dnp-0-dnp-0-1-2 (3)
The only Seahawk you can trust is Marshawn Lynch and his 10 straight starts with a touchdown. Golden Tate’s emergence is nice to see for dynasty leaguers hoping the Seahawks find a quarterback but that’s about it.
San Francisco 49ers
Michael Crabtree: 5-4-10-9-5-12-7 (52), Vernon Davis: 7-4-10-5-8-3-10 (47), Kyle Williams: 2-1-5-1-2-6-5 (22), Delanie Walker: 2-7-5-0-2-2-1 (19), Ted Ginn: 1-4-0-3-4-6-1 (19), Braylon Edwards: 3-6-4-3-dnp-2-dnp (18), Kendall Hunter: 0-3-1-1-3-3-2 (13), Frank Gore: 3-1-2-2-0-1-3 (12)
Against a tough Steelers defense I think we saw the core 49ers step up with Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore leading in targets and touches. It’s pretty straightforward and it has won them a lot of games.
St. Louis Rams
Brandon Lloyd: 13-9-14-10-2-12-9 (69), Austin Pettis: 5-4-5-4-7-4-9 (38), Brandon Gibson: 5-3-7-7-7-1-0 (30), Steven Jackson: 2-3-5-3-1-5-10 (29), Lance Kendricks: 1-dnp-2-5-1-2-4 (15), Danario Alexander: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-4-3 (9)
I hope nobody was counting on Kellen Clemens airing it out because he didn’t and I’m not too sure he can. He dinked and dunked his way to a big PPR game for Steven Jackson and that’s about it. That’s good for some of you and maybe those some of you should send him a holiday gift basket of assorted mini muffins.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Williams: 8-5-11-11-9-7-0 (51), Kellen Winslow: 6-6-11-7-5-5-7 (47), Kregg Lumpkin: 6-7-1-3-0-3-8 (28), Arrelious Benn: 2-6-6-5-4-1-dnp (24), Preston Parker: 4-4-2-3-3-3-3 (22), Dezmon Briscoe: 2-2-3-0-2-7-3 (19), LeGarrette Blount: 3-2-1-3-2-2-0 (13)
The Buccaneers were destroyed by the Jaguars two weeks ago. Think about that and then think about how pitiful the Jaguars looked against the Falcons and then last week’s game against Dallas makes a lot of sense. To say that Josh Freeman has regressed would be an understatement.
Mike Williams led all offensive skill players with 42 snaps and saw zero targets.
Tennessee Titans
Nate Washington: 6-4-9-6-6-9-13 (53), Damian Williams: 7-7-11-4-7-10-6 (52), Jared Cook: 8-3-9-7-1-1-11 (40), Lavelle Hawkins: 6-1-4-7-4-4-10 (36), Chris Johnson: 6-7-3-2-1-6-11 (36), Javon Ringer: 2-3-6-5-2-1-dnp (19), Ahmard Hall: 1-0-0-2-2-0-3 (8), Craig Stevens: 1-0-0-0-0-3-1 (5)
It looks like my man Damian Williams had the chance to step up this season but just isn’t doing so in a timely manner. Jared Cook and Nate Washington were the target stars of this game if you can call anybody a star when your team loses to a winless team. I’m pretty sure you can’t.
Cook’s 11 targets and 9 receptions for 103 yards of course coincided with a fumble but this was easily his highest reception total on the year and there is a slight glimmer of hope that they’ll start looking toward him more now. Of course it would help if Jake Locker were the one looking for him. This is the second game in a row he has outplayed Old Man Hasselbeck. It is time.
Washington Redskins
Jabar Gaffney: 5-6-10-7-3-8-9 (48), Roy Helu: 17-3-2-7-6-3-4 (42), Santana Moss: dnp-dnp-dnp-7-12-9-5 (33), Donte Stallworth: dnp-dnp-6-2-2-6-3 (19), David Anderson: dnp-3-3-dnp-6-3-dnp (15), Darrel Young: 2-1-2-2-dnp-2-1 (10), Logan Paulsen: 2-1-2-2-1-0-1 (9), Terrence Austin: 5-1-0-1-dnp-dnp-0 (7)
Since Fred Davis departed Jabar Gaffney has led in targets with 17 to Santana Moss’ 14 and 12 receptions to 5. Moss has scored 2 touchdowns to Gaffney’s 1 but the law of something or other tells me that Gaffney is the safer bet going forward and forward is a horrid Vikings pass defense.
Last 5 Weeks: Target Leaders
Roddy White 69, Hakeem Nicks 53, Steve Johnson 49, Victor Cruz 49, Percy Harvin 47, Brandon Lloyd 47, Dwayne Bowe 44, Greg Little 43, Michael Crabtree 43, Calvin Johnson 43, Nate Washington 43, Wes Welker 42, Darrius Heyward-Bey 41, Devin Aromashodu 41, Aaron Hernandez 41, Larry Fitzgerald 41, Demaryius Thomas 40, Nate Burleson 40, Marcedes Lewis 39, Steve Smith 38
The numbers by each name are targets for Weeks’ 9 through 15. And the target totals reflect the last 7 weeks as well. I hope you enjoy!
All snap count data comes from our friends over at Pro Football Focus.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald: 12-13-9-9-7-8-8 (66), Andre Roberts: 7-7-9-5-6-5-10 (49), Early Doucet: 6-4-10-1-6-4-9 (40), Chester Taylor: 1-3-3-2-0-2-4 (15), Jeff King: 2-5-0-3-0-4-1 (15), LaRod Stephens-Howling: 1-2-0-1-2-2-2 (10), Todd Heap: 0-dnp-dnp-0-dnp-0-9 (9), Beanie Wells: 2-0-1-0-1-1-1 (6)
Andre Roberts had his second touchdown in as many weeks and his second touchdown of the season as well. That’s good news for him and with 10 targets we know John Skelton likes him. It would probably behoove the Cardinals to start Skelton again and they do have a nice matchup with a Bengals pass defense that’s been less than great of late so maybe Roberts could go for 3 in a row.
Of course Larry Fitzgerald is still the man no matter what we decipher out of the target tea leaves. You don’t sit Fitz.
Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White: 9-7-14-13-15-11-16 (85), Tony Gonzalez: 6-10-6-9-10-11-2 (54), Julio Jones: 4-5-dnp-0-11-8-6 (34), Harry Douglas: 0-14-4-5-5-3-1 (32), Jason Snelling: 0-2-2-1-1-1-4 (11), Michael Turner: 2-2-2-1-0-1-2 (10), Jacquizz Rodgers: 1-2-0-2-1-2-1 (9)
Roddy White is back to his target dominating ways. He has now overtaken Wes Welker as the total target leader with 154 to 143. He has 19 less receptions than Wesley but who’s counting? Roddy also leads in red zone targets on the season with 27 and has been playing up to his fake football draft status of late with 5 touchdowns in his last 4 games and this is with Julio Jones back and producing so I’m not going to worry about R. Dub.
Baltimore Ravens
Ray Rice: 7-10-10-3-3-6-11 (50), Torrey Smith: 9-8-7-3-4-9-7 (47), Anquan Boldin: 10-9-2-9-4-6-3 (43), Ed Dickson: 5-14-3-2-4-2-4 (34), Dennis Pitta: 8-7-0-2-2-4-3 (26), Lee Evans: dnp-dnp-1-1-3-3-4 (12). Ricky Williams: 1-3-2-2-0-0-3 (11), Vonta Leach: 1-1-2-1-3-1-0 (9)
Anquan Boldin hasn’t topped double digit fantasy points in his last 7 games whereas Torrey Smith has 4 double digit games in that same span. Boldin is having trouble getting open and Joe Flacco isn’t going to do him any favors. Smith is just younger and faster and Flacco needs his guy to have quite a bit of daylight between himself and the defender.
Ray Rice is still where the Ravens offense starts and ends and continues and so on and so forth. He is averaging almost 4 red zone looks a game which should keep him flush with fantasy points.
Buffalo Bills
Stevie Johnson: 6-5-8-13-8-10-10 (60), David Nelson: 7-5-4-8-8-6-7 (45), Brad Smith: 0-0-4-7-10-5-5 (31), C.J. Spiller: 0-0-4-3-6-4-12 (29), Scott Chandler: 3-3-6-7-4-dnp-dnp (23), Derek Hagan: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-4-6 (10), Tashard Choice: dnp-dnp-1-0-1-4-3 (9), Ruvell Martin: 0-0-2-1-0-0-4 (7)
Stevie Johnson hasn’t gotten into the end zone the last couple games but continues to get a ton of targets and is at least getting decent yardage totals. Like I’ve mentioned in the past his recent resurgence coincided with the loss of Fred Jackson. As long as he’s healthy he should remain a good play.
C.J. Spiller is a nice story this season, especially for fantasy managers who have been helped late in the season by him. His 12 targets and 9 receptions last week are both highs for him and great for PPR. He’s never going to be the 20-plus carries, between the tackles back but the way they used him last week is perfect for his hybrid receiver/running back skill set.
Carolina Panthers
Steve Smith: BYE-8-10-7-6-8-7 (46), Greg Olsen: BYE-11-9-3-4-6-2 (35), Jonathan Stewart: BYE-7-6-4-2-9-3 (31), Legedu Naanee: BYE-9-5-4-3-5-2 (28), Brandon LaFell: BYE-2-5-6-4-5-5 (27), Jeremy Shockey: BYE-1-dnp-3-1-4-4 (13), DeAngelo Williams: BYE-1-1-0-0-2-0 (4)
Right now there are only two players on the Panthers you can trust and they are Cam Newton and Steve Smith. Smith is the only consistently targeted receiver week in and week out. After Greg Olsen was targeted 20 times in weeks 10 and 11 he only saw 15 targets the next 4 weeks. Don’t risk it.
Chicago Bears
Johnny Knox: 1-2-5-10-8-5-3 (34), Earl Bennett: 5-6-9-4-4-1-1 (30), Roy Williams: 6-2-8-5-1-2-4 (28), Kellen Davis: 3-2-1-2-2-1-3 (14), Kahlil Bell: dnp-dnp-0-0-1-5-6 (12), Devin Hester: 5-0-0-0-4-1-0 (10), Dane Sanzenbacher: 2-0-1-0-1-0-6 (10), Marion Barber: 1-0-0-0-1-4-0 (6)
The injuries and heartache keep piling up for the Bears and there’s not much good to glean from these last few games but the back up to the backup running back Kahlil Bell saw a lot of work in the passing game with 6 targets in which he caught 5 of those including one for a touchdown. His ability to catch passes is really his greatest strength as the Bears limp out of the season.
Cincinnati Bengals
Jerome Simpson: 10-4-13-5-3-6-5 (46), A.J. Green: 7-2-dnp-4-11-7-9 (40), Jermaine Gresham: dnp-5-6-9-7-7-5 (39), Andre Caldwell: 9-8-9-3-0-3-dnp (32), Andrew Hawkins: 0-6-8-3-2-1-2 (22), Cedric Benson: 0-1-1-5-0-1-2 (10) Bernard Scott: 1-0-1-2-1-2-0 (7), Colin Cochart: dnp-1-2-0-2-0-1 (6)
Even while he was nursing a shoulder injury A.J. Green was the only receiver to top 16 yards for the Bengals last week. He is also currently the 12th ranked fantasy receiver on the season which ain’t too shabby for a rookie! Well, Cam Newton is the third ranked quarterback as a rookie, but still.
Cleveland Browns
Greg Little: 8-6-8-13-7-6-9 (57), Jordan Norwood: 1-3-2-5-5-4-6 (26), Ben Watson: 2-5-4-4-8-3-dnp (26), Mohamed Massaquoi: 1-dnp-2-3-5-7-5 (23), Josh Cribbs: 5-5-3-4-0-2-1 (20), Chris Ogbonnaya: 1-2-3-2-6-2-1 (17), Evan Moore: 2-0-0-1-3-5-0 (11), Peyton Hillis: dnp-dnp-dnp-2-2-1-3 (8), Alex Smith: 0-2-0-0-0-3-3 (8)
It’s been impossible to start Greg Little this season unless you are in a deep, deep league but last week he had a huge game which somehow coincided with not-Colt McCoy at quarterback. This actually may not be a coincidence but since they face Baltimore and Pittsburgh to end the season it might be difficult with or without McCoy to test this hypothesis.
Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant: 9-6-8-6-15-2-4 (50), Laurent Robinson: 5-3-11-12-6-5-3 (45), Jason Witten: 7-7-3-5-6-5-5 (38), Miles Austin: 3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-7-8 (18), Felix Jones: dnp-dnp-1-1-2-7-4 (15), John Phillips: 1-0-1-2-5-1-0 (10), Kevin Ogletree: 0-1-2-0-5-0-1 (9), Martellus Bennett: 0-1-3-2-0-dnp-3 (9)
Miles Austin was on the field for 66 snaps, Dez Bryant for 50 and Laurent Robinson for 35 against the Buccaneers last week. Amazingly with less snaps and targets, Robinson still has found the end zone the last 2 games but it will be hard to count on that 3 weeks in a row. I’m going to sit him this week if I’m coin flipping between him and someone who gets more looks.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 2-0-6-1-7-13-13 (42), Eric Decker: 5-3-5-6-4-7-2 (32), Eddie Royal: 5-2-4-2-1-dnp-2 (16), Lance Ball: 0-1-3-0-2-6-4 (16), Matt Willis: 0-1-0-3-1-8-2 (15), Jeremiah Johnson: dnp-dnp-1-4-0-2-0 (7)
Demaryius Thomas has been the story of late with Tim Tebow throwing him a target party each week. He is Tebow’s guy and had 13 targets out of a total 0f 22 passes thrown. That’s 59 percent of all of Tebow’s passes. That’s a lot.
Lance Ball has 10 targets in the last 2 games which is good since Tebow hasn’t been throwing to running backs. Even if Willis McGahee is playing Ball should still see plenty of looks.
Detroit Lions
Calvin Johnson: BYE-20-8-8-9-4-14 (63), Nate Burleson: BYE-9-7-7-9-6-11 (49), Brandon Pettigrew: BYE-9-5-8-4-7-11 (44), Titus Young: BYE-10-3-3-2-7-10 (35), Maurice Morris: BYE-2-1-10-7-1-0 (21), Kevin Smith: BYE-2-4-3-8-dnp-3 (20), Tony Scheffler: BYE-7-3-2-3-1-1 (17), Will Heller: BYE-3-3-0-1-0-0 (7), Keiland Williams: BYE-0-0-4-1-2-0 (7), Rashied Davis: BYE-1-2-0-1-0-0 (4)
Matthew Stafford threw the ball 52 times in a come from behind win so there were a ton of targets to go around. A ton equals 52 for all you mathematicians. I figured that was his high for the season but he had 63 in Week 9, so that’s a ton and a quarter.
This is Titus Young’s second big target game in a row but we’ve seen similar numbers before. I’m still not sold that he’ll be anywhere near consistent with Burleson also getting his fair share of targets and doing decently with them. But in what could be another shootout type game against the Chargers this week he could once again see a goodly amount of targets, but beware.
Green Bay Packers
Greg Jennings: 8-5-6-5-13-4-dnp (41), Jermichael Finley: 7-4-3-5-11-1-10 (41), Jordy Nelson: 6-5-7-5-4-7-4 (38), Donald Driver: 2-4-5-2-4-6-4 (27), Randall Cobb: 0-3-1-4-2-2-4 (16), James Jones: 1-1-3-4-0-3-4 (16), James Starks: 1-4-6-1-0-dnp-dnp (12), Ryan Grant: 0-1-0-3-1-1-5 (11), John Kuhn: 1-2-1-1-1-1-1 (8)
After Jermichael Finley’s 10 targets the numbers were spookily even with the receivers getting 4 each. The snap counts may be more telling though. Jordy Nelson had 61 snaps, Jermichael Finley 49, James Jones 46, Randall Cobb 39 and Donald Driver 23. Those numbers are about the way I’d see the target distribution percentages going if all goes well for the Packers.
Houston Texans
Arian Foster: 7-4-BYE-9-4-5-6 (35), Owen Daniels: 4-3-BYE-7-5-10-5 (34), Kevin Walter: 1-1-BYE-2-4-10-4 (22), Jacoby Jones: 4-3-BYE-2-2-6-2 (19), Joel Dreessen: 2-1-BYE-1-1-3-4 (12), Andre Johnson: dnp-dnp-BYE-3-9-dnp-dnp (12), Bryant Johnson: 1-1-BYE-0-0-1-4 (7), Lawrence Vickers: 1-0-BYE-dnp-dnp-1-4 (6), Ben Tate: 1-0-BYE-0-0-3-1 (5), James Casey: 1-0-BYE-2-0-0-0 (3)
T.J. Yates didn’t continue his good play which of course hurt the wide receivers more than the running backs and tight ends as far as targets go. I’m not going to risk starting any Texan not named Arian Foster with Yates at the helm.
Indianapolis Colts
Pierre Garcon: 6-6-BYE-8-12-12-4 (48), Reggie Wayne: 6-6-BYE-7-6-8-3 (36), Austin Collie: 5-5-BYE-7-8-5-2 (32), Jacob Tamme: 7-8-BYE-3-6-1-2 (27), Donald Brown: 3-4-BYE-1-1-1-1 (11), Dallas Clark: 5-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp-6-dnp (11), Joseph Addai: dnp-dnp-BYE-1-1-1-2 (5)
The Colts won for the first time this season and their quarterback threw for 82 yards and one touchdown. This was a big change from the pass happy attack of their trying to come from behind days. But of course that doesn’t help anyone besides Donald Brown in fantasy. Wait, Donald Brown is contributing in fantasy?
Jacksonville Jaguars
Marcedes Lewis: BYE-3-11-12-4-7-5 (42), Maurice Jones-Drew: BYE-3-6-6-8-6-1 (30), Jarett Dillard: BYE-2-3-5-7-6-3 (26), Mike Thomas: BYE-1-11-5-6-1-dnp (24), Chastin West: BYE-5-3-0-0-4-7 (19), Jason Hill: BYE-1-7-4-dnp-dnp-dnp (12), Kassim Osgood: BYE-1-0-1-0-6-0 (8), Taylor Price: BYE-dnp-0-dnp-dnp-dnp-3 (3), Montell Owens: BYE-0-0-1-2-0-0 (3), Colin Cloherty: BYE-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2 (2)
Chastin West led the Jaguars with 7 targets and had a touchdown. That is interesting but Blaine Gabbert’s ineptitude is the story here unfortunately.
Kansas City Chiefs
Dwayne Bowe: 10-7-9-11-9-10-5 (61), Steve Breaston: 11-6-8-8-7-6-6 (52), Jonathan Baldwin: 5-5-6-2-4-5-4 (31), Dexter McCluster: 4-8-2-2-5-2-2 (25), Leonard Pope: 2-5-4-1-0-0-2 (14), LeRon McClain: 1-2-0-0-1-0-5 (9), Jackie Battle: 2-0-1-1-0-2-1 (7), Terrance Copper: 0-0-0-0-2-0-3 (5), Anthony Becht: 0-dnp-dnp-1-0-0-2 (3), Thomas Jones: 0-0-0-1-0-0-1 (2)
Kyle Orton did a good job of spreading the ball around and completed passes to 10 different players but he didn’t throw a single touchdown or get any receiver over 49 yards not named Leonard Pope. This was his first game as a Chief and he completed 23 of 31 passes for 299 yards and he beat the undefeated Packers, so that’s not a bad start.
Miami Dolphins
Brandon Marshall: 11-9-3-10-6-8-8 (55), Anthony Fasano: 3-4-2-2-6-8-4 (29), Davone Bess: 3-6-3-4-7-4-1 (28), Reggie Bush: 3-5-5-4-2-6-1 (26), Brian Hartline: 0-3-2-5-2-1-5 (18), Charles Clay: 3-2-4-2-2-0-1 (14), Daniel Thomas: 0-0-1-1-0-2-0 (4)
This game was dominated by Reggie Bush and yes that is the first time in his NFL career he has dominated a game. His 203 rushing yards was his 4th 100-plus yard rushing game of the season and his 5th of his career. I need to get on this guy’s workout plan. If it involves egg nog.
The rushing display put on by Bush muted the passing game which wasn’t half bad with Moore connecting for 2 touchdowns on just 10 completions. One of those was to Brandon Marshall who in the last 7 games is outpacing the rest of the Dolphins in targets by 17. They get the Patriots pass defense next.
Minnesota Vikings
Percy Harvin: BYE-8-8-8-9-15-7 (55), Devin Aromashodu: BYE-6-4-5-15-10-7 (47), Visanthe Shiancoe: BYE-4-3-4-7-7-1 (26), Toby Gerhart: BYE-0-1-3-8-3-4 (19), Kyle Rudolph: BYE-3-5-dnp-1-4-2 (15), Greg Camarillo: BYE-3-2-0-0-5-3 (13), Lorenzo Booker: BYE-3-0-0-1-0-1 (5), Jim Kleinsasser: BYE-0-1-0-0-0-1 (2), Adrian Peterson: BYE-1-0-dnp-dnp-dnp-1 (2)
Christian Ponder’s injection of youth has turned this team gangrene all of the sudden. Even Percy Harvin isn’t immune to his ineptitude. After scoring 5 touchdowns in his previous 4 games and not dipping below 15 fantasy points in any of those games, he put up a big zilch against the Saints poor pass defense.
Toby Gerhart was in the game for 24 snaps compared to Adrian Peterson’s 22 snaps and amazingly scored on two passing plays. Besides that fluky fantasy crotch shot it looks like All Day was being eased back with the lesser moniker of Part Day.
New England Patriots
Wes Welker: 10-8-3-12-11-10-6 (60), Rob Gronkowski: 15-11-7-4-6-10-5 (58), Aaron Hernandez: 5-5-7-7-9-7-11 (51), Deion Branch: 5-9-3-10-6-2-dnp (35), Danny Woodhead: 6-3-4-0-1-3-1 (18), Chad Ochocinco: 5-2-0-dnp-2-1-3 (13), BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 1-0-2-0-1-1-2 (7), Tiquan Underwood: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1-2-2 (6), Kevin Faulk: dnp-0-dnp-0-1-1-2 (4), Julian Edelman: 1-0-0-0-0-0-1 (2)
This was Aaron Hernandez’s week to shine as foretold in Evan Silva’s Week 15 Matchup’s Crystal Ball. His 11 targets led the team and even though he’s been Gronked pretty good he’s still been getting targets. Since Week 11 he hasn’t fallen below 7 targets and he’s only behind Gronkowski by 7 targets in the last 7 weeks. And 7 is a lucky number.
New Orleans Saints
Jimmy Graham: 8-12-BYE-8-9-9-10 (56), Marques Colston: 5-9-BYE-6-10-7-9 (46), Darren Sproles: 6-6-BYE-5-1-8-6 (32), Lance Moore: 3-3-BYE-7-3-6-6 (28), Pierre Thomas: 5-5-BYE-3-2-7-2 (24), Devery Henderson: 3-2-BYE-6-0-4-2 (17), Robert Meachem: 1-2-BYE-0-7-2-4 (16), Mark Ingram: dnp-1-BYE-3-1-dnp-dnp (5), Jed Collins: 1-1-BYE-0-0-2-1 (5), John Gilmore: 2-0-BYE-0-0-1-1 (4)
Drew Brees blew through the Vikings like a pissed off El Nino and then settled on the beach for a nice Bacardi fruit concoction and counted his touchdowns. Anyway, the Vikings have no pass defense and Brees could complete 70 percent of his passes against 11 Deion Sanders.
Lance Moore caught 2 touchdowns and as I mentioned in this here column he leads the Saints’ wide receivers in red zone targets so even though he’s only on the field as the 4th receiver he still has fantasy value. But it makes him boomy and busty.
New York Giants
Victor Cruz: 11-11-10-12-9-9-9 (71), Hakeem Nicks: dnp-4-7-12-12-10-12 (57), Jake Ballard: 7-4-7-5-6-6-2 (37), Mario Manningham: 7-10-2-dnp-dnp-8-5 (32), Danny Ware: 2-6-3-9-3-4-1 (28), Ramses Barden: 5-0-1-4-3-0-1 (14), Brandon Jacobs: 5-2-4-0-1-1-0 (13), Ahmad Bradshaw: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-5-1-4 (10), Bear Pascoe: 1-3-0-1-0-1-3 (9), Henry Hynoski: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0-3-2 (6)
All in all this was a disastrous game for all the non-Native American related personnel. Ahmad Bradshaw did at least show back up after 7 weeks of non-existence but he was barely a tick on a tornado.
Hakeem Nicks had another big target day but if you lost in your fake playoffs due to his long touchdown drop you are still cussing him. Those 5 catches for 73 yards and no touchdowns sure would have looked a lot better if he had, you know, caught the damn ball.
New York Jets
Santonio Holmes: 6-8-9-9-8-4-6 (50), Dustin Keller: 7-4-8-8-6-5-6 (44), Plaxico Burress: 5-8-9-7-6-2-3 (40), Shonn Greene: 0-4-1-4-4-3-4 (20), Jeremy Kerley: 5-8-dnp-dnp-1-1-3 (18), LaDainian Tomlinson: 3-5-dnp-dnp-1-4-4 (17), Joe McKnight: 1-0-7-3-2-dnp-1 (14), Patrick Turner: 0-1-4-4-1-1-1 (12)
The other New York team didn’t fare much better as they were thumped by the Eagles. Mark Sanchez could only manage 5.7 yards per pass attempt and his best receiver, Santonio Holmes, let him down by mishandling a pass that was then picked off. All in all you didn’t want to be a fan of New York football on Sunday.
Oakland Raiders
Darrius Heyward-Bey: 1-0-5-10-8-9-9 (42), Michael Bush: 3-4-2-4-6-4-7 (30), Denarius Moore: 12-7-2-dnp-dnp-dnp-5 (26), Kevin Boss: 0-2-6-3-5-7-3 (26), Chaz Schilens: 2-0-2-8-7-2-3 (24), Marcel Reece: 5-1-3-7-1-4-3 (24), Louis Murphy: 1-1-0-4-5-9-2 (22), T.J. Houshmandzadeh: 4-1-0-0-3-3-6 (17), Brandon Myers: 1-3-3-1-6-0-0 (14)
This is Darrius Heyward-Bey’s 4th game in a row with 8 or more targets. This is after being completed shunned, dismissed and dissed just a month and a half ago. I guess you truly do have to have a short memory in this game. With all those targets DHB had a huge game as he caught 8 of his 9 targets for 155 yards and a touchdown.
Denarius Moore returned and had 5 targets but only caught 2 for 13 yards. Of course he was wide open for a touchdown that Carson Palmer just flat out missed him on. Palmer’s 367 yards and a touchdown sounds even crazier after watching him miss some wide open shots. The Detroit pass defense truly is hurting.
Philadelphia Eagles
Brent Celek: 9-7-6-6-4-5-6 (43), DeSean Jackson: 8-dnp-8-10-4-6-2 (38), Riley Cooper: 1-2-12-5-10-3-1 (34), LeSean McCoy: 5-5-4-7-5-6-2 (34), Jason Avant: 3-1-2-14-2-4-2 (28), Jeremy Maclin: 9-5-dnp-dnp-dnp-4-5 (23), Clay Harbor: 1-1-2-1-2-1-2 (10)
With DeSean Jackson getting hurt/not really liking football and Jeremy Maclin still a little banged up, tight end Brent Celek came up big with 5 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown (just missing another). Celek leads the team in targets and receptions and has been the only consistent receiver. Maclin of course would be if he hadn’t gotten hurt, but it’s good to see Celek getting work after being overlooked for much of last season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 10-6-BYE-6-4-8-9 (43), Mike Wallace: 6-10-BYE-6-5-5-11 (43), Heath Miller: 5-5-BYE-2-3-4-9 (28), Jerricho Cotchery: 6-4-BYE-1-0-3-6 (20), Hines Ward: 1-1-BYE-4-6-1-0 (13), Rashard Mendenhall: 2-3-BYE-2-0-0-4 (11), Mewelde Moore: 2-0-BYE-3-1-0-2 (8)
There were a lot of futile targets in San Francisco Monday night as an immobile Ben Roethlisberger was hurried, pressured and sacked often. It’s always been true but Monday’s game showed just how much Roethlisberger relies on his ability to extend plays. Until he is feeling better this hurts Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace.
San Diego Chargers
Vincent Jackson: 12-7-8-3-5-9-6 (50), Antonio Gates: 11-6-4-10-7-9-2 (49), Mike Tolbert: 9-9-7-4-1-1-2 (33), Vincent Brown: 6-9-4-10-2-0-1 (32), Ryan Mathews: dnp-5-2-1-3-6-2 (19), Randy McMichael: 1-1-3-2-3-1-3 (14), Patrick Crayton: 3-5-0-2-1-3-0 (14), Malcom Floyd: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-4-2-6 (12)
Malcom Floyd and a consistently healthy Ryan Mathews just might have been the missing pieces Philip Rivers needed. Floyd converted his 6 targets into 5 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown and Mathews had a workmanlike 26 carries for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns against a stout Ravens defense. That 26 carries ties Mathews career high and marks the first time he’s had back to back 20 carry games. And of course this is his first time with 4 consecutive games over 100 total yards.
Seattle Seahawks
Doug Baldwin: 6-3-5-10-2-8-2 (36), Golden Tate: 1-3-3-3-4-7-7 (28), Mike Williams: 3-1-5-3-2-2-4 (20), Ben Obomanu: 2-2-4-4-2-1-3 (18), Marshawn Lynch: 2-7-2-3-0-2-2 (18), Zach Miller: 0-4-1-2-2-3-5 (17), Justin Forsett: 3-0-1-1-0-5-1 (11), Michael Robinson: 0-0-1-1-4-2-2 (10), Anthony McCoy: 2-2-0-1-0-1-1 (7), Deon Butler: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2-2 (4), Cameron Morrah: dnp-dnp-0-dnp-0-1-2 (3)
The only Seahawk you can trust is Marshawn Lynch and his 10 straight starts with a touchdown. Golden Tate’s emergence is nice to see for dynasty leaguers hoping the Seahawks find a quarterback but that’s about it.
San Francisco 49ers
Michael Crabtree: 5-4-10-9-5-12-7 (52), Vernon Davis: 7-4-10-5-8-3-10 (47), Kyle Williams: 2-1-5-1-2-6-5 (22), Delanie Walker: 2-7-5-0-2-2-1 (19), Ted Ginn: 1-4-0-3-4-6-1 (19), Braylon Edwards: 3-6-4-3-dnp-2-dnp (18), Kendall Hunter: 0-3-1-1-3-3-2 (13), Frank Gore: 3-1-2-2-0-1-3 (12)
Against a tough Steelers defense I think we saw the core 49ers step up with Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore leading in targets and touches. It’s pretty straightforward and it has won them a lot of games.
St. Louis Rams
Brandon Lloyd: 13-9-14-10-2-12-9 (69), Austin Pettis: 5-4-5-4-7-4-9 (38), Brandon Gibson: 5-3-7-7-7-1-0 (30), Steven Jackson: 2-3-5-3-1-5-10 (29), Lance Kendricks: 1-dnp-2-5-1-2-4 (15), Danario Alexander: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-4-3 (9)
I hope nobody was counting on Kellen Clemens airing it out because he didn’t and I’m not too sure he can. He dinked and dunked his way to a big PPR game for Steven Jackson and that’s about it. That’s good for some of you and maybe those some of you should send him a holiday gift basket of assorted mini muffins.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Williams: 8-5-11-11-9-7-0 (51), Kellen Winslow: 6-6-11-7-5-5-7 (47), Kregg Lumpkin: 6-7-1-3-0-3-8 (28), Arrelious Benn: 2-6-6-5-4-1-dnp (24), Preston Parker: 4-4-2-3-3-3-3 (22), Dezmon Briscoe: 2-2-3-0-2-7-3 (19), LeGarrette Blount: 3-2-1-3-2-2-0 (13)
The Buccaneers were destroyed by the Jaguars two weeks ago. Think about that and then think about how pitiful the Jaguars looked against the Falcons and then last week’s game against Dallas makes a lot of sense. To say that Josh Freeman has regressed would be an understatement.
Mike Williams led all offensive skill players with 42 snaps and saw zero targets.
Tennessee Titans
Nate Washington: 6-4-9-6-6-9-13 (53), Damian Williams: 7-7-11-4-7-10-6 (52), Jared Cook: 8-3-9-7-1-1-11 (40), Lavelle Hawkins: 6-1-4-7-4-4-10 (36), Chris Johnson: 6-7-3-2-1-6-11 (36), Javon Ringer: 2-3-6-5-2-1-dnp (19), Ahmard Hall: 1-0-0-2-2-0-3 (8), Craig Stevens: 1-0-0-0-0-3-1 (5)
It looks like my man Damian Williams had the chance to step up this season but just isn’t doing so in a timely manner. Jared Cook and Nate Washington were the target stars of this game if you can call anybody a star when your team loses to a winless team. I’m pretty sure you can’t.
Cook’s 11 targets and 9 receptions for 103 yards of course coincided with a fumble but this was easily his highest reception total on the year and there is a slight glimmer of hope that they’ll start looking toward him more now. Of course it would help if Jake Locker were the one looking for him. This is the second game in a row he has outplayed Old Man Hasselbeck. It is time.
Washington Redskins
Jabar Gaffney: 5-6-10-7-3-8-9 (48), Roy Helu: 17-3-2-7-6-3-4 (42), Santana Moss: dnp-dnp-dnp-7-12-9-5 (33), Donte Stallworth: dnp-dnp-6-2-2-6-3 (19), David Anderson: dnp-3-3-dnp-6-3-dnp (15), Darrel Young: 2-1-2-2-dnp-2-1 (10), Logan Paulsen: 2-1-2-2-1-0-1 (9), Terrence Austin: 5-1-0-1-dnp-dnp-0 (7)
Since Fred Davis departed Jabar Gaffney has led in targets with 17 to Santana Moss’ 14 and 12 receptions to 5. Moss has scored 2 touchdowns to Gaffney’s 1 but the law of something or other tells me that Gaffney is the safer bet going forward and forward is a horrid Vikings pass defense.
Last 5 Weeks: Target Leaders
Roddy White 69, Hakeem Nicks 53, Steve Johnson 49, Victor Cruz 49, Percy Harvin 47, Brandon Lloyd 47, Dwayne Bowe 44, Greg Little 43, Michael Crabtree 43, Calvin Johnson 43, Nate Washington 43, Wes Welker 42, Darrius Heyward-Bey 41, Devin Aromashodu 41, Aaron Hernandez 41, Larry Fitzgerald 41, Demaryius Thomas 40, Nate Burleson 40, Marcedes Lewis 39, Steve Smith 38