Hot Fantasy Updates
Drew Brees- QB- New Orleans- Brees’ performance could be described simply with fire emojis, but for the sake of illustrating just how ridiculous Brees’ performance was in Sunday’s win vs. the Giants, let’s look at some numbers. The veteran QB completed 40 of 50 passes for 511 yards and seven touchdown passes. He also threw one interception, but made up for it with a line that looks like it came from an Arena Football game. Brees contributed all but 113 of the Saints’ 614 total yards. Brees will still be a high-end QB2 or low-end QB1 depending on the matchup.
Eli Manning- QB- New York Giants- Manning’s Giants may have lost to Brees’ Saints, but the two-time Super Bowl champ had his own game for the ages over the air. Manning completed 30 of his 41 pass attempts for 350 yards and a remarkable six TD passes, three of which went to star wideout Odell Beckham Jr. Manning has continued his feast-or-famine season at QB for the Giants, and while as today shows, the big games are quite big, Manning is also prone to more than his fair share of fantasy duds. Manning’s a high-risk, high-reward QB, though you may want to take the risk next week vs. Tampa Bay.
Carson Palmer- QB- Arizona- The Cardinals QB continued his renaissance season on Sunday with arguably his best game yet on the road vs. the Browns. Palmer threw for four touchdowns and 374 yards, completing 23 of 38 passes while also throwing an interception. Palmer has put up remarkable numbers for the Cardinals, involving a range of solid receivers including Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, and John Brown in the passing game. The Cardinals offense can only be slowed by the fact that they have a Bye next week, but trust Palmer as one of the top QB’s in fantasy in two weeks even on the road against the tough Seahawks defense.
Jacob Tamme- TE- Atlanta- Sure, Julio Jones caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, but you know about him already. Tamme, the unheralded Falcons tight end, hauled in 10 passes on an impressive 12 targets to rack up 103 receiving yards while finding the end zone once. Atlanta’s system doesn’t usually rely on a tight end, but Tamme served as the #2 target behind Julio Jones in Sunday’s overtime loss. Tamme won’t have this game every week, but he does have two games in which he exceeded 75 yards this season. If you are particularly thin at tight end, he may be worth a streaming pickup.
Not Fantasy Updates
Doug Martin- RB- Tampa Bay- The “Muscle Hamster” may have helped move the chains in the Bucs’ overtime win vs. the Falcons, but his performance left more than a few fantasy owners disappointed. He totaled 71 yards on 23 carries while not scoring a touchdown in what should have been a friendly matchup vs. the Falcons’ run defense. The numbers would have looked worse had Martin not been able to break out an 18 yard run on one play. Still, consider Martin a borderline RB1 in the weeks ahead.
Chris Ivory- RB- New York Jets- After three straight games with a touchdown, Ivory slowed up in a big way on Sunday vs. the Raiders. Ivory’s rushing numbers already declined to 41 yards last week after two previous games with a touchdown and 146 and 166 rushing yards respectively, but he saved his day with a receiving touchdown. This Sunday, however, Ivory was held scoreless and picked up just 17 yards on 15 carries. His day as a pass-catcher was not much better, as he hauled in three of five targets for just 24 yards. Owners should expect better from Ivory when the Jets return home to face the Jaguars.
Dez Bryant- WR- Dallas- Welcome back Dez Bryant! Enjoy having Matt Cassel as your QB! Bryant returned from his foot injury on Sunday in an unfriendly matchup against Richard Sherman and the Seahawks defense. Bryant likely still has been improving his conditioning after missing six weeks, but was limited to two catches on six targets for just 12 yards. Expect Dez to improve slowly as he returns to form and expect a significant spike in performance whenever Tony Romo is able to return to the starting QB position for the Cowboys.
Ameer Abdullah- RB- Detroit- The dual-threat rookie running back had the roughest day of his young career on Sunday, gaining three yards on one rushing attempt and failing to haul in either of his two targets. After stopping short on a route in the second quarter, Abdullah was held out of snaps for the rest of the game. His production has been steadily declining from early on in the season, as the Lions have failed to establish a running game because their entire offense has been largely stagnant. He can stay on the bench in most leagues until the Lions prove they know what they are doing.
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