Empty the Bench

- We might get sick of talking about Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson by the end of the year. AP was once again the best player in the NFL on Sunday, setting a new NFL single-game rushing record by posting an incredible 296 yards on the ground and 3 TDs. He also became the first player to rush for over 200 yards twice in a rookie season. He leads the league with 1,036 yards on the ground, more than 24 NFL teams, and his 6.6 yards per carry on the season also leads the NFL.

It was a transcendent performance against a rush defense allowing less than 90 yards a game coming in. He joins (and now surpasses) Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton, Corey Dillon and Jamal Lewis as one-time holders of the record. Peterson did it on 30 carries (9.9 YPC) on a day when his QBs only managed 150 yards passing and the San Diego defense was keying in on him all day. It’s scary to imagine what this guy could do on a team with a decent quarterback. Oh, and on the other side, LaDainian Tomlinson finished with 77 total yards and a touchdown. Is Peterson next season’s No. 1 overall pick in fantasy leagues?

- There was another NFL record in the Chargers and Vikings affair as well. Ryan Longwell missed a 57-yard field goal that Antonio Cromartie snagged right at the back of the endzone. Seriously, his foot was inches from the end line. Cromartie took it all the way back for a 109-yard TD, the longest play in NFL history.

- Though the Pats/Colts contest qualified as The Biggest Game Since Roman Times, the second-biggest story of the day had to be the Detroit Lions (6-2!) absolutely un-manning the slipping and sliding Denver Broncos at Ford Field. Seriously–when was the last time you remember any Lions team dominating their opponent from start to finish the way they did on Sunday? DT Shaun Rogers’ 66-yard interception return into the endzone was undoubtedly the play of the day, as the 500-pound mammoth ran faster and farther than he perhaps ever has, stiff-arming hapless RB Selvin Young at about the seven-yard line before diving into the endzone–four yards after he was already in there–and setting off a wild celebration in Detroit.

Are they for real? Well, in the NFL you are who you are, and right now the Lions are a 6-2 team playing with as much confidence as anyone in the league. They travel to Arizona in Week 10 for a very winnable matchup with the Cardinals, and have a chance to be at 7-2 as they welcome the NY Giants and Packers for two big home games. By the way, the Detroit Lions Team Defense is now ranked first overall in fantasy points scored in ETB’s league.

- And so the annual rite of passage for Lee Evans owners begins… As Andrew mentioned in the Week Nine Crystal Ball, this is the time of the year that the Buffalo Bills WR traditionally goes off, tantalizes with his talent, raises his draft stock for the following season, then disappoints for the first month or so of the season before doing it all over again. Yesterday was his second straight game of at least 135 yard receiving and a TD, as he went off early and often in racking up 9 catches for 165 yards and a score. Regardless of the matchup, this is his time of the year and should be started every week from here on out.

- The receptions and yards weren’t there (4 for 45), but Cincy Bungles WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh kept up his torrid touchdown pace by hauling in another one midway through the first quarter of his team’s sixth loss in the last past seven weeks. If Chad Johnson is out for any amount of extended time (neck), this guy’s numbers could go even further north. Scary.

- We’re hoping Chesty LaRue followed our advice in the Fantasy Mailbag and started Washington Redskins’ RB Clinton Portis. For the first time perhaps all year, not only did Portis put up elite fantasy numbers (36 carries 196 yards, 1 TD), he also looked real strong doing it. We’ve been pretty adamant in our belief that Ladell Betts would have taken over by now due to Portis injury, but the six-year vet is getting all the burn out of the ‘Skins backfield and will continue to do so after his monster game against the Jets.

- Was it just us, or did there seem to be an inordinate number of goal-line TD runs for stud backs? The aforementioned Purple Jesus, LaDainian Tomlinson and Reggie Bush each had one in the first quarter. Larry Johnson, Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James and LenDale White all had one, too. Hey, even the Falcons’ Ovie Mughelli got in on the action.

- Those of you who invested heavily in the Saints offense and stuck with it are being rewarded. New Orleans torched a stout Jacksonville defense for 5 TDs and 41 points. Unfortunately for many, it’s coming too late to make a playoff push. Drew Brees had a massive 445 yards passing and threw three touchdowns. In the last four games he’s had 11 TDs and just 1 INT and has averaged well over 6.0 yards per attempt each game. It’s a remarkable turnaround considering that in the preceding four contests Brees had 1 TD and 9 INTs and failed to reach 6.0 yards per attempt in any of them. Other notable Saints were Reggie Bush with 115 total yards, 2 TDs, and 7 receptions and Marques Colston, who grabbed 10 balls for 159 yards.

- Every beaten-down dog has his day, and against the Seahawks in Week Nine it was that mangy fantasy mutt Jamal Lewis‘ turn to put up monster fantasy stats despite a poor performance. Lewis let his quarterback, Derek Anderson, do all the work and rack up the yardage (364 yards passing, no TDs), then waltzed into the endzone on a few goal-line plunges to post a career-high four TDs on the day. Congrats, Jamal, but don’t think for one second that we didn’t notice what else you did yesterday: 20 carries for 37 yards (a pathetic 1.9 YPC) and a long run on the day of 5 yards.

- In an interesting turn of events, an NFL head coach told the media he would act in one way and then actually went in another direction during recent games. After their Week 7 game against the Jags when Kenton Keith and Joseph Addai split carries 15-16, Tony Dungy came out and said that the team was growing more confident in Keith and there would be a timeshare in effect for the rest of the season. It put a big scare in Addai owners everywhere, but it appears the concern was unwarranted. In the two games since the statements, Addai has received a whopping 56 touches to Keith’s 10. It’s safe to say this is no committee. Even better, Addai is making the most out of his opportunities. He absolutely exploded on Sunday, going off for 226 total yards (112 rushing, 114 receiving) including a 73-yard TD reception.

- It doesn’t look too serious, but Chiefs RB Larry Johnson left the game with an ankle injury that forced him into a walking boot. He’ll miss at least the team’s Week 10 contest against the Broncos, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he was out or extremely limited in Week 11, too. That means the old fantasy stud known as Priest Holmes becomes a must-start at home against Denver, who sport the league’s worst rushing defense and just look awful. Rookie Kolby Smith figures to see touches too, and makes for a decent flex-play gamble for owners strapped with bye-week blues. No one knows if Holmes can handle a full workload anymore.

- It looks like Justin Fargas has taken over the Raiders starting job. After splitting carries with LaMont Jordan last week and having much more success, Fargas got 23 carries this week and managed to rush for 104 yards and a score. He should be owned in every league at this point and is a solid flex play against softer defenses. In shallow leagues, Jordan can likely be dropped– he only got 4 carries, and the back injury is going to linger all season.

- Shaun Alexander is donezo. Man, that happened fast. After managing just 14 carries for 32 yards against the lowly Browns defense on Sunday, he’s hit rock bottom. We can’t even recommend starting him against the softest of NFL defenses at this point, and what to do with that roster spot is your concern. We can’t tell you to drop a healthy first-round pick, but…

- Damnit! Warrick Dunn actually had a good game, going for a TD and 100 yards on 27 carries. Now how much longer do we have to wait for Jerious Norwood to take over? The rest of the year?