Empty the Bench

Photo Credit: Allen Fredrickson/Icon SMI

- The Crystal Ball doth not lie. Perhaps, at times, it’s not dead-on accurate, but we’re usually in the neighborhood and as we predicted, the Packers heavily leaned on Ryan Grant–the NFL’s leading rusher since Week 8–against the laughable Raiders rush defense. Halfway through the second quarter, the unheralded Grant had already registered 13 carries for 66 yards, including a hard-fought touchdown run from the six-yard line. On the day he finished with 29 rushes, 156 yards, and 1 TD; this is the fourth time this year he’s gone over 100. He probably could have pushed for 200 if the game wasn’t a blowout, as Vernand Morency relieved him in the fourth quarter. Grant is a must-start in Week 15 against the Rams.

- Being the contrarian he is, Lions OC Mike Martz defied expectations by establishing the run early against the Cowboys, giving Kevin Jones three carries and Tico Duckett one on the Lions’ opening drive. The results? 31 yards rushing for Jones and a 32-yard scamper into the endzone for Duckett. Jones failed to tack on a one-yard touchdown plunge on the Lions’ second drive (it would later come back to haunt Detroit), but they were still able to move the ball effectively on the ground after last week’s embarassing effort against the Vikings, when they totaled 23 yards rushing on the game.

Jones did find the endzone late in the first half by pounding into paydirt for a two-yard TD, and finished with 23 carries for 92 yards and 2 TDs; for his part, Duckett toted it 9 times for 60 yards and that score. When the Lions rush the ball, they don’t get blown out.. and heck, sometimes they even win! When they don’t, it has the potential to get ugly. As Andrew said Sunday afternoon, why did it take Martz losing four straight games to figure this out? Well, thanks to some untimely blunders typical of this franchise (missed 35-yard FG, failure to recover a fumble on the Cowboys’ game-winning TD drive, poor special teams, no adjustments to slow down Jason Witten, etc), they now have five losses in a row, running game be damned. We’ll be surprised if they win again this season.

- Carson Palmer has had an up and down season (to put it kindly), but he’s laying an egg for fantasy teams at the worst possible time. Most of his owners drafted him because of that sweet schedule in the playoff weeks: vs. STL, @ SF and vs. CLE. Unfortunately, those last two dates may not matter for a lot of you who started Palmer and watched him throw for just 189 yards with 2 INTs and 0 TDs. He should have eaten this secondary alive, but instead he was embarrassed by an undermanned and untalented unit at home. It was the second consecutive week Palmer went touchdownless. Rudi Johnson wasn’t too pretty either. At one point he had 5 carries for 6 yards, but did manage to score and salvaged some yards in garbage time, finishing with 23 rushes for 92 yards (4.0 YPC) and the one score. Believe me, the numbers make it look better than it was.

- On the victor’s sideline of the Cowboys/Lions match, Terrell Owens turned in a stinker that couldn’t have come at a worse time for his fantasy owners. Against one of the NFL’s most beatable secondaries, T.O.–who was the head of our class at WR in our weekly position ranks–didn’t catch a pass in the first half. His first receptions came back-to-back early in the third quarter after Lions CB Fernando Bryant left with an injury. Was Owens really having that much trouble with the undersized Bryant? He’d only haul in one more pass, finishing with 3 for 21 yards. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Witten brought the Lions to their knees while enjoying a career day: 15 catches, 138 yards, and 1 TD. He could have scored twice, too, but fumbled it away inside the one-yard line.

- We think Brandon Marshall is going to be a stud in this league for a long time, but that Jay Cutler guy might be okay too. It was just one game, but the Broncos talented young duo put on an impressive show against a stout Kansas City defense. Marshall finished with a massive with 10 receptions for 115 yards and 2 TDs (with 10 rushing yards, for good measure) and Cutler went an even more impressive 20-for-27 with 4 TDs, 0 INTs and 0 sacks. It’s never too early to think about next season, and both of these guys are rising on our cheat sheets. Marshall would have had more if not for an injury.

Meanwhile, Mike Shenanigans was up to it again, saying Travis Henry would start, then giving the first carries of the game to Selvin Young, then giving the goal-line carry to Travis Henry, then going back to Selvin Young for a bulk of the game. Selvin finished with a more impressive 17 carries for 156 yards (9.2 YPC), but Henry’s ho-hum 10 carries for 24 yards (2.4YPC) and a score were nearly as fantasy-relevant.

- Donovan McNabb returned after sitting out the past two weeks and started the game going 4/4 for 45 yards and a touchdown pass to Brian Westbrook. Would his performance turn out to be enough to salvage his reputation in Philadelphia and at least give him a passing chance of returning next season? Until he leads this team into the playoffs and to the Super Bowl, and wins it, McNabb could rescue 20 children from a burning building, nab thieves who’ve made off with the Liberty Bell, find a cure for cancer, and still not win a place in the hearts of (most) Iggles fans. After failing to capitalize on that strong opening drive and watching his team bow out of the playoff hunt with a demoralizing 16-13 loss to the Giants, McNabb is probably done in Philly… along with HC Andy Reid.

- We may look back at this game in seven or eight years and say it was the worst performance of Adrian Peterson’s illustrious career. He was anything but the fantasy stud owners needed against a poor San Francisco defense, finishing with a putrid 14 carries for 3 yards (0.2 YPC), 0 TDs and 0 receptions. Yuck. Meanwhile, Chester Taylor remained a fantasy asset and is a strong RB3 going forward after finishing with 8 carries for 101 yards (12.6 YPC), 3 receptions for 23 yards and the longest rushing TD of the season, an 84-yard scamper in the second quarter.

And what’s this, Tarvaris Jackson with his third consecutive game with a passer rating over 95? Jackson isn’t going out there and wowing anybody, but he’s not making mistakes and showing a knack for getting first downs with his arm and his legs. Minnesota is now in the NFL’s top-ten in total offense and total defense, and nobody wants a part of them right now after they’ve outscored their last three opponents 110-34.

- The absence of Matt Schaub had no affect on Andre Johnson, who caught 4 passes for 34 yards and a touchdown on the team’s opening drive and helped contribute to yet another very strong performance by backup Sage Rosenfels in the Texans’ 28-14 trouncing of the Bucs. Rosenfels was an efficient 27-36 for 209 yards and 3 TDs, with Johnson leading the way with 9 catches, 82 yards, and that score. With their record now standing at 6-7, and the Broncos, Colts, and Jags remaining on the schedule, this team would be thrilled to win two of those games and finish at an even 8-8. It’ll be tough, but not unfeasible.

- Justin Fargas is a tough runner, and it makes you wonder what might have been these past few seasons if he had been able to stay healthy. With no passing game to speak of, the Raiders’ game plan on offense was to give the Packers a heavy dose of Fargas, and the Packers knew it. They keyed on him all day, and though the fifth-year back was held in check (15 carries, 57 yards), he’s now at 920 yards rushing on the season and should cross the century mark this week or next. That’s pretty remarkable given that he registered just 93 combined rushing yards in five of his games.

- Nobody wants to be the one to lose to those winless Dolphins. Buffalo came out and played inspired football, burying Miami 38-17 behind a 4-TD performance from rookie quarterback Trent Edwards. Congratulations to the five of you who started Robert Royal, you had to be feeling pretty good ten minutes into the game when he already had 2 TDs. Lee Evans also managed to bounce back with 2 receptions for 79 yards—both touchdowns, doubling his season total. We should also give it up for that Miami offensive line though: they may not be much in pass protection, but they’ve done a fantastic job of run-blocking all season. They managed to open enough room for Samkon Gado to tote the rock 12 times for 52 yards (4.3 YPC) and 2 TDs.

- We hope, from the bottom of our heart, you weren’t one of those fantasy owners silly enough to spend a second-round pick this year on Maurice Jones-Drew. We cautioned that stalwart veteran Fred Taylor was still the starter and that it’d be difficult for MJD to replicate the breakout success of his rookie season. Granted, a lot of high picks haven’t panned out this season and you could have done worse–MJD’s 8 TDs have made up for mediocre yardage–but Taylor again proved he’s “the guy” right now in the Jaguars’ backfield. Against the Panthers, Taylor crossed the 100-yards rushing mark for the third week straight and again averaged over 7 YPC, going for 132 yards and a touchdown on just 18 carries. MJD’s touchdown streak ends at four games.

- New England: good. Anthony Smith: bad.

- The Baltimore Ravens have quit on this season, and that’s all that needs to be said about that embarrassing fiasco last night.