Week 11 Target Watch: NFC

Welcome to the NFC targets and touches for Week 11 of the NFL season. The AFC portion will be up tomorrow night.

I have all the targets for each player since Week 6, and then in parentheses I have the average targets per game played for that player. Then below that I have the Red Zone targets and touches for each player. It’s a whole big target thing, as easy as following me on Twitter.

Just below here are the top targeted players per game over the last five weeks at each position. As you can see you’ll find some familiar names. The most interesting names for me are Alshon Jeffery, Kyle Rudolph and Jacquizz Rodgers. Marc Trestman’s offense is a fantasy football windfall for Bears players. It’s pretty amazing that the #2 receiver for the Chicago Bears is a top fantasy player. Kyle Rudolph hasn’t been fantasy relevant, but John Carlson was last week. Maybe those targets could possibly translate to more production from Carlson. And Jacquizz Rodgers is still a very nice player for PPR leagues and with the way Steven Jackson has been playing, maybe in other leagues as well.

Top Targeted Players (past five weeks)

Editor's Note: Rotoworld's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-week $300,000 Fantasy Football league for Week 11. It's $25 to join and first prize is $25,000. Starts Sunday at 1pm ET. Here's the link.

Arizona Cardinals

Larry Fitzgerald: 12-5-7-BYE-6 (30) (7.5), Michael Floyd: 6-10-4-BYE-2 (22) (5.5), Andre Roberts: 4-8-2-BYE-8 (22) (5.5), Rob Housler: 5-7-1-BYE-5 (18) (4.5), Andre Ellington: 5-5-2-BYE-4 (16) (4), Jim Dray: 2-2-0-BYE-2 (6) (1.5), Jaron Brown: 1-2-0-BYE-2 (5) (1.2), Alfonso Smith: 1-4-0-BYE-0 (5) (1.2), Rashard Mendenhall: 1-0-dnp-BYE-1 (2) (0.7), Jake Ballard: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1 (1) (1)

Michael Floyd left this one early with a bum shoulder and Andre Roberts picked up the slack as Larry Fitzgerald saw a lot of attention from the defense. Roberts finished with five receptions on eight targets for 72 yards and a touchdown. The other player to get a bump was tight end Rob Housler. He had five targets and caught four of them for 57 yards and his first touchdown as a pro. We’ll have to watch Floyd’s progress, but if he is out again Roberts will again be the second read for Carson Palmer.

Rashard Mendenhall had 28 snaps, 13 rushing attempts, one target and one reception for 51 yards and Andre Ellington had 31 snaps, 11 rushing attempts, four targets, and two receptions for 73 yards. Coach Bruce Arians seemed to think this was enough work for Ellington. I tend to disagree.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Rashard Mendenhall: 1-2-0-2-5-1-1-0-BYE-2 (14), Andre Ellington: 0-1-0-1-0-1-3-2-BYE-0 (8), Larry Fitzgerald: 3-0-0-1-0-1-1-2-BYE-0 (8), Michael Floyd: 0-3-0-1-0-1-1-1-BYE-0 (7), Andre Roberts: 0-0-1-0-0-1-1-0-BYE-2 (5), Stepfan Taylor: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-BYE-0 (3), Jim Dray: 0-0-0-0-1-0-1-0-BYE-1 (3), Alfonso Smith: 1-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-0 (2), Rob Housler: 0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-1 (2)

Atlanta Falcons

Harry Douglas: BYE-7-18-5-8 (38) (9.5), Jacquizz Rodgers: BYE-9-5-6-7 (27) (6.8), Tony Gonzalez: BYE-4-8-7-5 (24) (6), Darius Johnson: BYE-3-9-2-2 (16) (4), Steven Jackson: BYE-dnp-5-4-5 (14) (4.7), Drew Davis: BYE-1-7-2-1 (11) (2.8), Roddy White: BYE-dnp-0-dnp-4 (4) (2), Jason Snelling: BYE-0-dnp-0-4 (4) (1.3), Levine Toilolo: BYE-0-3-0-0 (3) (0.8), Patrick DiMarco: BYE-dnp-2-1-0 (3) (1), Chase Coffman: BYE-dnp-2-0-0 (2) (0.7), Brian Robiskie: BYE-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (1) (1)

Roddy White played a full complement of snaps in his first game back, but had a tough matchup with Richard Sherman and only caught one of four targets for 20 yards. Harry Douglas led the way with eight targets and seven receptions, but was getting all underneath work and only totaled 49 yards.

The running back situation is a mess with Steven Jackson looking washed up. He had nine carries for 11 yards and caught three of five targets for nine yards, while Jacquizz Rodgers looks better in his limited work, rushing three times for 31 yards and catching five of seven targets for 28 yards. Jackson saw 29 snaps to Rodgers’ 17.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jacquizz Rodgers: 1-1-5-1-6-BYE-4-1-2-0 (21), Tony Gonzalez: 2-2-1-4-5-BYE-0-1-1-0 (16), Jason Snelling: 0-1-4-2-4-BYE-3-0-0-0 (14), Steven Jackson: 4-1-0-0-0-BYE-0-3-2-1 (11), Harry Douglas: 2-0-2-1-2-BYE-0-2-0-0 (9), Julio Jones: 2-0-1-2-4-BYE-0-0-0-0 (9), Roddy White: 1-0-0-4-0-BYE-0-0-0-2 (7), Levine Toilolo: 0-0-1-1-1-BYE-0-1-0-0 (4), Darius Johnson: 0-0-0-0-0-BYE-0-2-0-1 (3), Antone Smith: 0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0-0-0-0 (1), Drew Davis: 0-0-0-0-0-BYE-0-1-0-0 (1), Brian Robiskie: 0-0-0-0-0-BYE-1-0-0-0 (1)

Carolina Panthers

Steve Smith: 7-6-7-10-11 (41) (8.2), Brandon LaFell: 4-4-5-9-8 (30) (6), Greg Olsen: 4-4-4-5-3 (20) (4), Ted Ginn: 3-2-6-3-4 (18) (3.6), Mike Tolbert: 3-0-4-4-3 (14) (2.8), DeAngelo Williams: 5-1-3-2-2 (13) (2.6), Jonathan Stewart: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-0 (3) (1.5), Domenik Hixon: 0-0-1-0-1 (2) (0.4), Kenjon Barner: dnp-dnp-1-dnp-0 (1) (0.5), Richie Brockel: 0-0-1-0-0 (1) (0.2)

The Panthers didn’t get into the red zone one time against the 49ers and the only time they had the ball in the red zone was on DeAngelo Williams’ 27 yard touchdown run. This game was a defensive battle and Cam Newton was not on point.

Jonathan Stewart led the way in running back touches with 13, but had a costly fumble and was outplayed by Williams because of the touchdown run. Mike Tolbert ended up with four touches to Williams’ eight. This remains a situation to avoid.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: DeAngelo Williams: 1-5-2-BYE-3-5-1-4-6-0 (27), Mike Tolbert: 0-1-2- BYE -1-4-3-2-3-0 (16), Steve Smith: 2-1-1- BYE -2-2-2-0-1-0 (11), Greg Olsen: 1-1-2- BYE -0-0-0-2-1-0 (7), Brandon LaFell: 0-1-2- BYE -1-1-0-0-0-0 (5), Kenjon Barner: 0-0-0- BYE -1-0-0-1-0-0 (2), Ted Ginn: 0-1-0- BYE -0-0-0-1-0-0 (2), Richie Brockel: 0-0-0- BYE -0-0-0-1-0-0 (1)

Chicago Bears

Brandon Marshall: 11-10-BYE-13-12 (46) (11.5), Alshon Jeffery: 5-7-BYE-9-18 (39) (9.8), Martellus Bennett: 7-3-BYE-8-6 (24) (6), Matt Forte: 6-3-BYE-8-7 (24) (6), Earl Bennett: 2-4-BYE-0-3 (9) (2.2), Michael Bush: 2-dnp-BYE-1-0 (3) (1), Tony Fiammetta: 1-0-BYE-0-1 (2) (0.5), Marquess Wilson: dnp-1-BYE-1-0 (2) (0.7), Dante Rosario: 0-0-BYE-0-2 (2) (0.5), Joe Anderson: 1-0-BYE-dnp-dnp (1) (0.5)

Alshon Jeffery led the league in targets last week and ended up with a nice game, but Brandon Marshall was the leader in production, catching seven of 12 targets for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Jay Cutler was playing hurt for much of the game and just wasn’t on target as you can see from his 21-of-40 passing day. Josh McCown came in and led the team on a comeback completing 6-of-9 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. You have to wonder if he could have won this game for the Bears.

Matt Forte had his worst game of the season by far. He rushed 17 times for just 33 yards and caught four of seven targets for another 16 yards. This is just a minor setback on an otherwise amazing season.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Matt Forte: 3-4-5-1-1-6-4-BYE-3-5 (32), Alshon Jeffery: 0-2-0-4-3-0-0- BYE -2-4 (15), Martellus Bennett: 1-3-3-2-1-0-2- BYE -0-2 (14), Brandon Marshall: 1-1-0-1-2-3-2- BYE -1-1 (12), Michael Bush: 0-0-4-0-0-0-0- BYE -3-0 (7), Earl Bennett: 0-0-1-2-1-0-0- BYE -0-0 (4), Dante Rosario: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0- BYE -0-1 (1)

Dallas Cowboys

Dez Bryant: 8-16-6-11-2 (43) (8.6), Terrance Williams: 2-7-10-7-5 (31) (6.2), Jason Witten: 5-6-2-10-6 (29) (5.8), Cole Beasley: 5-7-3-9-4 (28) (5.6), DeMarco Murray: 2-dnp-dnp-7-2 (11) (3.7), Joseph Randle: 2-4-4-0-0 (10) (2), James Hanna: 1-0-2-1-3 (7) (1.4), Miles Austin: 4-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (7) (3.5), Dwayne Harris: 0-0-2-2-1 (5) (1), Lance Dunbar: dnp-dnp-0-3-0 (3) (1), Phillip Tanner: 0-2-1-0-0 (3) (0.6), Gavin Escobar: 0-1-0-0-0 (1) (0.2)

If Dez Bryant gets just two targets and wasn’t injured for three or more quarters, you know something went terribly wrong. There weren’t a ton of targets to go around since the Cowboys couldn’t sustain any drives, but when your best receiver is fifth on the target list you have problems. Rob Ryan and company did a great job of bracketing Bryant while the Cowboys did a lousy job of finding ways to get him the ball.

Romo completed just ten of 24 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. This was his worst yardage game since Week 2 of 2009 and his worst completion percentage game since week 14 of 2007. I think Rob Ryan might have wanted a little revenge.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: DeMarco Murray: 3-2-8-1-4-1-0-0-0-5 (24), Dez Bryant: 0-2-2-1-3-0-1-2-0-0 (11), Jason Witten: 3-0-1-1-3-0-0-0-1-0 (9), Terrance Williams: 1-1-0-1-0-2-2-0-0-1 (8), Joseph Randle: 0-0-0-0-0-3-0-1-0-0 (4), Cole Beasley: 0-0-0-0-1-0-2-0-1-0 (4), Dwayne Harris: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0 (2), Gavin Escobar: 1-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 (2), Lance Dunbar: 0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 (1), Phillip Tanner: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0 (1), Miles Austin: 0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 (1), James Hanna: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0 (1)

Detroit Lions

Calvin Johnson: 8-15-16-BYE-17 (56) (14), Kris Durham: 13-8-6-BYE-1 (28) (7), Reggie Bush: 6-5-9-BYE-6 (26) (6.5), Brandon Pettigrew: 4-7-6-BYE-5 (22) (5.5), Joseph Fauria: 3-4-0-BYE-2 (9) (2.2), Joique Bell: 2-4-1-BYE-1 (8) (2), Jeremy Ross: dnp-0-3-BYE-3 (6) (2), Kevin Ogletree: 2-2-0-BYE-0 (4) (1), Patrick Edwards: 3-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp (3) (3), Theo Riddick: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-0 (1) (0.5)

Calvin Johnson caught six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a nice line, but when you add that he saw 17 targets you can tell that he had to work pretty hard for what he got. Matthew Stafford was 6-of-17 for 83 yards and two touchdowns when targeting Johnson and 12-of-18 for 128 yards and a touchdown when targeting anyone else. The game plan of trying to take away Johnson almost worked, but not quite.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Reggie Bush: 7-0-0-4-0-3-4-4-BYE-1 (23), Calvin Johnson: 3-1-5-3-0-1-1-3-BYE-3 (20), Joique Bell: 2-0-6-1-0-0-0-1-BYE-0 (10), Kris Durham: 1-0-1-1-1-0-3-1-BYE-1 (9), Joseph Fauria: 1-0-3-0-0-2-2-0-BYE-1 (9), Brandon Pettigrew: 0-0-0-1-0-0-2-1-BYE-0 (4), Nate Burleson: 2-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-0 (3), Theo Riddick: 0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-0 (1), Ryan Broyles: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-BYE-0 (1), Jeremy Ross: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0 (1)

Green Bay Packers

Jordy Nelson: 10-6-8-9-10 (43) (8.6), Jarrett Boykin: 6-10-6-1-13 (36) (7.2), Andrew Quarless: 0-1-2-7-4 (14) (2.8), Eddie Lacy: 1-7-4-0-2 (14) (2.8), Jermichael Finley: 7-5-dnp-dnp-dnp (12) (6), James Jones: 1-dnp-dnp-3-7 (11) (3.7), John Kuhn: 2-1-2-0-2 (7) (1.4), Randall Cobb: 4-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (4) (4), Brandon Bostick: 0-0-0-0-3 (3) (0.6), Johnathan Franklin: 1-1-0-0-0 (2) (0.4), Ryan Taylor: 0-dnp-dnp-0-1 (1) (0.3), James Starks: dnp-dnp-0-0-1 (1) (0.3)

The Eagles spent their defensive currency on stopping the run and for the most part they were successful as Eddie Lacy ran 24 times for 73 yards, a 3 yards per carry pace. That left Seneca Wallace and then Scott Tolzien after Wallace was injured, to throw their way to a victory and they came up short. Tolzien completed 24-of-39 passes for 280 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, which isn’t bad for a guy who was thrown into the fire.

Jarrett Boykin led the way with 13 targets, catching eight for 112 yards. Jordy Nelson was second with 10 targets, catching six for 56 yards including an apparent touchdown reception that could have gone either way, but went against him. Rookie tight end Brandon Bostick saw his first three targets of his career and caught all three for 42 yards and a touchdown. He saw just 29 snaps compared to Andrew Quarless, but Quarless caught just one of four targets for nine yards. Quarless isn’t going anywhere since he is a good blocking tight end, but we could see more routes and targets for Bostick going forward.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Eddie Lacy: 3-0-0-BYE-1-3-2-10-2-2 (23), Jordy Nelson: 1-2-1-BYE-2-1-1-2-1-3 (14), James Starks: 0-4-5-BYE-0-0-0-0-1-0 (10), Randall Cobb: 4-3-1-BYE-1-0-0-0-0-0 (9), James Jones: 0-2-3-BYE-1-0-0-0-1-2 (9), Johnathan Franklin: 0-0-4-BYE-0-0-2-0-0-0 (6), Jarrett Boykin: 0-0-0-BYE-0-0-2-0-0-3 (5), Jermichael Finley: 1-2-0-BYE-1-0-1-0-0-0 (5), John Kuhn: 1-0-0-BYE-0-1-0-1-0-1 (4), Andrew Quarless: 0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-1-0 (1)

Minnesota Vikings

Greg Jennings: 10-10-3-9-4 (36) (7.2), Jerome Simpson: 7-9-3-5-6 (30) (6), Kyle Rudolph: 11-9-4-2-dnp (26) (6.5), Cordarrelle Patterson: 2-6-3-4-4 (19) (3.8), John Carlson: 2-2-2-6-7 (19) (3.8), Adrian Peterson: 4-4-3-3-2 (16) (3.2), Jarius Wright: 2-5-0-5-3 (15) (3), Toby Gerhart: 2-3-2-1-0 (8) (1.6), Joe Webb: 4-1-0-0-0 (5) (1), Jerome Felton: 0-2-0-1-0 (3) (0.6)

Christian Ponder had one of his better games as he completed 17-of-21 passes for 174 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Washington last Thursday night before separating his shoulder. His main target was tight end John Carlson who caught all seven of his targets for 98 yards and a touchdown. If Carlson continues to lead the team in targets he’ll be worthwhile in fantasy, but the chances of that are pretty slim.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Adrian Peterson: 3-5-7-3-BYE-1-1-2-7-4 (33), Greg Jennings: 0-0-3-1-BYE-1-1-0-2-1 (9), Kyle Rudolph: 0-3-1-0-BYE-1-0-0-0-0 (5), Jerome Simpson: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-2-1-1-0 (4), Toby Gerhart: 0-0-1-0-BYE-0-0-1-0-0 (2), Cordarrelle Patterson: 1-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-1 (2), Jarius Wright: 0-1-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-1 (2), John Carlson: 0-1-1-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-0 (2)

New Orleans Saints

Jimmy Graham: 6-BYE-3-12-5 (26) (6.5), Darren Sproles: 12-BYE-4-1-7 (24) (6), Pierre Thomas: 1-BYE-3-10-7 (21) (5.2), Marques Colston: 3-BYE-6-dnp-8 (17) (5.7), Kenny Stills: 3-BYE-4-5-4 (16) (4), Lance Moore: dnp-BYE-4-10-2 (16) (5.3), Ben Watson: 4-BYE-3-1-3 (11) (2.8), Robert Meachem: 1-BYE-3-5-1 (10) (2.5), Nick Toon: 4-BYE-0-4-0 (8) (2), Mark Ingram: dnp-BYE-dnp-1-3 (4) (2), Jed Collins: 1-BYE-1-1-0 (3) (0.8), Josh Hill: 0-BYE-2-1-0 (3) (0.8), Travaris Cadet: 1-BYE-dnp-0-0 (1) (0.3)

Jimmy Graham was given some snaps off in this one and only saw five targets and unfortunately he wasn’t in on many plays in the red zone like in previous games where he was given rests. But with the Saints humiliating the Cowboys there wasn’t much need to push Graham.

This game saw the return of Marques Colston from the fantasy grave. He led the way with eight targets of which he caught seven for 107 yards and one touchdown. This was his first 100 yard game of the season and the first touchdown since week one. Does this mean he’s back? I’d say that is up to Sean Payton because it is nearly impossible to know who is going to be the fantasy winner on this team from week to week unless it’s a healthy Jimmy Graham.

The running backs put on a show this week with 52 touches for 358 yards and five touchdowns. Mark Ingram ripped through a tired and depleted defense for 145 yards while Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles caught all 14 of their targets for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Pierre Thomas: 1-3-4-1-2-2-BYE-1-0-6 (20), Darren Sproles: 2-0-0-3-1-5-BYE-0-0-3 (14), Jimmy Graham: 2-0-5-0-0-0-BYE-3-1-0 (11), Mark Ingram: 2-2-0-0-0-0-BYE-0-1-5 (10), Jed Collins: 0-0-0-1-2-1-BYE-0-1-0 (5), Marques Colston: 0-1-1-0-0-2-BYE-0-0-0 (4), Lance Moore: 1-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-1-1-0 (3), Ben Watson: 0-0-0-1-0-0-BYE-0-0-2 (3), Khiry Robinson: 0-0-0-1-0-1-BYE-0-0-0 (2), Nick Toon: 0-0-0-1-0-1-BYE-0-0-0 (2), Travaris Cadet: 0-0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0-0-0 (1), Kenny Stills: 0-0-1-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0 (1)

New York Giants

Hakeem Nicks: 8-10-12-BYE-4 (34) (8.5), Victor Cruz: 5-7-10-BYE-10 (32) (8), Peyton Hillis: dnp-6-5-BYE-2 (13) (4.3), Rueben Randle: 5-3-1-BYE-3 (12) (3), Brandon Myers: 1-3-4-BYE-0 (8) (2), John Conner: 0-5-1-BYE-0 (6) (1.5), Jerrel Jernigan: 0-0-4-BYE-0 (4) (1), Bear Pascoe: 2-2-0-BYE-0 (4) (1), Andre Brown: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-3 (3) (3), Michael Cox: 0-2-1-BYE-0 (3) (0.8), Brandon Jacobs: 2-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp (2) (2), DaRel Scott: 2-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp (2) (2)

I’m not sure how Eli Manning can have Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Rueben Randle at wide receiver and be held to 12-of-22 passing for 140 yards, one touchdown and one interception coming off a bye against a team travelling cross country that just gave up seven touchdown passes in a single game and who have new injuries in their secondary. But it happened and it’s been happening because Eli has hurt his team so badly through turnovers that he helps his team more by handing the ball off and letting the defense not be backed up near their own goal line all of the time.

Victor Cruz led the way with 10 targets, which is quite a lot when there were only 22 attempts, but he only caught three for 37 yards. Andre Brown was the best offensive player by far with 30 rushing attempts for 115 yards and one touchdown. With the defense playing better and Brown back, it’s hard to see them asking Manning to do much of anything and with three good receivers it will tough to know which one might get the fantasy production since we know it can’t be much more than one.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Victor Cruz: 2-2-0-0-1-0-2-0-BYE-2 (9), Brandon Jacobs: 0-3-0-0-2-3-0-0-BYE-0 (8), Hakeem Nicks: 2-0-0-0-1-0-2-2-BYE-0 (7), Andre Brown: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-BYE-6 (6), Peyton Hillis: 0-0-0-0-0-0-4-1-BYE-0 (5), DaRel Scott: 2-2-0-0-0-1-0-0-BYE-0 (5), David Wilson: 2-2-0-0-1-0-0-0-BYE-0 (5), Brandon Myers: 3-1-0-0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0 (5), Rueben Randle: 0-1-0-0-1-0-0-1-BYE-1 (4), Jerrel Jernigan: 0-0-0-0-1-0-0-1-BYE-0 (2), Michael Cox: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0 (1), John Conner: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-BYE-0 (1)

Philadelphia Eagles

DeSean Jackson: 6-8-11-6-5 (36) (7.2), Riley Cooper: 6-7-5-6-5 (29) (5.8), Jason Avant: 6-12-4-1-4 (27) (5.4), Zach Ertz: 6-5-4-6-0 (21) (4.2), LeSean McCoy: 2-7-5-4-1 (19) (3.8), Brent Celek: 1-4-3-4-1 (13) (2.6), Jeff Maehl: 1-4-0-1-0 (6) (1.2), Bryce Brown: 2-1-1-1-0 (5) (1), James Casey: dnp-0-1-1-2 (4) (1), Damaris Johnson: 1-0-1-0-0 (2) (0.4)

Nick Foles only completed 12 passes, but those completions went for 228 yards and three touchdowns. When the Eagles’ offense is running well these are the kinds of numbers you can see. While LeSean McCoy was gashing the defense for 155 rushing yards on 24 carries the passing game could pick its spots to shine. And now that the Eagles have another receiving weapon besides DeSean Jackson, they can open the passing game up even more. That other weapon is Riley Cooper. Early in the season he wasn’t able to beat single coverage, but with Nick Foles as quarterback he’s putting up elite receiving numbers. Of course that can’t be sustained, but after catching eight passes for 241 yards and five touchdowns over the last two games, defenses can’t ignore him anymore.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: LeSean McCoy: 3-1-2-0-5-4-5-1-2-2 (25), DeSean Jackson: 0-1-1-2-2-2-0-0-1-0 (9), Jason Avant: 0-1-1-0-3-0-2-1-0-1 (9), Bryce Brown: 2-2-0-1-1-1-0-0-0-0 (7), Brent Celek: 0-1-1-2-0-0-1-0-2-0 (7), Riley Cooper: 1-1-0-1-0-0-0-0-2-0 (5), Zach Ertz: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-2-0 (3), Chris Polk: 0-0-0-1-1-0-0-0-0-0 (2), James Casey: 0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1 (2), Jeff Maehl: 0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 (1), Damaris Johnson: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0 (1)

San Francisco 49ers

Vernon Davis: 11-8-4-BYE-2 (25) (6.2), Anquan Boldin: 8-6-6-BYE-5 (25) (6.2), Kyle Williams: 2-1-3-BYE-2 (8) (2), Bruce Miller: 2-1-3-BYE-2 (8) (2), Mario Manningham: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-6 (6) (6), Frank Gore: 0-3-1-BYE-2 (6) (1.5), Vance McDonald: 1-2-0-BYE-2 (5) (1.2), Kendall Hunter: 1-0-0-BYE-1 (2) (0.5), Jon Baldwin: 2-0-dnp-BYE-0 (2) (0.7), Anthony Dixon: 1-0-0-BYE-0 (1) (0.2)

While the Panthers never ran a play from inside the red zone, the 49ers ran just two. They weren’t helped at all by Vernon Davis leaving early with a concussion. He truly is their only playmaker in the receiving game and without him their offense completely bogs down, especially against the stout defensive line of the Panthers.

Colin Kaepernick completed just 11-of-22 passes for 91 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. That is officially being bogged down. Mario Manningham led the way with six targets, which he caught three of for 30 yards. It’s nice for the 49ers to get Manningham back, but he’s not going to stretch the field like Davis can.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Frank Gore: 5-3-0-3-7-8-4-5-BYE-2 (37), Vernon Davis: 2-1-0-1-2-1-1-2-BYE-0 (10), Anthony Dixon: 0-1-0-2-4-0-0-0-BYE-0 (7), Anquan Boldin: 3-0-0-1-1-1-0-1-BYE-0 (7), Bruce Miller: 0-2-0-0-0-2-0-1-BYE-0 (5), Kendall Hunter: 0-0-2-0-0-1-0-1-BYE-0 (4), Kyle Williams: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-BYE-0 (1), Jon Baldwin: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-BYE-0 (1), Vance McDonald: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-BYE-0 (1)

Seattle Seahawks

Golden Tate: 7-7-7-3-7 (31) (6.2), Doug Baldwin: 4-1-1-10-8 (24) (4.8), Marshawn Lynch: 5-3-1-5-3 (17) (3.4), Zach Miller: dnp-7-3-5-0 (15) (3.8), Jermaine Kearse: 3-3-2-2-4 (14) (2.8), Sidney Rice: 4-4-3-dnp-dnp (11) (3.7), Luke Willson: 3-2-0-0-2 (7) (1.4), Robert Turbin: 2-0-1-0-1 (4) (0.8), Derrick Coleman: 1-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (2) (1), Ricardo Lockette: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1 (2) (1), Kellen Davis: 1-1-0-0-0 (2) (0.4)

The Seahawks didn’t meet much resistance in Atlanta as they put a 33-10 whipping on the Falcons. Russell Wilson was efficient, Marshawn Lynch was in full Beast Mode and three receivers topped 75 yards. All in all it was about as good a performance as you could ask for.

The targets were spread out between Doug Baldwin (8), Golden Tate (7) and Jermaine Kearse (4). Tate made an amazing touchdown catch and Kearse caught a 43 yard touchdown. Kearse is the deep threat with Sidney Rice gone and Baldwin the slot receiver with Percy Harvin gone. Unfortunately for Baldwin, Harvin should be back this week.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Marshawn Lynch: 1-6-5-1-2-5-3-0-3-4 (30), Robert Turbin: 0-2-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-2 (6), Golden Tate: 0-0-0-1-1-0-2-1-0-1 (6), Sidney Rice: 0-2-1-0-1-0-0-1-0-0 (5), Zach Miller: 1-1-2-0-0-0-1-0-0-0 (5), Doug Baldwin: 0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-3-0 (4), Jermaine Kearse: 0-0-0-0-0-1-1-0-1-1 (4), Spencer Ware: 0-3-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 (3), Kellen Davis: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0 (1)

St. Louis Rams

Chris Givens: 4-2-5-8-4 (23) (4.6), Jared Cook: 2-7-6-6-2 (23) (4.6), Zac Stacy: 2-4-3-7-3 (19) (3.8), Lance Kendricks: 2-3-5-4-dnp (14) (3.5), Tavon Austin: 1-5-3-2-3 (14) (2.8), Brian Quick: 2-6-3-2-0 (13) (2.6), Austin Pettis: 1-4-4-4-0 (13) (2.6), Cory Harkey: 1-2-1-0-3 (7) (1.4), Daryl Richardson: 1-1-1-dnp-dnp (3) (1), Benny Cunningham: 0-dnp-dnp-0-1 (1) (0.3), Stedman Bailey: 0-0-0-1-0 (1) (0.2)

This was the Tavon Austin Show and the Colts were forced to watch. Austin had a 98 yard punt return touchdown, a 57 yard touchdown reception another 81 yard touchdown reception.

Kellen Clemens completed just nine passes, but thanks to Austin two of those passes went for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Zac Stacy didn’t have a great game, but he did get in for a touchdown and remains the guy who sets up whatever passing game they can muster.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Zac Stacy: 0-0-0-0-2-4-6-3-6-2 (23), Daryl Richardson: 3-0-0-0-2-1-0-3-0-0 (9), Jared Cook: 2-1-0-0-0-0-2-2-1-0 (8), Isaiah Pead: 0-2-4-0-1-0-0-0-0-0 (7), Chris Givens: 1-1-1-1-1-0-0-1-0-1 (7), Tavon Austin: 0-5-0-0-2-0-0-0-0-0 (7), Austin Pettis: 1-2-1-0-1-0-1-1-0-0 (7), Brian Quick: 2-0-2-0-0-1-0-2-0-0 (7), Benny Cunningham: 0-0-0-0-3-0-0-0-1-2 (6), Lance Kendricks: 0-0-0-1-2-1-1-0-1-0 (6), Stedman Bailey: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0 (1), Cory Harkey: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0 (1)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vincent Jackson: 14-22-13-4-8 (61) (12.2), Tim Wright: 9-3-8-4-1 (25) (5), Brian Leonard: 1-2-7-4-3 (17) (3.4), Tiquan Underwood: 4-1-4-3-5 (17) (3.4), Mike Williams: dnp-5-6-dnp-dnp (11) (5.5), Mike James: 0-3-5-2-0 (10) (2), Chris Owusu: 4-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (7) (3.5), Tom Crabtree: 1-2-2-1-0 (6) (1.2), Erik Lorig: 0-0-1-3-0 (4) (0.8), Skye Dawson: dnp-dnp-1-0-2 (3) (1), Eric Page: 0-0-3-0-0 (3) (0.6), Bobby Rainey: 0-dnp-0-0-1 (1) (0.2), Donald Penn: 0-0-0-0-1 (1) (0.2)

While the Buccaneers defense held the Dolphins to .1 yards per rushing attempt and one first down, the offense did just enough to win their first game of the season.

They lost running back Mike James to a broken ankle after he ran five times for 41 yards. Brian Leonard came in for James and ran 20 times for 57 yards while Bobby Rainey ran eight times for 45 yards including the game winning one yard touchdown run. They will most likely split time going forward.

Vincent Jackson had his second down game in a row after posting big numbers with Mike Glennon at the helm. The Buccaneers look like they want to run the ball and play good defense, which are coach Greg Schiano’s roots. That’s not great news for the passing game going forward.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Vincent Jackson: 0-0-0-0-BYE-2-5-3-0-2 (12), Mike James: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-5-0-3-2 (10), Doug Martin: 3-0-1-2-BYE-1-2-0-0-0 (9), Mike Williams: 1-1-2-1-BYE-0-2-0-0-0 (7), Brian Leonard: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-2-0-0-3 (5), Tim Wright: 0-0-1-0-BYE-1-0-1-1-0 (4), Tiquan Underwood: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-2-0 (2), Kevin Ogletree: 0-1-1-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-0 (2), Eric Page: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-2-0-0 (2), Bobby Rainey: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-1 (1), Tom Crabtree: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-1-0 (1)

Washington Redskins

Pierre Garcon: 15-8-11-11-10 (55) (11), Jordan Reed: 6-9-14-5-9 (43) (8.6), Leonard Hankerson: 6-5-3-6-5 (25) (5), Santana Moss: 3-2-5-2-3 (15) (3), Roy Helu: 6-2-1-1-4 (14) (2.8), Logan Paulsen: 0-1-1-3-3 (8) (1.6), Josh Morgan: 1-0-2-1-1 (5) (1), Aldrick Robinson: 0-2-2-1-0 (5) (1), Niles Paul: 0-0-0-2-0 (2) (0.4), Darrel Young: 0-0-0-0-1 (1) (0.2), Alfred Morris: 1-0-0-0-0 (1) (0.2)

Pierre Garcon has had three seven-reception games in a row and in the last two has 14 receptions for 291 yards and a touchdown. It looks like he and Robert Griffin are getting more productive with all those targets he’s been seeing.

Jordan Reed is second in targets for tight ends over the last five games with 8.6 per game. He had nine in this one and caught six for 62 yards and a touchdown. He and Garcon are target royalty.

This week no random fullback came in to score three touchdowns, but Alfred Morris was held out of the end zone again even though he ran 26 times for 139 yards. He’s still a stud and you just have to start him and hope he doesn’t get too Shanahan’d.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Alfred Morris: 2-0-0-1-BYE-5-1-3-6-4 (22), Pierre Garcon: 0-2-3-3-BYE-1-2-1-0-3 (15), Roy Helu: 0-0-1-2-BYE-0-4-0-0-1 (8), Leonard Hankerson: 1-1-1-0-BYE-1-0-1-1-1 (7), Jordan Reed: 0-2-0-0-BYE-0-2-1-0-2 (7), Darrel Young: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-4-1 (5), Logan Paulsen: 0-1-0-0-BYE-0-1-0-1-2 (5), Santana Moss: 0-1-0-0-BYE-0-1-1-0-1 (4), Niles Paul: 0-0-1-0-BYE-0-0-0-1-0 (2), Aldrick Robinson: 0-1-0-0-BYE-0-0-0-0-0 (1)

Snap count data comes from our friends at Pro Football Focus.