Week 6 Target Watch: AFC

Welcome to the Week 6 AFC Target Watch. Below I have all the targets for each player for each week and then their total number in parentheses and then below that I have the red zone targets and touches for each player for the season to date. The NFC version will be live Wednesday night.

Baltimore Ravens

Steve Smith: 15-10-7-10-7-6 (55), Torrey Smith: 7-3-8-3-8-5 (34), Justin Forsett: 6-4-5-4-8-0 (27), Owen Daniels: 5-5-1-6-7-3 (27), Dennis Pitta: 15-4-3-dnp-dnp-dnp (22), Jacoby Jones: 7-1-1-1-1-1 (12), Kyle Juszczyk: 1-0-4-2-2-3 (12), Kamar Aiken: 4-0-0-1-1-3 (9), Marlon Brown: 1-0-1-3-2-dnp (7), Lorenzo Taliaferro: 1-0-0-0-0-2 (3), Bernard Pierce: 0-2-dnp-dnp-0-0 (2), Crockett Gillmore: 0-0-0-0-0-2 (2), Mike Campanaro: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (2)

These are the kinds of games that pop up for Joe Flacco sometimes and you just have to sit back and say, yep, he can be that good. If you take away a spike and two drops, he completed 21 of 26 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns. It was a beat down of biblical proportions as that fifth touchdown pass came just a couple minutes into the second quarter. If they had had an axe to grind with Tampa, Flacco probably would have broken the touchdown record by half time.

Steve Smith Sr. once again led the way in targets, receptions and yards as he caught five of six targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. This has truly been a remarkable season for Smith and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

On the other side Torrey Smith also had a big game with two touchdowns as he caught four of five targets for 51 yards. The Ravens aren’t going to score 48 points in a game very often, so expecting the touchdowns to keep up is crazy talk, but Torrey isn’t going to go gentle into that good night.

The running back race appears to be Justin Forsett’s as he has been out producing all opponents. In this game he actually was second in rushing attempts to Bernard Pierce, but that was due to the blowout and at the end of the day Forsett ran 14 times for 111 yards and Pierce totaled just 32 yards on 15 carries. He did get a four-yard touchdown run as well, but that was just a little stroll through garbage time city.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Steve Smith: Run 0/ Tar 10, Owen Daniels: Run 0/ Tar 7, Torrey Smith: Run 0/ Tar 4, Dennis Pitta: Run 0/ Tar 4, Kyle Juszczyk: Run 0/ Tar 4, Kamar Aiken: Run 0/ Tar 3, Justin Forsett: Run 12/ Tar 2, Mike Campanaro: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jacoby Jones: Run 1/ Tar 1, Bernard Pierce: Run 12/ Tar 0, Joe Flacco: Run 4/ Tar 0, Lorenzo Taliaferro: Run 11/ Tar 0

Steve Smith Sr. has been the main deep threat for the Ravens this season, but also the main red-zone threat with 10 targets. Torrey Smith on the other hand just had two coming into this game, but he doubled that number against the Bucs and caught both of his targets for touchdowns, while Smith has yet to get into the end zone from any of his 10 red zone targets.

Buffalo Bills

Sammy Watkins: 4-11-8-9-12-3 (47), Robert Woods: 6-3-8-12-4-10 (43), Fred Jackson: 3-4-10-7-9-6 (39), Scott Chandler: 1-2-5-5-6-9 (28), Mike Williams: 3-3-4-6-2-dnp (18), C.J. Spiller: 3-1-3-3-4-1 (15), Chris Hogan: 0-0-0-0-2-6 (8), Marquise Goodwin: 1-0-1-dnp-1-3 (6), Frank Summers: 1-0-0-1-2-0 (4), Chris Gragg: 0-2-dnp-0-1-0 (3)

With Darrelle Revis shadowing Sammy Watkins, the targets and production went to the other receivers in their bout with the Patriots. Robert Woods led the way with ten targets, which he caught seven of for 78 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Scott Chandler had nine targets in which he caught six for 105 yards and new #3 receiver Chris Hogan caught five of six targets for 72 yards and a touchdown. And how many of those players were started in your league? Probably not many. Thankfully for those of you rostering Sammy Watkins, he will return as the target leader unless Revis gets traded to the next team the Bills play and so on.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mike Williams: Run 0/ Tar 5, Fred Jackson: Run 14/ Tar 5, Sammy Watkins: Run 0/ Tar 5, Scott Chandler: Run 0/ Tar 4, Robert Woods: Run 0/ Tar 3, Chris Hogan: Run 0/ Tar 2, C.J. Spiller: Run 3/ Tar 2, Chris Gragg: Run 0/ Tar 2, Frank Summers: Run 2/ Tar 0, Anthony Dixon: Run 2/ Tar 0, EJ Manuel: Run 5/ Tar 0

Mike Williams is tied for the lead in red zone targets and he wasn’t even activated for this game. So Watkins is the next logical red zone choice and without Williams, should see a slight bump in that department.

Cincinnati Bengals

Mohamed Sanu: 5-4-8-BYE-9-15 (41), Giovani Bernard: 10-6-3-BYE-3-5 (27), A.J. Green: 9-0-9-BYE-7-dnp (25), Jermaine Gresham: 5-3-1-BYE-4-7 (20), Brandon Tate: 6-3-1-BYE-0-5 (15), Dane Sanzenbacher: 0-4-0-BYE-1-5 (10), Jeremy Hill: 0-2-0-BYE-4-4 (10), James Wright: dnp-1-1-BYE-1-1 (4), Tyler Eifert: 3-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp (3), Ryan Hewitt: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-0-0 (1), Kevin Brock: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-0-0 (1)

A.J. Green’s toe injury sure was a boon for Mohamed Sanu as he saw 15 targets, the second most in the league this week. He made them count with 10 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. Sanu now has had three of five games with five or more receptions, 70+ yards and a touchdown.

After Sanu the targets get spread out too thin to feel good about the other receivers in the offense. But thankfully the running backs see plenty of work. Giovani Bernard had 18 rushing attempts and five targets while Jeremy Hill had eight rushing attempts and four targets. This was an overtime game, so all the numbers get bumped up a bit, but Sanu and Bernard are the keys in this offense with Green out.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mohamed Sanu: Run 0/ Tar 5, Jermaine Gresham: Run 0/ Tar 3, Dane Sanzenbacher: Run 0/ Tar 3, A.J. Green: Run 0/ Tar 2, Brandon Tate: Run 0/ Tar 1, Giovani Bernard: Run 18/ Tar 1, Andy Dalton: Run 5/ Tar 1, Jeremy Hill: Run 8/ Tar 0

Bernard and Hill totaled six looks in the red zone to three for the receivers. Hill got a goal line touchdown, but that occurred when Bernard was in the locker room having his shoulder checked out.

Cleveland Browns

Andrew Hawkins: 10-12-10-BYE-9-2 (43), Miles Austin: 3-10-7-BYE-3-3 (26), Taylor Gabriel: 6-4-2-BYE-6-4 (22), Jordan Cameron: 5-dnp-3-BYE-7-5 (20), Travis Benjamin: 3-4-1-BYE-4-1 (13), Jim Dray: 2-2-0-BYE-4-1 (9), Gary Barnidge: 2-4-0-BYE-0-0 (6), Ray Agnew: 0-2-0-BYE-2-1 (5), Terrance West: 0-2-2-BYE-0-dnp (4), Ben Tate: 0-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-0 (2), Isaiah Crowell: 0-1-0-BYE-0-0 (1)

The numbers don’t look outstanding for Brian Hoyer, who completed just eight of 17 pass attempts, but those eight completions went for 217 yards and a touchdown as the Browns rolled over the rival Steelers. Hoyer was great on his deeper targets, completing five of six that went over 20 yards in the air.

A big chunk of those yards went to tight end Jordan Cameron who led the team with just five targets of which he caught three for 102 yards and a touchdown. It’s good to see Cameron back, but he was fortunate to put together such a nice game on just five targets. The better news is that those targets led the team.

Most of the plays were of the handing off the ball variety in this one. Ben Tate led the way with 25 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns, while Isaiah Crowell ran the ball 11 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. I would be worried about Tate’s status as the #1 back if Crowell hadn’t lost a fumble and muffed two tosses from Hoyer.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Taylor Gabriel: Run 0/ Tar 4, Travis Benjamin: Run 0/ Tar 3, Andrew Hawkins: Run 0/ Tar 3, Jim Dray: Run 0/ Tar 2, Miles Austin: Run 0/ Tar 2, Jordan Cameron: Run 0/ Tar 2, Terrance West: Run 11/ Tar 1, Ray Agnew: Run 1/ Tar 1, Brian Hoyer: Run 2/ Tar 0, Ben Tate: Run 12/ Tar 0, Isaiah Crowell: Run 5/ Tar 0

Tate was easily the red zone Czar for the Browns this week. He ran the ball eight times and scored twice, while Crowell ran it once and scored from five yards out.

Denver Broncos

Demaryius Thomas: 11-7-9-BYE-16-12 (55), Emmanuel Sanders: 9-9-15-BYE-9-6 (48), Julius Thomas: 8-5-4-BYE-7-6 (30), Wes Welker: dnp-dnp-9-BYE-9-1 (19), Montee Ball: 2-3-3-BYE-3-dnp (11), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-3-BYE-1-5 (9), Andre Caldwell: 5-1-0-BYE-1-0 (7), Jacob Tamme: 0-1-3-BYE-1-1 (6), Virgil Green: 1-0-1-BYE-0-0 (2), Juwan Thompson: 0-0-0-BYE-0-1 (1), C.J. Anderson: 0-0-1-BYE-dnp-0 (1)

Remember when Demaryius Thomas was in a slump? Yeah, that’s over. After the bye week Thomas has caught 18 passes on 28 targets for 350 yards and three touchdowns. That would be pretty incredible for four games, but two is simply amazing.

Your next amazing stat comes from tight end Julius Thomas who now has nine touchdowns in five games. That puts him on pace for 28.8 for the season. And I’d expect him to somehow figure out a way to score .8 touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski holds the tight end record with a healthy 17 receiving touchdowns (18 total) in 2011, so it’s time to get your popcorn popping.

Ronnie Hillman put up 100 yards rushing on the vaunted Jets defensive line and saw 76% of the snaps while Juwan Thompson was the clear backup with 23%.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Demaryius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 11, Julius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 10, Emmanuel Sanders: Run 0/ Tar 4, Montee Ball: Run 10/ Tar 2, Jacob Tamme: Run 0/ Tar 1, Andre Caldwell: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ronnie Hillman: Run 4/ Tar 0, Peyton Manning: Run 0/ Tar 0, Juwan Thompson: Run 3/ Tar 0

Orange Julius has now caught nine of 10 red zone targets for nine first downs and seven touchdowns. That is efficiency and too easy.

Houston Texans

Andre Johnson: 9-7-11-7-8-12 (54), DeAndre Hopkins: 5-5-9-6-6-2 (33), Arian Foster: 2-3-dnp-10-5-4 (24), Damaris Johnson: 3-2-2-2-2-3 (14), Garrett Graham: dnp-1-6-5-1-1 (14), Keshawn Martin: 0-0-2-1-1-0 (4), Alfred Blue: 0-0-1-3-0-0 (4), Jay Prosch: 0-0-1-2-0-0 (3), C.J. Fiedorowicz: 1-dnp-0-1-0-1 (3), Ryan Griffin: 2-0-0-0-1-0 (3), Jonathan Grimes: 0-0-1-0-0-0 (1)

After Andre Johnson and Arian Foster were done hogging the ball, there wasn’t much left for the other Texans, well, except J.J. Watt who just steals the ball from the opponent.

Foster ran 20 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns and also caught three of four targets for 32 yards while Andre Johnson caught seven of 12 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown. After those two, targets and touches were scarce, with only five other receptions from three receivers and three carries from Alfred Blue.

DeAndre Hopkins had just two targets, his fewest targets on the season. His status as the #2 receiver on a run first team isn’t helping him much, especially when the run game is working. He’s still good enough to turn his low targets into fantasy points, but there will be days like this. I think my mama said that.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Andre Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 8, DeAndre Hopkins: Run 0/ Tar 2, Arian Foster: Run 14/ Tar 2, Damaris Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Garrett Graham: Run 0/ Tar 1, Alfred Blue: Run 3/ Tar 0, Ronnie Brown: Run 3/ Tar 0, Ryan Fitzpatrick: Run 3/ Tar 0, Jonathan Grimes: Run 1/ Tar 0

Andre Johnson scored a touchdown! Andre Johnson scored a touchdown! He leads the team in red zone targets and finally he was able to get into the end zone on one of his two targets inside the 20-yard line.

Indianapolis Colts

T.Y. Hilton: 11-11-6-10-12-9 (59), Reggie Wayne: 13-7-5-8-12-9 (54), Hakeem Nicks: 5-3-4-6-6-7 (31), Dwayne Allen: 5-1-6-3-5-7 (27), Ahmad Bradshaw: 6-5-3-2-5-6 (27), Coby Fleener: 8-1-7-3-2-4 (25), Trent Richardson: 4-1-4-5-5-0 (19), Donte Moncrief: 1-1-5-2-0-0 (9), Jack Doyle: 0-2-3-1-0-2 (8)

T.Y. Hilton owns the Texans. In five games against them in his career, he now has 31 receptions for 611 yards and six touchdowns. He only has 13 touchdowns in his career. So when I tell you he caught nine of nine targets for 223 yards and a touchdown against the Texans Thursday night, you probably shouldn’t be all that surprised.

This was of course a break out game for Hilton, but unlike last year when he just had the few break out games surrounded by multiple duds, this season he’s been more consistent. So far he’s had one game less than 65 yards and none under five receptions. Last season he had 10 games with fewer than 53 yards and didn’t reach five receptions in five separate games.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Ahmad Bradshaw: Run 9/ Tar 10, Coby Fleener: Run 0/ Tar 8, Reggie Wayne: Run 0/ Tar 7, Hakeem Nicks: Run 0/ Tar 7, Dwayne Allen: Run 0/ Tar 7, T.Y. Hilton: Run 0/ Tar 4, Trent Richardson: Run 17/ Tar 3, Jack Doyle: Run 0/ Tar 2, Donte Moncrief: Run 0/ Tar 1, Andrew Luck: Run 8/ Tar 0

Ahmad Bradshaw did it again! He now has five receiving touchdowns after catching one Thursday night. So this season he has 10 red zone targets in which he’s caught nine with five of those going for touchdowns. I keep saying this is unsustainable, which it is, but weirder things have happened.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Allen Robinson: 3-6-10-7-11-9 (46), Allen Hurns: 9-6-3-6-11-4 (39), Cecil Shorts: dnp-dnp-10-4-dnp-16 (30), Marqise Lee: 10-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (16), Clay Harbor: dnp-dnp-dnp-8-4-4 (16), Mike Brown: 5-4-1-3-2-dnp (15), Denard Robinson: 1-2-1-3-2-3 (12), Marcedes Lewis: 9-3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (12), Jordan Todman: 2-0-1-2-2-3 (10), Toby Gerhart: 2-2-2-1-1-dnp (8), Will Taufoou: 0-0-1-1-1-2 (5), Mickey Shuler: 1-1-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (3), Ace Sanders: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1 (3), Marcel Jensen: dnp-dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (1), Storm Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-1 (1), Nic Jacobs: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0-0 (1),

Blake Bortles threw the ball 46 times in this one, connecting on 32 of those for 336 yards, one touchdown and one interception. This game isn’t going into the record books, but it was a step forward for Bortles, who Pro Football Focus gave a positive grade to when being pressured, which happened on 39% of his drop backs. Think of Blaine Gabbert getting a positive grade when being pressured. Yeah, it’s hard to imagine.

His main target this week was Cecil Shorts, who has been out with a hamstring injury. He threw to him 16 times and Shorts caught ten for 103 yards and fumbled once. It was a nice PPR day for Shorts on his return to the lineup at least.

Allen Robinson was the clear #2 receiver as he saw nine targets and secured eight for 68 yards. He is still shaping up as the best receiver going forward for the Jags, especially with Shorts’ injury trouble.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Allen Robinson: Run 0/ Tar 4, Allen Hurns: Run 0/ Tar 2, Cecil Shorts: Run 0/ Tar 2, Clay Harbor: Run 0/ Tar 1, Marqise Lee: Run 0/ Tar 1, Nic Jacobs: Run 0/ Tar 1, Toby Gerhart: Run 6/ Tar 1, Blake Bortles: Run 0/ Tar 0, Denard Robinson: Run 1/ Tar 0, Chad Henne: Run 1/ Tar 0, Storm Johnson: Run 2/ Tar 0

There weren’t many red zone opportunities in this one, but Clay Harbor and Storm Johnson made their chances count.

Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce: 5-6-4-9-3-BYE (27), Donnie Avery: 13-6-3-2-dnp-BYE (24), Dwayne Bowe: dnp-6-5-6-6-BYE (23), Anthony Fasano: 6-4-2-1-7-BYE (20), Knile Davis: 1-9-1-2-1-BYE (14), Junior Hemingway: 2-4-2-1-4-BYE (13), Jamaal Charles: 4-1-dnp-3-4-BYE (12), Joe McKnight: 0-dnp-7-dnp-dnp-BYE (7), A.J. Jenkins: 0-3-0-1-2-BYE (6), Anthony Sherman: 0-0-1-0-2-BYE (3), Frankie Hammond: 2-0-0-1-0-BYE (3), Demetrius Harris: 0-1-0-0-1-BYE (2), DeAnthony Thomas: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-BYE (1)

Coming off his best game as a pro and his most targets, Travis Kelce scored a quick touchdown, did a bad dance, then was targeted a total of three times on the day. He actually saw a bigger percent of the snaps in Week 5 than he did in Week 4, so he’s still out there, just not getting targeted. It was a tough matchup, but he’s good enough to win tough matchups and needs more work, especially when he’s out targeted 7-3 by Anthony Fasano (Dad Runner).

The 49ers defense did a good job of slowing down Kansas City, but Jamaal Charles did rush 15 times for 80 yards against that strong run defense and came out unscathed. That’s a good sign.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Travis Kelce: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jamaal Charles: Run 5/ Tar 4, Donnie Avery: Run 0/ Tar 4, Knile Davis: Run 12/ Tar 3, Dwayne Bowe: Run 0/ Tar 2, Joe McKnight: Run 0/ Tar 2, Anthony Fasano: Run 0/ Tar 2, Anthony Sherman: Run 1/ Tar 1, Frankie Hammond: Run 0/ Tar 1, DeAnthony Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 1, A.J. Jenkins: Run 0/ Tar 1, Alex Smith: Run 2/ Tar 0, Cyrus Gray: Run 4/ Tar 0

Miami Dolphins

Mike Wallace: 11-8-12-4-BYE-9 (44), Brian Hartline: 4-8-7-7-BYE-2 (28), Charles Clay: 6-8-4-4-BYE-5 (27), Jarvis Landry: 1-6-7-4-BYE-8 (26), Lamar Miller: 5-5-5-2-BYE-3 (20), Brandon Gibson: 1-4-4-4-BYE-dnp (13), Dion Sims: 3-2-1-2-BYE-2 (10), Rishard Matthews: 0-5-1-2-BYE-0 (8), Daniel Thomas: dnp-dnp-2-2-BYE-dnp (4), Orleans Darkwa: dnp-3-0-0-BYE-dnp (3), Damian Williams: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1 (1), Knowshon Moreno: 0-0-dnp-dnp-BYE-1 (1), Gator Hoskins: 1-0-0-0-BYE-dnp (1)

This was the week Jarvis Landry broke out. He was second on the team with eight targets of which he caught six for 75 yards and a touchdown. With Brandon Gibson out of this one, Landry saw a bump in snaps from his usual mid 40% to 78%. He was still the #3 receiver, but the Dolphins were often in three receiver sets against the Packers.

I was going to break down the Lamar Miller and Knowshon Moreno touches, but Moreno is out for the season now and Miller will return as the lead back. They don’t seem willing to make him a “bell cow” back, but with every down snaps he will continue to have good upside.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mike Wallace: Run 1/ Tar 8, Brian Hartline: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jarvis Landry: Run 0/ Tar 4, Lamar Miller: Run 13/ Tar 4, Charles Clay: Run 0/ Tar 4, Rishard Matthews: Run 0/ Tar 2, Brandon Gibson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Knowshon Moreno: Run 11/ Tar 1, Dion Sims: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ryan Tannehill: Run 1/ Tar 0, Orleans Darkwa: Run 2/ Tar 0, Damien Williams: Run 3/ Tar 0, Matt Moore: Run 2/ Tar 0

Mike Wallace continues to lead in red zone targets and that’s working out well for him when he’s not getting high volume. He caught one of two red zone targets for a touchdown in Week 6 and so far this season all of his touchdowns have come within the red zone. That’s good news because Tannehill has serious trouble with the deep ball.

New England Patriots

Julian Edelman: 8-7-13-8-8-12 (56), Rob Gronkowski: 11-6-6-3-11-9 (46), Brandon LaFell: 6-0-8-10-4-6 (34), Shane Vereen: 8-2-6-5-3-3 (27), Timothy Wright: 3-1-1-0-5-1 (11), Danny Amendola: 5-1-1-0-1-0 (8), Stevan Ridley: 2-0-1-1-0-1 (5), Aaron Dobson: dnp-2-dnp-dnp-1-1 (4), James Develin: 0-2-0-0-1-1 (4), Brandon Bolden: 3-0-0-0-0-0 (3), James White: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-dnp-dnp (3), Brian Tyms: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2 (2), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-1-0-0-0-1 (2)

Tom Brady continued his assault on talk that he has declined as he completed 27 of 37 passes for 361 yards and four touchdowns against the Bills on Sunday.

Julian Edelman remains the target leader, but Rob Gronkowski is now up there with him. They led the team with 12 and nine targets, but it was the wide receivers that got the touchdowns with Brandon LaFell catching two and rookie Brian Tyms catching one. Hitting the receivers deep has not been Brady’s thing this season as he was just two for 19 on passes over 20 yard, but against the Bills he connected on three of four for 132 yards and two touchdowns on passes over 20 yards this week. That increase in efficiency should help all the receivers, but it will be tough to pinpoint the best non-Edelman and Gronk pass catchers going forward.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Julian Edelman: Run 0/ Tar 8, Rob Gronkowski: Run 0/ Tar 6, Brandon LaFell: Run 0/ Tar 4, Timothy Wright: Run 0/ Tar 3, Danny Amendola: Run 0/ Tar 1, Kenbrell Thompkins: Run 0/ Tar 1, James Develin: Run 2/ Tar 1, Shane Vereen: Run 6/ Tar 1, Brandon Bolden: Run 5/ Tar 0, Tom Brady: Run 4/ Tar 0, Stevan Ridley: Run 16/ Tar 0

Tim Wright’s only target and reception came on the one-yard line, but it did go for a touchdown. He now has two targets in the red zone over the last two games and two touchdowns. Of course his playing time is too slim to count on him yet, but he should continue to see increased work.

New York Jets

Jeremy Kerley: 5-8-11-3-6-7 (40), Eric Decker: 6-7-1-10-dnp-10 (34), Jace Amaro: 4-1-4-5-3-12 (29), Jeff Cumberland: 5-2-6-1-6-2 (22), Greg Salas: 2-2-3-4-7-3 (21), Chris Johnson: 5-3-2-2-1-2 (15), Chris Ivory: 0-1-4-6-1-2 (14), David Nelson: 1-1-7-1-4-dnp (14), Bilal Powell: 0-2-3-0-0-0 (5), Zach Sudfeld: 0-1-1-1-0-0 (3),

T.J. Graham: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1 (2), Tommy Bohanon: 0-2-0-0-dnp-dnp (2), John Conner: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-1 (1)

This week saw a target explosion for rookie tight end Jace Amaro. He had 12 and caught 10 of those for just 68 yards and a touchdown. He also had one seriously bad drop. But it does look like they wanted to get Geno Smith some safe, easy targets with Amaro. We’ll see if it continues.

Eric Decker returned this week and had a full complement of snaps. He saw ten targets and caught six of those for 54 yards and a touchdown. Hopefully his hamstring issue is behind him, because he really is the best receiver on the team and has good upside, especially in the red zone.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jeff Cumberland: Run 0/ Tar 6, Eric Decker: Run 0/ Tar 4, Jeremy Kerley: Run 0/ Tar 4, Jace Amaro: Run 0/ Tar 3, Bilal Powell: Run 1/ Tar 3, David Nelson: Run 0/ Tar 2, Chris Johnson: Run 2/ Tar 2, Chris Ivory: Run 13/ Tar 2, Zach Sudfeld: Run 0/ Tar 1, Greg Salas: Run 0/ Tar 1, Michael Vick: Run 2/ Tar 0, Geno Smith: Run 4/ Tar 0

Amaro led the way with three targets in the red zone and caught two of those, including a touchdown.

Oakland Raiders

James Jones: 3-14-5-6-BYE-7 (35), Andre Holmes: 0-7-2-12-BYE-8 (29), Mychal Rivera: 5-7-4-4-BYE-3 (23), Denarius Moore: 8-5-7-dnp-BYE-1 (21), Darren McFadden: 1-3-4-5-BYE-4 (17), Marcel Reece: 3-1-7-2-BYE-3 (16), Rod Streater: 7-3-3-dnp-BYE-dnp (13), Kenbrell Thompkins: 10-dnp-1-dnp-BYE-0 (11), Brice Butler: dnp-2-0-3-BYE-5 (10), Maurice Jones-Drew: 3-dnp-dnp-2-BYE-1 (6), Vincent Brown: dnp-dnp-0-4-BYE-dnp (4), David Ausberry: 0-0-0-4-BYE-0 (4), Jamize Olawale: 0-0-1-0-BYE-1 (2)

Derek Carr stood punch for punch with Philip Rivers for most of the game, but just could pull out the victory in a hard fought match. His completion percentage wasn’t great, completing 18 of 34 passes, but he tossed four touchdowns and 282 yards. Those targets and receptions mainly went to his wide receivers with Andre Holmes, James Jones and Brice Butler all getting touchdowns and good fantasy games.

Andre Holmes was the big fantasy winner this week with four receptions on eight targets for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 20 targets over his last two games and is starting to look like Carr’s main man.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: James Jones: Run 0/ Tar 5, Brice Butler: Run 0/ Tar 2, Denarius Moore: Run 0/ Tar 2, Andre Holmes: Run 0/ Tar 2, Rod Streater: Run 0/ Tar 1, Marcel Reece: Run 0/ Tar 1, Darren McFadden: Run 7/ Tar 0, Maurice Jones-Drew: Run 2/ Tar 0

Holmes also saw only his second red zone target on the season and his first red zone touchdown. James Jones looks to be the possession receiver of the group now, but that also puts him in line for shorter red zone looks, which he got and scored on this week, his second on five red zone targets for the season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Antonio Brown: 6-12-10-11-12-10 (61), Markus Wheaton: 7-8-5-6-2-11 (39), LeVeon Bell: 7-5-4-7-6-6 (35), Heath Miller: 4-7-5-11-4-4 (35), Justin Brown: 4-4-4-2-3-4 (21), Lance Moore: dnp-dnp-0-1-1-6 (8), LeGarrette Blount: 1-1-0-0-3-0 (5), Dri Archer: 1-dnp-dnp-1-2-1 (5), Will Johnson: 1-0-1-1-1-0 (4), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 0-0-0-0-1-0 (1), Michael Palmer: 0-0-0-0-1-0 (1)

The Steelers were crushed in Cleveland, but were able to move the ball and actually had more first downs and time of possession than the Browns. Of course that was helped by the most consistent receiver in the game, Antonio Brown.

The Steelers went run heavy for most of the first half and even though they were able to move the ball, they just weren’t getting into the end zone. So Brown didn’t see his first reception until less than three minutes left in the first half. But he then went on to catch seven of 10 targets for 118 yards, while Markus Wheaton out targeted him with 12, but only caught four for 33 yards. If you thought Wheaton’s poor play this season was from lack of targets it’s starting to look more like it’s just from poor play.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Brown: Run 1/ Tar 11, Justin Brown: Run 0/ Tar 7, Heath Miller: Run 0/ Tar 6, Markus Wheaton: Run 0/ Tar 6, LeVeon Bell: Run 12/ Tar 4, LeGarrette Blount: Run 5/ Tar 2, Dri Archer: Run 0/ Tar 1, Lance Moore: Run 0/ Tar 1, Michael Palmer: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ben Roethlisberger: Run 4/ Tar 0

Justin Brown is second in red zone targets for the Steelers over Wheaton this year. Wheaton saw a hefty four red zone targets this week, but only caught one for nine yards and one touchdown.

San Diego Chargers

Keenan Allen: 9-6-2-11-7-6 (41), Antonio Gates: 10-7-1-5-6-8 (37), Eddie Royal: 6-10-6-7-3-2 (34), Malcom Floyd: 6-1-4-4-3-7 (25), Donald Brown: 0-4-6-6-2-dnp (18), Ladarius Green: 2-0-6-dnp-1-5 (14), Branden Oliver: dnp-dnp-0-4-4-5 (13), Danny Woodhead: 1-5-0-dnp-dnp-dnp (6), Ryan Mathews: 2-2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Seyi Ajirotutu: 0-0-0-0-1-1 (2), Ronnie Brown: dnp-0-1-dnp-dnp-1 (2)

Keenan Allen leads the team in targets on the season and is second in red zone targets, but has yet to find the end zone. He has been bothered by a hamstring injury this season, but it has yet to affect his snaps. Philip Rivers’ ability to spread the ball around has hurt him a little, but Eddie Royal’s injury, if it keeps him out, could provide an uptick for Allen, who already is at the top in targets.

Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd were the target leaders this week with eight and seven and both found the end zone, but Floyd connected five times for 103 yards and now has scored a touchdown or topped 72 yards in each of his games this year.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Gates: Run 0/ Tar 9, Keenan Allen: Run 0/ Tar 5, Donald Brown: Run 7/ Tar 4, Branden Oliver: Run 10/ Tar 4, Eddie Royal: Run 1/ Tar 3, Malcom Floyd: Run 0/ Tar 3, Danny Woodhead: Run 2/ Tar 2, Ladarius Green: Run 0/ Tar 2, Ronnie Brown: Run 1/ Tar 0, Ryan Mathews: Run 3/ Tar 0, Shaun Draughn: Run 1/ Tar 0, Philip Rivers: Run 4/ Tar 0

Antonio Gates was the most targeted receiver with four in the red zone and he caught one for a touchdown, but Branden Oliver had nine looks in the red zone and scored on a goal line dive.

Tennessee Titans

Delanie Walker: 4-14-7-7-4-8 (44), Kendall Wright: 7-5-10-8-8-1 (39), Justin Hunter: 8-6-7-5-5-5 (36), Nate Washington: 6-6-3-4-7-2 (28), Dexter McCluster: 2-1-2-1-2-6 (14), Leon Washington: 2-0-0-0-1-3 (6), Bishop Sankey: 0-0-1-2-1-1 (5), Taylor Thompson: 2-1-1-dnp-dnp-dnp (4), Chase Coffman: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2-1 (3), Shonn Greene: 0-0-0-0-2-dnp (2), Derek Hagan: 1-1-0-0-0-0 (2), Craig Stevens: 0-0-2-0-0-dnp (2)

The Titans were able to pull out the victory on Ryan Succop’s three field goals and Jackie Battle’s one-yard touchdown run. You can hardly think of less inviting fantasy football results.

Justin Hunter was once again the #2 receiver as he saw 90% of the snaps. He was able to put up three receptions for 77 yards on five targets to lead the Titans in yards while the “#1” receiver Kendall Wright had one target. After that lone target tight end Delanie Walker leads the team in targets and probably rightfully so. He has been their best receiver this season.

Bishop Sankey saw 50% of the snaps and had a goal line touchdown vultured by Battle. He started off slow, but ended up making some nice runs and giving some hope that he’ll continue to see the bulk of the work.

Red Zone Targets+Touches: Delanie Walker: Run 0/ Tar 6, Dexter McCluster: Run 1/ Tar 5, Kendall Wright: Run 0/ Tar 4, Nate Washington: Run 0/ Tar 3, Justin Hunter: Run 0/ Tar 3, Shonn Greene: Run 9/ Tar 1, Chase Coffman: Run 0/ Tar 1, Charlie Whitehurst: Run 0/ Tar 0, Jackie Battle: Run 1/ Tar 0, Jake Locker: Run 2/ Tar 0, Bishop Sankey: Run 3/ Tar 0

Dexter McCluster had three red zone targets and finally lived up to his mini-hype from preseason as he caught all six of his targets on the day. He has been fairly useless this season for fantasy, but if they would use him in this way he could become a serviceable PPR player. But it does look like his six receptions may have been at the cost of Wright’s targets. If that’s the case, don’t expect that to happen often.