Week 7 Target Watch: AFC
Welcome to the Week 7 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- 5 (60), Torrey Smith: 7-3-8-3-8-5- 5 (39), Owen Daniels: 5-5-1-6-7-3- 9 (36), Justin Forsett: 6-4-5-4-8-0- 1 (28), Dennis Pitta: 15-4-3-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (22), Kyle Juszczyk: 1-0-4-2-2-3- 1 (13), Jacoby Jones: 7-1-1-1-1-1- 0 (12), Kamar Aiken: 4-0-0-1-1-3- 1 (10), Marlon Brown: 1-0-1-3-2-dnp- dnp (7), Crockett Gillmore: 0-0-0-0-0-2- 1 (3), Lorenzo Taliaferro: 1-0-0-0-0-2- 0 (3), Bernard Pierce: 0-2-dnp-dnp-0-0- 1 (3), Mike Campanaro: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2- 1 (3)
With the Falcons offensive line decimated it made for some easy pickings for the Ravens defense as they had a shutout going deep into the 4th quarter. The Ravens offense didn’t need to do much in this one as they played it safe running the ball and throwing to their tight end Owen Daniels.
Daniels led the team with nine targets, catching six for 58 yards and a touchdown, but Joe Flacco did connect on a couple deep passes to his wide receivers with Steve Smith catching three of five targets for 67 yards and Torrey Smith catching three of five targets for 81 yards and a touchdown. That makes four touchdowns for Torrey in the last four games after a slow start. Unfortunately he has become fairly touchdown dependent because he’s only averaged three receptions for game in his last four. He will disappoint when he doesn’t score.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Steve Smith: Run 0/ Tar 10, Owen Daniels: Run 0/ Tar 9, Torrey Smith: Run 0/ Tar 5, Dennis Pitta: Run 0/ Tar 4, Kyle Juszczyk: Run 0/ Tar 4, Kamar Aiken: Run 0/ Tar 3, Justin Forsett: Run 13/ Tar 3, Jacoby Jones: Run 1/ Tar 1, Mike Campanaro: Run 0/ Tar 1, Bernard Pierce: Run 15/ Tar 0, Joe Flacco: Run 4/ Tar 0, Lorenzo Taliaferro: Run 11/ Tar 0
Bernard Pierce saw the lone goal line run and scored much to the chagrin of Justin Forsett fantasy backers while Owen Daniels caught one of his two red zone targets for a touchdown.
Buffalo Bills
Sammy Watkins: 4-11-8-9-12-3- 14 (61), Robert Woods: 6-3-8-12-4-10- 5 (48), Fred Jackson: 3-4-10-7-9-6- 3 (42), Scott Chandler: 1-2-5-5-6-9- 6 (34), Mike Williams: 3-3-4-6-2-dnp- 0 (18), C.J. Spiller: 3-1-3-3-4-1- 1 (16), Chris Hogan: 0-0-0-0-2-6- 6 (14), Marquise Goodwin: 1-0-1-dnp-1-3- dnp (6), Chris Gragg: 0-2-dnp-0-1-0- 2 (5), Frank Summers: 1-0-0-1-2-0- 1 (5), Anthony Dixon: 0-0-0-0-0-0- 4 (4)
Sammy Watkins was the focus for Kyle Orton this week after Darrelle Revis kept him at bay last week and it paid off as Watkins caught nine of 14 targets for 122 yards and two touchdowns. This has been a pattern with Orton so far minus the Revis game, so I feel pretty good about Watkins being more consistent going forward. With his skill set and 10+ targets per game it will be hard for him to fail.
Chris Hogan has stepped up as the #3 receiver with five receptions in each of his last two games and a touchdown. He did fumble in this game, but so did #2 receiver Robert Woods. With C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson hurt, we may see more Hogan and tight end Scott Chandler if they are too worried about Bryce Brown’s ball security.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Sammy Watkins: Run 0/ Tar 7, Fred Jackson: Run 14/ Tar 5, Scott Chandler: Run 0/ Tar 5, Mike Williams: Run 0/ Tar 5, Robert Woods: Run 0/ Tar 3, C.J. Spiller: Run 3/ Tar 2, Chris Gragg: Run 0/ Tar 2, Chris Hogan: Run 0/ Tar 2, Kyle Orton: Run 0/ Tar 0, Anthony Dixon: Run 3/ Tar 0, EJ Manuel: Run 5/ Tar 0, Frank Summers: Run 3/ Tar 0
Watkins had two targets in the red zone to lead the team and caught a touchdown for the game winner.
Cincinnati Bengals
Mohamed Sanu: 5-4-8-BYE-9-15- 9 (50), Jermaine Gresham: 5-3-1-BYE-4-7- 12 (32), Giovani Bernard: 10-6-3-BYE-3-5- 5 (32), A.J. Green: 9-0-9-BYE-7-dnp- dnp (25), Brandon Tate: 6-3-1-BYE-0-5- 2 (17), Dane Sanzenbacher: 0-4-0-BYE-1-5- 2 (12), Jeremy Hill: 0-2-0-BYE-4-4- 1 (11), James Wright: dnp-1-1-BYE-1-1- 2 (6), Tyler Eifert: 3-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp- dnp (3), Greg Little: dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-dnp-dnp- 2 (2), Cedric Peerman: 0-0-0-BYE-0-0- 1 (1), Ryan Hewitt: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-0-0- 0 (1), Kevin Brock: dnp-dnp-1-BYE-0-0- 0 (1)
We knew the Colts could score on anyone, but their defense came up big in this game as they shut down the Bengals 27-0, allowing just 2.5 yards per pass attempt and 2.7 yards per rushing attempt for 135 total yards.
There isn’t much to glean from this debacle of a game for the Bengals other than spotlighting their need to get A.J. Green back soon.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mohamed Sanu: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jermaine Gresham: Run 0/ Tar 4, Dane Sanzenbacher: Run 0/ Tar 3, A.J. Green: Run 0/ Tar 2, Brandon Tate: Run 0/ Tar 2, Andy Dalton: Run 5/ Tar 1, Giovani Bernard: Run 18/ Tar 1, Jeremy Hill: Run 10/ Tar 0
Cleveland Browns
Andrew Hawkins: 10-12-10-BYE-9-2- 9 (52), Miles Austin: 3-10-7-BYE-3-3- 8 (34), Taylor Gabriel: 6-4-2-BYE-6-4- 7 (29), Jordan Cameron: 5-dnp-3-BYE-7-5- 6 (26), Travis Benjamin: 3-4-1-BYE-4-1- 4 (17), Jim Dray: 2-2-0-BYE-4-1- 0 (9), Gary Barnidge: 2-4-0-BYE-0-0- 1 (7), Ray Agnew: 0-2-0-BYE-2-1- 1 (6), Terrance West: 0-2-2-BYE-0-dnp- 1 (5), Ben Tate: 0-dnp-dnp-BYE-2-0- 2 (4), Isaiah Crowell: 0-1-0-BYE-0-0- 2 (3)
After getting out to a two field goal lead it was all-downhill from there as the Browns ended up losing to the winless Jaguars 24-6. The Jaguars defense, which has been getting better against the run, got much better against it on Sunday as they allowed 69 yards on 30 rushing attempts.
Brian Hoyer completed just 16 of 41 attempts with Andrew Hawkins as the leader in all categories with five receptions on nine targets for 112 yards. After that there were plenty of targets, but not much production.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Andrew Hawkins: Run 0/ Tar 4, Taylor Gabriel: Run 0/ Tar 4, Travis Benjamin: Run 0/ Tar 3, Miles Austin: Run 0/ Tar 3, Jordan Cameron: Run 0/ Tar 3, Terrance West: Run 12/ Tar 2, Jim Dray: Run 0/ Tar 2, Gary Barnidge: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ray Agnew: Run 1/ Tar 1, Brian Hoyer: Run 2/ Tar 0, Ben Tate: Run 14/ Tar 0, Isaiah Crowell: Run 5/ Tar 0
Jordan Cameron was open on his one red zone target, but was overthrown by Hoyer and also only connected on one of his six targets on the day for five yards.
Denver Broncos
Demaryius Thomas: 11-7-9-BYE-16-12- 9 (64), Emmanuel Sanders: 9-9-15-BYE-9-6- 3 (51), Julius Thomas: 8-5-4-BYE-7-6- 6 (36), Wes Welker: dnp-dnp-9-BYE-9-1- 3 (22), Ronnie Hillman: dnp-dnp-3-BYE-1-5- 4 (13), Montee Ball: 2-3-3-BYE-3-dnp- dnp (11), Andre Caldwell: 5-1-0-BYE-1-0- 1 (8), Jacob Tamme: 0-1-3-BYE-1-1- 0 (6), Virgil Green: 1-0-1-BYE-0-0- 0 (2), Juwan Thompson: 0-0-0-BYE-0-1- 0 (1), C.J. Anderson: 0-0-1-BYE-dnp-0- 0 (1),
After just writing about the Bengals and Browns horrible offenses on Sunday, the Broncos prove to be the polar opposite as many of you saw while watching Peyton Manning break the touchdown record Sunday night.
Demaryius Thomas was once again the main target and had yet another huge game, catching eight of nine targets for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Over the last three weeks he’s caught 26 of 37 targets for 521 yards and five touchdowns.
After DT there weren’t a ton of targets to go around, but of course Manning made them count as Wes Welker and Emmanuel Sanders both had just three targets, but caught all three and both scored.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Demaryius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 12, Julius Thomas: Run 0/ Tar 12, Emmanuel Sanders: Run 0/ Tar 5, Ronnie Hillman: Run 8/ Tar 2, Montee Ball: Run 10/ Tar 2, Andre Caldwell: Run 0/ Tar 1, Wes Welker: Run 0/ Tar 1, Jacob Tamme: Run 0/ Tar 1, C.J. Anderson: Run 1/ Tar 0, Peyton Manning: Run 0/ Tar 0, Juwan Thompson: Run 4/ Tar 0
Ronnie Hillman had four rushing attempts and two targets inside the red zone and scored a rushing touchdown, but also gained 14 yards on two receptions.
Houston Texans
Andre Johnson: 9-7-11-7-8-12- 9 (63), DeAndre Hopkins: 5-5-9-6-6-2- 9 (42), Arian Foster: 2-3-dnp-10-5-4- 6 (30), Garrett Graham: dnp-1-6-5-1-1- 3 (17), Damaris Johnson: 3-2-2-2-2-3- 2 (16), Keshawn Martin: 0-0-2-1-1-0- 1 (5), Alfred Blue: 0-0-1-3-0-0- 1 (5), C.J. Fiedorowicz: 1-dnp-0-1-0-1- 1 (4), Jay Prosch: 0-0-1-2-0-0- 0 (3), Ryan Griffin: 2-0-0-0-1-0- 0 (3), Ronnie Brown: dnp-0-1-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (1), Jonathan Grimes: 0-0-1-0-0-0- 0 (1)
After a quick start and 13-0 lead it was all downhill from there as the Texans lost 30-23. A costly turnover by Arian Foster right before half doomed the Texans on what was an otherwise positive performance in many ways.
Besides the fumble, Foster played very well, rushing 20 times for 102 yards and catch four of six targets. As long as he’s healthy he’s still one of the top backs in the league without a doubt.
Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 21 of 32 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns in an efficient performance while DeAndre Hopkins led the team in receiving with six receptions on nine targets for 108 yards. He came inches from a touchdown, but also had a fumble to end the game.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Andre Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 10, Arian Foster: Run 15/ Tar 3, DeAndre Hopkins: Run 0/ Tar 3, Damaris Johnson: Run 0/ Tar 2, Garrett Graham: Run 0/ Tar 1, Alfred Blue: Run 3/ Tar 1, Ronnie Brown: Run 3/ Tar 0, Ryan Fitzpatrick: Run 3/ Tar 0, Jonathan Grimes: Run 1/ Tar 0
Andre Johnson saw two more red zone targets, which remains a plus for him, especially when compared to his red zone usage under Gary Kubiak, but he still needs to connect on TDs for it to mean anything.
Indianapolis Colts
T.Y. Hilton: 11-11-6-10-12-9- 9 (68), Reggie Wayne: 13-7-5-8-12-9- 8 (62), Dwayne Allen: 5-1-6-3-5-7- 6 (33), Hakeem Nicks: 5-3-4-6-6-7- 1 (32), Ahmad Bradshaw: 6-5-3-2-5-6- 3 (30), Coby Fleener: 8-1-7-3-2-4- 5 (30), Trent Richardson: 4-1-4-5-5-0- 5 (24), Donte Moncrief: 1-1-5-2-0-0- 2 (11), Jack Doyle: 0-2-3-1-0-2- 1 (9)
The Colts put up over 500 total yards and Andrew Luck topped 300 yards passing for the sixth time this season. He’s completely matchup proof this year. Even when he tossed just 173 yards against the Eagles in Week 2, he hit three touchdown passes.
Luck continues to spread the ball around pretty well, but T.Y. Hilton has finally emerged as the stud we’ve hoped he could be. He started off well enough with a consistent 5.5 receptions for 72.8 yards per game with no touchdowns through the first four weeks. But over the last three he’s averaging 8.3 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown total. And he’s doing it on slightly fewer targets. The up and down Hilton looks to be a thing of the past.
Reggie Wayne dropped two passes and caught just four of eight targets for 15 yards. He’s still getting his targets, but his decline is noticeable and we could see him fall back into the target pack soon.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Ahmad Bradshaw: Run 13/ Tar 11, Coby Fleener: Run 0/ Tar 8, Hakeem Nicks: Run 0/ Tar 7, Dwayne Allen: Run 0/ Tar 7, Reggie Wayne: Run 0/ Tar 7, Trent Richardson: Run 17/ Tar 4, T.Y. Hilton: Run 0/ Tar 4, Donte Moncrief: Run 0/ Tar 2, Jack Doyle: Run 0/ Tar 2, Andrew Luck: Run 10/ Tar 0
Here’s where we talk about Ahmad Bradshaw again. The guy is a perfect fit for this offense and has been the go to guy in the red zone this season. He has 24 total looks inside the red zone with 13 rushing attempts for 55 yards and one touchdown and 10 receptions on 11 targets for 62 yards and six touchdowns. Trent Richardson on the other hand has 17 rushing attempts for 38 yards and two touchdowns and three receptions on four targets for six yards and no touchdowns.
Bradshaw scored his first rushing touchdown in this game as well as catching yet another touchdown. I’m going to stop saying his receiving touchdowns aren’t sustainable since he just keeps sustaining.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Allen Robinson: 3-6-10-7-11-9- 7 (53), Allen Hurns: 9-6-3-6-11-4- 2 (41), Cecil Shorts: dnp-dnp-10-4-dnp-16- 9 (39), Clay Harbor: dnp-dnp-dnp-8-4-4- 6 (22), Marqise Lee: 10-4-dnp-dnp-dnp-2- 3 (19), Mike Brown: 5-4-1-3-2-dnp- dnp (15), Denard Robinson: 1-2-1-3-2-3- 1 (13), Marcedes Lewis: 9-3-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (12), Jordan Todman: 2-0-1-2-2-3- 1 (11), Toby Gerhart: 2-2-2-1-1-dnp- dnp (8), Will Taufoou: 0-0-1-1-1-2- 1 (6), Ace Sanders: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2-1- 1 (4), Mickey Shuler: 1-1-1-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (3), Marcel Jensen: dnp-dnp-1-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (1), Nic Jacobs: dnp-dnp-dnp-1-0-0- 0 (1), Storm Johnson: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-1- 0 (1)
The Jaguars picked up their first win of the season on the back of the defense and newly found running game with Denard Robinson.
Blake Bortles wasn’t sharp as he completed 17 of 31 passes for 159 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Cecil Shorts was his top target with nine, but they only connected on three for 12 yards. He’s still getting the top targets, so is worth putting your fantasy stock in him, but Allen Robinson passed him in production this game as he caught four of his seven targets for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Denard Robinson as I mentioned earlier was the workhorse this week as he ran the ball 22 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. With this backfield doing next to nothing all season Robinson’s big game should win him plenty of playing time going forward.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Cecil Shorts: Run 0/ Tar 6, Allen Robinson: Run 0/ Tar 4, Clay Harbor: Run 0/ Tar 2, Allen Hurns: Run 0/ Tar 2, Marqise Lee: Run 0/ Tar 1, Nic Jacobs: Run 0/ Tar 1, Toby Gerhart: Run 6/ Tar 1, Will Taufoou: Run 0/ Tar 1, Chad Henne: Run 1/ Tar 0, Storm Johnson: Run 5/ Tar 0, Blake Bortles: Run 1/ Tar 0, Denard Robinson: Run 3/ Tar 0
Shorts saw four red zone targets and was missed by Bortles on at least one of those. Like I said, if these targets continue it will be hard for them not to connect at some point.
Kansas City Chiefs
Travis Kelce: 5-6-4-9-3-BYE- 4 (31), Dwayne Bowe: dnp-6-5-6-6-BYE- 7 (30), Donnie Avery: 13-6-3-2-dnp-BYE- dnp (24), Anthony Fasano: 6-4-2-1-7-BYE- 1 (21), Jamaal Charles: 4-1-dnp-3-4-BYE- 4 (16), Knile Davis: 1-9-1-2-1-BYE- 1 (15), Junior Hemingway: 2-4-2-1-4-BYE- 1 (14), A.J. Jenkins: 0-3-0-1-2-BYE- 2 (8), Joe McKnight: 0-dnp-7-dnp-dnp-BYE- dnp (7), Anthony Sherman: 0-0-1-0-2-BYE- 2 (5), Frankie Hammond: 2-0-0-1-0-BYE- 2 (5), Demetrius Harris: 0-1-0-0-1-BYE- 1 (3), DeAnthony Thomas: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-BYE- 2 (3), Albert Wilson: 0-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE- 1 (1)
Kansas City beat the Chargers at their own game in this one as they would not relinquish the ball and won the time of possession game 39 minutes to 21 while also winning the actual game 23-20.
It really was an all-around team victory as no single player dominated, but many played well. Jamaal Charles led the way in fantasy with his 107 total yards and single touchdown while Dwayne Bowe led the team in targets, catching five of seven for 84 yards.
The Travis Kelce watch continues as he caught four of four targets for 33 yards. He leads the team with 31 targets, but that’s still just barely over 5 targets per game and not enough to sustain fantasy value.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Travis Kelce: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jamaal Charles: Run 8/ Tar 5, Donnie Avery: Run 0/ Tar 4, Knile Davis: Run 13/ 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 2, 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
Jamaal Charles led the way in the red zone with four looks on their six plays and scored on one. With him back and healthy the red zone looks will again have Charles in charge of their days and nights.
Miami Dolphins
Mike Wallace: 11-8-12-4-BYE-9- 8 (52), Charles Clay: 6-8-4-4-BYE-5- 5 (32), Jarvis Landry: 1-6-7-4-BYE-8- 5 (31), Brian Hartline: 4-8-7-7-BYE-2- 3 (31), Lamar Miller: 5-5-5-2-BYE-3- 3 (23), Brandon Gibson: 1-4-4-4-BYE-dnp- dnp (13), Dion Sims: 3-2-1-2-BYE-2- 2 (12), Rishard Matthews: 0-5-1-2-BYE-0- 0 (8), Daniel Thomas: dnp-dnp-2-2-BYE-dnp- 3 (7), Orleans Darkwa: dnp-3-0-0-BYE-dnp- dnp (3), Damien Williams: 0-0-0-0-BYE-0- 2 (2), Knowshon Moreno: 0-0-dnp-dnp-BYE-1- dnp (1), Gator Hoskins: 1-0-0-0-BYE-dnp- dnp (1), Damian Williams: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-BYE-1- dnp (1)
Ryan Tannehill is a roller coaster at quarterback and it shows with their 3-3 record. This week we saw good Tannehill as he completed 25 of 32 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing six times for 48 yards. Last week he hit 49 yards rushing and with his usual run of the mill stats, those extra rushing yards give him a nice boost. This week they pushed him from around the 8th best fantasy quarterback to the fourth best.
This game felt like what the Dolphins would like to be able to do with their offense each week, as far as distribution goes. Lamar Miller saw 20 total touches, Mike Wallace led the team with eight targets, and Charles Clay and Jarvis Landry were second with five targets each, both hauling in four with Clay finding the end zone for the first time this year.
Jarvis Landry has now out targeted Brian Hartline on the season even though he’s played just 231 snaps to Hartline’s 384. Landry’s upside is much higher and now he’s seeing more targets. Make the switch.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Mike Wallace: Run 1/ Tar 10, Brian Hartline: Run 0/ Tar 6, Charles Clay: Run 0/ Tar 6, Jarvis Landry: Run 0/ Tar 5, Lamar Miller: Run 20/ Tar 5, Rishard Matthews: Run 0/ Tar 2, Dion Sims: Run 0/ Tar 1, Brandon Gibson: Run 0/ Tar 1, Knowshon Moreno: Run 11/ Tar 1, Matt Moore: Run 2/ Tar 0, Ryan Tannehill: Run 1/ Tar 0, Orleans Darkwa: Run 2/ Tar 0, Daniel Thomas: Run 2/ Tar 0, Damien Williams: Run 3/ Tar 0
The Dolphins seem to be limiting Miller’s touches a little, but in the red zone and near the goal line he was still the guy. He had two carries inside the five-yard line compared to none from Daniel Thomas and scored on one of those.
New England Patriots
Julian Edelman: 8-7-13-8-8-12- 9 (65), Rob Gronkowski: 11-6-6-3-11-9- 10 (56), Brandon LaFell: 6-0-8-10-4-6- 5 (39), Shane Vereen: 8-2-6-5-3-3- 8 (35), Danny Amendola: 5-1-1-0-1-0- 3 (11), Timothy Wright: 3-1-1-0-5-1- 0 (11), Stevan Ridley: 2-0-1-1-0-1- dnp (5), Aaron Dobson: dnp-2-dnp-dnp-1-1- dnp (4), James Develin: 0-2-0-0-1-1- 0 (4), Brandon Bolden: 3-0-0-0-0-0- 1 (4), James White: dnp-dnp-dnp-3-dnp-dnp- dnp (3), Michael Hoomanawanui: 0-1-0-0-0-1- 0 (2), Brian Tyms: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-2- 0 (2)
The target distribution for New England seems to be gaining a little clarity now that Rob Gronkowski is playing a full set of snaps. Gronk has now seen 11, 9 and 10 targets over the last three weeks and Julian Edelman continues his 10-target average even with Gronk back. These are your base targets.
But now a third target leader in Brandon LaFell has emerged. He’s not going to be nearly as consistent, but is averaging 6.6 targets over the last five games. He’s risky, but one of the few Patriots’ wide receivers that is seeing somewhat consistent targets.
Shane Vereen led the way in this game against the Jets, catching five of eight targets for 71 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing 11 times for 43 yards. I wish I could say this is the non-Stevan Ridley Patriots running game, but you and I both know Bill Belichick won’t be that predictable. But this is what we have and it’s so far so good for Vereen.
Brandon Bolden didn’t even get a rushing attempt in this one with Jonas Gray seeing three for 12 yards. Gray is probably the add if you are looking for a possible Patriots goal line back, but he could prove to be useless in fantasy.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Julian Edelman: Run 0/ Tar 9, Rob Gronkowski: Run 0/ Tar 6, Brandon LaFell: Run 0/ Tar 4, Shane Vereen: Run 7/ Tar 4, Timothy Wright: Run 0/ Tar 3, Danny Amendola: Run 0/ Tar 2, Kenbrell Thompkins: Run 0/ Tar 1, James Develin: Run 2/ Tar 1, Brandon Bolden: Run 5/ Tar 0, Tom Brady: Run 4/ Tar 0, Stevan Ridley: Run 16/ Tar 0
Vereen saw three targets and one rushing attempt in the red zone and scored on a reception.
New York Jets
Jeremy Kerley: 5-8-11-3-6-7- 5 (45), Eric Decker: 6-7-1-10-dnp-10- 7 (41), Jace Amaro: 4-1-4-5-3-12- 5 (34), Jeff Cumberland: 5-2-6-1-6-2- 4 (26), Greg Salas: 2-2-3-4-7-3- dnp (21), Chris Johnson: 5-3-2-2-1-2- 3 (18), Chris Ivory: 0-1-4-6-1-2- 4 (18), David Nelson: 1-1-7-1-4-dnp- 2 (16), Bilal Powell: 0-2-3-0-0-0- 2 (7), T.J. Graham: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-1-1- 1 (3), Zach Sudfeld: 0-1-1-1-0-0- 0 (3), Tommy Bohanon: 0-2-0-0-dnp-dnp- dnp (2), John Conner: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-0-1- 0 (1)
The Jets ran the ball 43 times for 218 yards, a 5.1 yards per carry average, which almost let them pull off the upset. Chris Ivory was the workhorse with 21 of those carries for 107 yards and a touchdown and also caught four of four targets for 18 yards. Those receptions are a nice bonus for Ivory.
Eric Decker led the team with seven targets, four receptions and 65 yards. It was not a big passing night for Geno Smith, but he was much more efficient than he has been, which allowed the running game to work without being in bad spots all night.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Jeff Cumberland: Run 0/ Tar 7, Jeremy Kerley: Run 0/ Tar 4, Chris Ivory: Run 17/ Tar 4, Jace Amaro: Run 0/ Tar 4, Eric Decker: Run 0/ Tar 4, Chris Johnson: Run 2/ Tar 3, Bilal Powell: Run 1/ Tar 3, David Nelson: Run 0/ Tar 3, Zach Sudfeld: Run 0/ Tar 1, Greg Salas: Run 0/ Tar 1, Michael Vick: Run 2/ Tar 0, Geno Smith: Run 6/ Tar 0
Ivory had six touches in the red zone and scored on one. He was the focus throughout the game.
Oakland Raiders
James Jones: 3-14-5-6-BYE-7- 8 (43), Andre Holmes: 0-7-2-12-BYE-8- 5 (34), Darren McFadden: 1-3-4-5-BYE-4- 8 (25), Mychal Rivera: 5-7-4-4-BYE-3- 1 (24), Denarius Moore: 8-5-7-dnp-BYE-1- 1 (22), Marcel Reece: 3-1-7-2-BYE-3- dnp (16), Rod Streater: 7-3-3-dnp-BYE-dnp- dnp (13), Kenbrell Thompkins: 10-dnp-1-dnp-BYE-0- 1 (12), Brice Butler: dnp-2-0-3-BYE-5- 1 (11), Maurice Jones-Drew: 3-dnp-dnp-2-BYE-1- 0 (6), Vincent Brown: dnp-dnp-0-4-BYE-dnp- dnp (4), David Ausberry: 0-0-0-4-BYE-0- 0 (4), Jamize Olawale: 0-0-1-0-BYE-1- 1 (3)
Derek Carr and the Raiders didn’t make many mistakes, but just couldn’t move the ball enough to take on the Cardinals. Darren McFadden scored the only touchdown and touched the ball 18 times to Maurice Jones Drew’s three. He’s becoming a little safer to throw out there as a flex option.
With the more conservative approach Oakland went to James Jones and McFadden in the passing game, but on the 16 targets between them they totaled eight receptions for 42 yards.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: James Jones: Run 0/ Tar 6, Andre Holmes: Run 0/ Tar 2, Brice Butler: Run 0/ Tar 2, Denarius Moore: Run 0/ Tar 2, Marcel Reece: Run 0/ Tar 1, Darren McFadden: Run 11/ Tar 1, Rod Streater: Run 0/ Tar 1, Derek Carr: Run 0/ Tar 0, Maurice Jones-Drew: Run 2/ Tar 0
The Raiders ran six plays in the red zone and five went to McFadden.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Antonio Brown: 6-12-10-11-12-10- 13 (74), Le'Veon Bell: 7-5-4-7-6-6- 8 (43), Markus Wheaton: 7-8-5-6-2-11- 2 (41), Heath Miller: 4-7-5-11-4-4- 1 (36), Justin Brown: 4-4-4-2-3-4- dnp (21), Lance Moore: dnp-dnp-0-1-1-6- 2 (10), LeGarrette Blount: 1-1-0-0-3-0- 1 (6), Will Johnson: 1-0-1-1-1-0- 1 (5), Dri Archer: 1-dnp-dnp-1-2-1- 0 (5), Martavis Bryant: dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- 5 (5), Darrius Heyward-Bey: 0-0-0-0-1-0- 1 (2), Michael Palmer: 0-0-0-0-1-0- 0 (1)
The Steelers have two of the top offensive players in the league with Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell and they used both well this week. Brown continues to dominate in PPR leagues and standard leagues alike. He didn’t get into the end zone, but he threw a touchdown pass in this one on a trick play and caught nine of 13 targets for 90 yards to extend his five reception/50 yards streak.
Bell did most of his damage through the air with eight receptions on eight targets for 88 yards and an 8-point touchdown. Well, just six points actually. He now has 32 receptions and is on course for 82 on the year. Hopefully he’ll continue to see receiving targets in the red zone.
Martavis Bryant saw his first snaps of the season to go along with his first reception and touchdown. He played on 36% of the snaps which cut Markus Wheaton down to 46% whereas he had been around 90% the last three games. This could be a changing of the guards, or wide receivers.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Brown: Run 1/ Tar 13, Justin Brown: Run 0/ Tar 7, Markus Wheaton: Run 0/ Tar 6, Le'Veon Bell: Run 12/ Tar 6, Heath Miller: Run 0/ Tar 6, LeGarrette Blount: Run 5/ Tar 2, Lance Moore: Run 0/ Tar 2, Michael Palmer: Run 0/ Tar 1, Dri Archer: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ben Roethlisberger: Run 4/ Tar 0,
Bell and Brown had two targets each with Bell getting a touchdown and Lance Moore had one target, from Brown, for a touchdown.
San Diego Chargers
Keenan Allen: 9-6-2-11-7-6- 10 (51), Antonio Gates: 10-7-1-5-6-8- 5 (42), Eddie Royal: 6-10-6-7-3-2- 5 (39), Malcom Floyd: 6-1-4-4-3-7- 7 (32), Donald Brown: 0-4-6-6-2-dnp- dnp (18), Branden Oliver: dnp-dnp-0-4-4-5- 2 (15), Ladarius Green: 2-0-6-dnp-1-5- 0 (14), Danny Woodhead: 1-5-0-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (6), Ryan Mathews: 2-2-dnp-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (4), Ronnie Brown: dnp-0-1-dnp-dnp-1- 1 (3), Seyi Ajirotutu: 0-0-0-0-1-1- 0 (2), John Phillips: 0-0-0-0-0-0- 1 (1)
Keenan Allen is going to have a monster game sometime soon, but it sure is taking a while. He’s the no doubt target leader for the Chargers, but has no touchdowns yet. They’re coming I tell you!
Kansas City’s defense was strong in this one and held Philip Rivers to his worst yardage day of the season at 205. The targets were spread out well and everyone got in on the action, there just weren’t as many yards and touchdowns to go around this week.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Antonio Gates: Run 0/ Tar 9, Keenan Allen: Run 0/ Tar 6, Malcom Floyd: Run 0/ Tar 4, Donald Brown: Run 7/ Tar 4, Branden Oliver: Run 12/ Tar 4, Eddie Royal: Run 1/ Tar 3, Danny Woodhead: Run 2/ Tar 2, Ladarius Green: Run 0/ Tar 2, John Phillips: Run 0/ Tar 1, Ryan Mathews: Run 3/ Tar 0, Shaun Draughn: Run 1/ Tar 0, Philip Rivers: Run 4/ Tar 0, Ronnie Brown: Run 1/ Tar 0
The Chargers only ran five plays inside the red zone this week and targets were fairly distributed.
Tennessee Titans
Delanie Walker: 4-14-7-7-4-8- 5 (49), Kendall Wright: 7-5-10-8-8-1- 9 (48), Justin Hunter: 8-6-7-5-5-5- 2 (38), Nate Washington: 6-6-3-4-7-2- 1 (29), Dexter McCluster: 2-1-2-1-2-6- 1 (15), Leon Washington: 2-0-0-0-1-3- 2 (8), Bishop Sankey: 0-0-1-2-1-1- 1 (6), Taylor Thompson: 2-1-1-dnp-dnp-dnp- dnp (4), Derek Hagan: 1-1-0-0-0-0- 2 (4), Chase Coffman: dnp-dnp-dnp-0-2-1- 1 (4), Shonn Greene: 0-0-0-0-2-dnp- dnp (2), Craig Stevens: 0-0-2-0-0-dnp- dnp (2), Jackie Battle: 0-0-0-0-0-0- 2 (2)
Just when you think it’s safe to start Justin Hunter, boom, dud city. Well, safe is a relative term there, but since becoming the #2 receiver he had 99 yards and a TD and 77 yards, albeit on just three receptions each game. This week he saw two targets and caught one for six yards. He’ll remain a boom or bust play as he’s been relying on the deep ball.
Kendall Wright continues his up and down season. He’s seeing targets save Week 6’s ONE, but with Charlie Whitehurst and Jake Locker’s instability, so are the Titans receivers. At least Wright is usually assured 8+ targets, so will remain the safest choice.
Bishop Sankey had 16 rushing attempts for 56 yards and now through two games as the lead back he has 34 carries for 117 yards, which is an uninspiring 3.4 yards per carry.
Red Zone Targets+Touches: Delanie Walker: Run 0/ Tar 7, Kendall Wright: Run 0/ Tar 6, Dexter McCluster: Run 1/ Tar 5, Justin Hunter: Run 0/ Tar 3, Nate Washington: Run 0/ Tar 3, Chase Coffman: Run 0/ Tar 2, Shonn Greene: Run 9/ Tar 1, Charlie Whitehurst: Run 0/ Tar 0, Jackie Battle: Run 1/ Tar 0, Jake Locker: Run 2/ Tar 0, Bishop Sankey: Run 5/ Tar 0
Delanie Walker has slowed down a bit, but he and Wright continue to be the preferred red zone targets.
