So much for easing Andre Brown back into action. Tom Coughlin took advantage of Brown’s fresh legs to the tune of 30 carries and a bonus reception en route to 119 combo yards and a touchdown. At 3.8 yards per carry, the Giants probably thought they were watching a Hall of Famer at work compared to what they’d seen to this point. I was hesitant to recommend Brown for fantasy lineups this week with talk of Peyton Hillis still getting the start and a bulk of the carries. Good ol’ subterfuge. Brown’s a weekly RB2 the rest of the way.

 

It wasn’t pretty—it often isn’t when the 49ers and the Panthers play, let alone against each other—but Carolina proved its winning-streak wasn’t completely fueled by sub-par opponents. Frank Gore managed to salvage fantasy value with 103 combo yards, and surprisingly DeAngelo Williams was the only player to find the end zone. Normally he’s the only one who doesn’t. Jonathan Stewart got the most carries, though, so the fantasy value in the Panthers backfield remains nil.

 

Jay Cutler looked to be on his way to a good day in the first half on Sunday, but his second half was brutal due to Alshon Jeffery dropping not one, but two touchdown passes, and an ankle injury that sidelined him for the final Bears drive. Jeffery still managed a good fantasy day while Cutler was ultimately disappointing. Josh McCown came in and threw a touchdown late and could be a desperation play for fantasy owners looking for help with Aaron Rodgers and potentially Cutler out, Jake Locker done for the year, Colin Kaepernick, Terrelle Pryor and Cam Newton struggling to get things done with their legs AND arms, and Andrew Luck’s schedule starting to catch up with him.

 

The Tates are playing for contracts, and Golden certainly looked the part with his touchdown catch Sunday. Probably the best I’ve seen all season in the back corner of the end zone. Ben was OK with Arian Foster now out for the season, but I expect he’ll improve as his ribs do.

 

Speaking of nice touchdown receptions, the second of Andre Johnson’s two touchdowns was right up there with Golden Tate’s. Case Keenum was a guy I had my eye on for this week but didn’t want to recommend playing him on the road against Arizona. Turns out he was one of the better guys this week. In a good matchup, I’m more than happy to throw Keenum in there if he’s going to keep feeding Johnson.

 

Same goes for Nick Foles. I was cautiously optimistic this week simply due to that Dallas clunker a month ago, but at this point Foles has done enough to be a low-end QB1. He’s also made Riley Cooper a viable WR2 option. Not a ton of targets, but the big plays are there.

 

Talk about efficiency—Tavon Austin caught two passes and scored on both for a combined 138 yards. And he ran back one of the more impressive punt returns of the season for another score. It was nice to see Austin involved and doing what he was drafted to do, but I’m hesitant to get too excited about a guy who still only had three targets. I don’t think he’ll be housing his receptions at a Joseph Fauria-esque rate.

 

Luck got plenty of yardage and a touchdown, but the three interceptions were uncharacteristic. I noted Luck as a sell-high candidate two weeks ago due to his schedule the rest of the way and the loss of Reggie Wayne. It’s been painfully obvious there’s no one besides TY Hilton who’s trustworthy in that passing game. They’ll be a touchdown here or there for Coby Fleener and maybe Darrius Heyward-Bey, but I’m going to have a hard time ranking Luck higher than 8th in any week the rest of the way, which is where I had him for week 10.

 

How on earth did I manage to face Cordarelle Patterson in not one, but two leagues this week? Just knowing that should’ve been enough for me to recommend him as a must-start on Thursday. Of COURSE he scored his first career receiving touchdown.