My initial reaction to the slate of Week 10 early games…

The following excerpt is from my write-up our ZoneBlitz.com Survivor Pool entry from earlier this week: “I nearly broke the cardinal rule of survivor games and picked a road team this week considering the tear Ben Roethlisberger is on, but he’s gotta come down from that high at some point, and the Jets have to win at some point, right?” How’s that for some instincts? Unfortunately I couldn’t predict a T.J. Graham 67-yard touchdown in the game, but I’m probably not alone there. Percy Harvin predictably came back to earth, Eric Decker did little, and Michael Vick threw for only 132 yards on 18 attempts. The Jets were milking a lead the whole way so the 2:1 run/pass ratio won’t hold up long term, but Vick only threw 28 times a week ago, so it’s tough to have high expectations from anyone in the Jets passing game going forward. But you already knew that…

 

I wasn’t surprised Fred Jackson came back from injury a week early. I was surprised he got fewer carries than both Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown. Chalk this up to Jackson being eased back, at least as far as Dixon is concerned. Brown nearly had a huge game with 100 combo yards—including a team leading 65 yards receiving—but he fumbled just before the goal line. Brown’s had fumble issues throughout his career so its something to watch next week if he gets as much work, but he could easily reprise CJ Spiller’s role in the Buffalo offense.

 

Lamar Miller was active Sunday, but it was noted pregame he’d be limited due to his shoulder injury. Miller only got five touches all game against a tough Detroit defense, so finished with just six combo yards. Presuming Miller gets healthier in the next week, I expect him to be the workhorse again starting in Week 11.

 

Calvin Johnson is back and hopefully hasn’t already tanked your season for you. But more interesting in this game was Golden Tate’s 109 yards receiving. Tate didn’t do much early in the season when Megatron was healthy, but it appears he did enough to earn Matt Stafford’s trust going forward. It seems Detroit will finally have enough footballs to go around to provide fantasy owners with two viable receiving options.

 

If you’re trying to get fantasy receiving value from Jacksonville, good luck. The carousel continues to turn, as this week it was Cecil Shorts putting up the big day with five grabs for 119 yards. Last week’s leading receiver, Allen Hurns, caught one ball for nine yards. There’s some decent rewards from the Jaguars’ passing game, but too much risk for me to mess around with if I don’t have to.

 

I think its fair to call Anquan Boldin the No. 1 WR in San Francisco at this point. He continues to distance himself from Michael Crabtree in the box score, this week hauling in six balls for 95 yards and a touchdown. And while we’re on the topic of the 49ers, the offensive line finally showed up. San Fran runners combined for 4.5 yards per carry, with Frank Gore and Carlos Hyde both finding the end zone. Gore netted 24 touches, and could be a solid play down the stretch if this wasn’t a fluke from the Niners offensive line. New Orleans came into the game top half of the league in both rushing yards and yards per attempt, and with the game at the Superdome, this was a decent test for San Francisco.

 

It appears Torrey Smith has reclaimed the mantle of No. 1 WR in Baltimore, as long as we’re on Harbaugh-coached primary receivers. Sure, Steve Smith got seven targets, but he only caught three for 17 yards. Meanwhile, Torrey Smith got eight targets and turned them into five catches, 75 yards and a touchdown. That’s five touchdowns the last five weeks for Torrey. Steve, meanwhile, hasn’t scored in four weeks and has 36 or fewer yards in four of his last six games.

 

Matt Ryan’s always been better at home, but its tough to explain 219 yards and just one touchdown against a Tampa Bay squad he lit up for 286 and 3 scores in Week 3. His offensive line is decimated, sure, but the Bucs aren’t special on defense AND were without cornerback Alterraun Verner in this game. Ryan should’ve done a lot more. Somehow both Julio Jones and Roddy White still managed strong fantasy days.

 

Charles Sims made his NFL debut for Tampa Bay on Sunday and actually led the team in carries despite Bobby Rainey being healthy. Neither Sims nor Rainey had any success running the ball, though, and Rainey was more effective in the passing game. I’ll be interested to see what happens when Doug Martin is back healthy, but I don’t see just one guy making it out of this pile. And even if that happens, I don’t see this offensive line making it matter.