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NFL Week 10 Daily Fantasy Recap
What Worked
- The Saints. There was plenty of fantasy success to go around for New Orleans on Sunday night, as they completely ran through the Dallas defense. The Saints scored 49 points by racking up 242 yards on the ground (6.4 YPC) in addition to 392 passing yards by Drew Brees and Co. At one point, Brees had completed 19 straight passes, and the Dallas defense might as well have been playing with 10 guys on the field (although they didn’t get much help from the offense). Brees was the top QB of Week 10, finishing with 4 TD’s and no turnovers. New Orleans also managed to have three RB’s go for over 20 fantasy points, thanks to a few big runs from Mark Ingram and consistent production in the passing game from Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles. Thomas was the best of the bunch, running for 87 yards and a TD on 17 carries and catching seven balls out of the backfield for 24 yards and another TD. Sproles converted a short rushing TD and added a 28-yard TD reception later in the game, and finished with 88 total yards. The WR’s were pretty good, too. Marques Colston came back from the dead to lead the team with 107 receiving yards on seven catches, and made his day with a 22-yard TD catch in the first quarter. Kenny Stills seems to love playing in the Superdome, converting another long TD (52 yards) and finishing with 75 total yards. When this team plays at home against a less than elite defense, look out.
- Peyton to the Thomas’s. Peyton Manning just keeps on rolling. Like Brees, Manning finished with 4 TD’s and no interceptions and the San Diego defense, like every other opponent the Broncos have faced, had no clue how to stop him. The two biggest Bronco beneficiaries were Demaryius and Julius Thomas, who were both right around the 100-yard receiving mark. The big difference in the final production for these two was touchdowns; Demaryius caught three, two in the red zone and one on a short screen which he took to the house for a 34-yard TD. Most of Julius’ production came on one play, a 74-yard touchdown where he outran the SD secondary down the sideline. Peyton threw for 330 yards on Sunday, but was injured late in the game following a sack. He was wrapped up by both ankles and hit the ground hard, but his MRI on Monday revealed no damage and he should be good to go in Week 11 in a big game against the Chiefs.
- The Philadelphia passing game. Although it wasn’t quite as impressive as his 7-TD performance against the Raiders, Nick Foles put together another nice fantasy total for his owners on Sunday. He finished with just 18 attempts (and only 12 completions), but ended up with 3 TD’s and 228 yards thanks to some blown coverage on the part of the Packers. Foles also added 38 rushing yards, something we haven’t come to expect from him. His first TD pass came on a bomb to DeSean Jackson which should have been intercepted or knocked down, but two Packers knocked the ball into the air right around their own 10-yard line and right into the hands of Jackson, who walked into the endzone. Riley Cooper also continued his improbable run of success, catching three passes for 102 yards and two more touchdowns. The three catches (and the game tape) seem to indicate that this performance was a bit of a fluke, but he nonetheless finished with a monster day. Jackson and Cooper combined for 182 yards and three TD’s on the day.
- The Seahawks. On the road against a lackluster pass defense (ATL came in 24th against the pass), Russell Wilson took advantage to the tune of 287 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wilson’s first TD came on a 43-yard flea-flicker to Jermaine Kearse, which got the Seahawks offense rolling late in the second quarter. Just a few minutes later, Wilson came back with a short TD pass on a corner fade to Golden Tate with just a second remaining in the first half. Tate finished with over 100 receiving yards on six catches, but Marshawn Lynch was the big winner in the Seattle offense. Beast-mode carried it 24 times for 145 yards and a TD, and also added three receptions for 16 yards. The Falcons defense continues to be a unit worth targeting, and don’t expect them to get much better as the season wears on.
- The Rams. Can’t say I saw this game turning out like it did. It was a pretty wacky game by any standards, headlined by three long TD’s from Tavon Austin and a bunch of Colts turnovers. To start the scoring, Chris Long took a fumble 45-yards to the house, quieting the Colts crowd who wouldn’t have much to be excited about on Sunday. Zac Stacy added a one-yard score early in the second quarter, and had himself another nice game thanks to touching the ball 28 times. This guy is one of the few workhorse RB’s in the NFL right now, so continue playing him with confidence in good match-ups. Since the team put up 38 points, it’s surprising to see Kellen Clemens finish with just nine completions, but it was just that kind of game… Tavon took turned two of those completions into long touchdowns (in addition to a punt return TD), which made him the most productive fantasy wide receiver of the weekend. Andrew Luck turned the ball over four times, which kept the Colts from being able to get back in this game.
- Top Tier Wideout’s. If you paid up for Calvin Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, Brandon Marshall, A.J. Green or Andre Johnson, you had to be pretty happy with what you got out of them. Demaryius racked up 3 touchdowns, while Megatron, Marshall and Andre Johnson all caught two. There were a few expensive WR’s to put up duds as well (Dez Bryant and Victor Cruz come to mind), but this will be the case every week. There have been quite a few weeks thus far where a bunch of 2nd and 3rd receivers made up the top scoring wideout’s, but Week 10 was ruled by the studs.
What Disappointed Us
- The Titans. Not only did the Titans lose to the worst team in football, but they also left their fantasy owner’s in a big hole on Sunday. Jake Locker never seems to stay healthy for very long, and now it looks like he will be out for the rest of the season. Locker left after just nine pass attempts, and only completed four of them for 24 yards and an interception. He also lost a fumble, and finished the day with negative fantasy points. Chris Johnson didn’t end up with a terrible yardage total (73), but failed to find the endzone and was clearly not worth his price tag. Shonn Greene couldn’t find any running room, and Nate Washington had just three catches for 29 yards. Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker were relatively productive, but neither put up an overwhelming fantasy total. The Jags defense is still a great unit to pick on going forward.
- San Diego Wideouts. In a game against the Broncos, the Chargers were expected to put up some big passing numbers yesterday. While they kept the game close and had some things working on offense, it didn’t translate to fantasy success for any of the San Diego WR’s. Keenan Allen was supposed to the biggest beneficiary of the match-up, but he failed to get much going and caught just four passes for 41 yards on five targets. Touchdown-dependent Eddie Royal failed to score against his former team, and reeled in just two passes for 36 yards. Vincent Brown continued his disappointing season, catching just three balls for 35 yards. Antonio Gates was the Chargers leading receiver on the day, but only totaled 62 yards and was kept out of the endzone.
- The Cowboys. I know Tony Romo hasn’t been very good on the road, but 10/24 with 128 passing yards was not the line I was expecting from him. Romo showed how far away he is from being an elite quarterback on SNF; he seemed to follow up every Drew Brees TD with a quick three-and-out, giving the Cowboys no real chance to compete. DeMarco Murray actually had some success on the ground early in the game, but the Cowboys were in a hole pretty quickly and had to resort to throwing in the second half. Dez Bryant caught just one pass, and it was pretty surprising not to see him screaming on the sidelines considering he was only targeted twice. Jason Witten recorded another uninspiring fantasy line, finishing with just two catches for 27 yards on six targets. Terrance Williams caught a 21-yard touchdown, but it was his only catch of the day.
- The Giants passing game. After Nick Foles threw for 7 TD’s against Oakland last week, it looked like Eli Manning might finally be able to have a big fantasy game on Sunday when he faced that very same defense. But this of course was not the case, and Manning’s awful 2013 continues. Eli completed just 54% of his passes, and couldn’t even muster up 150 yards through the air. This led to poor performances from both Victor Cruz (3 for 37) and Hakeem Nicks (4 for 49). After he blew yet another chance against a sub-par defense, I don’t know how anyone could trust Eli going forward.
- Hoping for any offense out of Carolina or San Francisco. This one was as good of a defensive battle as I have seen all year, which is not good for our purposes. Both quarterbacks had very ugly numbers, completing just 50% of their passes and combining for no touchdowns and two interceptions. DeAngelo Williams was the only running back to post a respectable game, finishing with 46 yards and a touchdown. Jonathan Stewart actually saw the most work of any Carolina RB, totaling 13 touches to Williams’ 8. Kaepernick threw for just 91 yards, so it’s pretty clear that none of the San Francisco WR’s did anything worth mentioning. Cam Newton threw for just 169 yards, and wasn’t able to make up for it on the ground. Steve Smith had six catches for 63 yards, and was by far the most productive receiver in this game. Both of these teams have top-5 defenses, so it’s not much of a surprise that we saw a total of 19 points.
- Andre Ellington. After Bruce Arians came out and said Ellington would see around 20 touches, he became one of the more popular RB plays of Week 10. Of course, Arians wasn’t honest and Ellington saw just 13 touches, but wasn’t able to find the endzone and finished with 60 yards, leading to a disappointing fantasy total. We should all know by now not to listen to coaches when they make claims like this, but Ellington’s immense upside and his big game against Atlanta made him hard to stay away from on some sites. “Starter” Rashard Mendenhall received just one more touch than the rookie, and he himself wasn’t able to get much going.
- Trent Richardson. Maybe it would have been different had the Colts not given the game to the Rams so early, but Richardson once again makes the Browns front-office look like geniuses. T-Rich carried the ball five times, but managed just two rushing yards and the Colts abandoned the idea of using him fairly quickly. Three catches for 33 yards kept him from putting up a goose egg, but Richardson is nowhere near playable at this point in the season. Donald Brown was a much bigger factor and that will be the case in any game the Colts are trailing.
What Surprised Us
- Tavon Austin. After a few down games where he struggled to even find playing time, Austin completely exploded and showed the world what St. Louis saw in him to make him an early first-round pick. Austin got it going on a punt-return which he probably shouldn’t have even touched, but he picked the ball up near his own goal-line and took it 98 yards for a touchdown. Just four minutes later, he caught a deep ball from Kellen Clemens and ran by the Indy secondary for his second score. His third TD was an even more impressive show of speed, where he took a short crossing route 81 yards to the house. I doubt many people had the guts to roll him out in any lineups this weekend, but anyone who did had a huge advantage in GPP’s.
- Andre Brown. In his first game back after missing a good chunk of time, it seemed like the Giants would ease him back into action. But with David Wilson and Brandon Jacobs ailing, Brown and Peyton Hillis were the only formidable options for New York, and it’s pretty clear that Hillis doesn’t have much left in the tank. Brown was not eased back into duty, as Coughlin ran him 30 times and used him several times to bang around near the goal-line. He finished with 115 yards and TD, and looks like a top-15 RB the rest of the way if he can stay healthy. Brown was GPP gold on Sunday, considering his bottom of the barrel price on most sites.
- The Jaguars score 29 points, but still aren’t fantasy relevant. While the Titans defense was a popular choice due to the Jacksonville factor, they aren’t a very good real life defense. This led some people (myself included) to see Maurice Jones-Drew as a sneaky option at RB, but he couldn’t do much with his 21 carries, totaling just 41 yards. He did manage to score and added 33 yards in the receiving game, but I expected to see more from him on the ground. Chad Henne failed to throw a TD pass (not such a big surprise), and Cecil Shorts only caught two passes for 42 yards. If you take a look at the Jaguars offensive numbers, it’s very hard to believe they scored 29 points.
- Matt Forte. He could have just as easily been listed as a disappointment, but I was more surprised by his dud than I was for any other player. Forte has been a top-tier RB in the Bears new offense under Mark Trestman, and I expected this game to be higher scoring than it turned out to be. On 17 carries, Forte could only manage 33 yards, good for 1.9 YPC. The fact that he only added 16 yards through the air put a little more salt in the wound. The Bears were trailing for most of this game (although not by much), which could help explain the poor game. Hopefully Forte can get back on track against the Ravens in Week 11.
What To Take Away
- Don’t believe what coaches tell the media. This one has to do with Andre Ellington and Andre Brown. Bruce Arians told us Ellington should see 20 touches during the week, and when he was asked post-game whether 13 touches was enough, Arians said it was “plenty.” We have to be realistic when we hear coaches say how much they want to involve a certain player; why would coaches want to shout out their game-plan to the world? The Giants rolled out Peyton Hillis as their “starter,” but he carried the ball just five times compared to 30 touches for Brown. So much for easing him back into action.
- The Saints defense is legit. During the last few seasons, the Saints defense was one that DFS players targeted. Not the defensive unit themselves of course, but considering how potent of an offense the Saints have, you’d think they’d provide a lot of garbage time stats to their opponents. This hasn’t been the case this year, with the Saints now ranked inside the top-5 defending the pass. They are still vulnerable against the run, which the Cowboys took advantage of during the first half, but they couldn’t stick with it after Drew Brees torched their defense. The Saints are serious Super Bowl contenders if the defense can continue to play like it has so far this year.
- We can stop hoping for Eli Manning to revive his season. I really don’t see him having another 300-yard, 3 TD type game again this year. The Manning brothers aren’t always the best with their body language, but Eli looks completely lost this year. I know the Giants won the game and all, but 140 passing yards against the Raiders? Maybe the 7 TD’s they allowed to Nick Foles woke them up a bit, but I am completely done with hoping that Eli turns it around. I almost feel bad for Eli, taking into account how flawless his brother has been this year… Nah, not really.
- Aaron Rodgers is a HUGE loss for all the Packers skill-position players. This isn’t a huge surprise by any means, but it gets highlighted when the Packers put up just 13 points against the Eagles. It was supposed to be Seneca Wallace taking the reins from Rodgers, but after just five pass attempts, Wallace left with a groin injury and Scott Tolzien took over. While Jarrett Boykin targets would probably not have been as high with Rodgers at the helm, the injury at QB clearly had a negative impact on Eddie Lacy, Jordy Nelson and James Jones. Had Nelson been able to hold onto a late TD, the numbers could have looked much different, but I won’t be able to trust any of these guys in the weeks ahead. Until Rodgers returns, I won’t be touching Nelson unless he sees a big price decrease. Eddie Lacy will see some extra defensive attention in the near future, and he was held to just 3.0 yards per carry against the Eagles on Sunday.
This Week’s Top Performers: Quarterbacks
This Week’s Top Performers: Running Backs – Half Point PPR
This Week’s Top Performers: Wide Receivers – Half Point PPR
This Week’s Top Performers: Tight Ends – Half Point PPR
This Week’s Top Performers: Running Backs – Full Point PPR
This Week’s Top Performers: Wide Receivers – Full Point PPR
This Week’s Top Performers: Tight Ends – Full Point PPR
Optimal Lineups
Optimal Lineup: FanDuel
| POS |  | Salary | Score |
| QB | Drew Brees | $10,200 | 31.68 |
| RB | Pierre Thomas | $5,600 | 26.60 |
| RB | Mark Ingram | $4,500 | 23.00 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $8,300 | 32.30 |
| WR | Brandon Marshall | $8,200 | 29.40 |
| WR | Tavon Austin | $4,500 | 27.20 |
| TE | John Carlson | $4,500 | 19.30 |
| K | Steven Hauschka | $5,300 | 15.00 |
| DEF | St. Louis | $5,200 | 23.00 |
| | TOTALS | $56,300 | 227.48 |
Optimal Lineup: DraftStreet
| POS |  | Salary | Score |
| QB | Drew Brees | $16,672 | 31.68 |
| QB | Peyton Manning | $18,819 | 28.10 |
| RB | Pierre Thomas | $8,371 | 26.60 |
| RB | Darren Sproles | $7,165 | 23.30 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $12,409 | 32.30 |
| WR | Brandon Marshall | $12,441 | 29.40 |
| TE | John Carlson | $2,124 | 19.30 |
| FLEX | A.J. Green | $12,984 | 25.10 |
| FLEX | Tavon Austin | $4,408 | 27.20 |
| DEF | St. Louis | $2,047 | 20.50 |
| | TOTALS | $97,440 | 263.48 |
Optimal Lineup: DraftKings
| POS |  | Salary | Score |
| QB | Drew Brees | $10,400 | 31.68 |
| RB | Pierre Thomas | $5,200 | 30.10 |
| RB | Mark Ingram | $3,000 | 24.00 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $7,400 | 35.80 |
| WR | Brandon Marshall | $8,000 | 32.90 |
| TE | John Carlson | $3,000 | 22.80 |
| FLEX | Tavon Austin | $3,600 | 28.20 |
| K | Steven Hauschka | $3,600 | 15.00 |
| DEF | St. Louis | $3,000 | 23.00 |
| | TOTALS | $47,200 | 243.48 |
Note: DraftKings Optimals does not include bonuses awarded in DK’s scoring system
