Four Downs: Williams a prolific Panther
By Dave Richard | Senior Fantasy Writer Follow DaveFollow CBS Fantasy Football
On a day when Fantasy mainstays like Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis and Isaac Bruce put up major statistics, leave it to a guy who totaled 225 yards and zero scores in his first four games to steal the spotlight with a career-best effort.
Adding more proof that the right player on the right team in the right matchup will do wonders for Fantasy, Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams (not to be confused with his rookie backfield mate Jonathan Stewart) ran over the Chiefs for a three-touchdown day with 123 rushing yards. Williams scored two of his scores on the ground, one from 10 yards out and the other from 32 yards out, and hauled in his lone reception of the day for 25 yards. His 148 total yards were more than the 127 net yards the entire Kansas City offense had!
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| It appeared as though DeAngelo Williams was beginning to take a back seat to Jonathan Stewart. (AP) |
While we tend to think this had more to do with a sloppy Kansas City run defense, we also must give credit to Williams, who has never done this well in an NFL game. But take note of the carry distribution: Williams had 20 while Stewart had 19, and both had so many because the Panthers built a huge lead and sat on the ball. The Panthers attempted one fourth-quarter pass. With a challenging game at Tampa Bay on the horizon, don't expect each Carolina running back to have as many chances. And, don't be swayed by the 2007 stats Williams had at Tampa Bay last year -- he had 121 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns, but it was in a Week 17 effort that saw the Bucs resting their key players.
Meanwhile, the Fantasy running back everyone should be keeping tabs on this week is Chiefs star rusher Larry Johnson, who had his absolute worst day as a pro -- and that's saying something considering he already has a 22-yard effort already on the year.
Johnson had 2 yards rushing. We're not joking. He had seven carries and zero receptions. Again, not joking.
"You just have to learn from it and try and do better next week," a dejected Johnson said after the game. "Games like this are going to happen. It's a young team, and this is what is going to happen when you rebuild."
Johnson, a straight shooter, cannot be pleased with the play calling after he was given just seven touches. Unquestionably the best player on the Chiefs, Johnson yelled out to the media after his 22-yard game earlier this season. He was rewarded with a pair of 20-plus carry games that resulted in 100-yard totals with three scores, but that streak ended Sunday. What will he do now?
More importantly, what will Fantasy owners do now? They've got two weeks to figure it out -- Kansas City is on a bye in Week 6 before a home date vs. the run-stuffing Titans.
First down
Kyle Orton. Who knew?
When the Bears named Orton their starting quarterback during the preseason, the consensus was that he got the nod over Rex Grossman because he wouldn't turn the ball over to the point where it would cost the team games. With the receiving corps the Bears have, no one expected Orton to be a regular over 200 yards passing.
But here's Orton, who followed up a 268-yard, two-TD effort vs. the Bucs and a 199-yard, three-TD game vs. the Eagles with an impressive 334-yard, two-TD outing at the Lions. The seven touchdowns he has over the last three weeks, and the season, are more than Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb have. You can look it up!
Normally, when a quarterback surprises with a strong output against a bad defense, we shrug it off and call it an anomaly -- especially when his receiving corps is buoyed by an undrafted slot receiver, a guy known more for his kick returns than his receiving skills and a re-tread trying to get his career back on track and didn't even play Sunday. But Orton's done well three weeks in a row -- that's what we call a trend. Additionally, as defenses focus on stopping rookie Matt Forte (whose yardage stats have not coincidentally gone south each of the last three weeks), Orton's left to throw against mediocre coverage. What we have here is a quarterback taking what the defense gives him.
With another simple matchup at the Falcons in Week 6, owners might just be wise to go with Orton as anything from a one-week replacement to a short-term option over the likes of busts Carson Palmer, Marc Bulger and Derek Anderson.
Second down
Both Manning brothers came off a bye in Week 5 and threw two touchdowns, but Eli had more yards (barely) and fewer turnovers. And, he did it this week without his best receiver.
Against a Seattle defense that looked lost and tired, Eli Manning rocked for 267 yards and two touchdowns, charring the secondary on deep lobs to Domenik Hixon, Amani Toomer and Sinorice Moss. Peyton Manning, meanwhile, struggled for most of his time against the Texans but was given a golden opportunity to rally his club thanks to a Sage Rosenfels turnover and end Week 5 with a good enough stat line to help owners out.
Both Manning brothers were good in Week 5, and both have been red-hot so far this season. Eli has six passing touchdowns; Peyton has five. Eli has 1,032 passing yards, Peyton has ... well, 1,031. Guess it's pretty close ... until you look at interceptions: Eli has one, Peyton has five. And, Eli has a dominating run game and talented offensive line; Peyton is looking for Joseph Addai to start running with authority and an offensive line busted up by injuries.
So I'll leave this one to you: Would you rather have Peyton or Eli? You could e-mail me at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com and tell me who you'd rather have and why. For now, they're pretty much identical, expect one was a first-round pick and the other was a middle-round pick.
Hmm. Maybe they're not so identical after all.
Third down
Let's talk run defenses. Entering Week 5, the top unit was Philadelphia's, which was limiting opposing running games to 53.8 yards per game. No. 2 was Baltimore, which was giving up 69.7 yards per game.
One did well, one got thrashed.
The Eagles have normally been good vs. the Redskins run game, but Clinton Portis changed that Sunday, notching his second straight 100-yard game with a 29-carry, 145-yard, one-touchdown effort. Opting to go with balance, Redskins coach Jim Zorn ran Portis as many times as quarterback Jason Campbell threw, and it exposed the Eagles' run defense and took away the sting of their pass rush. It was Portis' best game since a 196-yard beating of the Jets in Week 9 last year.
"He doesn't do all that running by himself," Zorn said of his star running back. "Our offensive line, they were coming off the ball, they were really doing a nice job communicating. It wasn't as though they were playing a real soft defense, either."
The best news for Portis is that his next three games are against Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis. He has a chance to top 145 rush yards in each contest!
Meanwhile, the Ravens unplugged the most electric rookie running back in the league. When the dust settled from Week 5, Chris Johnson had his lowest output of his young career, gaining 44 rush yards and 4 receiving yards. It's not like the Titans didn't try to get him going -- he had 18 rushes and two receptions. It's that the Ravens' defense was quick to keep him under wraps.
Like Portis, Johnson's load gets easy. Following a Week 6 bye, he's got games vs. Kansas City, Indianapolis and Green Bay. Don't expect the flashy first-year phenom to see such low stats again.
Fourth down
Let's give some credit where it's due: The Patriots almost looked like themselves again.
While it's for certain that Matt Cassel is no Tom Brady, he looked the part for much of the contest at San Francisco and overcame a rough start against a strong defense to help pace New England.
Cassel threw for a career-high 259 yards and was mostly efficient save for two ugly interceptions. The best part of his afternoon was an on-the-money deep ball that went a good 50 yards in the air to an in-stride Randy Moss behind two 49ers defensive backs. He also made great use of Wes Welker, connecting on eight short-area passes that he manufactured into 73 yards.
That's what we've been waiting to see.
The only disheartening thing about New England's game was the impossible-to-figure-out running game which saw four different running backs get at least five carries. Sammy Morris led the way with 63 rush yards, but Kevin Faulk scored both touchdowns (both from 2 yards out). And Laurence Maroney -- the guy a lot of people drafted high thinking that the Patriots would lean on him -- had 26 yards on 10 carries.
The end result here is that the Patriots' overall philosophy hasn't changed: Find the opponents' weaknesses and attack. That's what New England did to San Francisco on Sunday and it resulted in a win -- their third of the season.
Don't look now -- Cassel's commanding a 3-1 ship, just a half-game behind first-place Buffalo.
What are your thoughts from this week? See anything that jumped off the screen? Let us know -- e-mail us at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Four Downs in the subject field. Include your full name, hometown and state.
