First Response: The more the merrier

Week 11 was a microcosm of what's happened to the quarterback position in Fantasy Football. You've heard of too many cooks in the kitchen? We've got too many quarterbacks in league play.

Our waiver wires will be robust with big-stat passers from Sunday. Matthew Stafford and Brady Quinn dueled each other in a game with two offenses that had no business being on one-win teams. More on them later. Ryan Fitzpatrick proved his coaches in Buffalo right with nearly 300 yards passing along with a gorgeous touchdown bomb to Terrell Owens. And even Matt Ryan bounced back from being on the cusp of Fantasy darkness with over 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

So many studs, not enough duds. In fact, this week's quarterbacking "duds" were guys like Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck and Philip Rivers. Even Peyton Manning and Tom Brady's stats (a paltry -- for them -- 17 and 18 points, respectively, in standard-scoring leagues) could be viewed as disappointments.

Moving back to the forefront among quarterbacks are Ryan and Eli Manning (two more passing touchdowns than his brother Sunday). Moving out? Kyle Orton, who didn't start and then didn't play well when the Broncos desperately went to him.

The bottom line is that if you take the quarterbacks who are typically studs -- Peyton Manning, Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Schaub, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb -- and tack on not just the other very good quarterbacks this season but also the ones who are re-emerging, you're looking at far too many passers for open starting quarterback spots in Fantasy leagues.

Usually injuries will knock a couple of quarterbacks out but that hasn't happened -- yet. Roethlisberger got rocked late against the Chiefs and might miss time with what is believed to be his fourth career concussion. Owners might normally turn to a hot waiver property like Stafford in a situation like this, but he has a shoulder injury that might keep him out of Week 12 vs. the Packers on Thanksgiving (four days away, you Tryptophan fiends). Owners will be quick to dismiss Quinn's big outing, especially with the Bengals next on the schedule. We'll wait until there's something more definitive on Roethlisberger, but his owners should be ready to pounce on a quarterback if they don't have a replacement on the roster already.

But knowing how quarterbacks have grown on trees this season, most owners should have either one stud passer or a good enough (or better) backup to go with a good enough (or better) starter.

And even if you don't, just wait a week. Another quarterback is sure to be around the corner from having a huge game. It's been that kind of season after all.

Let's take a look around at the rest of the Week 11 action.

Start of the Week result: Kevin Smith was pretty pedestrian as running backs go with 45 yards on 12 carries, but the Lions backfield star more than made up for it with 104 yards on four catches including a 63-yard scamper and a 25-yard touchdown on a seam route. His 148 total yards was a season-high, and when you throw in the score he had his best game on the 2009 season. Not surprising that it came against the Browns.

Sit of the Week result: Joe Flacco's fantastic voyage has come to a halt. After a red-hot start to the season, Flacco has no touchdowns in his last three games with three interceptions. His 256 yards passing in Week 11 vs. the Colts was his best yardage output since Week 6, but this fall from grace is extremely troubling. Next up for Flacco: The Steelers.

Insane stat line of the day: Brady Quinn and Matthew Stafford combining for nine touchdowns (four for Quinn, five for Stafford) and 726 passing yards (304 for Quinn, 422 for Stafford). Considering how both young guns have played this season, their stats are a shock even considering their matchups. They were even Fantasy friendly as no player in the Browns-Lions shootout had two touchdowns -- nine players each had one.

Out-of-nowhere stat line of the day: Has to be Terrell Owens' nine catches for 197 yards with a score. Completely unexpected for him given his stats this year. And even if you take away his best catch of the season -- the 98-yard touchdown -- he still had eight grabs for 99 yards, which his Fantasy owners would have gladly taken. Of course, now that Owens was targeted 14 times this week and came away with nine catches, owners will have a harder time deciding whether or not to start him. His Week 12 opponent? The Dolphins.

Guy we were way right about: Back to the Browns-Lions game, where Calvin Johnson has been a nightmare for Fantasy owners all season. We knew heading into Week 11 that if he couldn't put up a huge game against the Browns he was probably a lost cause. He answered all doubts with a game-best 161 yards on seven catches with a 75-yard touchdown. He finished the touchdown with a "rim-rocking dunk" on the goal post, as if to exclaim that he's back to rock the league. He has the banged-up Packers in Week 12 on Thanksgiving followed by a date with the Bengals after a long rest, then the Ravens will force the Lions to throw in Week 14. Johnson should have a decent shot to keep racking up yardage regardless of who his quarterback is.

Guy we were way wrong about: We've been inching away from Greg Jennings for weeks, but thanks to a nice catch and some bumbling tackling attempts by the 49ers, he had a nice long touchdown vs. the 49ers. Just more than half of his yards in the game came on the play, but it led to a nice score. We doubt Fantasy owners will have concerns about Jennings in Week 12 when he takes on the Lions fresh off of their poor performance vs. the pass on Thanksgiving.

Overachieving defense of the week: Holding the Ravens to five field goals certainly gave the Colts defense a bright side to their win -- a game they probably would have lost had they not done so well in the red zone. Baltimore got inside the Colts 30 eight times on Sunday and couldn't punch it in once, throwing an interception in the process. The Indianapolis defense was very solid in Week 11, but they'll be tested in Week 12 at Houston.

Underachieving defense of the week: It's nice that the Jets have an answer for Randy Moss (who scored, by the way), but they might want to come up with something for the rest of the Patriots offense. New England did the right thing -- not force the ball to Moss -- and instead found mismatches all over the place, especially involving Wes Welker (15 catches, 194 yards). Additionally, the Jets' run defense continues to struggle as Laurence Maroney scored twice and had 77 yards. Worse news for the Jets -- the Panthers and their powerful running game come to the Meadowlands in Week 12.

Names to add to your scout team:

Charlie Batch, quarterback, Pittsburgh (replaced injured Ben Roethlisberger)
Kahlil Bell, running back, Chicago (72 yards on his first NFL carry)
Rock Cartwright, running back, Washington (13 carries, 67 yards, replaced Ladell Betts)
Michael Crabtree, wide receiver, San Francisco (four catches, 77 yards, touchdown)
Billy Cundiff, kicker, Baltimore (five of six field goals made)
Brandon Gibson, wide receiver, St. Louis (five catches, 61 yards; 17 targets)
Mohamed Massaquoi, wide receiver, Cleveland (five catches, 115 yards, touchdown)
Tom Santi, tight end, Indianapolis (six catches, 80 yards)
Mike Tolbert, running back, San Diego (seven carries, 58 yards, touchdown)

Injury alerts:

Ladell Betts, torn MCL; might be out for the season
Marshawn Lynch, shoulder; considered questionable for Week 12 vs. Miami
Ben Roethlisberger, head; considered questionable for Week 12 at Baltimore
Matthew Stafford, shoulder; considered doubtful for Week 12 vs. Green Bay
Kurt Warner, head; considered probable for Week 12 at Tennessee

The last word: Mike Singletary might be disappointed in his defense's play at Green Bay, but what about the decision to run the football just 10 times -- seven with Frank Gore? Now Gore scored a touchdown and salvaged his stat line for Week 11, but his owners have to be a little concerned with his seven-carry, three-catch performance.

Now maybe it's a false alarm since last week he had 25 carries in a close game with the Bears. But since his return from an ankle injury, that 25-carry performance was his only outing with more than 15 carries. He's getting stats for his Fantasy owners, so no one should be worried, but it's not good for a team that has been outspoken about running the football to only do it seven times with their best offensive player.

Three of Gore's next four games come against tough opponents -- the Jaguars, the Cardinals and the Eagles -- all good run defenses. He's startable, but he'll need to start getting more involved in the offense.

What stood out to you this week? How did your Fantasy teams do? Tell us via Twitter @daverichard. Or drop us a line and tell us about it at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Week 11 in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state and we'll respond to as many as e-mails we can.