Unless someone in your fantasy league started one of the following players against you, the players below didn’t offer a whole lot to be thankful for.
Just as any other week consists of inconsistent fantasy play, Week 12 didn’t present us with anything different, as some of the top performers this season offered up their worst performances of the year.
The most exciting game of the season gave Patriots fans some hope for the season but may have put some Denver fans into a mini-depression as Denver QB and MVP candidate, Peyton Manning had his worst game of the season in New England. Peyton looked like Eli in the frigid climate, scoring the least amount of points that he’s had all year. However, if you started Knowshon Moreno, his 200-plus yard performance may have saved your week.
Pats running back Stevan Ridley put the ball somewhere that he shouldn’t have last week and now he finds himself in the doghouse. Coming into the game against Denver, Ridley managed to reach the end-zone five straight games. I’d expect Ridley to come out of a week of practice with surer hands and a strong motivation to get his sixth score in seven games.
Eric Decker and Danny Amendola sucked in a similar fashion, with Amendola catching three balls for a measly 17 yards while Decker had just one more catch for five more yards than anybody sitting in the stands Sunday night.
In a game where you would have expected Andre Johnson to score at least 20 points against a Jacksonville football team that has looked like a junior varsity powder puff team at times, Johnson scored just over 5.6 points (PPR) against Jacksonville. The same number of points that Detroit receiver Kris Durham and Carolina receiver Brandon LaFell scored in their respective games. He’s been on a mean streak as of late, catching 24 balls for over 350 and five scores in the three games prior to his disappearing act against Jacksonville. Don’t let that performance deter you from starting Andre though.
Giants wideout and salsa dancing enthusiast Victor Cruz was unable to perform well against Dallas, scoring just 2.7 points in the game. His not-so-giant performance is the sixth game in which he’s been held under 11 points and it’s that boom or bust type of game that prevented me from drafting him in the first place. If you’re willing and able to ship him elsewhere, I’d deal him for someone like Wes Welker or Harry Douglas who has an easier schedule coming up and is more likely to see the end zone. After a three-score game Week 1 against Dallas, Cruz has scored just one touchdown.
Jordan Cameron, a player that I traded DeSean Jackson for at the early part of the season (of course he wouldn’t get hurt the year I trade him) had a bad week last week but has had 10 catches for 65 yards in the last three weeks. Sure he’s the third highest scoring tight end in the league, but over the last month he’s began to look more and more like a Cleveland Brown.
49ers halfback Frank Gore has struggled since the San Francisco bye week, but it hasn’t been because of poor play. Harbaugh and his staff have cut his carries in the recent weeks. Gore has rushed for games of 82, 48 and 31 yards in that span. But in that span he has maintained his yards per carry average of 4.1. Be sure to keep him in your lineup. Don’t consider replacing him with someone that’s not the all-time rushing leader for their team. At least not this year.
The No. 1 ranked Chiefs defense dropped a -6 against San Diego this past week. So if you started them and lost by a margin of that size don’t let that performance lead you to dropping them for another D/ST. Missing pass rushers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston will hurt them but I wouldn’t bench them for any game other than the one against Denver this weekend.
Antonio Gates had his worst performance of the season last week, yielding just three catches for 21 yards. Like clockwork, Gates has been dealing with injuries and that should be no surprise to anyone. There’s no place to go for him now but up, so keep an eye on that injury and be sure to add another tight end if you don’t already have one.
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