It was a light week in the fantasy disappointment department as there were only a handful of lousy performances to speak of. There were also four teams who entered Week 9 undefeated and only three teams remain that way with over half the season played.
We start with Eddie Lacy, who was awful again as the running back rushed five times for just 10 yards before eventually leaving the game with a groin injury. He coughed up a fumble, which relegated him to the sideline for a time before suffering the injury. Aaron Rodgers led the Packers on a comeback that fell short as they lost their second game in a row and the Panthers remained undefeated now at 8-0.
It has been a tragic season for the first-round fantasy pick and things got so bad that the #BetterThanLacy hashtag was born on Twitter. If you haven’t heard already, basically imagine coming up with something that is terrible, but still not as terrible as this week’s Fantasy Woe of the Week. A personal favorite of mine had to be:
gas station sushi is #BetterThanLacy
Once again, backup James Starks filled in nicely with 39 yards rushing, but more importantly he had six catches for 83 yards and a score. Even if Lacy gets healthy before next Sunday’s tilt, Starks has earned more added time as a more effective runner and pass catcher.
The Lacy situation is similar to the Broncos’ rushing attack, which is now headed by Ronnie Hillman after first-round fantasy pick, C.J. Anderson, squandered his opportunity to start. Hillman battled a thigh injury in all week in practice and was also awful on Sunday with just one yard rushing on seven attempts while Anderson had 34 yards on the same number of carries.
With a weak rushing game and an uncharacteristically soft defense, Denver ended up losing in Indianapolis and suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday night. The league’s best defense heading into the game allowed a season-high 27 points and didn’t create any turnovers. Things would have been even worse if it weren’t for Omar Bolden’s 83-yard punt return to the house in the second quarter. While the running game cannot be trusted, owners can expect the defensive unit to get back to playing better football next Sunday at home against the Chiefs.
Meanwhile, DeAngelo Williams might turn out to be the steal of the draft (or the waiver wire) as the new lead back in the ‘Steel City’. He had 170 yards and two scores in a narrow win over the Raiders, 38-35. Not to mention, Atlanta’s Devonta Freeman and San Diego’s Danny Woodhead are emerging as elite pass catching tailbacks.
Both New Orleans’ Mark Ingram and Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin left a lot to be desired with their less than stellar games this past weekend. But owners still have to be more than happy with the numbers each guy has put up so far this season. This all goes to show that there was a ton of value outside of the high-profile running backs this year.
New England had their running game working as they remained undefeated (8-0) with an easy victory over Washington, 27-10, despite losing running back Dion Lewis for the season with a torn ACL. LaGarrette Blount had 129 yards on the ground and Tom Brady spread the ball around with six players hauling in at least three passes in the game. Rob Gronkowski didn’t factor into the gameplan like usual with a season-low 47 yards receiving and no trips to pay dirt.
Gronk has been the top producing tight end this year and Cleveland’s Gary Barnridge is not trailing Gronk by much, with six touchdowns on the campaign, all from starter Josh McCown. But with McCown injured with shoulder and rib injuries, Barnridge only caught two passes for 35 yards with Johnny Manziel starting under center. The weak showing should have been expected though as Manziel connected with Barnridge just once for 17 yards the last time he started in Week 2. The Bengals went on to handily beat the Browns while moving to a perfect 8-0 in the process.
That is a wrap for this week’s edition of Fantasy Woes. To get the best waivers delivered straight to your inbox every week (for free) signup to our VIP Waiver Wire List.
