Now, is not the right time for star wide receivers to put up lousy numbers in the box score and that is what we saw in Week 12. The game’s top three pass-catchers all flopped on Sunday and inevitably left us fantasy owners out to dry. Here are the top fantasy football woes and biggest disappointments from this past week.

Atlanta’s Julio Jones has been arguably the best receiver all year long with Sunday being an exception as Minnesota came to town and won, 20-10. The fifth-year pro had just five catches on seven targets for 56 yards, which was his second worst game of the season as only four catches for 38 yards was inferior in Week 4. Jones came into the game having had three straight 100-yard contests and a total of six on the season.

Julio Jones running after catching the ball
Photo credit: Football Schedule

Jones’ deflated outing is a rare sight and the Vikings deserve a lot of credit as the fourth best pass defense in the league to this point. Minnesota really focused on stopping Jones and had the right personnel to pull it off. Fantasy owners can expect quarterback Matt Ryan to connect with Jones more often downfield against Tampa Bay next weekend.

Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins was coming off a two-touchdown performance before notching just 36 yards on Sunday against New Orleans, his worst yardage total of the season. He led the team in receptions, but quarterback Brian Hoyer found wideout Cecil Shorts III and tight end Ryan Griffin in the end zone.

The Texans then relied on the running game to put the Saints away, 24-6. Drew Brees has to be mentioned for being awful himself as he failed to throw a touchdown in a game for the first time since Week 13 in 2012. The veteran completed 25 of 44 pass attempts for 228 yards and an interception as the Saints failed to score a touchdown.

Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown is the other top receiver who put up pedestrian stats as Seattle’s Richard Sherman had something to do with it. In what was a matchup for the ages, Sherman’s coverage on Brown most of the game yielded six catches on 12 targets for 51 yards. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked Brown’s way often, but it was Markus Wheaton who stole the show with over 200 yards through the air.

Roethlisberger left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion and Brown’s owners have to be uneasy about backup Landry Jones potentially filling in. It would be like having a Ferrari in Brown with an inexperienced, 16-year-old teenage driver behind the wheel in Landry.

Demaryius Thomas owners have to be pretty worried too after seeing him haul in only one pass for 36 yards. The crazier stat is the team-high 13 targets he saw from backup Brock Osweiler who it seemed missed as many throws as Thomas had drops. It had to be painful to watch especially if you needed just a couple fantasy points to win your matchup and no other players on Monday night.

Lamar Miller owners are even more worried as the running back rushed only five times for just two yards as the Dolphins got trounced by the Jets, 38-20. He has averaged just under 30 yards rushing in each of the past five games after tallying two straight 100-yard games prior. The former Miami Hurricane is making his second straight appearance on Fantasy Woes and it is hard to trust him going into the fantasy playoffs with Miami’s rushing game being nonexistent.

The Dolphins have now dropped four of their last five with the only win coming against the Eagles who are more beat up at the moment, having given up 45 points in two straight losses. There are reports that suggest head coach Chip Kelly is on his way out and that he isn’t liked by a large amount of the players. Whatever the case, Philadelphia has been miserable this year and a fantasy deathtrap as no one player has stood out or even lived up to expectations.

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