Fantasy Football Week 4: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

The ravages of bye weeks in the fantasy realm were especially brutal in Week 4 with so many teams out of action.

The byes did give us a clearer look at the fantasy landscape, however—fewer games means more to glean from those who might otherwise be obscured. What did we learn from Week 4's Sunday action?

Click through to find out.

Baltimore's Backfield Is Going to Be a Nightmare

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Investing in the Baltimore backfield is a descent into a maelstrom.

The Ravens had quite a day on offense against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and much of it was on the ground. But it didn't go as anticipated, at least for one player.

Bernard Pierce was healthy and active after missing Week 3 due to injury. His injury allowed rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro to break out, which made him a hot waiver-wire commodity last week. 

For much of the game against the Panthers, he looked like a bad pickup. Justin Forsett got the majority of the touches early on, including a 11-yard touchdown that flummoxed the fantasy community. 

Where was Pierce in all this? On the bench, perhaps being rested with Forsett and Taliaferro capable of carrying the load while the Ravens blew out the Panthers.

Taliaferro was fortunate to get into the end zone himself, but how often do you expect him to score while averaging just 3.9 yards per carry? 

Week to week, it seems that choosing the right running back to play out of that backfield will be a nightmare. The Ravens won't have nearly the kind of offensive success they did against the Panthers on a weekly basis, and Pierce could well work his way into a major role again soon.

The Dolphins Are Going to Be Just Fine

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The Miami Dolphins spent much of the week leading up to their London tilt with the Oakland Raiders mired in a circus-like atmosphere thanks to head coach Joe Philbin's coy attitude toward starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

While talk of starting backup Matt Moore seemed silly, Tannehill was put on notice and the Dolphins were in danger of spiraling out of control. Good thing they faced the Oakland Raiders.

The matchup was supposed to be a bad one for Tannehill and his receivers—specifically Mike Wallace.

Oakland was allowing the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and fourth-fewest to wide receivers heading into Week 4. A lot of good it did them, as Tannehill run them up for 278 yards and two touchdowns

Running back Lamar Miller was great too, taking advantage of the matchup for 67 total yards and a pair of scores himself.

The Dolphins have an opportunity to build on their great London showing, perhaps shaking off the offensive malady from the past two weeks heading into the bye.

Mike Glennon Is Good for Your Fantasy Team

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were cold early this season, a lifeless mass of dysfunction after three weeks of action. Then quarterback Mike Glennon got his chance to start.

The second-year pro pulled a miracle out of you-know-where with a last-minute drive to shock the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, just a week after getting shellacked by 42 points in Atlanta. Glennon was the biggest difference in the turnaround.

Rookie Mike Evans broke out thanks to Glennon—the pair seem to have a connection, perhaps fostered on the second-team offense with Glennon during the preseason.

Glennon made guys like Louis Murphy and Russell Shepard relevant, too, though how much that will be the case going forward remains to be seen. Evans was injured midway though the game, but he should hopefully be back sooner than later.

The biggest question is whether Vincent Jackson is going to really benefit from Glennon being under center. Jackson caught a touchdown from him for the second consecutive week, but he was fortunate to be in that position.

Last season, Jackson was Glennon's favorite target. That hasn't been the case yet this year—it might be wise to try to sell high on Jackson, who has been disappointing for much of his time on the field.

Carolina Cursed

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Week 4 marked the second consecutive week a Carolina Panthers running back had a great opportunity to put up nice numbers thanks to injuries around him in the backfield. It wound up being another week of disappointment for fantasy owners.

DeAngelo Williams had the backfield all to himself with Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert sidelined with injury. While he may not be Matt Forte out of Chicago or DeMarco Murray out of Dallas, Williams has the ability to put up a crooked number if conditions are perfect.

An early ankle injury short-circuited what could have been a decent game for Williams. He had 11 carries for 34 yards before exiting the game for good—a poor average, but it looked like he was on track to get past 20 touches.

Dealing with the Panthers backfield is playing with fire—no matter how good it looks for a player, you're liable to get burned.

San Francisco Treat

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It took a while, but the San Francisco 49ers offense finally woke up on Sunday.

Of course, playing against the Philadelphia Eagles defense probably helped, and the 49ers couldn't capitalize as much as some other offenses have to date this season. But it was a step in the positive direction for a team in dire need of some stability on that side of the ball.

The biggest beneficiary was running back Frank Gore, who finally had a big game as the 49ers actually got him the ball. Much of his fantasy output came on an ill-advised throw across his body from quarterback Colin Kaepernick, one that found a wide-open Gore for a 55-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.

Gore finally broke out with 25 touches for 174 yards and that touchdown as the 49ers finally figured out they should run the ball. Kaepernick ran for 58 yards himself, also passing for 218 and a pair of touchdowns while leading his team back from the brink of defeat and a media frenzy.

It will be interesting to see if the 49ers can build on the offensive success they finally saw during that comeback victory. The Eagles have been good medicine for teams with offensive woes this season.

The Kids Are Alright

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A pair of rookies made their debuts on Sunday after taking over midway through their Week 3 matchups, and the results were promising.

Teddy Bridgewater was particularly good, at times looking like Randall Cunningham against the Atlanta Falcons. He didn't throw for a touchdown, but he was accurate and mistake-free in surpassing 300 passing yards. He also ran for 27 yards and a score while leading his team to victory. 

Granted, outside of Jarius Wright—whom we will discuss at length elsewhere—there wasn't much in terms of fantasy scoring among non-running backs. 

Meanwhile, his first-round peer got off to a hot start in San Diego.

Blake Bortles set a rookie record by completing 78.4 percent of his passes in his first start. He staked the Jacksonville Jaguars to an early lead and had the offense rolling before the Chargers made halftime adjustments and clamped down on the former UCF Knight.

Still, Bortles wound up with 253 passing yards and a touchdown with 24 rushing yards tagging along. That's not too shabby for a guy making his first start on the road.

All in all, it was a good debut for these two, which bodes well for those around them.

The Atlanta Sieves Are Back

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The Atlanta Sieves are back.

A week after the Falcons steamrolled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and allowed precious few fantasy points outside of garbage time, they let the Minnesota Vikings ring up 558 total yards and 41 points.

Matt Asiata scored three touchdowns and had a massive fantasy output despite a 3.9 yards-per-carry average, and rookie Jerick McKinnon came out of nowhere for 152 total yards. He even had a touchdown that was called back just shy of the goal line.

The Falcons were giving up the most fantasy points to opposing running backs before Bobby Rainey caught fumbleitis against them in Week 3. They will likely reclaim that dubious distinction once the Week 4 dust settles.

If a team is halfway decent at running the ball, the Falcons will be sure to make that backfield look like fantasy gold.

The Hottest Waiver-Wire Pickup of the Week Will Be...

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This week is a bit less clear when it comes to hot waiver-wire pickups. Unlike previous weeks, there weren't any earth-shattering injuries or demotions to cause a rush to the waiver wire.

There was one explosive performance that should give fantasy owners pause—particularly those who own Cordarrelle Patterson or Greg Jennings. That performance came from Jarius Wright, the little-used receiver in Minnesota.

Much ado will be made of his teammate, Jerick McKinnon, who had a big game himself. The rookie running back narrowly missed out on a huge fantasy day, settling for "just" 152 total yards after having a touchdown called back.

The problem? The Falcons run defense isn't very good, though McKinnon may have earned a bigger role with that performance. 

Wright, meanwhile, looked like a PPR stud in his performance. The third-year Viking went off for 132 yards on eight receptions, many of those yards coming after the catch.

Perhaps he developed a rapport with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on the second-team offense. Then again, maybe the Week 4 game plan was tailored to utilize Wright while Patterson was a decoy.

You might want to wait until Wright proves he wasn't a one-week wonder, but the Vikings receiver seems to be the best pickup of the week.

Too Late to Buy Low on Keenan Allen

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The first three weeks were tough for Keenan Allen and his fantasy owners.

The San Diego Chargers receiver seemed like an afterthought in that offense, giving way to old man Antonio Gates or a resurgent Eddie Royal.

His slow start was a great opportunity to buy low for fantasy owners, especially given he was headed for a Sunday tilt against the NFL's worst pass defense. The Jacksonville Jaguars came to town and proved the elixir some expected would cure Allen's ills.

Allen caught 10 passes for 135 yards on 11 targets. The only thing that was missing was a touchdown—Royal is hogging all of those—but it was still an excellent output in PPR formats.

Regardless of easy matchup, Allen's great day showed that there is nothing to worry about if you happen to own him in your fantasy league.

The Saints Hate Pierre Thomas

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Thomas was used so little on Sunday that there wasn't a picture from the game available.

By all indications, running back Pierre Thomas should have had a couple of big weeks since Mark Ingram went down with injury. Instead, he has all but left his fantasy owners in the cold.

A touchdown saved his Week 3 output, but the New Orleans Saints seem to have cut their all-around running back out of the game plan.

Thomas only saw four touches on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. Fellow running backs Khiry Robinson and Travaris Cadet—whom nobody saw coming—combined for 17 touches.

The Saints weren't exactly in a position to utilize their backs a ton after getting down early, but Robinson got the start and Cadet was the change-of-pace pass-catcher. About the only thing Thomas was good for was pass blocking or being an ignored diversion.

We're not entirely sure what Thomas did to earn an apparent demotion, but Mark Ingram is making his way back from injury to make matters worse for the eighth-year pro. Perhaps age is catching up to him at 29—that's right, Thomas is 29 years old.

Chris Ivory Is the Back to Own in New York

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The Detroit Lions came into New York as the second-best rushing defense. Only their opponents, the Jets, were better.

That didn't matter much for running back Chris Ivory, who looked like he was on his way to a huge game after the opening drive alone, when he amassed 52 yards. He would cool and wind up with 84 rushing yards on the day, but it was clear the Jets preferred him to his counterpart.

Speaking of the devil, Chris Johnson couldn't get anything going. Ivory carried the ball more times in the first drive than Johnson did the entire day.

Johnson wasn't very good until late in the game, when he broke a 35-yard touchdown after the Lions uncharacteristically failed to wrap him up for a loss in the backfield. That touchdown saved what was shaping up to be a horrendous day for him, as he got the vast majority of his 44 rushing yards on the play.

Ivory had no such luck and averaged 4.9 yards per carry, more than tripling Johnson's touches on the day to boot. He is clearly the back to own in New York right now. 

Something's Wrong with Shady

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What in the world is wrong with LeSean McCoy?

The Philadelphia Eagles running back has been a disappointment this season, and Week 4 seems to have been rock bottom for the man many fantasy owners drafted at the top of their fantasy drafts.

He was only able to muster 17 yards on 10 carries, and he was a non-factor in the passing game. What gives?

Part of the problem was the game flow on Sunday—the Eagles simply weren't in position to get McCoy touches thanks to great defense and special teams plays. But the second half should have been his time to shine as the Eagles tried and failed to hold the 49ers off.

Simply put, McCoy doesn't look like himself. He looked tentative and slow at times, uncharacteristic for the typically-dynamic stud. Perhaps there is an underlying injury to blame.

After all, McCoy exited his Week 3 matchup with what looked like a concussion. He would return to that game, however, and he hasn't looked like himself ever since.

Hopefully there is no injury, but McCoy's performance was troubling to say the least. 

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