Fantasy Football Week 6: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

What a Week 6 it was in the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys are on top of the world after an unexpected victory in Seattle. Hopefully your fantasy team is seeing similar success.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just allowed another touchdown and the New York Giants just ran another draw play with Peyton Hillis to signify surrender. We saw a rare tie in a high-scoring affair in Cincinnati and a photo finish in Miami. 

The Oakland Raiders nearly pulled off the upset of the year, and the Jacksonville Jaguars almost pulled out their first win on the road.

What did this all mean in the fantasy realm? Here are 10 takeaways from Sunday's action.

Ronnie Hillman Is the Back to Own in Denver

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It seemed like Ronnie Hillman was the running back to own heading into Week 6, but there was certainly uncertainty about the division of touches in that backfield after Montee Ball's groin injury.

We got our answer in a big way.

Ronnie Hillman racked up 100 rushing yards against a New York Jets defense that was once the stingiest against the run just a couple of weeks ago. He did it on 24 carries. 

"The O-line made adjustments and made it easy for me to run," Hillman told reporters after the game. "It's like the (Jets) were saying you're not going to beat us with the pass. It felt good to get the run game going and give us more balance."

In fact, Hillman looked much better than Ball ever did this season, which might factor into whether Ball retains his workload once he recovers  from his injury.

With Hilliman's pass-catching ability and softening schedule, he should be a viable starter in the fantasy realm. At least until Ball comes back—we will need to revisit the Denver backfield to cross that bridge.

Ben Tate Is a Workhorse

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After a Week 1 injury and some uncertainty upon his return, Ben Tate has officially established himself as the workhorse in the Cleveland Browns backfield.

Tate was knocked out for three weeks with a knee injury against the same Pittsburgh Steelers he faced on Sunday, opening the door for rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell to turn him into Cleveland's version of Wally Pipp.

While the rookies did play well in his stead, Tate reclaimed the starting job upon his return from injury. Not only that, he has clearly taken over as the workhorse for the Browns.

Tate ran the ball 25 times for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Cleveland's divisional foe. That comes a week after he ran 22 times for 124 yards against the Tennessee Titans.

Barring injury, Tate is the back to own in Cleveland. Unfortunately, that limits value for Crowell and West.

Crowell nabbed another touchdown against the Steelers on Sunday—five weeks after scoring a pair against them—averaging 7.0 yards per carry on 11 rushing attempts. That all came with West inactive, though. 

For now it seems Crowell is Tate's handcuff, but counting on him for big numbers while Tate is around is a dangerous game.

Ladarius Green Is Gaining Traction

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His stat line won't blow you away, but Ladarius Green has slowly started to see an increased role in the San Diego offense.

Quarterback Philip Rivers targeted Green five times against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, and he caught four of those for 60 yards. Green has been the victim of some bad luck in past weeks—he caught a touchdown pass in Week 5 that was called back because of a penalty, for example.

Likely available on many waiver wires, now is the time to pick Green up if there is any need for a tight end on your roster.

Tampa Bay Cures All Offensive Ills

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Joe Flacco was coming off an awful performance against the Indianapolis Colts heading into Week 6. Good thing he faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a defense that looked nearly as bad on Sunday as it did during that 56-14 shellacking at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.

Flacco had a banner day, tossing four touchdowns before fans could get up for a second beverage and a fifth that signaled garbage time had started in the second quarter.

There are two takeaways from the defensive debacle in Tampa Bay—Flacco's inflated performance should be taken with a tablespoon of salt, and Tampa Bay's defense should be utilized by fantasy football owners.

No, not Tampa Bay's "defense and special teams"—specifically, the Buccaneers seem to be quite the nice matchup to exploit for daily fantasy competitors. Anyone who started Flacco was in good shape on Sunday, and there is little reason to think the Buccaneers will see a dramatic improvement at this point.

Start players facing the Tampa Bay defense, even with the New York Giants' unexpected goose egg against the sieve that is the Philadelphia defense. The Buccaneers will be happy to escort your players into the end zone.

Branden Oliver Wasn't a Fluke

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There was a lot to like about Branden Oliver after his Week 5 explosion against the New York Jets. The question was whether that was just an aberration or the real deal.

He certainly looked promising on film, but the undrafted rookie out of Buffalo could have just as easily faded back into obscurity, like a supernova collapsing into a black hole.

The Raiders were a nice follow-up matchup for Oliver, one of the worst run defenses in the league to date. Oakland looked like a different team under new head coach Tony Sparano on Sunday, but the run defense couldn't contain Oliver in the end.

The talented rookie ran for 101 yards and a touchdown, adding 23 yards in the air on four receptions. 

The Chargers are going to have a tough time keeping him off the field when Ryan Mathews and Donald Brown return. For now, he has all the opportunity in the world to score fantasy points.

DeMarco Murray Is Matchup-Proof

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The Dallas Cowboys are for real, and DeMarco Murray is a big reason why.

The NFL's rushing leader was seemingly headed for trouble on the road against a stout Seattle Seahawks defense in Week 6. Hopefully nobody benched him.

Not only was Murray just fine against the Seahawks, he proved that he is the best running back in the league. The talented Cowboy posted his sixth consecutive 100-yard game to start the season, tying an NFL record. His 15-yard touchdown put the Cowboys ahead for good late in the fourth quarter and punctuated a strong showing.

All that talk about limiting his touches has done nothing to abate his usage on offense, either. Murray touched the ball 35 times against the Seahawks, getting stronger as the game wore on.

At this point, there should be no hesitation to start Murray. But just in case, you should handcuff him with Joseph Randle if he is available. You never know if those touches will catch up with him.

Cam Newton Is Back to Form

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It was a rough start to the 2014 season for Cam Newton and his fantasy owners.

The Carolina Panthers quarterback was coming back from offseason ankle surgery and broken ribs suffered during the preseason, the latter injury keeping him out of Week 1 action. He was also dealing with a whole new group of wide receivers.

Predictably, Newton's fantasy stats suffered. The Panthers didn't utilize him as a runner to protect from further injury, and he has had some growing pains with his new wide receiver corps.

None of those things were an issue against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Newton ran the ball for 107 yards and a touchdown on a whopping 17 carries, many of those designed runs or read-option keepers. He took his hits and sprang back to his feet, seemingly healthy enough to resume his old role.

Newton can pass the ball, too, throwing for 284 yards and a pair of scores in what wound up being a rare tie with the Bengals.

He won't be rushing the ball 17 times a game, but it seems Newton has regained "must-start" status going forward.

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

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There weren't a ton of suprise performances from Sunday's action. 

You might be tempted to go grab Brandon LaFell, who has caught the eye of his resurgent quarterback. LaFell snagged two touchdown passes, one of them a 56-yard catch-and-run to ice the game.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, Stevan Ridley was injured in the team's victory against the Buffalo Bills, and the third-year running back might be out for the season. 

The next man up will be Shane Vereen, and he is likely owned in most leagues. He becomes an obvious waiver-wire pickup otherwise.

One man in that backfield who is probably available, though, is a little-known rookie named James White who has been unable to gain any traction to this point. Part of the reason for that has been Ridley's solid play to go along with Vereen's change-of-pace abilities.

Popular opinion states that Branden Bolden is the back to pick up. Take NFL.com's Michael Fabiano, for example:

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Bolden has done next to nothing in the stat sheets this season, but he's now worth a speculative add in the wake of Stevan Ridley's knee injury. That's because an increase in touches should be projected for the Mississippi product moving forward, and those opportunities are huge in the world of fantasy football. Nothing is predictable in coach Bill Belichick's enigmatic backfield, but I like Bolden over James White.

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Bolden is closer to Vereen than Ridley in terms of style, however, and we have been down this road with him before. Mike Reiss, ESPN.com's beat writer for the Patriots, thinks this may be White's time to shine:

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The loss of Ridley could mean rookie James White will become a regular on the 46-man game-day roster. He's been active only once this season (at Kansas City, Week 4), so the Patriots have depth to fall back on at the position.

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With Ridley gone for the season, White may see plenty of playing time going forward. He is a bit of a speculative addition, but one that may pay off in a big way.

He likely won't be the hottest pickup of the week, per se, but he should be on your radar if you need a running back.

Fantasy Football Is Just Weird Sometimes

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Had a rough day on Sunday? You weren't alone.

There are, of course, plenty of unexpected performances—good or bad—every week. This past Sunday seemed particularly weird, at least in a few instances.

Take, for example, the utter implosion of the New York Giants offense. It was a great matchup—particularly for the passing offense—that seemed like it would yield a surefire top-10 output from Eli Manning and a huge game from at least one receiver.

Instead, the Eagles clamped down and shut Manning down entirely. A devastating knee injury in the third quarter to Giants receiver Victor Cruz took away whatever wind the Giants may have had in their sails. 

A lock for a huge game became a fantasy nightmare for many owners and daily game aficionados who may have invested heavily in that offense.

Or how about Joe Flacco's aforementioned explosion in Tampa Bay? It was a nice matchup, but who could have predicted five passing touchdowns in the first half?

It just goes to show that football prognostication is no exact science. Go with the flow.

Tom Terrific

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What a difference a few weeks makes.

Tom Brady was awful through the first four weeks of the season, culminating in an abysmal performance in a 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.

Sunday marked the second week of his midseason renaissance. 

Brady went on the road against a tough Buffalo Bills pass rush and eviscerated that secondary, throwing for 361 yards and four touchdowns in a big victory against his divisional rivals.

It will be interesting to see if Brady has righted himself permanently or if he is merely having a good run. Given how bad he was at the beginning of the year, perhaps selling high is in order.

Even if he isn't throwing four touchdowns a game, however, it seems like Brady has returned to fantasy relevance and given his teammates some to boot.

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