Fantasy Football Week 10: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

Football is a funny sport.

The minute you think you know a team, it turns around and loses to the New York Jets. That's what happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers, an unlikely outcome that ruined fantasy lineups everywhere. 

The rest of the day went as expected, for the most part. The Denver Broncos annihilated the Oakland Raiders, the Green Bay Packers had their way with the Chicago Bears and fantasy owners of both teams rejoiced.

As usual, there were plenty of fantasy takeaways from Sunday's action.

Tony Romo's Back Is Just Fine

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As it turns out, a long plane ride to London doesn't really affect your back.

At least not if you're quarterback Tony Romo, who was iffy all week with two transverse process fractures in his back. His injury figured to limit him if he did play, right?

Well, not so much.

Of course, it helps when you have receiving options like Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. Romo's three touchdown passes went to his old pals, along with 246 passing yards overall. Sure, Bryant did much of the work on those touchdowns, but it was a nice performance out of Romo all things considered.

Those things include a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that had been pretty tough against opposing quarterbacks in recent weeks.

Romo was just fine, and it seems you can start him and other Cowboys with confidence after their Week 11 bye.

No Carson? No Problem...Hopefully

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The Arizona Cardinals were floundering at home against the St. Louis Rams. Then disaster struck.

With the ink scarcely dry on a three-year extension, quarterback Carson Palmer stepped up in the pocket to try to avoid the pass rush. His knee buckled, and it seemed like the fate of the Cardinals and fantasy owners everywhere was sealed.

Backup quarterback Drew Stanton had something else in mind, however.

For the second time this season, Stanton stepped in for an injured Palmer and delivered. This time, it was a 48-yard strike to rookie receiver John Brown, who made a great diving catch for a touchdown.

Were it not for the Cardinals defense going into overdrive and scoring a pair of touchdowns, we might have seen more fireworks from the offense.

The Cardinals fear Palmer might be done for the season with a torn ACL, per NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, meaning Stanton will be taking the helm of an 8-1 team cruising toward a playoff spot.

Hopefully we will see more of what we saw on Sunday than what Stanton had been doing earlier this season—completing less than 50 percent of his passes—but his brief stint against St. Louis was promising.

"We can win the Super Bowl with Drew Stanton," Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians told Peter King of The MMQB after Sunday's win. "There is no doubt in my mind."

It helps that receiver Larry Fitzgerald seems to have regained his mojo after a slow start to the season. 

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

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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton will be a good pickup for any quarterback-needy teams—particularly if those teams own now-injured starter Carson Palmer.

If you are looking for relief at tight end, however, there may be some help on the waiver wire on his way back from injury.

Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph recently began practicing on his way back from a groin injury, and he should hopefully be back for Week 11. 

Rudolph wasn't setting the NFL on fire before he was injured, but the Minnesota offense was being quarterbacked by Matt Cassel. It's Teddy Bridgewater's baby now, and Rudolph could see his productivity go up by virtue of better passing.

Rotoworld's Adam Levitan had this to say about Rudolph for Metro:

"

Kyle Rudolph was not suspended like Gordon or Peterson, he was simply hurt. But he’s targeting Week 11 for his return from groin surgery and should quickly slide into a major role for tight end friendly coordinator Norv Turner. It’s interesting for fantasy owners as the tight end position is a barren and inconsistent wasteland behind the big three of Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham and Julius Thomas. Rudolph is a red-zone specialist (13 TDs in last 26 games) and was lining up in the slot plenty before his injury.

"

At the very least, Rudolph could be a matchup play to mix and match with your current tight end, should his name not be New England's Rob Gronkowski, New Orleans' Jimmy Graham, Denver's Julius Thomas or San Diego's Antonio Gates.

The Road Is a Cruel Mistress

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Apparently Ben Roethlisberger was due for a regression.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback looked like a shell of the man who threw 12 touchdowns over the past two games. Despite a tantalizing matchup with a woeful New York Jets secondary, Roethlisberger had all sorts of trouble moving the ball on Sunday.

Perhaps the fact he threw those 12 touchdowns at home should have been a warning sign. This time, the Steelers were on the road, and it showed.

Roethlisberger struggled, only able to muster one touchdown pass on the day, an 80-yard bomb to rookie receiver Martavis Bryant late in the game.

It was an important reminder that even the best matchups might be too good to be true. As well as the Steelers offense had played in recent weeks, it made us forget how poorly it had played on the road earlier this season.

There's No Place Like Home

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For some teams, being home is an elixir like no other.

That holds especially true for the New Orleans Saints, who enjoy the comfortable confines of the Louisiana Superdome when playing a home game. At least from a fantasy football standpoint—the scoreboard told a sad story for Saints fans in the end.

This week was another example of that.

Quarterback Drew Brees had 292 yards and three touchdowns after managing just one passing touchdown last week. Rookie receiver Brandin Cooks bounced back from a quiet game against the Carolina Panthers with 90 yards and a 31-yard touchdown.

The Seattle Seahawks got off to a slow start, but they exploded in the second half. Quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch railroaded the New York Giants.

Of course, being better at home than the road isn't a new concept. For some players, however, it is a particularly important split. Brees is typically better at home, and the 12th Man is an excellent support for the Seahawks. 

The Law of Manning Says...

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Down 10-6 in the middle of the second quarter, the Denver Broncos seemed stuck in the mud offensively. Then quarterback Peyton Manning remembered who he was.

Manning tossed a flurry of touchdowns beginning with one to running back C.J. Anderson late in the second quarter—a fancy one-handed affair for 51 yards down the sideline and across the field—and finishing up with his fifth to receiver Emmanuel Sanders late in the third quarter.

In other words, Manning probably could have thrown seven or eight if he had to. 

Unfortunately, receiver Demaryius Thomas was shut out of the scoring festivities. This marks the third consecutive week he hasn't scored, though he has surpassed 100 yards in each of those contests.

It has been a frustrating run for Thomas owners, but fear not—the Law of Manning states Thomas shall score a minimum of two touchdowns in his next game.

Alright, we wish it was a law, but it seems like he gets his receivers going in bunches, particularly after they have been left wanting for a week or two. Thomas is the most talented of the receivers in Denver, so he will probably be the easiest of the bunch to get back on track after a dry spell.

The Garbage Man Cometh

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The Denver Broncos went from potential trouble to laugher in a hurry, ushering in garbage time with the swiftness of an executioner's halberd. 

That meant quarterback Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders could get to work scoring all those fantasy points fantasy owners hoped for during such a period. It almost didn't come, but one final drive finally delivered those results.

Carr threw for 96 yards and a touchdown to tight end Mychal Rivera with less than two minutes left in the game, and all was well in fantasy land.

Garbage time came so early in Green Bay that it left before the game was over thanks to the Packers taking an insurmountable lead into halftime. They were locking down the Bears on defense before receiver Brandon Marshall broke loose for a 45-yard touchdown.

All that to highlight the importance of game script yet again. These two outcomes were predictable, though it would have been nicer if the Bears weren't so inept that they couldn't score more than one offensive touchdown even when Green Bay called off the dogs.

Justin Forsett Is the Man in Baltimore. No, Really.

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Well, after half a season and plenty of doubt—from yours truly, among others—it seems Justin Forsett is legit.

The Baltimore Ravens had an easy draw against the Tennessee Titans, but it was a game they only won by two touchdowns. That just happens to be the number of touchdowns their starting running back scored.

Forsett had himself a great day overall, running for 112 yards to go along with those touchdowns. More importantly, the Ravens showed who their main man is in that backfield along the way.

The sixth-year journeyman garnered 20 touches, far more than his compatriots. Bernard Pierce and Lorenzo Taliaferro combined for 11 carries behind him.

This marks the fourth time in the past five games Forsett has gotten 14 or more rushing attempts. The lone low of nine carries came last week when the Pittsburgh Steelers were throttling the Ravens, a situation that isn't conducive to running the ball. (He did have five catches for 67 yards that day, though, helping redeem his fantasy value.)

Aaron Rodgers Is a Demigod

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Alright, that's something we already knew. But it helps when he plays a sieve-like defense.

The Chicago Bears went into Lambeau Field like the Federation Marines attacking Klendathu in Starship Troopers. It was a massacre. 

Aaron Rodgers pulled a Ben Roethlisberger by halftime, tossing six touchdowns en route to a 42-0 lead. He was a surgeon, and it was a bloodbath. 

The Bears have become the latest defense to exploit in the fantasy realm. The wheels are coming off in Chicago, and their defense has become a tantalizing matchup for opposing quarterbacks and friends.

Those quarterbacks would be Minnesota's Teddy Bridgewater and Tampa Bay's Josh McCown along with their hosts of teammates. Those two aren't exactly Rodgers, but they might be interesting options for fantasy owners of teams with players on byes over the next few weeks.

Better Defense or Worse Offense?

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Many, including yours truly, expected another drubbing at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. 

Atlanta did win the game, but it was a much closer affair than the 56-14 annihilation we saw several weeks ago. Granted, this game was played in Tampa Bay, but it was a much better showing from the Buccaneers than many expected.

With that came some disappointment for fantasy owners of many Falcons players. Granted, it should have been mild—receiver Julio Jones caught eight passes for 119 yards, fellow receiver Roddy White had six receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown and even running back Steven Jackson got into the end zone.

Still, for many expecting offensive fireworks on a larger scale, it was a bit of a dud. Quarterback Matt Ryan got off to a slow start, and he only managed one touchdown pass.

So was it better defense from the Buccaneers, or were the Falcons merely continuing their string of disappointing games?

It's a good question worth mulling if players on your team are facing the Buccaneers—perhaps they aren't as soft as they were earlier this season.

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