Fantasy Football: How Thursday Night's Falcons-Ravens Game Impacts Your Team

Ryan LesterNov 12, 2010

Having players go in the Thursday night games gives you a little bit of advantage. If your players do good, you can perhaps be a little more cautions with your team. If your players did not put up good numbers, perhaps you will want to take a bigger risk hoping for a bigger reward to make up for it. You also get a feel for your lineup depending on how your opponents players did.

With the first Thursday night game in the books, let’s take a look at the fantasy ramifications.

Quarterbacks: Both Matt Ryan (316 yards, 3 TDs) and Joe Flacco (209 yards, 3 TDs, INT) had productive games. Flacco’s lack of yardage and INT give him a slightly above average score. I wouldn’t change anything based on his performance. Meanwhile Matty Ice put up a monster game. Depending on what your opponent is throwing at you, you may want to go with some safer picks rather than trying to hit a home run with a sleeper.
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Running Backs: If you started Michael Turner (39 yards), you’re in a bit of a bind. He did not produce . You probably weren’t banking on a big game against the Ravens, but this score was just brutal. I can see taking a risk somewhere trying to make up the points. If by some chance you hadJason Snelling (67 total yards, TD) in your lineup, kudos to you. Ray Rice (102 total yards) had a typical day. Nice yardage numbers, but he failed to reach the end zone. Don’t make any drastic roster changes based on his performance. If you took a shot on McGahee (4 total yards), my condolences.

Wide Receivers: If you had Roddy White (138 yards, 2 TDs), you’re golden. Your opponent may try to catch lightning in a bottle because of his big game. Playing it safe may be advisable. If you hadAnquan Boldin (50 yards, TD) or Derrick Mason (48 yards, TD), you’re good. You can adjust your lineup, but I wouldn’t do it based on their performances.

Tight Ends: If you started Tony Gonzalez (38 yards), you have to be a little disappointed, especially when you consider Matt Ryan’s big game. You probably weren’t expecting too big of a game from Gonzo though, so you may just keep your roster the way it was. Todd Heap (57 yards, TD), on the other hand, was everything his owners could have hoped for and more. Getting an unexpected 11.7 points from Heap has to have you in a good mood. While Gonzo wasn’t so bad that you want to adjust your lineup, Heap wasn’t so good that you’d want to adjust your lineup either.

Kickers: Billy Cundiff (3 PATs) was a dud. You were hoping for at least double that production. Meanwhile Matt Bryant was solid (28 & 51 yard FG, 2 PATs). He netted around ten fantasy points in most formats. You aren’t going to win on that performance, but it’s a start.

Defenses: Neither defense was outstanding. Both allowed 20+ points. Atlanta (1 INT, 1 fumble, 2 sacks) was a little better than Baltimore (2 sacks), but neither put up enough fantasy points to make you comfortable. If you rolled with Baltimore, you may need to take a risk to make up their lack of fantasy points. You can be disappointed with Atlanta, but they weren’t ineffective enough to merit a major change.