NFL Player Red-Zone Stats: Happy B-Day, TO! What's Celek's Major Malfunction?

Observations from the Red-Zone: 

RZ targets were down this week, as were QB and WR fantasy stats. There were 117 targets, the lowest since Week 8 during the bye-weeks.  Winter is starting to take its toll.

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week  7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13
119	122	148	106	128	106	136	101	131	151	132	139	117

The playoffs are starting for most leagues, and roster decisions have never been more important than they are now.  2010 has brought us a record number of injuries according to Chris Collinsworth and Phil Simms of Showtime's Inside the NFL.  I implore you to use charts like these to help you decide to go along with zipping through any one of the thousand plus start 'em sit 'em reports at your disposal.  I think we have effectively proven this year that RZ targets are a critical statistic when gauging a TE/WR/RB's potential value (ok, maybe not as much with RBs).

TO leads all pass catchers in RZ attention, but his team has a nine game losing streak to show for it.  I'm interested to know if this gets factored in to how much interest teams have in him on the open market this off-season.  He was a FFArmory.com favorite to start the year while all other pundits placed him in the "washed-up" file after one sub-par season in Buffalo.  It's pretty incredible what he has achieved this season at the ripe age of 36 - no wait - 37.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRELL!

We have a new WR1 in Chi-town; ola Earl Bennett, como estas?  He was making lots of noise in the RZ (brought to light by this piece, thank you very little) far before he became a popular waiver wire candidate.

Wes Welker has officially defied odds according to my book.  Yes, we have four more weeks of games left, and yes, he is off his stat totals from the previous few years, but let's remember, this guy shredded his ACL/MCL in Week 17 last season.  No WR in history has come back that quick and that successfully from that type of injury. 

You'd have to be officially insane to consider snapping up (much less starting) a pass catcher on Carolina, but Brandon Lafell appears to Jimmy Clausen's go-to guy in the RZ these days.  That last sentence belongs in the "getting desperate for things to say about this stat chart" file.  Moving on.

You James Jones owners are probably a little pissed at me, and rightfully so.  Look, I'm one, too (a Jones owner).  I love the guy's upside.  He's got a sick amount of talent, and it will be realized... if Donald Driver ever decides to retire.  As it stands now, though, Driver appears to be fully healed from his quad injury, and Jones has taken a backseat in targets.  I heavily debated he and Knox for my WR3 this weekend, and opted to go with Knox.  Not that it mattered, as Knox didn't do squat, as he, too, is ceding targets (to Bennett), but I apologize to you all for this one.  That said, I bet Jones goes off this weekend in Detroit! It's called fantasy football, folks. 

Thought he did not see any RZ targets this past weekend, Calvin Johnson is officially match-up proof.  He's caught TDs from all kinds of QBs from all types of walks of life.  There aren't many like him in this league.  His health is the only thing that can hold him back. 

The Seattle Seahawk WRs are dropping like flies.  Mike Williams will be out this weekend, and Ben Obomanu remains highly questionable, leaving Deon Butler and rookie Golden Tate to start for a resurgent Matt Hasselbeck.  PS - Tate was targeted thrice in the RZ on Sunday. 

And finally... Has anyone been watching the Eagles?  I know, dumb question; they are the most exciting team in the league, of course you are.  That said, I've taken the liberty (afforded to me by our Constitution thank you very much) of zoning in on WTF is up with Brent Celek (I drafted him in a 1.5 PPR for TE league - BUSTED!) and I gotta tell you... he and Vick have the rapport of two bashful teenagers at their first junior high school social trying to get their first ever kiss out of the way.  I mean c'mon, already.  I haven't crunched the stats, but I want to know how many times Vick has missed him, and how many balls Celek has dropped.  Thursday's performance was not an isolated incident.  I counted two blown targets and one dropped pass in that one alone, and it's something I noticed in the Chicago and Washington games as well. 

His numbers could be so much better than they are right now.  I wonder if they work out whatever their differences are, because if they do, Celek could be a monster in the fantasy playoffs.  Opposing secondaries have decided that there will be no more DeSean Jackson 80 yard bombs, and this has left Celek some wide open looks in the underneath routes.  Anyone with Celek on their roster heading into the playoffs should employ equal parts hope and excitement at this potential.

*We ranked the below table by most red zone (RZ) targets over the past three weeks.  As always, the final column represents RZ touchdowns only.  The RZ is defined as inside your opponent’s 20 yard line

Rank	Player	Team	Position	Week 1-10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Total RZ Targets	Total RZ Rec TD
1	Terrell Owens	Cincinnati	WR	13	2	1	5	21	5
2	Lance Moore	New Orleans	WR	14	0	2	3	19	4
3	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona	WR	12	1	3	0	16	4
4	Danny Amendola	St. Louis	WR	12	2	2	0	16	3
5	Earl Bennett	Chicago	WR	11	1	3	1	16	3
6	Marques Colston	New Orleans	WR	11	4	0	1	16	3
7	Antonio Gates	San Diego	TE	12	0	2	1	15	7
8	Hakeem Nicks	New York Giants	WR	14	1	0	0	15	6
9	Wes Welker	New England	WR	10	1	3	1	15	6
10	James Jones	Green Bay	WR	10	1	3	1	15	2
11	Jason Avant	Philadelphia	WR	10	2	1	2	15	2
12	Calvin Johnson	Detroit	WR	11	2	1	0	14	8
13	Dwayne Bowe	Kansas City	WR	11	1	2	0	14	7
14	Greg Jennings	Green Bay	WR	9	2	0	3	14	6
15	Brandon Lloyd	Denver	WR	12	1	1	0	14	5
16	Dustin Keller	New York Jets	TE	10	4	0	0	14	4
17	Reggie Wayne	Indianapolis	WR	12	1	0	1	14	4
18	Tony Gonzalez	Atlanta	TE	9	3	2	0	14	4
19	Roddy White	Atlanta	WR	13	0	0	0	13	3
20	Pierre Garcon	Indianapolis	WR	11	0	1	1	13	1
21	Jeremy Maclin	Philadelphia	WR	6	0	3	3	12	5
22	Steve Johnson	Buffalo	WR	8	3	1	0	12	5
23	Greg Olsen	Chicago	TE	10	1	1	0	12	4
24	Mike Sims-Walker	Jacksonville	RB	9	0	3	0	12	4
25	Chad Ochocinco	Cincinnati	WR	7	2	2	1	12	3

Click here to see 26-200!