This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
Game-time decisions are so frustrating in fantasy football because it forces fantasy managers to be glued to their computers or smart phones until it's clear if their guy is starting or not. However, things got so much worse Sunday for fantasy owners of Ben Roethlisberger, as he was surprisingly active for Sunday's game despite spraining his foot just last weekend against the Raiders, but the news that he wasn't going to start didn't come until after noon ET, though it felt like 12:59 p.m. just before rosters locked.
Then things went bananas. Landry Jones, who started in place of Roethlisberger, left after the seventh offensive snap because of an ankle injury, which pushed Big Ben into the game. What followed was another brilliant performance by Roethelisberger against the Browns, as he threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns, one to Martavis Bryant (six catches on 10 targets for 178 yards) and two to Antonio Brown (10 catches on 14 targets for 139 yards). Roethlisberger has always been viewed as a tough player, but Sunday's performance had to be up there as one of his grittiest. He will get some time to recover, as the Steelers are off in Week 11 before facing a tough Seahawks defense in Week 12.
• Another quarterback who came into the weekend banged up was Peyton Manning, who was dealing with rib and foot issues, and coach Gary Kubiak admitted after Sunday's game that he made a bad decision starting the veteran.
Game-time decisions are so frustrating in fantasy football because it forces fantasy managers to be glued to their computers or smart phones until it's clear if their guy is starting or not. However, things got so much worse Sunday for fantasy owners of Ben Roethlisberger, as he was surprisingly active for Sunday's game despite spraining his foot just last weekend against the Raiders, but the news that he wasn't going to start didn't come until after noon ET, though it felt like 12:59 p.m. just before rosters locked.
Then things went bananas. Landry Jones, who started in place of Roethlisberger, left after the seventh offensive snap because of an ankle injury, which pushed Big Ben into the game. What followed was another brilliant performance by Roethelisberger against the Browns, as he threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns, one to Martavis Bryant (six catches on 10 targets for 178 yards) and two to Antonio Brown (10 catches on 14 targets for 139 yards). Roethlisberger has always been viewed as a tough player, but Sunday's performance had to be up there as one of his grittiest. He will get some time to recover, as the Steelers are off in Week 11 before facing a tough Seahawks defense in Week 12.
• Another quarterback who came into the weekend banged up was Peyton Manning, who was dealing with rib and foot issues, and coach Gary Kubiak admitted after Sunday's game that he made a bad decision starting the veteran. Manning completed five of 20 passes for 50 yards while getting picked off four times. He's now thrown 17 interceptions and only nine touchdowns this season, easily his worst season since he was a rookie in 1998 (and it could finish worse than that from a fantasy perspective).
The Broncos were able to essentially ignore his struggles because they started 7-0, including a win over the Packers, but they've now lost two in a row with a trip to Chicago in Week 11. Playing the Bears shouldn't normally scare a visiting team, but if there's a single coach in the NFL who knows Manning and the Broncos well, it's John Fox (plus offensive coordinator Adam Gase). Manning will start if he's healthy, but the Broncos could very much be looking at Brock Osweiler to face his old coach to get Manning a week off to recover (a three-game lead in the division certainly helps). Demaryius Thomas is struggling this season as well, scoring just one touchdown, and Emmanuel Sanders almost missed Sunday's game because of an ankle injury, and he then took a shot to the head (he passed all concussion tests after the game). The matchup looked good on paper, but I'll probably be avoiding the Broncos next Sunday.
• Oh, and congratulations to Manning for setting the all-time passing yards record.
How To Stack Cousins
Kirk Cousins was highly touted in a number of spots (here, here, here, here) because of his plus matchup Sunday against an awful Saints passing defense, and he didn't disappoint, completing 20 of 25 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns, earning a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating. Tight end Jordan Reed scored twice, as the two continue to have great chemistry, while his other scores went to Jamison Crowder and Matt Jones. Notably absent from the success: DeSean Jackson (two catches on five targets for 44 yards) and Pierre Garcon (two catches on two targets for 10 receiving yards). In any subsequent good matchups, Reed, who has five touchdowns in the last three games, might be the only reliable receiving option in Washington.
Top Wideout Combos
Allen Hurns scored again Sunday, his seventh consecutive game with a touchdown, the longest streak in the NFL this season, while Eric Decker scored Thursday night against the Bills, his seventh touchdown in eight games this year. I don't think anyone is going to take Hurns over Decker, but the two are playing big roles this season as No. 2 wideouts behind Allen Robinson and Brandon Marshall (both of whom scored in Week 10 as well), respectively. If I had to rank the top wideout combinations for the rest of the season, it would look like this:
Antonio Brown/Martavis Bryant
Allen Robinson/Allen Hurns
Brandon Marshall/Eric Decker
Amari Cooper/Michael Crabtree
Randall Cobb/Davante Adams
Demaryius Thomas/Emmanuel Sanders
Mike Evans/Vincent Jackson (when healthy)
Larry Fitzgerald/Michael Floyd
Calvin Johnson/Golden Tate
Odell Beckham/Rueben Randle
Patriots Down Another Man
There was plenty of talk about how the Patriots would respond to Dion Lewis' season-ending knee injury (would it mean more carries for LeGarrette Blount, more touches for James White, more targets for the wideouts and Rob Gronkowski?) but things got much worse Sunday against the Giants when wideout Julian Edelman broke his foot. Rodney Harrison said during halftime of the Sunday night game on NBC that he thought Edelman was the most important offensive player on the Pats, even ahead of Gronkowski, though I'll respectfully disagree and rank them Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Edelman and everyone else tied for fourth. If Brady has proven anything over his career, it's that any offensive player is replaceable. Danny Amendola will surely see more targets, though expecting Edelman-level production is very naive.
New Keeper Target
The emergence of Jeremy Langford likely means the Bears will let Matt Forte go in the offseason. As dominant as Forte has been the last few years, Langford looks just as good in the last two weeks, accounting for 142 yards and a touchdown in Week 9 against the Chargers and then 182 yards (including seven catches for 109 receiving yards) and two touchdowns Sunday at St. Louis. Langford, a fourth-round pick out of Michigan State, is coming on like C.J. Anderson did last season, though Forte's return would immediately return him to his backup role. Nevertheless, Langford's value in dynasty and keeper leagues is skyrocketing each week. It's almost too bad the Bears still have a shot at the playoffs because it'll force them to keep using Forte instead of continuing to ride Langford. One thing is clear: the Bears won't have to keep thinking of bringing in Montee Ball, whose injury last year coincidentally led to Anderson's run of playing time.
•Another player who looks like the guy he replaced is Charcandrick West, who racked up 161 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns Sunday against the Broncos, and with Jamaal Charles out for the season with a torn ACL, West will continue to dominate the backfield touches. However, Charles is signed through the 2017 season with a fairly reasonable cap hit for a player with his upside, so West's keeper upside isn't nearly as high as Langford's.
