This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
Sunday was a weird day for fantasy owners who have ridden their wide receivers throughout the year, as only three reached the 100-yard mark, and only one found the end zone. After Mike Evans (11 catches on 17 targets for 150 yards and two touchdowns) and Julio Jones (eight for 11 for 111 and one TD) each broke the magical barrier Thursday night, the only wide receivers who reached that level Sunday were Mike Wallace (four catches on six targets for 124 yards and one touchdown), Quinton Patton (six for 106) and Eli Rogers (six for 103).
Yes, there were a few upper-tier wideouts on bye, such as the Arizona guys, Alshon Jeffrey, A.J. Green and DeAndre Hopkins, but noticeably absent from the list Sunday were Antonio Brown (seven catches for 85 yards), Odell Beckham (four catches for 46 yards - in fairness, he scored twice), Brandon Marshall (six for 45), Brandin Cooks (five for 66) and Dez Bryant (one for 19), among many others.
And just to keep the crazy times rolling, Jason Witten led all tight ends with eight catches on 10 targets for 134 yards and a touchdown, his highest yardage total since Week 17 of the 2013 season. In fact, that was the last time Witten had more than 90 yards in a game, let alone 130. And the quarterback for that game (since I know you're wondering)? Kyle Orton.
So, if there weren't that many wideouts who had big performances, surely the running backs dominated the fantasy totals Sunday, right? Well, kind of. Fantasy players who stacked the Saints' backfield in San Francisco were treated to monster games from Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower. Wait, what? After fumbling early in last week's game, Ingram lost his top spot on the depth chart to Hightower, who rushed 23 times for 87 yards and a touchdown Sunday against the Niners. However, fantasy owners who decided to stick with Ingram (obviously no one played them together) were paid off handsomely for their...braveness...as he rushed 15 times for 158 yards and a touchdown while also adding two receptions for 13 yards and another score. It was Ingram's best game by far, though unfortunately Hightower was good enough that he'll probably keep getting first dibs on carries in this clear split backfield.
The Jaguars' Chris Ivory also hit the 100-yard mark, though his fantasy upside took a big knock when he fumbled just before the goal line against the Chiefs. In fact, after watching the reply 17 times, I am still surprised the referees ruled that the ball didn't cross the plane before Ivory coughed it up. His 107 yards were 22 more than he had all season coming into the game, a very disappointing return for the Jags after they signed him to a five-yard, $32 million in the spring. With T.J. Yeldon also getting touches (in fact, he scored on a 13-yard pass in the fourth quarter), the Jags' and Saints' backfields are similar in that they don't have a true no. 1, but that seems to be where the similarities end.
If there is a place where there is clearly no split backfield, it's in Miami. Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi played in his 16th NFL game Sunday, and he now has 157 carries for 833 yards and six touchdowns, while also catching 18 passes for 158 receiving yards for his career. Not bad production for the 159th overall pick in the 2015 draft, but also nothing all that noteworthy. What is pretty remarkable is that 63.5 percent of his career rushing yards have come in the last three games. After breaking the 200-yard mark in back-to-back games, Ajayi rushed for "only" 111 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries Sunday against the Jets, who used to have a pretty good run defense (I promise). After seldom using running back Lamar Miller last season, new head coach Adam Gase is now relying heavily on Ajayi, as his 77 carries in the last three games represent nearly half of his career backfield touches.
And if we're praising 2015 draft picks, let's give it up for Melvin Gordon, who has completely turned the table on his bust trajectory after not scoring a single touchdown last season. Despite hitting pay dirt 10 times in his first eight games, including six rushing TDs in the first four, Gordon has finally starting getting the YPC averages that people often pointed to as his biggest negative. Gordon rushed 32 times for 196 yards (6.1 YPC) and a touchdown Sunday against the Titans, and he also picked up 65 receiving yards on four catches. With Danny Woodhead out for the year because of a torn ACL, Gordon has been incredibly useful in the passing game, picking up more than 40 receiving yards five times this season. While the Chargers haven't hit their bye (Week 11) yet, Gordon could finish the season as a top-five running back, an unheard of idea at the beginning of the season.
Oh my. @MelvinGordon25 is just a BEAST. #Chargers#TENvsSDhttps://t.co/zdVuNusORk
— NFL (@NFL) November 7, 2016
