On a day when three different quarterbacks threw five or more touchdown passes, our headliner is a rookie reserve whose team just lost 26-10. Such is the power of Johnny Manziel.
Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine pulled starter Brian Hoyer early in the fourth quarter on Sunday, his team trailing at Buffalo, 20-3. Hoyer had just thrown his second interception of the game and fifth in the past two weeks. Manziel's first series was crisp eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive, punctuated by this 10-yard touchdown scramble by Johnny himself . His second series was ... um ... somewhat less impressive. It featured this bit of hilarity , ruled an incomplete pass. Still, Johnny's final passing line was a perfectly respectable 5-of-8 for 63 yards, and he found Josh Gordon for his longest completion of the day.
So now the critical question is this: Who will get the start behind center for the Browns in Week 14?
Pettine declined to fully endorse either QB in his initial postgame comments:
Not much chance the coaching staff will enjoy this week's tape. Expect the quarterback debate to be settled by Wednesday's practice, but not long before.
Hoyer has been a rough watch over the past month, tossing just one TD pass and six picks over his last four games. He's completing just 56.2 percent of his passes for the year. It's been a nice enough seven-win ride so far this season, but the good times may have just ended. Hoyer was apparently shocked to be benched, but the rest of us weren't so surprised. The Browns are right there, still contending, and Hoyer has been a turnover machine.
If the Manziel takeover is indeed happening, he'll get a home matchup with Indianapolis next Sunday. The Colts just allowed 392 passing yards and three scores to a bad team's third-string quarterback, so we can't regard them as an impossible matchup. Manziel obviously has a rushing component to his game, which fantasy owners appreciate; there's no arguing with the quality of his receiving corps, now that Gordon is back in the mix (and with Jordan Cameron perhaps on the way). Cleveland will no doubt remain a run-heavy team moving forward, but Indy has a way forcing opponents to the air. Clearly, Manziel has deep-league fantasy appeal, and he's available in nearly 90 percent of the Yahoo universe. We know he's a fun improvisational player; we can't yet say if he's going to be an effective, winning pocket-passer at the pro level.
But Johnny is gonna be a fun watch, and probably a fun fantasy experience. If he's at the controls of the Browns offense in Week 16 — when fantasy titles are settled — he'd face a Carolina defense that ranks among the most generous to opposing QBs.
We've all enjoyed the Hoyer story, but, well ... c'mon. Johnny Football potentially making his first pro start in the opening round of the fantasy playoffs is pretty much the greatest.
I'm ready. Let's hope Johnny is, too.
• New Orleans and Pittsburgh combined for 67 points and over 900 yards of total offense on Sunday (685 via the pass), yet somehow Jimmy Graham caught nothin'. Zero targets, zero catches, zero fantasy goodness. Nine different Saints had receptions in Week 13, but not JIMMY [expletive] GRAHAM. That's, um ... wow. Unexpected. The silver lining here (which won't matter to you if Graham cost you a playoff berth) is that Jimmy isn't injured. The Steelers simply erased him...
Drew Brees still managed to throw for 257 yards and five TDs, connecting five times with Kenny Stills for 162 yards and one score. (Stills basically owned Ike Taylor.) Pittsburgh received big days from everyone who routinely delivers them — Ben passed for 435, Brown had two scores, Le'Veon had a zillion yards — but the Steelers defense was barely a rumor.
• The Patriots and Packers gave us the high-level clinic we were all expecting, with twice as much Brandon LaFell as I'd projected (5-38-2). LeGarrette Blount out-carried Jonas Gray 10-to-1, while Brandon Bolden poached the rushing score. Welcome to the many-headed nightmare that is the New England backfield.
Not that you ever doubted him, but Aaron Rodgers remains sickeningly good. He passed for 368 and two scores in the win over New England, tossing his usual zero INTs. Davante Adams led the Pack in receiving (6-121-0), but he also dropped a sure TD. Jordy Nelson roasted Darrelle Revis for a long score in the final minute of the first-half, saving his fantasy day.
• Congrats to those of you who streamed the Minnesota D/ST in Week 13. Well played. The Vikes scored twice on blocked punts against Carolina, which we don't exactly see every week. Keep Minnesota on your roster for next week's date with the Jets. Cam Newton had yet another ho-hum day for the Panthers (194 pass, TD, INT) in an not-so-intimidating matchup, and Kelvin Benjamin did little with another dozen targets (5-56-0). Carolina has the Saints and Bucs upcoming, so at least there's hope if you're banking on Cats in the fantasy postseason. (It's fading, but it's still hope.)
• Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing six touchdown passes is just everything that's great and terrible and unknowable about the NFL. Can't say I considered that within the range of possible outcomes. Never overestimate Tennessee, I guess. Fitz needed only 33 pass attempts to produce 358 yards and a half-dozen scores, as DeAndre Hopkins had a monstrous day (238 yards, 2 TDs).
For planning purposes, here's the rest-of-season schedule for the Titans: NYG, NYJ, at Jax, Ind. Tennessee lost Zach Mettenberger to a right shoulder injury and Justin Hunter to a lacerated spleen (yikes), adding injuries to the day's various insults.
• So are there any Doug Martin owners still alive in fantasy at this late date? Anyone? No? Well, Martin visited the end-zone on Sunday, for the first time since September. He finished with 61 scrimmage yards on 19 touches versus Cincy. Andy Dalton was breathtakingly bad in the first-half at Tampa (three INTs), but the Bucs did very little with the opportunities, ultimately losing 14-13. Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard again split the backfield touches, but neither found the end-zone. Let's all just try to forget this game ever occurred, agreed? Great.
• Keenan Allen and Torrey Smith opened the 2014 season as two of the league's most maligned and disappointing receivers, but they've surged in recent weeks. Those two combined for 186 receiving yards and four spikes at Baltimore on Sunday, in a thriller of a game, marred by a dubious PI penalty. (As I now understand the call, Ravens DB Anthony Levine was flagged for illegally using his neck and face to interfere with Malcom Floyd's forearm. Or something like that.) Philip Rivers was terrific, finishing with 383 passing yards and three scores. Baltimore entered the day allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, you'll note. The Ravens aren't necessarily a matchup to avoid.
• In an otherwise productive afternoon against Washington, Coby Fleener was responsible for one of the ugliest drops in the history of professional football thrown objects. Just look at this thing . It should have been like fielding a short punt — and Fleener had a fair chance to stumble across the goal-line, too. Brutal. Fleener's fantasy owners can only complain so much, however, because the oven-mitted tight end still finished with 127 yards and two scores (the first was laughably open). Dan Herron outproduced Trent Richardson by a mile this week, not that you expected anything else. Herron gained 88 yards on eight carries, breaking the plane from the distance in the first-half on a 49-yarder. (Richardson, in case you were wondering, has never had a 40-plus yard carry or catch in the NFL. He had eight totes for 12 yards this week.) Donte Moncrief added a pair of long second-half touchdowns for the Colts, who embarrassed Washington early and often.
Colt McCoy had a huge day in relief of RG3, passing for 392 yards and three TDs. And it wasn't nearly enough, because his team's defense was miserable. (Also, Andrew Luck can play a little.) DeSean Jackson limped away from Week 13 with a leg injury/bruise of as-yet-unknown severity, so we'll need to monitor that situation throughout the week ahead.
• Matt Ryan and Julio Jones shamed the Cardinals defense on Sunday, and Steven Jackson topped the 100-yard plateau against Arizona's normally stout run D. Julio hauled in 10 of his 12 targets for 189 yards and one score. Harry Douglas added nine catches for 116, delivering a pretty fair Roddy White impression. All things considered, a good day for the dome birds, an awful day for the desert birds. And Andre Ellington (hip) added his name to the long list of injured Cards, so that's another worry.
• Oakland got its win last Thursday, so the team apparently decided to treat Week 13 as a bye. The Raiders were mauled in St. Louis on Sunday, losing 52-0. Tre Mason had a huge afternoon for the Rams, totaling 164 yards and three scores on just 17 touches. Scott Pianowski told the tale earlier in the day, right here. Give it a read. Mason had been plenty impressive in degree-of-difficulty matchups this season, so the explosion against Oakland wasn't completely unforeseeable.
• I'm not sure that Sunday's loss at Jacksonville was a new low for the New York Giants, but it was certainly a shockingly low low. The Giants raced to an early three-touchdown lead, yet somehow coughed up the game to a one-win team. Rashad Jennings ran for two TDs against the Jaguars, and it wasn't enough. Blake Bortles made it through an entire game without turning over the football, so congrats to him. We can't say the same for Eli, I'm afraid.
EARLY ADDS FOR WEEK 14
all players available in 50 percent of Yahoo leagues
QB Johnny Manziel, Cle (Ind, Cin, at Car)
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Hou (at Jac, at Ind, Bal)
QB Teddy Bridgewater, Min (NYJ, at Det, at Mia)
RB Doug Martin, TB (at Det, at Car, GB)
RB Daniel Herron, Ind (at Cle, Hou, at Dal)
RB Roy Helu Jr., Was (STL, at NYG, Phi)
WR Kenny Stills, NO (Car, at Chi, Atl)
WR Greg Jennings, Min (NYJ, at Det, at Mia)
WR Donte Moncrief, Ind (at Cle, Hou, at Dal)
DEF Minnesota (NYJ, at Det, at Mia)
DEF Green Bay (Atl, at Buf, at TB)
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