The Fantasy Hit List

One thing Week 6 in the NFL wasn’t short on was fantasy scoring.

Six different quarterbacks scored 25 or more fantasy points (standard scoring) on Sunday, and Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton still have a game to play Monday night in San Diego.

Tom Brady: 43 points (380 yards, four touchdowns)

Drew Brees: 34 points (369 yards, four touchdowns)

Matt Schaub: 34 points (392 yards, four touchdowns)

Ben Roethlisberger: 27 points (417 yards, two touchdowns)

Joe Flacco: 27 points (385 yards, two touchdowns)

Brett Favre: 25 points (278 yards, three touchdowns)

Just missing the cut was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who amassed 23 fantasy points by throwing for 358 yards and two touchdowns.

MBP Award (Most Beastly Performance)

The New England Patriots

On a high-scoring Sunday that featured nine NFL teams racking up 27 or more points, the Patriots stood above everyone else as they pummeled the Tennessee Titans 59-0 on a snowy day at Foxboro, Mass.

Brady completed 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards and a whopping six touchdowns, Wes Welker caught 10 passes for 150 yards and two scores, Randy Moss hauled in eight balls for 129 yards and three tuddies and Laurence Maroney rushed for 123 yards on 16 carries, scoring once.

The Patriots defense was also outstanding, keeping the Titans off the scoreboard all afternoon, forcing six fumbles, picking up three fumble recoveries and grabbing two interceptions, all while holding Tennessee to just 186 yards of offense.

For those of you who watched this game, it seemed eerily familiar to what we saw from the Patriots during their record-breaking 2007 season, didn’t it?

Honorable Mention goes out to Jets running back Thomas Jones, who piled up 210 rushing yards and a score on just 22 carries (9.5 YPC) in New York’s 16-13 overtime loss on Sunday.

Players on the rise

Steve Breaston   WR    Arizona Cardinals: The young wideout caught seven passes for 77 yards and one touchdown in Week 6. But the big news out of the NFC West is that wide receiver Anquan Boldin (6-54-0) left Sunday’s game with a high ankle sprain and could miss some action in the coming weeks. Even if Boldin can go, he will be less than 100 percent. Expect an increase in targets for Breaston.

Also keep an eye on Cardinals wide receiver Jereheme Urban (two receptions for 18 yards). He’s caught 15 passes for 172 yards on the season and will see an increase in playing time if Boldin is unable to go in Week 7. Urban is advised as a WR3/WR4 recommendation for owners in deeper fantasy leagues.

Dwayne Bowe   WR   Kansas City Chiefs: As we mentioned last week in the Total Access Pass, Bowe was an excellent buy-low option because of his upcoming schedule and lackluster offense. In his first game since the recommendation, the wide receiver did not disappoint, hauling in six passes for 109 yards. After catching just 10 passes for 107 yards in his first three games, Bowe has stepped it up by grabbing 11 receptions for 183 yards in his past two outings.

DeAngelo Williams   RB   Carolina Panthers: One of several first-round picks who has failed to live up to owners’ expectations, D-Will went off like a bomb against the Buccaneers, picking up 152 yards and scoring twice on 30 carries. Backup running back Jonathan Stewart also got in on the fun, rushing 17 times for 110 yards and one touchdown. Moral of the story? When you see the Bucs on the schedule, get their opponents in your lineup.

Brett Favre   QB   Minnesota Vikings: Not only are Favre’s Vikings currently 6-0 and on top of the NFC North, but the 40-year old quarterback has been taking it up a notch in recent weeks. Check out the gunslinger’s first three games vs. his last three games:

First Three: 62 completions, 566 yards, five touchdowns

Last Three: 63 completions, 781 yards, seven touchdowns

Head coach Brad Childress has been opening up the offense more in recent weeks, and Favre has been taking shots down the field, resulting in a higher yards-per-attempt average. A direct beneficiary has been wide receiver Sidney Rice, who has hauled in 18 passes for 393 yards and two touchdowns over the past four weeks.

If he’s available, owners are advised to pick him up.

New England Patriots D/ST: You already heard about what they did Sunday as they took home a share of the “Most Beastly Performance Award” for Week 6. Their next two games are against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (road) and Miami Dolphins (home), which are both good starts.

Falling down the boards

Matt Forte   RB   Chicago Bears: Matt Bowen did a great job writing this up this morning. The Bears have no running game right now, as evidenced by Forte’s Sunday night stat line of 15 carries for just 23 yards and no touchdowns. The second-year running back has topped 70 rushing yards in a game just once this season (Week 4 vs. Detroit) and has found the end zone only once in five games. His next four (at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Arizona, at San Francisco) offer a couple of good opportunities (Cleveland, Arizona), but the Ravens and Vikings (twice) still loom large on the schedule.

Jason Campbell   QB   Washington Redskins: Campbell was really only an option in very deep fantasy leagues, but any owners out there who were desperate enough to start him can’t feel confident about watching their fantasy quarterback get yanked in favor of no-name Todd Collins. Campbell has only one TD pass the last two weeks and ranks 17th in the league in passing yards (1,197) despite having not yet sat out during a bye week. The Redskins are in shambles and Campbell is no longer a viable option.

The Philadelphia Eagles: Thank god for the Phillies, because the Eagles would be under much more fire than they already are had Cliff Lee not pitched another gem Sunday night against the Dodgers.

Baltimore Ravens D/ST: It’s been a rough three-week stretch for the Ravens (0-3) as one of the NFL’s most feared defenses is suddenly getting picked apart. Baltimore had not allowed an opposing running back to rush for over 100 yards since Larry Johnson did it in December 2006. However, Cedric Benson (Week 5) and Adrian Peterson (Week 6) cracked the century mark against Ray Lewis and Co. In addition, the Ravens are currently ranked 17th in total defense (332.7 yards per game) and 21st in points allowed (21.7 per game). Giving up 33 points and 426 total yards to the Vikings on Sunday didn’t help matters.

Next Seven Weeks: BYE, Denver, at Cincinnati, at Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, at Green Bay

Mark Sanchez   QB   New York Jets: Mike Lombardi has written several times before that it takes about one month worth of games to tell which teams really are good and which teams really are bad. After one month, opposing teams have enough tape to discover tendencies on both sides of the ball.

Well, it looks like rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been figured out. After a red-hot 3-0 start, Sanchez and the Jets have dropped three in a row, and the Golden Boy quarterback has looked awful. Sanchez has just one touchdown pass and eight interceptions over his last three games and is completing just 52.1 percent of his passes.

With just one game over 175 yards passing in six outings, he’s not a viable starting option.

Monday night mania

I’m in San Diego to attend the Broncos-Chargers game tonight and want to bring you guys in on the action.

Here’s what you need to do: Leave a comment with the team you think will win AND the total number of points that will be scored. The person with the correct team that’s closest to the total points will get a free NFP T-shirt. I’ll mail it out when I get home later this week.

Example: “Chargers and 51 points.”

Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter, where I’ll be posting some pictures from the tailgate and game: @JoeFortenbaugh

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