Week 4 was certainly not the typical fantasy football week. Terrell Owens tore the Browns’ secondary apart all Sunday afternoon, a tight end managed his way into the top five scorers of the week and David Garrard was the highest scoring quarterback.
Owens was a top tier fantasy wide receiver in the past with both the Eagles and Cowboys. Annual stats of at least 1,000 yards receiving and 10 or more touchdowns were commonplace for Owens when he was with those two NFC East teams. He took a step back, however, when he signed a contract with the Buffalo Bills in 2009. Throughout his one year in Buffalo, Owens only managed a single game of over 100 yards receiving and caught only five touchdowns.
Signing another one-year deal with the Bengals in 2010, Owens started this season slowly. That was until Week 4 when he shocked fantasy owners with 10 catches–one for a score–and 222 receiving yards. Owens performance racked up 30 points for any fantasy owner brave enough to start him following his previous 2010 point total of 14 points.
The tight end that dominated in Week 4 has been a token of consistency over the past six years for the San Diego Chargers. Antonio Gates played a big role in the Chargers’ 41-10 stomping of the Cardinals. Gates caught every ball thrown his way last Sunday, compiling 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns. This season has been a great one thus far for the Chargers tight end, as Gates has yet to play a game without scoring a touchdown.
The madness of Week 4 continued with the shocking upset of the Jaguars over the Colts. Coming off two consecutive losses, in which quarterback David Garrard tallied five interceptions, the Jaguars won on a 59-yard field goal as time ran out. Garrard stepped his game up and led Jacksonville with a 77% completion rate and a pair of scores. These efficient numbers placed Garrard atop the scoring list of fantasy quarterbacks in Week 4.
All the surprise this weekend culminated early Wednesday morning when the Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings. This trade has big implications for the fantasy world. Moss is a big play receiver that can extend the field for any offense. The Vikings and their gray-haired quarterback need a little boost in the receiving department where they have lacked consistency all year. The fantasy upside of Brett Favre increases instantly, since Moss is a touchdown threat every week.
Touchdowns have been the main source of Moss’ fantasy production this season with four scores so far. However, he has done so on only nine receptions. The low reception total is a reason for fantasy owners to not give up on New England quarterback Tom Brady. Brady threw Moss’ way a limited number of times, so losing him shouldn’t hurt their offense terribly. Brady is still a solid fantasy quarterback with viable options in his favorite target Wes Welker, tight end Aaron Hernandez and second-year wideout Brandon Tate.
LaDainian Tomlinson and Santana Moss were the must starts in Week 4. One was a hit, the other a miss. Tomlinson solidified his starting role in New York with 133 yards and two scores on just 19 carries. The Week 4 story predicted Moss would establish a connection with Donovan McNabb. However, McNabb only looked Moss’ way once, and the duo failed to complete a single reception.
Hopefully must starts this week will go better. Zach Miller, a tight end for the Raiders, should be a starter in all leagues this week. The Raiders’ offense is improved from last season, and is able to put up more points. They will definitely need to put some points up Sunday as the San Diego Chargers and their league-leading offense come to town. Miller is the leading receiver in Oakland, and has scored in each of the past two games.
Another must start is Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. Though Flacco hasn’t given fantasy owners much to cheer about outside of his Week 3 performance, he is bound to break out against the Broncos this week. Flacco conducted a game-winning drive last week against the best defense in football, and if he can have success passing against the Steelers, he should have no problem moving the ball against Denver’s weak secondary.
It’s weeks like this past one that make fantasy football so popular. It is that bold decision to start a wild card like Owens or Garrard that separate the best from the rest in terms of fantasy owners.
