(Late Evening Edition)
Sunday brought about some eyebrow-raising as well, with both the Ravens and Packers handling their business in decisive fashion. Sure the Eagles playing at home made it close, but it was a game quarterback Michael Vick and company were pretty much scrambling all afternoon. The Aaron Rodgers led Packers came into Lincoln Field, grab control and took the lead never to look back. In Kansas City the Ravens defense needed a few plays, but once they awoke it was lights out for the Chiefs.
With the Seahawks winners over the Saints and the Packers coming out of Philly with the win, check your brackets folks, cause there will be some changes.
The Saturday Night Special At The Georgia Dome
For those of us still entertained with fantasy fever, this Saturday’s divisional round matchup between the Packers and Falcons promises to deliver plenty to cheer about. Remember these two teams squared off about a month and a half ago and gave fans plenty of fireworks to get excited about. This time around looks to be a lot of the same, but with the Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (28 touchdowns, 3,922 yards passing in 2010) playing so well, it’s hard to imagine the Falcons being able to limit the Green Bay offense to just 17 points. Back in week 12 against the Falcons Rodgers passed for 344 yards, but only threw one touchdown pass. In his last three starts, Rodgers is averaging 270 yards passing and has eight touchdown passes. Rodgers will still have plenty of weapons on the field, even with a dinged up Donald Driver (knee) and could be in for another big outing against the Falcons 22nd ranked pass defense.
While Rodgers figures to provide plenty of fanfare on Saturday, across the field on the other side the Falcons will be leaning heavily on their ground attack and running back Michael Turner (1,371 yards rushing in 2010). The more Turner carries the ball, the clock he eats, the less the Falcons’ secondary has to deal with Rodgers. In their first matchup the Falcons and Turner had a lot of success with 110 yards on the ground. Turner toted the rock 23 times and helped the Falcons not only win the time-of-possession battle, but the game. Turner (12 rushing touchdowns in 2010) also added a scoring run in the game and will be a strong bet to find pay-dirt once again.
Notables
There were several performances over the weekend worth noting for fantasy owners. In Baltimore wide receiver Anquan Boldin did not have a breakout game, but his five receptions were the most among the Raven’s wide receivers and one of his grabs came in the red-zone for a score. Boldin has had his up and downs this season, but could re-emerge as Flacco’s go-to receiver, especially in the red-zone.
The Packers rediscovered a ground game led by rookie running back James Starks, who set a Packer’s rookie post season record with 123 yards on the ground. Starks led all running backs over the weekend with 23 carries and looks in line to be the Packer’s featured ground gainer when the team travels to Atlanta. The Falcons (ranked 10th against the run) did a pretty good job against the run this season, but they will have their hands full with this kid on Saturday. Starks did not play in their first matchup this season.
Joe “Cool” (Flacco) was steady Freddy on Sunday once his offensive line made the necessary adjustments and allowed him time to throw. On the afternoon Flacco was dumped four times, but when he was not being hurried or hit he was completing passes (25 of 34) and throwing touchdowns (two on Sunday). Flacco passed for 265 yards on the day, often connecting with his tight end and when he didn’t have much downfield he was able to use his legs scrambling for another 26 yards on the ground. Flacco face his old nemesis the Pittsburgh Steelers in the matinee matchup on Saturday. The two teams split their two meetings this season and Flacco is 2-4 in his career against the Steelers; including 1-2 at Heinz Field
Just my thoughts.
Fantasy Spotlight
Although the Ravens offense struggled to put points on the board early they had little trouble moving the ball well against the Chiefs on Sunday. One of the biggest reasons the offense had so much success was quarterback Joe Flacco’s rediscovering his tight end Todd Heap.
The Raven’s tight end led all receivers over the weekend with 10 receptions for 108 yards receiving; both were season highs for Heap. Flacco targeted Heap early and found him often. On the day Heap was targeted 13 times and his 10 catches set a Raven’s post season record.
Heap enjoyed a very good Wild-Card weekend, but faces a stiff test next against the Steelers. In two games Heap only totaled three catches for 35 yards, including a donut in week 13 when he suffered a hamstring injury and left early. Now that he’s healthy, Heap figures to play a much bigger role in the passing game.
He’s our Fantasy Spotlight Player of the Week!
Diamonds in the Rough
Jones has explosive speed on the outside, but had an issue with focus and drops. The Falcons figure to roll their attention toward wide receiver Greg Jennings and with wide receiver Donald Driver ailing a bit and Jones could play a much bigger role Saturday night. This past weekend against the Eagles, Jones caught just one pass for nine yards, but it was good enough for a score. He also just missed on a big pass play for a long score when he dropped a sure pass that fell through his hands. Jones has too much talent and big play potential to overlook and he could be primed for a breakout game on Saturday against Atlanta.
WR-John Carlson
Did anyone remember who John Carlson was before Saturday’s breakout game against the Saints? Carlson didn’t post big yardage on Saturday in the Seahawks Wild-card round matchup with the Saints, but he pretty much made every catch count. Carlson nabbed just three passes for 17 yards, but two of those grabs were for touchdowns. The Seahawks tightend has become somewhat of a forgotten name in the fantasy world this season. He has only managed more than three catches in a game twice this season, but coming off an effort like this it could all change. Carlson was not heavily targeted, but his two scores were more than he had all season. On Sunday he’ll face a Bears defense that has struggled this season with opposing tightends; Carlson could be in for another surprising performance this weekend.
