Overachievers and Underperformers - Week 5

Week 5 of the NFL season was quite a crazy one. The Colts beat the undefeated Chiefs without Peyton Manning throwing a passing touchdown (and their rushing TD came from third string RB Mike Hart.) The Arizona Cardinals beat the defending Super Bowl Champion Saints without a throwing or passing TD, becoming only the second team ever to score 30 points without a rushing or passing TD (all while starting an undrafted rookie QB.) The Raiders beat the Chargers for the first time in 13 matchups. That was only a sampling of the some of the wackier games from this weekend, but there were some equally perplexing performances in terms of fantasy as well. That leads us to the Overachievers and Underperformers of week 5. These players either had awesome and unexpected days or inexplicably bad days. This is in terms of fantasy of course, so though guys like Drew Brees and Alex Smith played bad enough to hurt their teams' chances of winning, they had pretty decent fantasy days. Also, if you are supposed to play great, just like Chris Johnson's 131 yards rushing plus 2 TDs, you won't make this list either. At the end of this post check out my report card from week 5's Studs to Sit - overall, not too bad.

Overachiever - Hakeem Nicks, WR, Giants: 12 receptions, 130 yards, 2 TDs. This guy has become a must start every week.

Underperformer - Arian Foster, RB, Texans: 11 carries, 25 yards, 0 TDs (2 receptions, 2 yards.) Foster came into Week 5 leading the NFL in rushing. 25 yards? Really? Maybe the Texans aren't who we thought they were. More from them coming up.

Overachiever - Shaun Hill, QB, Lions: 21/32, 227 yards, 3 TDs. No Matthew Stafford, no problem. Hill spread the ball around, finding open receivers all over the place (all 3 TDs went to different receivers.) I can't believe the 49ers let this guy go. Now they're stuck with David Carr if/when they decide to bench Alex Smith.

Underperformer - Matt Schaub, QB, Texans: 16/34, 196 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT. This guy lead the league in passing yards last season. He has Andre Johnson to throw to (I know he's banged up, but he's better at 80% than most guys at 100%.) We thought he had a reliable run game to lean on. If I'd been writing this since the beginning of the season, this wouldn't be Schaub's first time on this list. Until the Texans offense get things figured out, if you have better options with good matchups, you might want to think about benching Schaub.

Overachiever - Danny Ammendola, WR, Rams: 12 receptions, 95 yards. Mark Clayton, the Rams best WR since week 1, is now out for the year. Not only did Ammendola get 12 receptions, but he was targeted 19 times! Ammendola now becomes the Rams wideout you want on your team. This game was a preview of things to come. Did I mention he was targeted 19 times?

Underperformer - Dwayne Bowe, WR, Chiefs: 2 receptions, 33 yards, 0 TDs. The opportunities were there, but Bowe had hands of stone on Sunday. Two crucial drops, one that would have been a TD. If that keeps up, Matt Cassel will look his way less and less.

Overachiever - Brandon Lloyd, WR, Broncos: 5 receptions, 135 yards, 2 TDs. Lloyd was this week's winner of "What Denver wideout will have the big day?" The Broncos receiving corps is so unpredictable with different guys having big games each week. In case you were wondering, against the Ravens the targets were as follows: Llyod - 14, Jabar Gaffeny - 11, Eddie Royal - 5. Going forward I'd roll the dice with Lloyd, but do so at your own peril.

That concludes the good and bad from week 5. Here's how I faired with Studs to Sit:

Overall, I'd grade it a B.

Good Calls - Tony Gonzalez (except Moeaki didn't play any better,) Ryan Mathews (Tolbert had a TD,) Arizona's offense (except Fitzgerald who had 7 catches for 93 yards,) DeSean Jackson, Darren McFadden (DNP,) and Visanthe Shiancoe.

Fair Calls - Javid Best (good call, but I was dead wrong as to why, as the Rams D/ST had about -5 fantasy points,) and Shonn Greene (LDT had twice the carries and 40 more yards, but Greene got the TD.)

Bad Calls - Randy Moss (4 receptions, 81 yards, 1TD) and Marques Colston (who had 7 catches on 12 targets this game; Brees looked his way a lot.)

Terrible Call, but I was still right - Kyle Orton. I was right in that he is a stud. I was wrong to say you should sit him. He is now a must start every week, no matter the matchup. I'd rather have him than Schaub going forward.

Tomorrow afternoon/evening look for my next post: Bye-week Buffers, where I let you know what guys on your bench and waivers can fill in and have good games when your starters have a bye.

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