Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? This legendary post game speech still resonates today as most fantasy leagues are a few weeks out from the beginning of the all-important playoffs. These guys might be heating up at just the right time to help you take home your league’s trophy. Special preference is given to surprise performances as its more impressive when a guy on a lot of waiver wires lights up the scoreboard than a perennial All-Pro. Scores referenced are standard scoring.
QB: Cam Newton, 26pts
Apparently, Cam took offense to being labeled a Dud last week and proceeded to win the biggest game of his young career. Staring down Tom Brady on the other side in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football, Newton went off, posting three passing touchdowns that he paired with a very valuable 62 yards on the ground. YES, WE CAM!
RB: Bobby Rainey, 34pts
As a Doug Martin owner, one has to wonder where all these holes where during the time that the Muscle Hamster was in the backfield as his backup, Mike James, and now surprisingly the twice waived Bobby Rainey have posted monster games. Rainey did it all, running for 163 yards while putting up three total touchdowns. The Atlanta front may be already thinking about the offseason, but that doesn’t matter much to those savvy enough to snipe Rainey off the waiver wire prior to his breakout game.
RB: Donald Brown, 21pts
Trent Richardson probably won’t like to read this but Donald Brown is the Colt’s back that should be carrying the mail for them right now. In a competitive game with Tennessee, it was Brown who produced a workhorse like game with two touchdowns and 80 yards. Averaging better than five yards a carry in a huge divisional game might finally be enough notice for the Colts coaches that they already know the answer to, “What can Brown do for you?”
WR: Calvin Johnson, 29pts
Normally a name this obvious wouldn’t make this list but there is something to be said for sustained excellence. Four straight games with 20 or more points makes it okay to show the man they call Megatron a little love every now and again. Next week we could see a matchup of Megatron versus Revis Island. While Revis may no longer be the top corner in football, that should still be a great one-on-one for football fans.
WR: Harry Douglas, 19pts
At the beginning of the season if I had told you that it wouldn’t be Roddy White or Julio Jones leading the Atlanta Falcons in most of the receiving categories you would probably have guessed that Tony Gonzalez had continued his Fountain of Youth infused-Hall of Fame career in style. While that is not the case the sole bright spot for an otherwise horrible Falcon’s game was Harry Douglas, with a long garbage time TD he managed to turn a blowout into a top-10 box score.
TE: Charles Clay, 15pts
The utility tight end led his team in receptions and yards while chipping in a highlight reel TD. Clay was a sneaky pickup during the early parts of the season and might be the most dangerous receiving threat his team has. Owners who picked him up as a bye week fill in or as an injury replacement must have been patting themselves on the back this weekend.
D/ST: Cincinnati Bengals, 26pts
One blocked punt can be attributed to a lot of things, blown assignment, miscommunication, or just bad luck. Blocking two punts and scoring two touchdowns proves that this is a unit that can withstand injuries to star players and still produce a game changing week.
K: Adam Vinatieri, 15pts
From Dud to Stud in one week, one of the most clutch kickers of all time definitely rewarded patient fantasy owners with 15 big points in his team’s 30-27 win versus the Tennessee Titans.
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