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Week 15 fantasy football notebook

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles

» Dez Bryant absolutely roasted the Philadelphia secondary. He finished with six catches for 114yards and three touchdowns.

» It looks like two different teams came out to start the second half. The Eagles notched two more rushing touchdowns ... but none went to LeSean McCoy. Darren Sproles scored on a 1-yard scamper after a Tony Romo fumble set the Eagles up with a super short field.

» The Cowboys got an early lead over the Eagles, thanks to a Josh Huff muffed-catch on the opening kickoff that Dallas turned into a DeMarco Murray touchdown. Later, Tony Romo hooked up with Dez Bryant for two more touchdowns. It has been tough sledding for Murray though, as he only has 69 rushing yards on 23 carries, but he has plowed into the end zone twice.

» For the Eagles, their offense struggled to move the ball early, but the running game got going in the second quarter. Unfortunately, it was Chris Polk and not LeSean McCoy who scored Philadelphia's lone touchdown in the first half. Mark Sanchez had 252 passing yards, but didn't score a touchdown and threw two costly interceptions. Jeremy Maclin led the way for the Eagles pass catchers with four receptions for 98 yards.

- Alex Gelhar

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks

» The 49ers look committed to running the football today -- especially with Carlos Hyde, who has 45 yards on his first three carries.

» Marshawn Lynch was a beast as usual, with 91 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Russell Wilson did he usual magician work on broken plays, but surprisingly threw a bad interception at the end of the first half.

» The real story here for the 49ers and fantasy owners were injuries, as both Frank Gore and Hyde left the game with injuries. Hyde's could be more serious as his ankle/leg was rolled up on pretty badly.

- Marcas Grant

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers

» C.J. Anderson shouldered the load once again for Denver. He had 29 carries for 85 yards but failed to get into the end zone. Peyton Manning had his third straight disappointing game with just 233 yards and one touchdown. Fantasy owners of Manning are definitely left wanting more than just under 14 fantasy points from their elite signal-caller.

» Philip Rivers struggled again today. He threw two interceptions and just one touchdown and finished with less than 10 fantasy points. Without Ryan Mathews the Chargers had virtually no run game. Branden Oliver was their lead runner with just 26 yards on 12 carries. Keenan Allen also left the game early with an ankle injury putting a damper on any of his owners' Sunday afternoon fantasy hopes.

» The touchdowns have finally started flowing in the second half. First it was Demaryius Thomas getting in for Denver. He has 100 yards on the day so far. The Chargers answered with an Antonio Gates score early in the fourth quarter.

» You'd think a Denver vs San Diego game would be of those high-scoring shootout kind of deals. Actually it's been all field goals so far. Connor Barth has kicked three of them for the Broncos while Nick Novak is one for one. The Chargers have just 92 total yards of offense thus far. It's 9-3 Broncos at the half.

» After one quarter, C.J. Anderson has already rushed the ball 12 times for 42 yards. Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas each have one reception for 30 or more yards. Branden Oliver is the only Chargers' back to touch the ball thus far with three carries for 10 yards.

- Matt Franciscovich

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

» Matt Asiata plowed into the end zone for a short touchdown, and then Teddy Bridgewater led another scoring drive capped off with a short touchdown pass to Greg Jennings. Bridgewater started off great, completing 13 of his first 16 passes, but was been served a bit of a reality check with two interceptions to close out the first half. He had a solid day all told but missed some big throws too. 315 passing yards and 75 percent completion percentage is nothing to turn your nose up to, though.

» Matthew Stafford had the flu this week, but said he was good to go. He was a bit off on his early passes, but did manage to hook up with Golden Tate on a short touchdown toss. He still missed some throws late, but most importantly didn't turn the ball over.

» The Vikings defense largely kept the Lions skill position players in check. Calvin Johnson had four catches for 53 yards, Golden Tate had seven four 38 yards, and Joique Bell managed just 62 rushing yards, but added 41 through the air.

- Alex Gelhar

New York Jets at Tennessee Titans

» The Chris Johnson revenge game was ... well ... barely a game. He did get 55 rushing yards, while Eric Decker racked up 100 receiving yards.

»Jake Locker suffered an injury near the two minute warning of the first half, and "Clipboard Jesus" himself (Charlie Whitehurst) finished the game for the Titans.

» Despite the best efforts of both teams, this game wasn't completely irrelevant in fantasy as Chris Ivory scored a rushing touchdown. John Conner scored the other in a 16-11 game that almost ended on a new miracle play by the Titans, but Delanie Walker was tackled a few yards short.

- Alex Gelhar

Green Bay Packers at Buffalo Bills

» Aaron Rodgers had his worst performance in what seems like forever. He threw two interceptions and only had 185 passing yards on the day. He wasn't helped by his wide receivers, either, as collectively they dropped six or seven passes. Randall Cobb finished with 96 receiving yards, while Jordy Nelson had 55, but he dropped what would have been a 90-plus yard touchdown.

» Edddie Lacy, despite a hip injury, ran hard, totalling 97 yards on 15 carries. He plowed in for a 1-yard touchdown run as well.

» The Bills rushing attack has came to life in the second half. Fred Jackson led the way with 71 yards. The passing attack was stymied by the Packers though, with Sammy Watkins only managing one catch.

» If you were insane enough to start the Bills defense against the Packers, you were rewarded with a 17-point performance thanks to a Marcus Thigpen punt return for a touchdown.

- Alex Gelhar

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts

» After struggling early, Andrew Luck hit Hakeem Nicks for a touchdown and hooked up with Dwayne Allen for another before the half. The Texans defense did a great job of keeping him in check, though, as he only had 187 passing yards on the day.

» For the Texans, Ryan Fitzpatrick was carted off with a broken leg (he's done for the season) and Tom Savage filled in under center. He looked rough at times, but when given time in the pocket he was OK. He finished the day completing 10 of his 19 attempts for 127 yards and one interception. Arian Foster had 99 rushing yards on 26 carries, while DeAndre Hopkins managed 77 yards on five catches.

- Alex Gelhar

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

» It's been a pretty quiet day for Jamaal Charles. This comes almost a year after he torched the Raiders in a late season game. In general, neither of these teams seem all that interested in offense today.

» Latavius Murray is at it again. The Raiders runner has 40 yards on his first five carries. While the Chiefs haven't given up a lot of rushing touchdowns (two -- both to Murray), they have given up plenty of rushing yards.

- Marcas Grant

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots

» Your weekly #Belitricks update: Jonas Gray led New England with 62 rushing yards on 11 carries. We give up trying to figure this out. Meanwhile, Mike Wallace's overall numbers looked good (104 rec yards, TD), but 50 of them came on one play. You would have hoped that he could have produced better than that.

» After a poor first half, Tom Brady and the Patriots offense are starting to turn things up in the second half. The obligatory touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski is the first sign that New England is getting going.

» Ryan Tannehill connected with Mike Wallace on a 50-yard pass to begin the game and finished the first quarter with 100 passing yards. If you had the guts to start him this week, he might pay off for you. Stay tuned.

- Marcas Grant

Washington Redskins at New York Giants

» So this Odell Beckham, Jr. character is pretty good. I'm not certain that he's going to be a first-round pick next season, but he has top 10 potential written all over him in 2015.

» At times, RGIII looks like he's back in 2012. At others, he's the quarterback we've come to know in recent weeks. Since you're not going to take a chance on him in the rest of your fantasy season, sit back and figure out who is the real Robert Griffin III.

» We have our answer about Rashad Jennings' health. He's out with an ankle injury and is questionable to return.

» One quarter in and Colt McCoy is out with a neck injury. Robert Griffin III is in. Good luck with that.

» For the second consecutive week, Rashad Jennings is being shunned in favor of Andre Williams. Jennings may not be fully healthy. Either way, he's not helping you much.

- Marcas Grant

Steelers at Falcons

» Le'Veon Bell did not run the ball well today with just 47 yards on 20 carries but fortunately for his fantasy owners he did get into the end zone twice on the ground. He also added five catches for 72 yards continuing his recent tear. His 23.90 fantasy points is his lowest mark in his last four games.

» Antonio Brown continues to be one of the most consistent fantasy receivers of the season as he hauled in all 10 of his targets for 123 yards against Atlanta.

» Both Roddy White and Harry Douglas stepped up in the absence of Julio Jones as expected. White finished with seven grabs for 58 yards and a touchdown while Douglas totaled 131 yards and was Matt Ryan's most targeted wideout of the game with 14.

» Le'Veon Bell. In the end zone. Again. Talk about coming through for fantasy owners when they needed production the most, Bell continues his hot streak with six touchdowns in his last three contests and now has over 20 fantasy points for fourth straight game.

» With Julio Jones inactive, Harry Douglas has put up 123 yards on eight catches so far and has become a great fill-in for Jones owners who were lucky enough to scoop Douglas off the waiver wire. Meanwhile, Roddy White is also having a big day with seven grabs for 58 yards and a touchdown.

» Le'Veon Bell is taking advantage of a favorable matchup and has 84 total yards and a touchdown on 14 touches for 14.40 fantasy points while Antonio Brown has five catches for 76 yards at halftime.

» Atlanta's first score came on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Devin Hester. That's right. Not Roddy White, not Harry Douglas. Thanks Falcons.

» No touchdowns yet in Atlanta as the Steelers lead 6-0 after one quarter. The biggest play so far was a 44-yard catch and run by, you guessed it, Le'Veon Bell. Steven Jackson has four carries for 22 yards for the Falcons. - Matt Franciscovich

- Matt Franciscovich

Buccaneers at Panthers

» The pass catchers who usually produce for the Panthers didn't miss a step with Cam Newton inactive with a back injury. Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen each saw 14 targets from Derek Anderson. Benjamin finished with eight catches for 104 yards while Olsen led his team in receiving with 10 catches for 110 yards.

» No Bucs' pass-catcher totaled more than 70 yards against Carolina. Vincent Jackson led Tampa Bay with 70 yards while rookie Mike Evans scored an early touchdown but finished with just two grabs for 13 yards.

» At halftime, Doug Martin has 92 yards on eight carries.

» Through three quarters, Greg Olsen has been targeted 12 times and caught nine receptions for 99 yards. Derek Anderson likes his tight end.

» Greg Olsen leads the Panthers in receiving with seven catches for 76 yards while Kelvin Benjamin has 53 yards on four receptions.

» Jonathan Stewart has been running at a clip of 5.3 yards per carry with 53 yards on 10 attempts.

» Running like it was 2012, Doug Martin ripped off a 63-yard run helping the Bucs to an 80-yard scoring drive in the first quarter. Rookie wideout Mike Evans hauled in a touchdown pass on an impressive toe-tapping grab in the back of the end zone. He continues to be one of the most valuable receivers in all of fantasy as it's his ninth score in his last seven games.

- Matt Franciscovich

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns

» The much discussed split between Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard has played out as expected, with Hill carrying the main load and Bernard playing the change of pace role. Hill had 148 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns, while Bernard had 79 on 15 carries.

» Johnny Manziel didn't exactly have the debut he was hoping for. He ended the day completing 10 of 18 passes for 80 yards with two interceptions He was not helped by the ground game, either, as Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West combined for 40 rushing yards on the day.

» Andy Dalton and A.J. Green had a quiet day as well with the running game in prime form. Green only had five catches for 49 yards, while Dalton finished the day with 117 passing yards and an interception.

- Alex Gelhar

Jaguars at Ravens

» Justin Forsett owners cannot be pleased with his fantasy production today as he struggled with the rest of Baltimore's offense. Forsett totaled just 48 yards on 16 carries -- his lowest fantasy day of the season.

» The Ravens' defense came through bigtime against the Jaguars today. The D/ST unit finished with eight sacks, a punt block returned for a touchdown and a pick late in the fourth quarter. At the conclusion of the early games on Sunday Baltimore was the best D/ST play in fantasy with 20 points.

» It took two-and-half quarters of football for the Ravens to get an offensive touchdown but that changed when Owen Daniels was left wide open in the end zone on a three yard scoring catch. Daniels has four grabs for 62 yards through three quarters.

» Baltimore's run game has been a disappointment today as Justin Forsett has just five attempts for 12 yards. Bernard Pierce got the nod on a second-and-goal try but didn't come through.

» The Ravens' defense has 14.00 fantasy points thanks to four first half sacks and the aforementioned blocked punt for a touchdown.

» The Ravens D/ST was projected to be a strong play heading into Week 15. The move paid off when they scored on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the first quarter and have been dominating on defense with two sacks already. Josh Scobee has connected on a couple of long field goals for the Jags and it's 7-6 Baltimore at the end of the first.

- Matt Franciscovich

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