But as if planned by the heavens (and to the delight of fantasy footballers everywhere), the rain stopped just in time for Brett Favre to accomplish something he'd never done during his illustrious NFL career. He threw six touchdowns in a 56-35 win over Arizona. Too bad he was active in just 58 percent of NFL.com leagues. Of course, that's better than the 17 percent of fantasy owners who started Ronnie Brown when he scored five total touchdowns against New England.
Those two factoids are enough to prove how unpredictable fantasy football has become this season.
Moving on to the grand scheme in fantasy land, the popular draft plan that involved taking an elite wide receiver in the first three rounds continues to blow up in people's faces. Out of the top-20 fantasy point producers in Week 4, four were wideouts. And if you're looking for a star among those four (Greg Jennings, Lance Moore, Muhsin Muhammad, Kevin Walter), you won't find one. OK, Jennings is getting to that level, but his road to stardom could take a detour if Matt Flynn becomes the quarterback in Green Bay.
With a third of the fantasy regular season in the books, five wide receivers (Anquan Boldin, Santana Moss, Jennings, Brandon Marshall, Larry Fitzgerald) are in the top 30 on NFL.com. If this trend continues, future fantasy drafts could be altered in a dramatic fashion. Do you think Braylon Edwards, Andre Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh or Chad Johnson will come off the board in the first few rounds if they don't reverse their fortunes?
Heck, Miles Austin has more fantasy points than Edwards, Randy Moss and Andre and Chad Johnson in three games, and he's not even a starter in Dallas! Their values won't drop off like Michael Clayton in 2006 drafts, but it will be much harder to trust them regardless.
OK, let's take a look at the five best and worst performances from Week 4:
Studs
Brett Favre, QB, N.Y. Jets (45 points): Favre lit up the Cardinals' defensive backfield like a Christmas tree, throwing for 289 yards and an amazing six touchdowns. The huge performance moved him into a tie with Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers for the most fantasy points on NFL.com after four weeks.
Drew Brees, RB, New Orleans (30 points): Who needs Marques Colston or Jeremy Shockey? Apparently not Brees, who completed 66 percent of his passes and threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns. His statistical success should continue in Week 5 when the Saints play at Minnesota.
Matt Schaub, QB, Houston (32 points): Schaub's value (and spot on Houston's depth chart) was in doubt after three weeks, but he raised his stock with a 307-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Jaguars. He'll look for consecutive huge stat lines in Week 5 against the Colts.
Larry Johnson, RB, Kansas City (29 points): Despite questions about the team's quarterback and offensive line, Johnson has re-emerged into a solid fantasy option. He rushed for 198 yards and two scores in a win over Denver and has now recorded 319 yards and three touchdowns over the last two weeks.
Laveranues Coles, WR, N.Y. Jets (28 points): Coles' value was in question after two weeks, but his 105-yard, three-touchdown stat line put him firmly back into most starting lineups. The veteran out of Florida State has now posted 14 catches, 180 yards and four touchdowns in his last two starts.
Other notables: David Garrard, QB, Jacksonville (28 points); Tony Romo, QB, Dallas (28 points); Steven Jackson, RB, St. Louis (24 points).
Duds
Marion Barber, RB, Dallas (3 points): How in the world do you give Barber eight carries in a home game against an NFC East opponent? I'm not sure what was on the mind of OC Jason Garrett when he constructed that game plan, but it really hurt the Cowboys ... not to mention countless fantasy owners.
Reggie Bush, RB, New Orleans (3 points): It was hard not to love Bush heading into the week, but the resurrection of Deuce McAllister from the statistical dead put a damper on his numbers. Bush's five catches, 38 scrimmage yards and no touchdowns against San Francisco was a major disappointment.
Andre Johnson, WR, Houston (3 points): The Jaguars made a point of stopping Johnson, which opened the door for Steve Slaton, Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels to see more opportunities in the passing game. The Miami product finished with a mere 38 yards and has been invisible the past two weeks.
Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland (3 points): It was evident that McFadden's injury toe is a major cause for concern, as he totaled just 20 rushing yards in limited work. Oakland's bye week probably couldn't come at a better time for the rookie runner, but this ailment is causing his value to fall.
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jacksonville (4 points): In one of several seemingly fruitful matchups that went bad this week, Jones-Drew totaled two catches, 49 scrimmage yards and no touchdowns in win over Houston. The little man has explosive potential, but he's been very inconsistent at times.
Other notables: Chris Chambers, WR, San Diego (4 points); T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR, Cincinnati (5 points); Michael Turner, RB, Atlanta (5 points).
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