Jamaal Charles owners walked away from Week 8 scratching their heads. It was a matchup that looked great on paper, but Oakland was able to hold the Chiefs’ running back to just 10 total yards.  Was it a sound performance by the Raiders, or just a poor game plan by the Chiefs coaching staff?

I think we have our answer.

Week 9 gave us plenty of things to talk about. Adrian Peterson beat up the Seahawks in Seattle, Andrew Luck broke a rookie passing record and a Polamalu-less Steelers defense was able to hold Eli Manning to just 125 yards passing. Yet no performance was greater than Doug Martin’s outburst against Oakland; a team that, just a week ago, held one of the best rushers in the NFL to a mere 10 total yards.

And now many of us wonder – just how impactful was Martin’s unbelievable mid-season accomplishment?

Week 9 Numbers

Doug Martin scored one less point in Week 9 than Steven Jackson has all season.

I can’t say enough about Doug Martin’s performance this week against Oakland. And to think he only had 31 yards at halftime just makes it even more impressive. As I pointed out in my column yesterday, Martin is a top-5 back moving forward.

Andrew Luck and Carson Palmer were the only quarterbacks with over 400 yards passing.

For the record, 400 is the new 300 in terms of quarterback passing yards. An incredible performance by Luck in a big game shows that he’s the real deal. A performance in garbage time by Carson Palmer shows that he produces simply because the Raiders are bad at football.

Philip Rivers completed the highest percentage of his pass attempts.

The Chiefs are also bad at football.

23 quarterbacks finished with double-digit fantasy points.

The range of points scored was 11 (Stafford) to 28 (Palmer). Why are you drafting your quarterbacks early again?

Joe Flacco and Andrew Luck had the most pass attempts over 15 yards.

The difference? Luck completed his passes, throwing for well over 400 yards. Flacco had a measly 153.

Along with Larry Fitzgerald, Brian Hartline and Josh Morgan led all receivers in targets.

They all had 12. I wouldn’t go looking for Morgan off the wire, but Hartline is a clear matchup play. I did have him as “really neat” last week.

Victor Cruz led all receivers with 45.8% of his teams’ targets.

The Giants couldn’t do much in terms of the passing game, but Eli continues to look Cruz’s way. Nicks’ owners are becoming more and more frustrated.

Aside from Julio and Roddy, Donnie Avery and TY Hilton were the only teammates with over 100 yards receiving each.

Andrew Luck had a day. These guys are still flex-worthy at best.

Randall Cobb caught 3 passes on 9 targets. Before this week, he had caught 42 passes on 50 targets.

Rodgers admitted to having a poor throwing day, even though he still amassed four touchdowns (he completed less than 50% of his passes). It’s no secret I’m a Randall Cobb fan, and I think he’s got favorable days ahead, even when Jennings returns.

Marcel Reece compiled 15 fantasy points on zero carries.

He’s the back Oakland likes most in the receiving game, and he snagged 8 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown this week against Tampa Bay.

Isaac Redman and Marshawn Lynch led the league in rushing attempts.

Both Redman and Lynch had good fantasy days, too. This is what happens when there’s little competition on a team to get touches.

Brandon Myers led all tight ends in fantasy points.

Finally. Myers has been amassing targets like it’s nobody’s business, and it finally came to fruition on Sunday. Given the weak tight end position, why not take a chance given Myers target numbers?

Jermaine Gresham was the only tight end with 100-plus receiving yards.

It’s because he played Denver’s defense. And this week, target Greg Olsen – he’s playing them.

Tom Crabtree, in one catch, amassed 46% of Jermichael Finley’s season-long fantasy total.

Oh, and he’s got more total points than Jermichael. For the 19th time, please drop Jermichael Finley.

Some Year to Date Statistics

Doug Martin’s fantasy total over the last two weeks has been greater than the season totals for Darren McFadden, Mikel Leshoure, Darren Sproles, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Ryan Mathews, Steven Jackson, DeMarco Murray and Fred Jackson.

Jeez. And he’s now, with standard scoring, the best fantasy running back.

Over the last 3 weeks, the top-4 quarterbacks in terms of passing yards are: Tony Romo, Josh Freeman, Carson Palmer and Andrew Luck.

Again, I don’t know what more to tell you than to draft your quarterback late.

Miles Austin, along with Brandon Marshall, leads all receivers in targets over the last 3 weeks.

With Dez Bryant’s hip injury lingering, I’d expect Austin’s trend to continue.

Brandon Marshall has by far the highest percentage of his team’s targets at 37.2%.

Who else is Cutler supposed to throw the ball to?

Donnie Avery is ranked 18th at wide receiver in targets.

I’ve been a fan of Avery’s for a while, and have told plenty of people to start him in particular start/sit situations. He’s becoming an every week flex play, but he’s not quite there yet because of his lack of touchdowns.

Over the last five weeks, Eric Decker and Randall Cobb are the only players with six or more touchdown receptions.

The impressive part in Decker’s favor is that he’s only played 4 games, while Cobb has played in 5.

No running back has more attempts over the last 5 weeks than Ahmad Bradshaw.

Unfortunately for Bradshaw owners, his carries are diminishing on the goal line, while Andre Brown is getting more opportunity.

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