Week Five Wrap Up

Some normalcy returned to the NFL in Week Five.  Larry Johnson got shut down, disassembled and thrown back into the box.  The Patriots returned to their winning ways.  The Colts beat the Texans, the Cowboys beat the Bungles and Dolphins beat the Chargers... well almost back to normal.

Stars
DeAngelo Williams - Since Week 1, Williams has been playing second fiddle to first round pick Jonathan Stewart, but this week against the Chiefs, for whatever reason, the Panthers decided to go back to Williams and he cashed in with 148 total yards and 3 TD's.  I don't expect this trend to continue, but for this week DeAngelo was De Man. 

(Photo by Getty Images)

Brandon Jacobs - Last Friday, I was asked to choose 3 out of these 4;  LT, Forte, Slaton and Jacobs.  I suggested LT and Forte for sure and I picked Slaton over Jacobs. Slaton did have an impressive game, but Jacobs was the big man on the fantasy campus this week.  He rumbled for 136 yards and 2 TD's.  Who would've thought LT playing the Phins was odd man out here?

Ben Roethlisberger - Battling injuries to his o-line, his running backs and his body, Roethlisberger had a great game.  Once he got over his annual "Rashean Mathis INT", Ben tore apart the Jags defense in a hostile environment passing for 309 yards and 3 TD's.  Now he, along with the rest of the Steelers, get a much needed bye week. 

Kyle Orton - Yeah, it was only against the NFL practice squad, but for at least one game, Orton looked like his old Purdue Boilermaker self throwing for 334 yards and 2 TD's.  Next week, the Bears play the Atlanta Falcons who got ripped by A-Rod 2 on Sunday.  Could Orton make it to the stars section, two weeks in a row?

Carolina Panthers D/ST - Depending on your league, the Panther defense should have given you anywhere from 15-25 points this Sunday in their dominating performance against the Chiefs.  Sing it with me (sung to "12 days of Christmas"), 3 sacked quarterbacks, 2 picked off passes, 1 fumble recovery and a big fat goose egg on the board.

Stumblers 

LaDainian Tomlinson - Never did I think I would have to put LT in the stumblers section after playing against the Dolphins, yet here we are.  Only 35 rushing yards against the Dolphins.  Unreal.  Maybe the Dolphins really are a contender.  Maybe they are a force to be reckon with.  Maybe the spread offense with Ronnie Brown is the future of football.  Or maybe the Chargers were looking past the Phins to next week where they'll play the team that knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years. 

Philip Rivers - A long time member of the stars section, Rivers decided to see what it would be look on this side of the blog post.  He completed less than 50% of his passes for only 159 yards.  With all the weapons and targets he has to throw to on this offense, playing this badly, against this team, is inexcusable. 

Larry Johnson - Just as everyone was jumping on the LJ bandwagon, he crashes in a spectacular fashion with 7 carries for 2 yards.  Yeah, that's right, he carried the ball 7 times and only gained 2 yards.  That's 0.3 yards per carry.  If they had handed him the ball and he just fell forward, he would've done better.

Marshawn Lynch - Another week, another 50-60 yard performance for Lynch.  Maybe he can use the upcoming bye week to see if he can still count to 100.

Calvin Johnson - With the Lions getting blown out by the Bears, you would think they would go to the air a lot and that CJ and Roy Williams would benefit.  Well Williams did, Johnson... not so much.  The sophomore receiver caught only 2 passes for 16 yards.