In this edition of the Coffin Corner we are going to take a look at the biggest fantasy games by players who were in the starting lineup. Interestingly enough, only half of the teams won during weeks that they had a player make it on this list, solidifying the fact that Fantasy Football is a team game and cannot be won be a single player. Take note Lebron.
10. Aaron Rodgers – Greg Jennings (Week 11) 38.14 Points and 36.7 Points
When your QB throws for 4 TDs and 301 yards and your WR catches 3 of those TDs and 153 yards, there’s a good chance you won your fantasy game. That’s exactly what happened here when the Packers decided to take a squirt all over the Metrodome and Robbie Wood’s Tapout Shirt in the process. Rodgers and Jennings were lethal for fantasy owners all year, so lethal that not even Darren Sharper, the hardest hitting safety in the league, could stop them when Jennings had a broken leg (I’m pretty sure that was real). These two might have a few more monster games when the lockout ends and football starts up again.
9. Tom Brady (Week 10) 38.3 Points
What Tom Brady did to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense this week at Heinz Field was scary. Brady threw for 350 yards and 3 TDs and also ran for a TD, but he made it look so damn easy. The Patriots were firing on all cylinders at this point and continued to roll all the way to the playoffs. Johnny Buck stuck with the scorching hot Brady all season long and, much like the Patriots was able to shake off a rocky start and had Tom Brady lead the way to the playoffs. Unfortunately for John and the Patriots, Brady was only able to take both of them as far as the playoffs before bowing out in the first game.
8. Michael Vick (Week 3) 38.64 Points
Michael Vick is the only person to be on this list more than one time and is actually on it 3 times. Although this is the first of Michael Vick’s three appearances on this list, but it might have been the most important of the three. Vick showed us early in the year that he was beginning to return to the player that he was before he went to prison. Vick had 4 TDs and about 300 yards in the air in this game and showed Powers that he had found his starting QB for the season, and it wasn’t Jay Cutler. And I’m sure Vick would like to say thank you to Kevin Kolb for banging his head and getting the concussion that allowed him to step back into the spotlight.
7. Peyton Hillis (Week 12) 40.4 Points
Peyton “The Great White Hope” Hillis had a few monster games and proved to be a big free agent pickup for Nick. Hillis had almost 200 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs in a game against the Panthers and showed us all that White Men Can Jump. This is probably the biggest fantasy game put up by somebody from the state of Ohio since Corey Dillon broke the single game rushing record back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately for Hillis and Nick, the Doors put up some big numbers this week and ended up spoiling the big day for the Browns back, but Hillis continued with a strong year and ended up as the 4th ranked player in fantasy.
6. Ben Roethlisberger (Week 11) 40.5 Points
When the Oakland Raiders play the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, only one thing is supposed to happen: the Steelers are supposed to beat the hell out of the Raiders. Well, Big Ben took notice and threw for nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs and also rushed for another score. This was the biggest game for a QB not named Michael Vick last year, but Lukas did not win this game, mainly because his 2 RBs and 2 of his WRs combined for 11 points. But for a few hours on that Sunday, the fantasy gods smiled upon Lukas and showed that he made a pretty good trade with Feifer to acquire Rapelisberger.
5. Dwayne Bowe (Week 12) 41.5 Points
What’s that saying? One person’s trash is another person’s treasure? Well you can apply the season of Dwayne Bowe to that saying. Nick drafter Bowe and he was just HORRIBLE in the first half of the season, so he gives Bowe the Axe. Along comes Hurst and scoops up the struggling wide receiver and then BOOM! Bowe puts up 3 TDs and 210 yards to shove it in Nick’s face yet again. This game was the last of a 7 game touchdown streak where Bowe scored a total of 13 TDs. Hurst didn’t win the game, but Bowe looked like he was going to carry Hurst deep into the playoffs. Unfortunately the Fire Bowe and Arrow flickered out the next two weeks and put up 1 catch for 3 yards over those games, one of which was the first round of the playoffs. So I guess one person’s trash is actually just another person’s trash as well.
4. Arian Foster (Week 1) 42.3 Points
I’m fairly certain that all of us getting our first taste of McCann’s Sunday had the same thought during this Texans game: Who the hell is this guy making the Colts defense look like a high school team? It was the undrafted (I’m talking fantasy draft) Arian Foster. The fantasy events surrounding the injury of Ben Tate and the subsequent emergence of Arian Foster will always leave us wondering how Foster ended up on Kevin’s team, but he had the balls to start a guy that we knew virtually nothing about week 1 and it ended up paying big dividends for Kevin (a couple hundred for a first place regular season to be exact). Foster had his biggest game of the season week 1 and just continued to put up awesome numbers on his way to being the #1 player in fantasy in 2010.
3. Michael Vick (Week 15) 44.68 Points
This is the second of three of Michael Vick’s monster performances (we all know which one is left) and this game might sit a little too fresh in the minds of his owner. Fantasy Semi-Finals are a time when you need your players to step up if you want a shot at the Championship Belt and Vick answered the call for Powers in this game against cross-town rival Feifer. Unfortunately for Powers, Vick was playing against his beloved Giants and he was at the game to witness the events. I’m sure it was fine at first, since the Giants had a HUGE lead and Mike probably said something to Hurst along the lines of “Alright, now let’s just let Vick throw a couple of TDs to Jackson so I can come back in Fantasy, since this game is well in hand.” The famous last words (that I just made up) probably haunt Mike to this day. Not only was Vick’s 44.68 Points not enough to push Powers into the finals, but on the very last play he got to watch DeSean Jackson burst up the middle on a Punt Return and destroy the Giants Playoff chances along with his already destroyed Fantasy Championship dreams.
2. Javid Best (Week 2) 45.7 Points
Javid Best was a fun player to watch in college and the Detroit Lions looked like they struck gold when Best had 232 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs in a shootout with the Eagles. Best was explosive in this game and it looked like Joey had found the Rookie running back who was going to have the biggest year, but unfortunately for Joey, Best ended up turning out like all Detroit running backs and only found the end zone once more the rest of the season. Another negative for Joey was that the rest of his team didn’t pull their weight, so Best’s best (see what I did there) game of the year was a waste and the Lyrical Geniuses lost that week.
1. Michael Vick (Week 10) 57.32 Points
There are a few events that take place in a lifetime that people always remember where they were when it happened, such as when JFK was assassinated, when Michael Jackson died, and when David Tyree made “The Catch”. Add Michael Vick’s week 10 performance against the Redskins to that list. I was in my den flipping to the game at each commercial of the Rangers/Penguins game only to see what seemed like 14 more points for the Eagles each time I turned it back on. I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch this game with Powers and/or Lukas. It seemed as if every single Fantasy player who owned Vick was down by at least 40 points going into this game, and Mike was closer to 50 if I recall correctly. When DeSean Jackson and Vick hooked up for an 80 yard TD to start the game, I’m sure Lukas got a knot in his stomach, but still had confidence that he could hold on for the win. About 15 minutes later, it was obvious that Michael Vick was about to do something that we had not seen in years. He turned in what may have been the greatest Fantasy Performance that I can ever remember; reminding us that he is still the Most Electrifying Player in the NFL.
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