Sometimes in life, events arise that cause one to put fantasy football on their back burner. Halloween is one those events. After an awkward two-week window where people struggled to decide whether or not to celebrate the weekend before or after the 31st, Halloween is officially over. Personally, I dressed up both weekends, and many of my peers told me that I was the greatest Batman they had ever seen. I couldn’t argue. My costume was original, and my delivery was well crafted.  Until next year Halloween, much love.

Back to the world of fantasy football, where this past week two of my friends who read my column every week (by choice, I only force a select group of people to read my work against their will) told me they very much enjoyed my quick fire style recaps last week. Therefore, I am bringing back El Will’s initial reaction and satisfactions feature! My readers asked so I delivered.

Recaps.

Bengals vs. Dolphins

Initial reaction: It was Halloween, so I won’t lie and say I watched this entire game. But the stat line for a few players sure jumps off the page. Gio Bernard had a very impressive game. He had 79 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. His night could have been better had he not suffered a rib injury in the fourth. No worries though, he is expected to play this week against the Ravens.

Satisfaction: It was nice to see Lamar Miller rush for over 100 yards for the first time this year. I think Miller’s production could stay steady due to the fact that he has averaged 5.5 yards per carry over the past three weeks. The Bengals saw Andy Dalton come back down to earth. He threw for over 300 yards, but three interceptions won’t cut it. Dalton is again outside the top 12 quarterbacks.

Cowboys vs. Vikings

Initial reaction: “Wow Dallas refuses to hand Demarco Murray the ball. Screw the Cowboys, this loss will show them to run the ball!” Those were my words during the fourth quarter of this game as it looked like my Vikings were going to defeat the Cowboys. But the Vikings let the lead go, or Romo rallied his team back. Either way you cut it my Vikes stink, and Dallas can win without running the football. It was a bad afternoon to say the least.

Satisfaction: The Vikings looked like they wanted to make an effort to throw the ball in this game, but that doesn’t change the fact that Greg Jennings should be dropped in almost every league. He cannot produce with a good quarterback. Maybe next year Greg. The ‘Boys gave all Murray owners reason to be concerned. He is still the feature back, and Jason Garrett said Murray needs to get the ball more, but I am starting to lose faith in the Dallas play calling. Lets make this clear, I have lost faith in the play calling, not in Murray’s talents. But what can DeMarco do? Like a legendary Cowboy before him once said “I am just going with the plays that are called.”

Saints vs. Jets

Initial reaction:  The Jets pull one game above .500 by defeating the high-powered Saints. Who would have thought it possible? Considering the way Bengals destroyed the Jets last weekend, but that’s what is great about the NFL. On any given Sunday, Chris Ivory can rush for 139 yards and a touchdown. I doubt many people saw Ivory’s performance coming, but I don’t want to look too much into this. I think there is something magical that occurs in sports when a player faces off with their former team for the first time. Ivory wanted to show the Saints exactly what they traded away, and did he ever show NOLA that Mark Ingram ain’t got nothing on him. Speaking of former Alabama running backs…

Wait hold on. It seems someone is walking over to my keyboard.  Oh hot dang it’s Fantasy Eezus. My gosh, I think he wants to type something.

(Keyboard is taken, Eezus begins to type)

“Yo El Will, I’m really happy for you for writing this column, and imma let you finish. But Trent Richardson is one of the most overrated running backs of all time.” “Of all time!”

(My readers begin to boo Fantasy Eezus. He shrugs and hands the keyboard back to El Will.)

Well thanks Fantasy Eezus for that, ah I don’t really know where to go from here. I guess I’ll just elaborate on the interesting proclamation that was just made.

Colts vs. Texans:

Initial reaction:  Two running backs on the Colts current roster have scored a rushing touchdown this season.  Running back “A” has rushed for 248 yards on 83 attempts. That is an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Running back “B” has carried the ball for 244 yards on 39 carries. That is an average of 6.3 yards per carry.  Here comes the boom. Running back “A” is the over-glorified Trent Richardson, and running back “B” is Donald Brown. The point is Richardson clearly cannot produce in an offense that is leaps and bounds better than his former teams. If you’re a Richardson owner, I suggest you bench him. He is awful. Have I made my point clear?

Satisfaction: It was good to see Case Keenum show that he was going to get the ball to Andre Johnson no matter what. The two seem to have a strong connection as Johnson had 229 yards receiving and three touchdowns. This was the first game of the season that Johnson found the end zone. I think Johnson is going to continue to play strong. Owners of Johnson are hoping that the quarterback change will also turn Johnson into a touchdown scorer.

Patriots vs. Steelers

Initial reaction: The Patriots offense is back! Tom Brady poured it on passing for 432 yards and four touchdowns. We finally got to see Gronk spike a football, Danny Amendola caught all four of his targets for 122 yards and a score and Dobson caught five passes, including a 81 yard touchdown strike (he’s not the only one who has ever gone 81 yards to the house by the way).  Steven Ridley notched two scores of his own while gaining 115 yards on the ground.

Satisfaction: I enjoyed seeing the Patriots play lights out on the offensive side of the ball, but will it last? I have my doubts. Obviously I am not interested in betting against Brady, but two of his touchdowns came from 81 and 53 yards out. Both plays looked fluky. Simply put, I am worried that this game was more about the Steelers defense playing bad then the Patriots playing good. I think that this team loves to run the ball when in the red zone, and though Ridley did look good Shane Vereen return is looming which, means Ridley’s outlook is cloudy after the Patriots return from bye.

Eagles vs. Raiders

Initial reaction: The Eagles walked into Oakland with a touchdown drought that spanned two games.  The drought was snapped; times seven via the arm of the new found legend, Nick Foles. I should have been able to watch this game because I am a proud subscriber to NFL Sunday Ticket, which allows me to few every NFL football game. Don’t get it twisted, my mom does pay the bill for that, but that is not an excuse for my ticket failing to stream while Foles was making NFL history! Direct TV, if you are reading I want to say thanks for limiting my NFL experience this past Sunday.

Satisfaction: If you owned an Eagles player then everything about this game was awesome. It was great to see Desean Jackson establish himself as a top five fantasy wide receiver. Lesean McCoy continued to be productive. As for Foles and his buddy Riley Cooper, I think that there is some real chemistry there. Cooper has topped 100 yards in two of his past three games. Add him if he is still available in your league.

Packers vs. Bears:

Initial reaction: Aaron Rodgers is down and he is out, but I don’t need to remind Green Bay fans of that. Instead the world watched the Monday night game turn into a battle between two NFL backups, neither of which have any fantasy value. The Bears’ offensive weapons remain productive despite the change in quarterback. The Packers on the other hand are on their way to becoming the very thing I hoped they’d never become. A running team!

Satisfaction: It is now the Eddie Lacy show for the Packers. Lacy is going to be a first round pick next year in fantasy drafts and he is going to show the world why that is in these next 4 weeks that Rodgers is out.  This kills the value of Green Bay’s pass catches. Trade them for what you can, but if the offers are weak then hold on and hope for the best.

Predictions

QB I BELIEVE in this week: Robert Griffin III- This has got to be the week RG3 shows that he is still a top 10 fantasy QB. Washington’s professional football team will take on the Vikings this week and Minnesota has struggled to stop anyone all season. I could see this turning into a run heavy game for Washington; if that is the case obviously I hope Griffin is a part of it. He was great versus the Vikings last year, all his points basically came on one play as he rushed for a 70 yard score, but that’s all it takes for RG3 to have a strong fantasy week.

RB I BELIEVE in this week: Zac Stacy- I know I am a week late on this call, but Stacy has been more than impressive. He is not a burner, nor is he a real big guy. The player I compare him to is Alfred Morris, and like Morris did last year, Stacy is climbing 2014 draft boards. This week he faces an Indianapolis defense that is allowing 124 yards rushing a game. I expect another big week from Stacy.

WR I BELIEVE in this week: Eric Decker- My motto when I was a young boy playing middle school football was “If Decker can do it, I can do it.” How naïve we are as youth huh? Decker is tied for most targets on the team and is second on the team in receiving yards. San Diego struggles defensively. I expect Decker to have a nice game here.

That’s all I wrote! Thanks for reading this week and best wishes to all your fantasy lineups this week.