Coffin Corner: Playing Games

Coffin Corner: Playing Games

With Turkey Day closing in on us I have visions of candied yams and gravy weighing heavily on my mind. I bet that you do as well. Therefore, I'm changing things up a bit. I'm not going to go on a rambling/sprawling review of the week that was, or break down Week 13 matchups. Instead, I'm going to try to help keep your mind focused on the pigskin by playing a few games with you. I sometimes like to play games. Not the kind you're thinking of, mind you (I always tell the truth to the ladies and never tell them what they want to hear - wink, wink). I'm going to play a game of Did You Know? and Who Am I? Let's see how you do.

DID YOU KNOW?

Andre Ellington leads all NFL backs, with at least 50 carries, with a yards per carry mark of 6.0 on his 73 rushes. There are only three men in the NFL who have carried the ball at least 70 times that are within a hard of that mark: DeMarco Murray (5.1), Rashad Jennings (5.1) and Alfred Morris (5.0). I'm so glad that Arizona has given Rashard Mendenhall nearly twice as many carries, 130 in total, given that he's averaged a whopping 3.0 YPC.

Mike Glennon has a QB Rating of at least 120 in three of his last four starts. In his first four starts he failed to reach 91 on the QB Rating meter. What's odd about that follows. In his first four games he completed at least 24 passes each week. He hasn't thrown 24 passes in his last four starts. I know, right? He's just not throwing the ball as much as the Bucs have changed things up offensively. He's still being extremely productive though. In his first four games he threw for six score against three interceptions. In his last four games he's thrown for seven scores an one interception.

Robert Griffin III threw for more than 320 yards in each of his first two games of the season. Since then he's failed to reach 300 yards one time.

Rob Gronkowski hasn't missed a beat. For his career he averages 64.5 yards per game. Right now he's averaging a career best 86.6 yards a game. For his career he averages 4.54 receptions a game. Right now he's averaging 6.2 receptions a game. The only down part of his effort is that he's scored only three times in five games, well below of his career pace given that he's scored 41 times in 48 games. Of course, that could all turn around in just one game.

Brian Hartline leads AFC East wideouts with 677 yards, 16 more than teammate Mike Wallace. Amazingly, only one other wideout in the division has even 500 yards at the moment and it's the Patriots' Julian Edelman. Back to Hartline, who caught 74 balls for 1,083 yards an one score last season. Boring as all get out is he and this year there has been more of the same as he's on pace for 77 receptions, 984 yards and three scores. He's pretty reliable from week to week though. Only three times has he failed to reach 55 yards and only once has he reached 70. That means he's been between 55-69 yards in seven of his eleven outings.

Colin Kaepernick had a nice game on MNF, throwing for 235 yards and three scores. Were you aware that through 11 games this season that Colin K. has thrown for 200 yards three times or that he has four games this season in which he hasn't thrown for a touchdown?

Alfred Morris has run for 405 yards in the month of November, which is third in football behind Adrian Peterson (426) and Rashad Jennings (413). That's 197 more yards then Ray Rice (208) and more than double the total of Steven Jackson (172). Too bad he's only scored one rushing touchdown. Hell, Jeremy Stewart, he of the two carries for two yards in November, has one rushing score.

Pierre Thomas leads all running backs with 24 receptions in November (Matt Forte with 21 is the only other back over 20). Thomas also leads all runners with 182 yards on those receptions (Le'Veon Bell is second with 174 yards). The 24 receptions by Thomas match the total of Antonio Brown and Keenan Allen for the month. You know those fellas are wideouts, right? Showing just how valuable he has become in the fantasy game in PPR setups, Thomas' 24 receptions are more than the following wideouts: Jordy Nelson and Jose Gordon have 22 catches, Calvin Johnson has 19, and guys like Torrey Smith and Vincent Jackson, who have 17 receptions.

Everyone talks about how bad the connection has been between Mike Wallace and Ryan Tannehill, and with good reason. Of the 95 passes thrown to Wallace he's only hauled in 49 of them. But what about Torrey Smith of the Ravens? You rarely hear about his lack of efficiency/connection with Joe Flacco because the two have combined for 198 more yards through 11 games than the Dolphins' duo. Did you know that Smith/Flacco have been less successful at hooking up than Wallace/Tannehill? The Ravens' duo has one fewer pass connection on the same amount of targets.

Jason Witten is on pace to record a total of 827 yards this season. That would be the first time he failed to reach the 940 yard threshold since the 2006 season. He's also on pace for 74 receptions and that would also be his lowest total since 2006. Do his fantasy owners care? Sure they do, but the fact that he's on pace to tie his career best of nine touchdowns, after scoring only eight times the past two seasons, certainly helps to mitigate the concerns.

A WEEKLY FANTASY BATTLE

I'm going to describe to you a way you can play fantasy football – against me. Thanks to FanDuel.com you will be able to take me on each week in fantasy football in a salary cap game. Chose your team and take me down. Simple as that. Should be a lot of fun and you can also win cash along the way, so why wouldn't you be interested? Here's the link to play: Take On Ray Flowers in a Week 13 Fantasy Football League.

WHO AM I?

I'm gonna play a little game of Who Am I? I wonder how many of the five options you will be able to guess correctly?

There are about 71,432 scoring systems for football – that might actually be understating things to be honest – so I'm gonna use this fairly standard setup when breaking down points in all that follows.

Four points for a passing touchdown
Six points for a rushing touchdown
One point for every 25 passing yards
One point for every 10 rushing/receiving yards
Two points for every two point conversion
(-1) point for every interception

QB: WHO AM I?

Since Week 7 of the NFL season I'm in the top-10 in scoring at my position.

I have more total points than Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and Tony Romo.

I've thrown for nine scores the past six weeks.

I've completed at least 20 passes in 5-straight games (only once this season did I fail to hit 20 – I had 19 completions versus the Bills on October 20th).

Who am I?

I'm the Dolphins' Ryan Tannehill

RB: WHO AM I?

Since Week 8 of the NFL season I'm fifth at the running back position in points per game. That means I'm averaging more points per game than guys like Eddie Lacy, Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles and Marshawn Lynch.

I've recorded double-digits points in all my games in that time. Here's a list of some of the runners who haven't been able to do that: Knowshon Moreno, Matt Forte, Peterson, Charles, Lynch, Giovani Bernard and Reggie Bush.

Moreover, since Week 1 I'm the 12th highest scoring runner in football even though people seem to universally detest me while making fun of my nickname.

Who am I?

I'm the Titans' Chris Johnson.

WR: WHO AM I?

Calvin Johnson leads wide receivers in fantasy points since Week 7 while Antonio Brown is second. Who is third?

I've had three games, out of six, with at least 24 fantasy points.

I've caught at least six passes in five of the six games. In fact, I've caught at least seven passes in four of the six games.

I've gone for at least 120 yards three times in six games.

I've gone for at least 79 yards in five of the six games.

My per game average, the last six games, is 7.3 receptions and 102 yards.

I wasn't even drafted in 12 team leagues this season.

Who am I?

I'm the Falcons' Harry Douglas.

TE: WHO AM I?

I had two receptions the first five weeks of the season.

I have a better per game scoring average since Week 7 than HOFamers Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez. I've also recorded more points per game than Jordan Cameron and Martellus Bennett.

Over my last six games I've caught at least four passes five times. I'm averaging 4.3 receptions per game during that stretch.

I've gone for at least 50 receiving yards the past three weeks. Jimmy Graham hasn't done that. Neither has Jason Witten, Greg Olsen, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez or Jordan Cameron.

Who am I?

I'm the Cardinals' Rob Housler.

DEF: WHO AM I?

*** Scoring system:
2 pts: fumble recovery, interception
4 pts: safety
1 pt: sack
6 pts: touchdown
Pts Allowed: zero (10 pts), 1-6 (7), 7-14 (3), 15-20 (0), 21-99 (-3)

Since Week 7 we're the 18th overall defense in terms of total points.

Since Week 7 we're the 18th ranked defense in terms of average points a week.

Since Week 8 we're the 19th ranked defense in terms of average points a week.

In three of our last four games we've produced three, (-1) and (-2) points.

Oh, by the way, we lead the league in total defensive points and average points per game this season.

Who are we?

We're the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87, Monday through Thursday at 7 PM EDT & Friday's at 9 PM EDT. For more of Ray's analysis you can check out BaseballGuys.com or the BaseballGuys' Twitter account where he tirelessly answers everyone's questions.