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| Other Week 4 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL at NE | BUF at MIA | CIN at CLE | DAL at DEN | DET at CHI | GB at MIN | NYG at KC | NYJ at NO |
| OAK at HOU | SD at PIT | SEA at IND | STL at SF | TB at WAS | TEN at JAX | ||
Week 4 Game Recap: San Diego Chargers 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 38
San Diego Chargers
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 21 - 36 - 254 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
It was a tale of two-half's for Rivers on Sunday night. The first half was marred by inaccurate throws made under duress and a lack of offensive flow, Rivers was simply not able to keep the SD offense on the field much in the 1st half due to the Steelers solid coverage (of Antonio Gates in particular) and Pitt's dominance of the clock. This largely continued into the 2nd half, however due to the Steelers huge lead the opportunities for intermediate underneath routes were increased mid-way through the 3rd quarter. Rivers took full advantage of this hitting Antonio Gates with a short TD throw over the middle late in the 3rd. Rivers attempted to lead the Chargers to a late comeback victory by throwing two more TD's in the 4th, another to Gates and one to Chris Chambers. The comeback effort was brought to a halt when he fumbled on San Diego's final drive. Overall it was a mixed bag for Rivers on the night, however he was able to rack up some nice numbers when the team went into all-out passing mode in the 2nd half. As we know playing from way behind sometimes has it's value in the world of fantasy football.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 7 - 15 - 0, Rec: 1 - -1 - 0 (4 targets) |
Tomlinson was back in action after missing the previous 2 games with a sprained ankle, but was largely ineffective early on and was essentially phased out of the SD attack as the game wore on due to their big deficit. His biggest gainer of the night was a short 5 yard scamper and he caught a single pass for a negative gain. LT did show some decent moves early on, jump cutting and running with some force, however was able to generate little. The SD running game continues to hold this team back, they have yet to have a runner gain more than 55 yards in a game this season.
| RB Darren Sproles, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (1 targets) |
Sproles was essentially a non-factor in week 4 since LT was back in the lineup. Sproles finished the game without a rushing attempt and was only targeted once in the passing game, turning it into a nice 16 yard gain during a 2 minute drill late in the 2nd quarter. In the 2nd half Sproles was used mostly as a check-down option and even had a Very nice block in a 3rd down situation on Lawrence Timmons. Sproles needs to be used in space more often if San Diego is to take advantage of his dynamic talent.
| RB Jacob Hester |
Hester had a terrific special teams play where he stripped the ball from Stefan Logan and then returned the fumble recovery for a TD on a punt return during the Chargers late comeback effort.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 4 - 39 - 1 (8 targets) |
For the second straight week Chris Chambers not only was the Chargers #2 WR, he looked the part as well. Chambers was targeted sparingly in the 1st half as Philip Rivers went through his progressions. He was effective in his role for the most part however he dropped an easy pass from Rivers in the 2nd quarter. Chambers quite possibly played his best football of the early season in the 2nd half as he was targeted more often, one of which Chambers was able to turn into TD catch on a nice crossing route inside the 5 yard line.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 4 - 56 - 0 (7 targets) |
Jackson has been on a tear to start the 2009 campaign but was held to just 4 catches on this night. The Chargers offense was out of sync and on the sidelines for the majority of the 1st half but in the 2nd half Jackson came alive with a couple of nice catches highlighted by an acrobatic juggling catch while being draped by Ike Taylor along the sideline. Jackson was targeted a bit more in the 4th quarter but a combination of him being tightly covered and a good Steeler pass rush limited his production on this night.
| WR Legedu Naanee, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (3 targets) |
Naanee had his quietest game of the season in week 4 where he was on the field often but targeted only a handful of times. Naanee looked fluid in his route running and blocked well as well, however he finished with just two short catches and one drop of a screen pass. Naane was not targeted by Philip Rivers in the 2nd half during their comeback.
| WR Malcom Floyd (1 targets) |
Floyd was held out of the stat sheet during week 4 as the Chargers rarely went into many 4 wideout sets. Floyd Was targeted in the end zone by Rivers in the 3rd quarter but his jump was mis-timed and resulted in an incomplete pass. Floyd remains an all or nothing threat week to week in this offense.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 9 - 124 - 2 (12 targets) |
San Diego's offense (and Philip Rivers production for the most part) went as Antonio Gates did on Sunday night. When he was double covered SD's offense sputtered and was largely ineffective. When he was able to get open under less coverage Gates simply ate up the Steelers defense over the middle. Overall he had a huge night catching 9 passes and 2 TD's. Gates was quiet in the 1st half as he was focused on heavily by the Pitt def and was rarely open. In the 2nd half, Gates was able to break loose on a couple of nice catches, one of which was a leaping play in traffic where Rivers put the ball where only Gates could have gotten it. His strong 2nd half flurry was capped by a short TD catch late in the 3rd and then a tremendous effort on a 30 yd TD catch in the 4th in which Gates eluded several defenders and ran threw a couple more on his way to the end zone. On the next drive, Gates continued to be targeted often by Rivers catching a short pass in traffic and then drawing a long pass interference penalty exploiting down field coverage by James Harrison which setup the final San Diego TD. Easily the best game of the season thus far for the Pro-Bowl TE, he remains one of the best TE options in fantasy football today.
Pittsburgh Steelers
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 26 - 33 - 333 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 3 - 0 |
It was another very effective game this week for Big Ben and the Steelers. He ran the offensive efficiently from the get go and this week was able to lean more heavily on a stout running game and many underneath passes. He showed great poise and pocket awareness as usual and essentially had a near flawless game. Big Ben led his team to TD's on the games 1st two drives with a great mix of passes of varying lengths. The first TD was a short screen pass on 3rd down that Mewelde Moore was able to convert into a TD and the 2nd TD was nice short hookup with Heath Miller. If there is any criticism of Ben from this game, it's that he held onto the ball too long a few times and took a few sacks. These brought a couple of drives to halts where they were otherwise moving the ball very effectively. Through 4 games it is becoming clear that Roethlisberger has raised his game again and looks more like the Roethlisberger from 2006 rather than the 2007/2008 versions.
| RB Rashard Mendenhall, Rush: 29 - 165 - 2, Rec: 2 - 26 - 0 (2 targets) |
Mendenhall ran with power, purpose and conviction from the get go, as if his very NFL career was at stake. His hard charging straight-ahead style culminated in two first half short yardage TD's and a couple of very nice medium sized gains later on in the 1st half. Mendenhall's success played a huge role throughout the night as Pittsburgh was able to dominate the time of possession until late in the game. More often than not Mendenhall attacked the right side of the SD line and he almost always made the initial tackler miss with strong spin moves and driving force. In the 4th quarter with the game on the line, Mendenhall continued to punish the SD defense for both short and long gains. Make no mistake, as well as Roethlisberger played on Sunday night, this was the Rashard Mendenhall show from the word go...his 'coming out' party so to speak. But, it is worth mentioning that the Steelers run blocking was as good as we have seen in recent memory...blowing up huge holes and completely dominating a leaky San Diego front seven. However, this was clearly the RB that Pittsburgh had in mind when they drafted him last season.
| RB Mewelde Moore, Pass: 1 - 1 - 6 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 2 - 0, Rec: 3 - 31 - 1 (3 targets) |
Moore continues to show that he is one of the leagues finest 3rd down backs as he had a strong game in limited action. Moore took a short screen pass from Big Ben on a 3rd down in the 1st quarter and took it 19 yards for a TD. Moore later converted a big 3rd down with a screen pass in the 4th to keep a clock killing drive going when SD was attempting a comeback. Moore spelled Mendenhall with a rush attempt in the 4th for a short gain. Late in the game, Moore took part in a gadget play as he threw a TD pass to TE Heath Miller after rolling out and faking a run to the right.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 8 - 113 - 0 (11 targets) |
Ward had a field day working short & intermediate routes working out of the slot early on and then later split out. Ward was called on early and often and had a stellar game from both an NFL and fantasy football perspective. Ward also contributed heavily to Pittsburgh's punishing ground game by springing Mendenhall free with some great TE-esque blocks vs Eric Weddle. In the 3rd quarter Ward ate up Antonio Cromartie on a 26 yd gain. Later Ward absolutely blew up CB Antoine Cason on a run after the catch down inside the 10 yard line. It was a play that many WR's would have just stepped out of bounds on, but Ward put his head down and gained extra yardage.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 4 - 52 - 0 (5 targets) |
Holmes took a backseat in week 4 to the running game and a lot of intermediate passes from Roethlisberger. His targets suffered due to this, however when he was called upon to make a play he came through, most often abusing the coverage of Antonio Cromartie early on. Later in the game Holmes ran a double reverse for a short gain on the ground. Overall a fairly quiet game for the rising star.
| WR Mike Wallace, Rec: 2 - 47 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wallace was not leaned on heavily this week, however he continues to look like a rising star in the NFL. Wallace had great separation from his defender early on and made a tough 35 yd sideline catch in a 4x1 formation. With Wallace it is not looking like a question of 'if' at this point rather a question of 'when' or 'how much'.
| WR Limas Sweed |
Limas Sweed was a healthy scratch in week 4.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 8 - 70 - 2 (9 targets) |
Miller was once served as Roethlisberger check-down/safety valve option catching a variety of short to intermediate passes while lining up all over the field. Overall Miller played a huge role for the Steelers in week 4 and it will show in the final box score numbers. In the 3rd quarter Miller fumbled down inside the 2 yard line, but the ball was recovered by the Steelers which kept the drive alive. Miller then caught pair of 2nd half TD's, one on a corner fade route while being loosely guarded by SD LB Clinton Hart and then on a TD pass from RB Mewelde Moore who was faking a carry. Miller remains one of the more consistent, if not spectacular TE options in fantasy football today.