In a Monday night football game headlined by two of the better running backs in the NFL, the production on the field was said otherwise. Ray Rice disappointed by touching the ball a modest 13 times for 63 all-purpose yards while Maurice Jones-Drew reached the century mark in rushing yards once again, but fumbled an uncharacteristic three times last night, losing one. Aside from the running game troubles, there was an abundance of other underwhelming performances in last night’s game, so let’s check them out.
Just when you think it’s safe to use Joe Flacco as your starting QB, he belly flops against a mediocre Jacksonville defense in front of national television. I don’t know what it is with the guy, but I get the feeling he just has those days where he doesn’t show up. Last night was a prime example. Yes, the protection was awful and it’s extremely rare to see Rice dropping passes in the open flat. I just didn’t see the desire in Flacco’s eyes to take over the game, and his team followed suit. I think Flacco pulls it together later in the season, but for fantasy owners, steer clear until he shows some consistency.
Anquan Boldin was a late-game score away from having an abysmal day. Boldin still finished with only 40 yards receiving but the 5-yard touchdown salvaged what was otherwise a shutdown effort by Jacksonville’s secondary. Look for Boldin to rebound against a laughable Arizona secondary next week.
Can we please stop talking about Mike Thomas as a serious WR 2/FLEX play? Blaine Gabbert could give him 30 targets a game and Thomas still only comes down with 5 or 6 of those balls for small yardage. This isn’t a total knock on Thomas’ skills, as Gabbert continues to show his lack of experience and poise in the pocket. For Thomas owners, I know it sucks, but it’s time to move on.
For Rice and Jones-Drew, nothing serious to contemplate here, for you start these guys week in and week out and hope that they (particularly Rice) don’t have another blunder like last night.
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FanSided
Zach Thompson
