<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hopefully all fantasy owners listened to Aaron Rodgers when he said everyone just needs to relax. The real Packers offense showed up on Sunday, and Rodgers, as he usually does, directed all of the action. He threw for 302 yards, 10.8 yards per attempt and four touchdowns in Green Bay\u2019s 38-17 win over Chicago. The Packers got off to a quick start, scoring touchdowns on all three of their first-half drives. Eddie Lacy got on the scoresheet first, but after that it was all Rodgers and the passing game. Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb each went north of 100 yards and evenly split Rodgers\u2019 four touchdown passes. The Packers struggled to start the year with tough matchups against the Seahawks, Jets and Lions. With that slate behind them, expect them to keep the offensive fireworks going when they take on the Vikings on Thursday night.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;NFL Week 4 Coverage Hub: Catch up on all the action&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Rodgers wasn\u2019t the only player to calm down his fantasy owners after some early-season struggles. The Bears finally committed to the run, and it resulted in a huge game for Matt Forte. He picked up 122 yards on 23 carries and added 49 yards through the air on five receptions. Forte still has yet to find the end zone this season, but as long as he\u2019s a focal point of the Bears offense, he is going to be a huge producer the rest of the season.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 On the other side, Lacy did get his first touchdown of the season, but he didn\u2019t exactly inspire much confidence. Going up against a Bears defense that had allowed 4.9 yards per carry through the first three games, Lacy had just 48 yards on 17 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per rush. He\u2019s still a key player in one of the league\u2019s best offenses, but it\u2019s officially time to worry a little bit about Lacy. He has just two carries for at least 15 yards this year and hasn\u2019t been a major part of the passing game. Lacy is outside my top-10 running backs for the rest of the season.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 With Brandon Marshall still clearly not 100 percent, Jay Cutler once again leaned on Martellus Bennett. He had nine catches for a career-high 134 yards. He\u2019ll continue to rack up the targets so long as Marshall is at less than full strength.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 In one of the most predictable developments of the season, Steve Smith had a monster performance in his reunion game with the Panthers. He kicked off the scoring with a 61-yard touchdown pass, and finished the game with seven catches for 139 yards and two scores. Torrey Smith finally registered a pulse, catching two passes for 53 yards and his first touchdown of the year, but it\u2019s clear that Steve Smith is the No. 1 option in the Baltimore passing attack.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Challenge friends in our weekly fantasy football game&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The Ravens continued to mess with fantasy owners across the country. Bernard Pierce was active after missing last week\u2019s game with a thigh injury. He didn\u2019t touch the ball once. Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro split the carries almost right down the middle, and both hit paydirt once. Forsett was slightly more productive on the ground, and also caught three passes for 31 yards. Everyone wants to focus on Pierce and Taliaferro, but Forsett has had at least 12 touches in all four games this year.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 DeAngelo Williams carried the ball 11 times for 34 yards, but had to leave the game with an ankle injury. Darrin Reaves ended up notching 26 yards on 12 carries, and could have a brief spell of fantasy relevance if Williams joins Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert on the shelf. He would still be no more than a flex play in deep leagues.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Arian Foster was able to give it a go on Sunday, but he was clearly still hampered by his injured hamstring. He had just six yards on eight carries, though he did catch seven passes for 55 yards. Alfred Blue was ineffective, as well, running nine times for nine yards. Foster will likely take over as the workhorse when he\u2019s healthy, reducing Blue\u2019s fantasy value to next to nothing.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The best bang-for-your-fantasy-buck player in Houston might prove to be DeAndre Hopkins. He caught his third touchdown of the year on Sunday, pulling down a 35-yard score from Ryan Fitzpatrick. He caught five of his six targets for 64 yards, and again outperformed Andre Johnson. That\u2019s a trend that is likely to continue.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Andrew Luck entered the week as the top-scoring fantasy quarterback, and all he did in Week 4 was widen the gap. He lit up the Titans for 393 yards, 9.6 YPA and four touchdowns. That gives him three games this year with at least 370 passing yards this year. He got more help for his backfield this week, with Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson combining for 151 total yards and two touchdowns. Richardson got 20 carries while Bradshaw got just nine, and the Alabama product is going to be the lead runner no matter what the fantasy community wants. Even so, Bradshaw will continue to be a viable fantasy option.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Bishop Sankey may have finally put Shonn Greene owners out of their misery by freeing them to drop him. Sankey had eight touches against the Colts, picking up 57 yards and his first career touchdown. That\u2019s two straight productive fantasy games for Sankey, and while he got just six carries on Sunday it was double Greene\u2019s three. Sankey has to get more touches going forward, and is a potential flex play against the Browns next week.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Chris Johnson may have scored a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the Jets backfield clearly belongs to Chris Ivory. He picked up 84 yards on 17 carries and caught two of his six targets for 16 yards. Johnson, meanwhile, had just nine yards on five carries outside of his touchdown ramble. Ivory will shoulder the load in the backfield and can be a legitimate RB2.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The Jets defense is going to be a problem for running backs all season long. After shutting down Eddie Lacy and Matt Forte the last two weeks, they held Reggie Bush and Joique Bell to 78 yards on 20 carries and, most importantly, zero splash plays. Certain players are matchup-proof, but this is a defense you want your running backs to avoid.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 I\u2019m not totally sure how the \u201CGeno Smith is playing better\u201D narrative got started, but I think we can safely write it off at this point. He got just 209 yards and 6.3 YPA on Sunday. You can\u2019t trust anyone in this passing offense other than Eric Decker.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Lamar Miller again put up a huge game with the backfield all to himself, running for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. He spent most of the fourth quarter on the sideline with the Dolphins comfortably ahead, but fantasy owners got all they expected out of him this week. The Dolphins have a bye in Week 5, and Knowshon Moreno could end up coming back the following week, so now would be a good time to see what Miller could fetch you on the open market. There isn\u2019t, however, a guarantee that Moreno will dominate the touches out of the backfield when he returns. Don\u2019t sell Miller at a discount merely because Moreno could be back.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 There\u2019s no indication that the Raiders will make a permanent change to Matt McGloin, but Derek Carr hasn\u2019t gotten it done as the starter. Either way, the only person worth paying any attention to in this passing game is James Jones. Andre Holmes could also be a guy in very deep leagues.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The only early game in which both quarterbacks threw for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns was, of course, Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger isn\u2019t a surprise there, as he torched the Buccaneers defense for 314 yards, 7.9 YPA and three touchdowns. Mike Glennon, however, doesn\u2019t look like a guy who will be handing the reins back to Josh McCown. He threw for 302 yards, 7.2 YPA and two touchdowns, leading the Buccaneers to a come-from-behind win over the Steelers. Glennon isn\u2019t all of a sudden going to jump into fantasy starting lineups, but he can be a decent backup or deep starting option in two-quarterback leagues.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Unfortunately for Glennon, he may have lost one of his best weapons on Sunday. Mike Evans was having the best game of his rookie year, catching four passes for 65 yards and his first career touchdown. He had to leave early with a groin injury, though, and those have a way of lingering. We\u2019ll have to keep an eye on his status this week.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Capping off the early games, Antonio Brown had another huge performance, catching seven passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. It was his 21st straight game with at least five receptions, which is a new NFL record.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Blake Bortles struggled in his first career start, throwing for 253 yards, 6.8 YPA, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was under a lot of pressure, and that\u2019s going to be a theme for him for as long as he\u2019s playing behind this Jacksonville offensive line. It also limits his upside for the rest of the season. He\u2019s a deep option as a starter in two-QB leagues, and still doesn\u2019t need to be owned in traditional one-QB formats.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Toby Gerhart showed minimal signs of life, running for 32 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He was once again marginalized in the offense with the Jaguars chasing down a big deficit. That, too, is likely to be a theme. He can be a matchup play, but that\u2019s about it.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Philip Rivers had another big game, throwing for 377 yards, 9.7 YPA and three touchdowns. With the way Rivers has played for the last year and change, he has to be considered one of the best fantasy quarterbacks. It also helps when he gets his best receiver involved. Keenan Allen finally showed up for his fantasy owners this week, catching 10 of his 11 targets for 135 yards. It was just a matter of time before he got more involved, and it was easy to see this coming with a great matchup against the Jaguars. Donald Brown was very disappointing, picking up just 19 yards on 10 carries. He\u2019s not a real threat to Ryan Mathews\u2019 job security.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 While Allen led the Chargers in catches and yards, Eddie Royal had two touchdown receptions, five catches and 105 yards. Royal now has four scores on the year, and after finding the end zone eight times last year, he has to be respected in fantasy leagues. He still shouldn\u2019t be thought of as more than a WR4 or so, but he should definitely be owned.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; \u2022 All football fans are likely united in hoping that Teddy Bridgewater\u2019s ankle injury is not serious. The only way the Falcons were able to stop the rookie out of Louisville in his first career start was to roll up on his ankle on a run in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, he carved up the Falcons in leading the Vikings to a victory. He threw for 317 yards and 10.6 YPA and also ran for 27 yards and a touchdown. Bridgewater put up the most fantasy points by a quarterback against the Falcons this season, and they\u2019ve played against Drew Brees and Andy Dalton. If Bridgewater\u2019s ankle injury isn\u2019t serious, he\u2019s a high-end QB2 with upside to be a starter in traditional leagues based on matchups. Unfortunately for those of you thinking about starting him next week, the Vikings have a short week and play the Packers on Thursday night.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Matt Asiata is going to be a fantasy playmaker for the rest of the year simply because the Vikings are committed to their ground game and he dominates the touches at the goal line. Asiata had another poor game from a yards-per-carry standpoint, rushing for 78 yards on 20 carries, but he had three scores. Jerick McKinnon had a monster game and was clearly Minnesota\u2019s best running back. He racked up 135 yards on 18 carries. McKinnon should be owned in fantasy leagues, while Asiata is an RB3.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Jarius Wright had eight catches for 132 yards on 10 targets. Meanwhile, Cordarrelle Patterson had just four targets, catching two of them for 38 yards. Anything can happen in an individual game, but Wright clearly had a connection with Bridgewater. It could have been a scheme or matchup advantage the Vikings uncovered, but it\u2019s safe to say that Patterson\u2019s play has been very disappointing for his fantasy owners this year. He\u2019s averaging just five targets per game, and the big plays haven\u2019t been there. Given that his value is based entirely in his ability to get explosive plays, inconsistency like this was always a possibility.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Roddy White\u2019s hamstring looked fine, and he caught four passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. You shouldn\u2019t have any concerns about playing him against the Giants next week. Devin Hester had five catches for 70 yards and a score, and can be an option in deeper leagues so long as Harry Douglas is out.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The 49ers got Frank Gore plenty of work on Sunday, and he repaid them by rumbling for 119 yards on 24 carries. He also caught one pass for a 55-yard touchdown on a play where the Philadelphia defense completely broke down and lost sight of him. The Niners didn\u2019t exactly light it up against an Eagles defense that had been ripped apart by Indianapolis and Washington. They got back in the win column, but Colin Kaepernick had just 218 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He was effective as a runner, too, picking up 58 yards on seven carries. Expect them to keep on feeding Gore and relying on the run game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 I\u2019m still preaching patience on LeSean McCoy, but it\u2019s understandable that his owners are beyond frustrated at this point. After getting just 22 yards on 19 carries last week, he had 17 yards on 10 totes on Sunday. McCoy\u2019s struggles will get the deep dive treatment in this week\u2019s Fact or Fiction, but you should still try to do what you can to buy him low. This will be your only chance to get a guy like this at any sort of a discount.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The whole Eagles offense might be worthy of a deep dive after San Francisco shut it down on Sunday. The Eagles didn\u2019t score at all on offense, and got just 213 total yards and 3.8 yards per play. Nick Foles was sacked just once, but he took a lot of hits and threw two interceptions (though one was on fourth down on Philadelphia\u2019s last possession). With Jason Kelce out for about two months, the line could be a real issue for all the skill players.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Another week, another 100-yard game for DeMarco Murray. This week, he ran for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. That gives Murray 534 yards and five touchdowns in the first four games of the season. Even though he was off the board by the middle of the second round in nearly all leagues, he\u2019s looking like a steal.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022\u200B&amp;nbsp;The Dallas offense had its best game of the season, with Tony Romo adding in 262 yards, 9.0 YPA and three touchdowns. He hit eight different receivers, with Terrance Williams leading the way with six receptions, 77 yards and two touchdowns. The Cowboys\u2019 offensive line is a true strength of the team, and that\u2019s good news for everyone involved. You\u2019ll be able to count on Romo when the Cowboys take on the Texans next week.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022\u200B&amp;nbsp;The Saints dug a deep hole that they had to try to pass themselves out of on Sunday night. So it wasn\u2019t a surprise to see Khiry Robinson\u2019s eight carries lead the team. He had 18 carries against the Vikings last week in what was a much different game situation. We can expect that to be the greatest determiner of how many carries he gets as long as Mark Ingram is out.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022\u200B&amp;nbsp;Brandin Cooks caught five of his six targets for 31 yards. Since his big game Week 1, he has a total of 16 catches for 122 yards. The upside is clear with him, but the production just hasn\u2019t been there. Outside of Jimmy Graham, who caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown, Drew Brees hasn\u2019t really had another go-to pass catcher. With that being the case, Cooks should be considered a WR3 for the rest of the year. Marques Colston has similarly been a no-show since Week 1, his touchdown last week notwithstanding. He, too, is no better than a WR3.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Pierre Thomas hasn\u2019t reached 90 total yards in a game this year and has just one touchdown. It seemed like bluster when Thomas said he\u2019d be more involved in the offense this year than he was last year, simply because he appeared to have maxed out his role a year ago. One-quarter into the season, that notion seems true. Thomas is mostly a flex guy, and even in that role you\u2019ll need to hunt for good matchups.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022\u200B&amp;nbsp;Finally, after the combined performance of Graham and Josh Hill, who caught a 12-yard touchdown, on Sunday, the Cowboys have now allowed 36 catches for 388 yards and six scores to tight ends this year. That\u2019s an average of 18.7 fantasy points per game in standard-scoring leagues. Whichever tight end is playing the Cowboys is going to be a viable fantasy starter.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/fantasy/2014/09/28/fantasy-football-week-4-green-bay-packers-aaron-rodgers>