Eric Decker has huge game for Broncos, fantasy owners

Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker put them all to shame Sunday.

In Week 8, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson had 329 receiving yards and a touchdown, for 36 fantasy points. Later that day, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones had the same number of fantasy points, with 122 yards and four scores. Sunday, Alshon Jeffery of the Chicago Bears also had 36 fantasy points, with 249 yards and two touchdowns. And Josh Gordon of the Cleveland Browns had 261 yards and two scores, tallying 38 points.

Decker, though, took the prize Sunday for highest single-game fantasy performance from a wide receiver this season, catching eight balls for 174 yards and four touchdowns, and totaling 41 fantasy points in the Broncos' 35-28 win over division rival Kansas City Chiefs.

Fantasy impact: Decker had been on a cold streak entering the game. He hadn't topped 71 yards or seven fantasy points, or had a touchdown, since Week 7, and had only one catch for five yards a week ago against the New England Patriots. On the season, he only had three touchdowns entering Sunday, lagging behind his Broncos teammates Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Julius Thomas, and Knowshon Moreno.

There was talk on Twitter and the like of Decker's fantasy owners mourning having benched him before this big game, which was definitely a bad move, and would have been even before the explosive performance. Even with his struggles of late, Decker clocked in as the No. 21 wide receiver in fantasy this year. Considering the awful weather in New England last week, some of his struggles there can be forgiven, and quarterback Peyton Manning has a long history of spreading his passes out to a variety of receivers, so Decker's already-high upside should have been seen as that much higher.