Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin had a very productive day rushing the football on Sunday, despite his team losing a narrow game to the NFC South rival New Orleans Saints. Martin pulled his weight and then some, carrying the ball 29 times for 144 yards with no touchdowns. He had a per-carry average of 5.0 yards.
Doug Martin has big fantasy day despite Buccaneers’ loss
Doug Martin had the second-highest single-game yardage total of his career on Sunday. We break down the fantasy implications.
Al Messerschmidt
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New Orleans kicked a last-second field goal to win the game. Martin was the workhorse that put Tampa Bay in a position to win it. Quarterback Josh Freeman had a poor day, completing just nine of his 22 pass attempts for 125 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Martin showed that he is the team’s top offensive weapon and will be used as such. He played hard against the Saints and looked good doing it, but just couldn’t find the end zone, or wasn’t in the red zone consistently enough.
Fantasy Impact: This is the kind of game fantasy owners wanted to see from Martin. It was a tough, gritty game in which the Saints often stacked the box for lack of fear regarding Freeman and the Tampa Bay passing game. It's no secret that the Bucs want to run the ball, and Martin showed on Sunday that it doesn't matter if it's a secret or not. He's a must-start in fantasy going forward.
