The Denver Broncos were expect to roll over the New York Jets in Sunday's game. That didn't happen, as the Broncos needed a last-minute pick-six to fully put the Jets away, but the team still managed to put up 31 points in a 31-17 win.
Broncos fantasy football recap: Big numbers for Ronnie Hillman, Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas
The Broncos didn’t have the dominant win many foresaw Sunday, but the fantasy production was there. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Despite the relative struggles of the Broncos, a few members of the team still had big fantasy days:
It was asking too much to ask Manning to repeat his monster game from a week ago. The quarterback fell off a bit from his 34-point pace, but still put up 21 fantasy points Sunday, with 237 passing yards and three touchdowns. There’s precious little analysis to be done on Manning. Start him every week. Sit back and smile.
With Montee Ball (a) struggling and (b) injured, the Broncos moved to the next man up in the running game, and Ronnie Hillman responded, rushing for 100 yards on 24 carries and adding 16 receiving yards on three receptions. With Juwan Thompson getting 38 rushing yards on eight carries, and C.J. Anderson not even involved in the game, it's clear that Hillman has the job as long as he produces. He did fumble once in the game, but didn't lose it. He'll have to get better about that, but the yardage was nice to see.
So it’s a nice two weeks for a wide receiver when he can go for 124 yards and a touchdown and have his production dwarfed by his game a week earlier. But Thomas, who struggled a bit early in the season, has shown that he’s maybe the top receiver in fantasy the last couple of weeks. With 10 catches and 12 targets, it’s clear Manning agrees as well.
Sunday was Sanders’ worst game of the season. After 42 fantasy points through four games, Sanders had only 38 yards Sunday, for three points. He caught a season-low three passes on a season-low six targets, very disappointing numbers against a defense that doesn’t do much against the pass. Behind Sanders, Wes Welker’s fantasy value is fading in a hurry. The receiver was targeted only once Sunday, catching the pass for 8 yards. He has 126 yards in three games, and can’t be used in fantasy until he starts showing more.
The numbers for the Denver tight end are getting a little silly. With two scores Sunday, Thomas now sits at nine touchdowns in five games. His 17 fantasy points against the Jets bring him to 79 in five games, an impossible pace. Right now, he's the top tight end in fantasy, and that would be true even if Jimmy Graham were healthy.
