Top 10 Week 9 Fantasy Takeaways: Joe Mixon With a Game for the Ages

Bengals RB puts up the best fantasy numbers of the season in a rout of the Panthers.

Remember how much fun last week was in fantasy land? Points overflowed; it was like 2021. You know, the good ol’ days. Well, we went right back into the statistical doldrums of the current NFL campaign, where points can be just as elusive as Barry Sanders (unless you started Joe Mixon or Davante Adams).

The quarterback position was particularly gross, as backup Baker Mayfield was a top-12 signal-caller heading into Sunday night. He scored more points than Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers (which isn’t that hard to do this season). Running backs weren’t much better, either, as Carolina backup Raheem Blackshear outscored all but eight backs before the Titans and Chiefs contest.

Tight end was awful, too, as dudes like Josiah Deguara, James Mitchell, Teagan Quitoriano, Shane Zylstra and Tommy Tremble were all among the top 13 at the position. Who did that group of who-the-hell-is-that players outscore? That list includes starters like Kyle Pitts, Dawson Knox, Mike Gesicki and Evan Engram.

With that being said, let’s start our fantasy whip around Sunday’s action in the Queen City, where a certain running back made mincemeat of the Panthers.

Joe Mixon had the fantasy game of his career.

Sam Greene/USA Today Sports Network

Joe Mixon went scorched fantasy earth on Carolina. Mixon single-handedly led a lot of fantasy managers to a win, scoring five touchdowns and a bananas 55.1 points in a blowout win over the Panthers. Aside from the touchdowns, Mixon also had four catches and 211 scrimmage yards in the contest. His 55.1 points are the ninth-most scored by a running back in the Super Bowl era, and it’s the most points scored in a single game since Alvin Kamara scored 56.2 fantasy points on Christmas 2020. If you were wondering, Mixon’s previous career high in points was 42.1 back in 2020. He'll get a rest next week, as the Bengals have a bye.

• MMQB: Week 9 Game Balls

Davante Adams wakes up from his recent slumber. Adams scored an awful 1.2 fantasy points in last week’s loss to the Saints, but he was able to rebound for a big stat line against the Jaguars. He posted 10 catches for 146 yards and scored two touchdowns in a loss, finishing with a season-best 36.6 fantasy points. His total also led all wide receivers heading into the Sunday night game. Adams certainly made up for his Week 8 stinker, but he could have had an even bigger game, as all but one of Adams’s catches and all his receiving yards came in the first half.

Justin Fields has become a viable QB1.

Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Fields continues to roar in the stat sheets. The hottest quarterback in all of fantasy land remained on fire this week, scoring a career-best 42.7 fantasy points in a loss to the Dolphins. The mobile quarterback rushed for 178 yards, which is the most accumulated by a quarterback in a regular-season game during the Super Bowl era, and he’s now seen his fantasy point totals increase in each of his last six games. In fact, he’s been the best quarterback in the league over the last three weeks. If you were able to land Fields in fantasy, you now have a No. 1 option.

Josh Allen scores 24.8 points in a “bad” game. Allen’s point total looks good if you’re looking at it in a vacuum, but he did not play well in a shocking loss to the Jets. He threw for just 205 yards without a touchdown and was intercepted twice in the game, making it four picks that he’s thrown in the last two weeks. He still posted a good line based on his rushing totals (86 yards, two touchdowns), but Allen has had two bad games in a row as a passer (his rating versus the Jets was 46.8). He also banged up his elbow, but it didn’t seem like it was too serious.

Tyreek Hill goes for 143 yards, quickest to 1,000. Hill posted 143 yards with one touchdown and 27.3 fantasy points in a win over the Bears, and he’s already over 1,100 yards after nine weeks (quickest for a wide receiver ever). Hill also has 206.9 points, which is the most he’s ever had in a single season in that period of time. Who needs Patrick Mahomes? Apparently, not Hill. He’s been a fantasy MVP, as Hill’s current yardage pace would put him over 2,000 over a full 17-game schedule.

Justin Herbert can’t get off the fantasy schneid. Herbert posted another bad stat line, throwing for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a win over the Falcons. His 12.1 fantasy points were a disappointment due to a plus matchup, though he did have to play without Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Still, Atlanta’s defensive backfield was banged up, too, yet Herbert failed to score more than 18 points for the third time in his last four games. While it’s not all is fault, Herbert has become tough to trust as a regular fantasy starter. 

Aaron Rodgers should be cut in fantasy leagues. I suggested this to be the case a week or two ago, but now he’s just no longer worth the trouble. Going into Detroit, a team that fields one of the league’s worst defenses, Rodgers threw three picks (two in the red zone) and was held to 13.6 fantasy points in an embarrassing 15-9 loss. Rodgers has now failed to score more than 16.9 points in a game, and he’s averaged fewer than 14 points in all. If you can’t trust Rodgers to put up a good stat line against the Lions, sadly, you can’t trust him against anyone.

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Tom Brady still has a little bit of magic left in him. Brady didn’t have a huge game in the stat sheets, but he did lead a late fourth-quarter touchdown drive that helped him finish with 15.2 fantasy points in a win over the Rams. That’s good enough to be a top-12 quarterback heading into Sunday night. He also surpassed 100,000 passing yards during his illustrious career (including the postseason), which is quite a feat considering no one else even has 90,000! As for his fantasy appeal, Brady is no longer an elite player but remains a low-end No. 1 option at a position that has not been  as productive as it’s been in recent seasons.

Kenneth Walker is going to win you a league title. The rookie out of Michigan State had another monster stat line, rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Cardinals. His 27.9 fantasy points ranked second among running backs heading into Sunday night, and he’s now scored 19 or more points in three of his last four games. An absolute beast, Walker has seen a 40-plus percent touch share in the last four weeks. He’ll remain a must-start against the Buccaneers.

Tight ends disappoint across the league, again. The position has been unreliable overall this season, and that continued in Week 9. Going into Sunday night, six tight ends scored more than 9.1 points. Furthermore, the quartet of Josiah Deguara, Teagan Quitoriano, Shane Zylstra and Tommy Tremble were all in the top 13 in fantasy points after the two late window games. On a positive note, Cade Otton had 17.8 points and Greg Dulcich is back from a bye next week.

Notes

• Aaron Jones suffered an ankle injury and was forced out of the Packers’ loss to the Lions. He was spotted wearing a protective boot after the game, and his status for the team’s upcoming Week 10 contest against the Cowboys has to be considered questionable at best. If Jones is forced to miss time, AJ Dillon would take over a featured role in a negative matchup against Dallas.

• Cordarrelle Patterson returned to action this week, and it was a successful return with two touchdowns and 18.3 fantasy points. He did share the work with Tyler Allgeier, who had 11 touches to Patterson’s 14 and went over 100 total yards on the afternoon. So, while Patterson will remain the team’s top fantasy back, don’t be so quick to cut ties with Allgeier in what will remain a run-based offense. The duo next faces the Panthers on Thursday night.

• T.J. Hockenson didn’t look like he was learning a new offense in what was his first game as a Viking, catching all nine of his targets for 70 yards. He put up 16 fantasy points, which is his second-best total of the season. In what is a far better offensive attack, Hockenson will remain a regular No. 1 tight end.

• D’Onta Foreman’s recent statistical fire was put out by the Bengals in a 42-21 blowout. He carried the ball just seven times, as Foreman was game scripted out of the offense, and he finished with a mere 4.1 fantasy points. I wouldn’t lose faith though, as Foreman should remain one of the Panthers’ top options in the offense for the rest of the season. He’ll face the Falcons in Week 10. In their last meeting, Foreman smoked them for a trio of touchdown runs.

• Jordan Wilkins led all Colts offensive skill players in fantasy points with 6.8 in what was an ugly loss to the New England Patriots. Deon Jackson, Michael Pittman Jr. and Parris Campbell were all held to under six fantasy points, and the Colts entire offense had 35.2 fantasy points (less than Joe Mixon, Justin Fields and Davante Adams had by themselves!). Sam Ehlinger has decimated the fantasy appeal of this entire offense, making everyone a risky starter.

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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for your late breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business to help you win a fantasy championship!