The Arizona Cardinals took a damaging 25-13 loss to a Pittsburgh Steelers team that was down to its third-string quarterback in Landry Jones on Sunday, although the Arizona wide receivers certainly did their part.
While the production from Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd wasn’t enough to earn the Cardinals the win, it likely won some fantasy football games. The three pass-catchers combined for 339 receiving yards and a touchdown and kept their team in the game with the rushing attack struggling.
Here is a look at their individual performances and some reaction.
Larry Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald is 32 years old, but he is in the middle of a career-reviving season with a healthy Carson Palmer throwing him passes. Fitzgerald averaged more than 97 yards a game through six weeks, and he also counts six touchdown catches on his resume.
What’s more, Palmer targeted the veteran at least seven times in each outing, and Sunday was the fourth game Arizona targeted Fitzgerald nine or more times.
The combination of those numbers, Fitzgerald’s obvious rapport with Palmer in the early going and his track record with six different seasons of more than 1,000 receiving yards and five seasons of double-digit touchdown catches makes Fitzgerald a must-start in fantasy circles in 2015.
John Brown
The week-to-week consistency fantasy owners have seen with Fitzgerald has not been in place for Brown thus far, but Sunday’s breakout performance felt like a harbinger.
Brown’s 14 targets were by far the most of his season, although it was only the second time all year the Cardinals threw his way more than seven times. While it was the first time Brown topped 75 receiving yards in a game in 2015, the encouraging thing is the constant improvement in the numbers, as can be seen below:
This is only Brown’s second season in the league, so any sign of improvement is encouraging as he becomes more accustomed to NFL defenses. It is also a sign that opposing secondaries are keying on Fitzgerald after a hot start, which has opened Brown up the past few weeks.
Brown is not a surefire lock to play every week unless you are weak at receiver, but the 25-year-old is worth flex consideration given the boost he provided fantasy owners the past three games.
Michael Floyd
Brown’s performance Sunday felt like a sign of things to come given his youth and steady uptick this season. The same cannot be said about Floyd.
Floyd’s touchdown catch saved what would have otherwise been a pedestrian performance. It was also his first score of the season, so it’s not like there is a 2015 track record in place for the former Notre Dame star finding the end zone.
Floyd still hasn’t even reached 60 receiving yards in a single game, and it is fairly clear at this point he is the third option in the passing attack. He demonstrated steady but not explosive production last year on his way to 841 receiving yards and six touchdowns, but fantasy owners haven’t seen it this year, even with Sunday’s score.
Floyd should not be a starter on your fantasy team at this point.
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