Sunday's slate of Week 10 NFL action had a little bit of everything. The New Orleans Saints racked up an NFL record 40 first downs against what is quickly becoming a historically bad Dallas Cowboys defense. The Jacksonville Jaguars won their first game of the season over a Tennessee Titans team that wasted an opportunity to pull to within one game of the Indianapolis Colts, who were completely destroyed by the St. Louis Rams at home.
Business as usual, right? Wrong!
There were a few mild surprises and outstanding fantasy performances on Sunday. Today's article is going to look at the top-eight fantasy performances from Sunday.
Demaryius Thomas, Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos
Statistics: Seven receptions, 108 yards and three touchdowns
Thomas went ahead and put up the best fantasy performance for a wide receiver on Sunday, which shouldn't have comes as much of a surprise against a disastrous San Diego Chargers pass defense. He caught 70 percent of the passes thrown in his direction for two scores for his first 100-yard game since Week 1. Thomas is now the No. 3 fantasy receiver this season and is on pace for over 1,400 receiving yards to go along with 16 scores.
Tavon Austin, Wide Receiver, St. Louis Rams
Statistics: Two receptions, 138 yards and two touchdowns
Leave it to me to bench Austin after finally coming to the conclusion that his rookie season was going to be nothing more than a learning experience. He responds by putting up 310 all-purpose yards and three scores in the Rams dominating 38-8 win over Indianapolis. He only caught two passes (PPR dud, I know), but they went for 57 and 81 yards. While I would caution against relying on Austin moving forward this season, he showed everyone exactly why scouts were drooling over him leading up to the NFL draft. It obviously didn't hurt that the Colts' secondary had absolutely no idea what they were doing on Sunday.
Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Denver Broncos
Statistics: 25/36, 330 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions
This isn't too much of a surprise, guys. Manning was going up against a Chargers' defense that ranks in the bottom third of the NFL against fantasy quarterbacks. He was doing so after a couple games that saw him struggle a bit in terms of fantasy numbers. After his four-touchdown performance on Sunday, Manning is now the No. 1 fantasy quarterback by a full 25 points. He's now on pace to put up over 5,800 passing yards and 59 touchdowns, both of which would be NFL records. The focus now turns to a MRI that Manning will undergo today after taking two hits to his lower body late in Denver's win over the Chargers. For the sake of being able to watch one of the greatest seasons for a quarterback in NFL history, let's all hope it's not too serious.
Drew Brees, Quarterback, New Orleans Saints
Statistics: 34/41, 392 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions
Well that was easy. What New Orleans did to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football was nothing short of ridiculous. It put up an NFL record 40 first downs and over 620 total yards against what was an injury-riddle Cowboys' defense. Even with a ton of players on the sidelines with said injuries, there is no reason in the world that an NFL defense should be embarrassed that way. Any way you put up, the rest of the NFC has to be incredibly scared by the way New Orleans' offense is coming together, and Brees' performance last night was a prime example of this. He finished as the No. 1 fantasy quarterback in Week 10 and now sits right behind Peyton Manning for the season. Brees is now also on pace for the fourth 5,000-yard passing season of his career.
Mark Ingram, Running Back, New Orleans Saints
Statistics: 14 attempts, 145 yards, two receptions, 15 yards and one touchdown
In what can be categorized as a surprising performance, the Ghost of Ingram showed up in full effect Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The former Heisman Trophy Award Winner at Alabama averaged over 10 yards per carry and had the best single-game performance in what has been a disappointing three-year career. In fact, he talied 63 more yards than his previous career high, which was set during his rookie season back in 2011. Is this an indication that he's going to be a fantasy stud moving forward? With Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles still on the roster, that's highly unlikely. It's also important to take into account that Ingram was going up against an injury-riddled and below-average defensive front on Sunday. I wouldn't read too much into this.
Pierre Thomas, Running Back, New Orleans Saints
Statistics: 17 attempts, 87 yards, seven receptions, 24 yards and two total touchdowns
Don't look now, but Thomas is now the 15th-ranked fantasy running back through 10 weeks. That's simply amazing considering New Orleans' pass-first offense and the stable of running backs it utilizes on a consistent basis. Of course it doesn't hurt that Thomas went for 114 yards on 24 touches against the Cowboys on Sunday night. He's also been a PPR stud, putting up 46 receptions in nine games, including seven in his most recent outing. In total, Thomas finished as our top-ranked fantasy running back on Sunday.
Riley Cooper, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
Statistics: Three receptions, 102 yards and two touchdowns
If you saw this coming, I am going to call on you to help me with my Week 11 picks. Heck, there might be a trip to Vegas in the cards for you. There is absolutely no way anyone could have seen Cooper's performances over the last two weeks coming. After tallying 102 yards and two scores against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the enigmatic veteran has put up 241 yards and five scores over the past two games. Those numbers make him the No. 1 overall fantasy receiver during that span.
Brandon Marshall, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears
Statistics: Seven receptions, 139 yards and two touchdowns
Marshall continues to dominate the state sheets after he sounded off following a Week 5 loss to the New Orleans Saints. If you take into account his two-touchdown performance on Sunday, Marshall has put up 29 receptions for 408 yards and five scores in his last four games. He's now the No. 4 fantasy receiver this far this season. Even with injury issues for Jay Cutler and the emergence of Alshon Jeffery, Marshall will continue to put up similar numbers moving forward.