Five & Five: The biggest surprises/disappointments from Sunday
We wrap up the fourth Sunday of the NFL season by looking at a handful of players who exceeded expectations and a handful who failed to deliver.
Surprises
Brian Hartline, Miami Dolphins: Um, obviously. The four-year veteran has never had more than 615 yards in a single season. Sunday, he 253 in one game against the Cardinals.
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins: Um, obviously. Courtesy Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post, here are the top eight most prolific single-game passing performances in Dolphins' history: Marino, Marino, Marino, Marino, Marino, Tannehill, Marino.
Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans: CJ2K always does this right when everyone's writing him off. After compiling just 45 yards in his first three games, Johnson quadrupled that total with a 141-yard effort against a very good Houston defense. Fantasy owners are now confused as hell.
Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins: Morris has been the league's best rookie back thus far, but nobody thought he'd average 5.4 yards per carry in a 100-yard performance against the league's top-rated run defense in Tampa.
Everson Griffen, Minnesota Vikings: The third-year USC product had just four sacks his first two seasons, but he had a breakout game against the Lions, putting up two sacks, three quarterback hits and three tackles in Minnesota's surprising victory.
Disappointments
Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions: Sure, he had an injury scare, but Johnson dropped a touchdown passes and was only able to make five catches despite being targeted 12 times. The Lions need more from the game's best wide receiver. Much more.
Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders: It wasn't easy with his team trailing like that, but Oakland's best offensive player was a tremendous disappointment for the third time in four weeks Sunday. He looked to be turning a corner with a 113-yard performance in Week 3, but fell flat on his face with just 34 yards on 13 carries against the Broncos.
Stevie Johnson, Buffalo Bills: After scoring in each of Buffalo's first three games, Johnson failed to find the end zone and caught just two passes for 23 yards in the Bills' loss to New England.
Jeremy Maclin, Philadelphia Eagles: Obviously he's still hurt, and fortunately his disappearing act Sunday night didn't hurt the Eagles in the win column, but fantasy owners had to be crushed to see the usually consistent and reliable Maclin catch just one seven-yard pass against the Giants.
Mario Williams, Buffalo Bills: He makes this list for the second time in four weeks. Williams has been the by far the league's most disappointing player through one month. He failed to do anything of significance against the Patriots and has just 1.5 sacks and nine tackles a quarter of the way through his first year with the Bills. They paid the man like $6 billion to help fix a mediocre defense, and yet they had one of their worst performances in franchise history Sunday.
