Fantasy Fallout: Jeremy Langford shines, Peyton Manning struggles

— -- Take your time, Matt Forte, we're good here.

Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford managed a week-leading 29 fantasy points (and 36 in PPR scoring) on Sunday, in what was his first NFL start. That ranked among the 10 best performances since 2001 among players who were making their first career starts.

Langford also now has consecutive games of 20-plus fantasy points and 51 total in two games filling in for the injured Forte. Forte hasn't had consecutive games with at least 20 fantasy points since Weeks 7-8 of 2014.

This sets up an interesting debate between the two players entering Week 11, as Forte was listed as questionable for Sunday's game before being scratched because of a sprained MCL. If Forte needs to miss a third consecutive week, Langford has certainly proved his worth already in fantasy.

Pittsburgh powerhouse

The Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday managed their second consecutive victory, defeating the Cleveland Browns 30-9 thanks in part to the week's most passing yards by any team (399). Yes, members of the Steelers passing game put up some lofty fantasy point totals in Week 10.

Almost all of that can be attributed to Ben Roethlisberger, who, despite beginning the game as the No. 2 quarterback, was pressed into action after starter Landry Jones suffered an ankle injury during the first quarter. Roethlisberger threw for 379 of the team's 399 yards, managing 27 fantasy points in a relief effort to finish third overall (and second among quarterbacks) for the week (entering Monday). His 1.9 percent start rate likely matches the percentage of owners who simply failed/forgot to take him out of their lineup.

It was a particularly rare occurrence being a game played in relief; only six quarterbacks since 1960 have scored as many as 27 fantasy points in a game that they did not start.

Roethlisberger also now has seven games of 20-plus fantasy points since Week 8 of the 2014 season; only Aaron Rodgers (11), Tom Brady (9) and Philip Rivers (8) have more during that time span. That should help alleviate any lingering concerns his fantasy owners have about Roethlisberger's foot injury, which was responsible for him beginning Week 10 on the sideline.

Turning to the Steelers' wide receivers, Antonio Brown managed double-digit receptions for the second consecutive week, giving him a whopping 82 fantasy points in PPR scoring in those two games combined. That was not only by far the top two-game score thus far in 2015; it tied Brown for the ninth-best two-game total by any wide receiver since 1960 (counting only consecutive team games played within the same season):

Brown is now on pace for 229 standard and 355 PPR fantasy points, which would fall only 22 and 25 points shy of his 2014 final totals (251 and 380). That's extremely impressive if you consider that Brown, entering Week 10, had played 241 snaps without Roethlisberger this season; Brown played only two snaps without Roethlisberger on the field in all of 2014.

Martavis Bryant, meanwhile, scored 21 fantasy points, good for fourth best among wide receivers. That gave him 170 fantasy points through his first 15 career games, which is the eighth-best total by any wide receiver through that many games since 1960.

Denver doldrums

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning might have set the all-time record for career passing yards, but there weren't many other highlights to be found in his game. He was intercepted four times, resulting in a minus-7 fantasy point total, and was benched in the third quarter. Many fantasy owners felt the pain, as Manning was started in 52.3 percent of leagues.

There have been only 13 worse games, fantasy-wise, by individual players since 1960, with the most recent by John Skelton, who had a minus-8 score in Week 14 of 2012. The worst individual performance during that time span was Ryan Leaf's minus-10, in Week 3 of the 1998 season; you might remember him as the player selected one spot after Manning in the 1998 NFL draft.

Manning, who is destined for the Hall of Fame, will join some exclusive company once he gets there. Three current members of the Hall of Fame had games during their NFL careers that were at least as bad as Manning's: Sonny Jurgensen (minus-8 in 1965), Joe Namath (minus-9, in 1975, minus-8 in 1976) and Johnny Unitas (minus-7 in 1966). Another Hall of Famer, George Blanda, had such a game in the AFL (minus-8 in 1962).

Interestingly enough, Manning's minus-7 wasn't the worst overall score of the week: The New Orleans Saints' defense had minus-8. That's tied for the worst score by any individual defense this season, joining the Jacksonville Jaguars (Week 3) and San Francisco 49ers (Week 2).

Miscellany

? St. Louis Rams rookie Todd Gurley's 14 fantasy points Sunday represented his worst individual performance since his NFL debut in Week 3, but that's only because of the high bar he had set in his previous five games. Those 14 points still give him 107 through his first seven NFL contests, which places him among the 15 best running backs since 1960 through that many career games:

? The Kansas City Chiefs' Charcandrick West scored 27 fantasy points, tied for the second-best score by any running back, and giving him at least 17 points in each of his past three games; they were his second, third and fourth games filling in for the injured Jamaal Charles. For some perspective, the last time that Charles managed at least 62 fantasy points during any three-game span was Weeks 14-16 of the 2013 season, when he totaled 97 (fueled by his 51-point Week 15).

? Sunday's tight end surprise story was that of the Chicago Bears' Zach Miller, who scored 22 fantasy points to lead his position for the week (entering Monday Night Football). That set a new personal best for him, topping his 18 scored in Week 17 of 2009, and it also gave Miller 30 fantasy points in his past two games, with all of those 30 fantasy points spanning three quarters (the fourth quarter of Week 9 and first two quarters of Week 10). To put that into perspective, Miller scored 30 fantasy points in his previous 19 games combined entering Week 9 of 2015.