Stevan Ridley benched after fumble; Shane Vereen goes beast
Fantasy owners who drafted Stevan Ridley have to be nervous after what happened on Sunday.
Ridley was benched by the New England Patriots after losing a fumble in the second quarter of a 23-21 win over the Buffalo Bills. Ridley had nine carries for 46 yards, but the fumble was his second of the game, though the first he lost. Da’Norris Searcy recovered the fumble and went 74 yards for a Buffalo touchdown, which probably gave the Pats extra reasons to bench the back.
Ridley entered the game with five fumbles (two lost) in his NFL career. He now has seven fumbles (three lost) in 33 career games.
Prior to Ridley’s lost fumble, Shane Vereen only had one rush for 7 yards in the game. But Ridley saw most of the work after that and finished with 101 yards on 14 carries. He also had seven catches for 58 yards.
We don’t expect Ridley to lose his spot as the team’s starter, but this may have opened the door for Vereen and LeGarrette Blount to see more carries in the future. Vereen certainly played like he’s deserving of more action.
