Tough times for top fantasy running backs

These are historic times.

Todd Gurley of the St. Louis Rams ran for 133 yards in Sunday’s win against the San Francisco 49ers, setting the record for most rushing yards over a player’s first four career starts. His 566 yards topped Billy Sims’ 539.

The New York Giants-New Orleans Saints game ended with 101 total points to become the third-highest-scoring game in NFL history — five short of the record.

But those were not the only extremes. Through Sunday night, there were eight rushing touchdowns by running backs in Week 8. That’s two fewer than any week has produced in well over a decade. Consider that even adding in the four receiving touchdowns by running backs the position only generated one more score than the tight ends (11) on the week.

Consider, too, that the top 10 fantasy running backs in Week 8 were Gurley, Dion Lewis, Charcandrick West, Shane Vereen, Devonta Freeman, Ronnie Hillman, C.J. Anderson, Darren McFadden, Mark Ingram and DeAngelo Williams.

Now recall just where those backs were actually drafted last summer. The NFL is a passing league, but going into the Sunday night game there had only been four rushing touchdowns by running backs. That was the same number of rushing scores by quarterbacks.

Back to the waiver wire

There were many significant and severe injuries this past week that will impact fantasy rosters.

RB Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers. A torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee will end his season, and the Steelers are back to the same situation they were in during the season’s first two weeks, when Bell was serving a suspension.

Fortunately, DeAngelo Williams already proved to be a capable replacement and scored three times while averaging over 100 rushing yards in those two games. He’ll be a red-hot waiver wire pick if he was discarded once Bell returned. Next on the schedule, Williams is treated to home games against the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns.

RB Matt Forte, Chicago Bears. An MCL injury should keep Forte out for at least a few weeks, which leaves the backfield in the hands of Jeremy Langford. The rookie fourth-rounder ran for 46 yards on 12 carries after Forte left. This weekend against the San Diego Chargers is a good matchup, but then facing the Rams, Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers next would be bad enough for Forte, let alone his replacement.

WR Steve Smith Sr., Baltimore Ravens. A torn Achilles knocks him out for the rest of the year. Smith already deemed this his final season, so we might have seen the last of one of the toughest wideouts ever. He has provided more than twice as much receiving production as any other Raven. Smith’s s absence will force the Ravens to rely on Marlon Brown and Chris Givens, if not involve the tight ends even more.

RB Khiry Robinson, Saints. A severe ankle injury will end Robinson’s season, one in which he’s been used for about eight to 10 touches in most games. This will more likely mean that Mark Ingram gets a boost to his already significant primary rusher role. The Saints’ schedule will benefit Ingram even more, as he next faces the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Houston Texans.

RB Reggie Bush, 49ers. His knee injury is believed to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and that would end his season, if not his career. With Carlos Hyde already expected to miss Week 9 from the stress fracture in his foot, the 49ers are running short of backs.

Mike Davis was the primary backup, but he left the loss to the Rams with a hand injury and might be out. That would mean undrafted Kendall Gaskins would be the only healthy back when the 49ers host the Atlanta Falcons this weekend. That could be Gaskins’ 15 minutes of fame, but he only gained 6 yards on five carries Sunday.

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets. Torn ligaments in his non-throwing hand are expected to knock him out for a few weeks, if not longer, because the injury interferes with taking snaps.

That installs Geno Smith back as the starting quarterback, though he, too, was injured. Smith’s shoulder and ribs took a beating, but he might still play in Week 9. The quarterback situation will have an obvious impact on wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker with the Jets’ next games at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills. Marshall also injured his ankle and toe but continued to play.

WR Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions. In the blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Johnson caught his fifth pass on the day but then pulled up lame when his ankle was rolled during the tackle. Fortunately, Johnson enters a well-timed bye week to heal, but the disaster in London could still have future repercussions.

New offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter’s direction led to the Lions trailing 38-3 before scoring a garbage-time touchdown. There is obvious speculation that head coach Jim Caldwell might be fired before they come off their bye week.

Week 8 notables

•Tight ends produced four 100-yard efforts. Rob Gronkowski and Gary Barnidge shouldn’t surprise anyone, but Ben Watson (Saints) and Jacob Tamme (Falcons) weren’t even drafted in most leagues.

•In four career games, Stefon Diggs has never caught fewer than six passes or gained fewer than 87 yards. He averages 105 yards a game, tops among all rookie wideouts. Amari Cooper (81 yards) and Willie Snead (67 yards) lead Diggs in overall production but only because they’ve played more games.

•Arizona Cardinals wideout Michael Floyd caught four passes for 106 yards and a score in Cleveland while being covered by cornerback Joe Haden (at least until he left with a concussion). That makes it three consecutive games with a touchdown for Floyd, who is finally catching fire.

•Ronnie Hillman was officially named the Broncos starter and responded with two touchdowns and 60 yards on 19 carries vs. the Packers. But C.J. Anderson also gained 101 yards and a score on 14 rushes. That’s not enough to win back the starter slot after seven weeks of disappointment. But it will be enough to keep Anderson in the mix and hurt Hillman’s fantasy value.

•Week 9 features the worst bye week problem of the 2015 season. Taking the week off will be the Cardinals, Ravens, Lions, Houston Texans, Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks.