No Comments »

No Comments »

Question 1: Asked by @E_RICHT5F3LD

There are a ton of options at QB in my league who should I go with? Tebow, Moore, Sanchez, Smith, Flacco, Dalton, Fitzpatrick or Rivers.

Answer

I would have to say that it’s Tebow time!  Unless your league has some goofy scoring, I would take the consistency that Tebow provides.  His rushing ability has made it so that he is able to put up a solid point total every week.  This week he faces off against a tough Bears D but they should be able to wear down Chicago’s defense by keeping their offense off the field.  Without Cutler or Forte to help extend drives and win the field position battle on offense, I don’t see how they are able to bottle up the consistent and punishing run-game of the Broncos.

Question 2: Asked by @JoshVitale

Who do I start at Flex: Plaxico, Benson, D.Moore or K.Smith (if healthy)? Or should I just quit #fantasyfootball?

Answer

Quitters never prosper Josh… Play Benson.  He has a rough match up and while he is probably going to have a mediocre at best week, he is a feature back and therefore will see enough carries to make him worth the start.  We can reasonably expect A.J. Green to force Houston to respect the deep ball and this will open a few running lanes for Benson.  Whether or not he disappoints will come down to whether or not he punches one in but I think you have to play him in the playoffs, where risks tend to back fire.

No Comments »

No Comments »

No Comments »

No Comments »

Studs

LeSean McCoy, RB, PHI – It isn’t often that Andy Reid lets a back see 30 carries, but I am not sure he has ever had one as good as McCoy. I thought that he was mostly just an edge rusher and receiving threat and that is what Reid likes from a RB.  He has proved me wrong this season and continues to impress after 185 yards and 2 TDs on the ground this week.

Steve Smith, WR, CAR – Smith now has five 100 yard receiving performances this season.  He is a top 10 receiver with Cam Newton at QB and has just been a draft day steal for all of his fantasy owners.

Steven Jackson, RB, STL – Jackson is too good to have been on your bench this week, even though we all expected a rout by New Orleans and limited carries because of a need to pass the ball.  Well that didn’t happen as the Rams upset the Saints in a big way on Sunday and Jackson was the key to this win.

Bills, D/ST, BUF – The one knock on this opportunistic defensive unit has been pressure on the QB.  Going into this week, they had the lowest sack total in the NFL with 4.  They had NINE sacks this week against Washington and forced 2 interceptions as they shut out the Redskins. Beck had a rough day and this was the first time in history that a Mike Shanahan team has been shut out. Impressive game by the Bills after coming off the bye week, which has spelled disaster for most teams this season.

Frank Gore, RB, SF – After posting 134 yards on 31 carries and scoring a TD this week, Gore has 4 straight games of over 125 yards AND a TD. Impressive after such a lack-luster start. The 49ers offense is forcing the ball down the throat of opposing defenses and I don’t see their strategy changing over the rest of this season. You HAVE to keep Gore in your lineup.

Nate Washington, WR, TEN – Nate had two scores in this game and it was by far his best game since Kenny Britt was hurt and he reached the top of the depth chart at wide receiver. I credit this to Javon Ringer bringing a balance to the Titan offense as he split carries evenly with Chris Johnson.

Duds

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE – Terrible call by me on Law Firm this week. In my defense, NO ONE saw Kevin Faulk’s return as a threat to Law Firm’s workload. Neither Ridley or Woodhead even saw a touch in this game and Faulk had over twice the touches that Green-Ellis did. Fantasy owners hate you too Coach Belichick.

Philip Rivers, QB, SD – The only reason that Rivers hasn’t been the biggest bust of the 2011 season is because Chris Johnson was a first round pick.  They have both been equally as bad.  Rivers has been out scored by Colt McCoy, Josh Freeman, Matt Hasselbeck and Mark Sanchez. Ouch.  No excuse this week as all his receiving weapons are finally healthy.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL – Admittedly the entire Cowboys offense was bad this week, but we have come to expect Austin to be a top 10 receiver and in the past two weeks he has been far from.  I was surprised to see Austin in the slot so much this week, with Robinson playing on the outside in three receiver sets. This was probably an effort to get a more favorable matchup for Austin and I expect Dallas to make a point to get Austin back involved in a big way against Seattle this week.

Ryan Torain, RB, WAS – The Skins are just falling apart and with Torain being injury prone, I expect Helu to take over the lion’s share of the carries VERY soon.

Wes Welker, WR, NE – The Steelers provided a very nice road map for how to shut down Brady and the Pats offense.  Play man-to-man and load up 8 or 9 people around the line of scrimmage.  The Pats don’t have an elite receiver that can go out there and beat man-coverage on a regular basis.  I am not worried about any Patriots down the road though.  Not many teams have the personnel on defense to execute this strategy like Pittsburgh does.

No Comments »

No Comments »

Texans at Titans

Houston failed to run away with the division as I had thought they would and Tennessee actually sits in first at 3-2 with the Texans at 3-3.  The Titans got off to a VERY fast start when Kenny Britt was healthy and even with VERY limited production from Chris Johnson over the first three weeks. Johnson HAS had 12 fantasy points in two consecutive games to start to recoup some of his value but with where you drafted him and the size of his contract, I think we ALL can agree that one 100 yard rushing game is not good enough. Both defenses here are allowing just over 100 yards on the ground per game and I think that the Tate and Foster combo will prove to be too much for Tennessee to deal with.  Matt Schaub is listed as Questionable at the moment but assuming he plays, I like the Titans to win this game handily. I think Chris Johnson and Arian Foster are must starts this week, as per the usual. And Nate Washington and Jacoby Jones are viable plug-in guys for an owner in Bye week hell.  In deeper formats Hasselbeck might be OK, but this Texans secondary is legitimate under Wade Phillips and you should look elsewhere if possible.

Chargers at Jets

With the Chargers’ record being this good, this early and the fact that the Jets have gone to two straight AFC championship games… I could see this being a preview of the AFC Championship game.  One thing needs to happen in order for us to get to that point though; The Jets need to play a LOT better. Both on offense and defense, the Jets are not the team I thought they would be and it all starts with the running game. The recipe for playoff success is simple; Run the ball and stop the run. Obviously you need to be able to stretch the field vertically to compete with the Drew Brees’, Aaron Rodgers’ and Tom Brady’s of the world, but nothing shuts these elite QBs down like a lot of time on the sideline. This is exactly why the Chargers are going to win this game and I am not convinced it will be close.  The Chargers are healthy on offense again with Antonio Gates looking to rejoin the list of Rivers’ targets on offense and the Bye week helped Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert get back into playing shape.  With two backs that are more productive than Shonn Greene and the Jets defense appearing unable to contain the running game, I think that we will see very limited fantasy production from all of your New York Jets.  The one guy I do want to start from New York is Santonio Holmes because of junk-time stats after the Chargers have already run away with it. Bye weeks might force you to use Greene, but I feel like you are hoping for a goal line carry or two here so that you can at least get a TD out of him. I think Mathews and Gates are in for big games for San Diego, but don’t expect too much from VJax and Rivers despite the fact that your going to be playing them.

Bears at Buccaneers

This game, if you didn’t know, is being played at Wembley Stadium in London. Tampa has made this trip to play in London and they learned a thing or two the last time they did it. Don’t travel to London late in the week and face jet lag as well as your opponent… Tampa has been in London since Monday and holding practices in England all week. Chicago waited until today to make the trip and as a result, I think Tampa Bay has a serious advantage in this game.  You couldn’t make me bench Matt Forte at all this season but since Cutler and his receivers are risky under ideal circumstances, just leave them on the bench this week. Mike Williams clings to a top 20 spot in the rankings despite his hugely disappointing season thus far, but if this advantage holds true, one step is all a receiver needs to beat coverage deep and Freeman is still more than good enough to to recoup his fantasy value.  Earnest Graham is worth a play to fill-in for a bye week despite the weak match-up should Blount sit and it looks like he will. You shouldn’t look to this game for any deep or sneaky plays, but you should see solid outings from the guys that you have been counting on all year long.  I think Tampa gets the win as the “home team” and stays on top of their division.

No Comments »

No Comments »