WEEK 12 - Sunday Recap

-OK, so I was a little off on my "sit Willis McGahee" advice .... but seriously, who could have predicted two TDs? ... between the broken ribs, the splitting of carries with Anthony Thomas, the Jags' supposed run-stopping abilities and the fact that McGahee had one TD entering the game .... I guess that's why they play the games.

-What's going on with Torry Holt? The dude was on fire earlier in the year, scoring a TD every week in a five-game stretch that culminated with a 154-yard, three-TD showing in Week 8 against Seattle. Then came the bye, and he hasn't scored or cracked 73 receiving yards since. The tough part is he's been so good and so consistent for so long, it's almost impossible to imagine benching him. He could break out at any time - especially this week against Arizona.

-Looks like Shaun Alexander's foot is juuuuust fine. He should benefit from having fresh legs down the stretch. Getting 40 carries a game won't hurt either.

-LaDainian Tomlinson has been incredible (three more TDs last week - including another one passing!), but you almost wish he'd save some of these scores for the fantasy playoffs when we REALLY need them. Here's hoping he can keep up this amazing run.

-So much for Mike Vanderjagt being a top fantasy option this year. Damn Idiot Kicker. See what I mean about kickers and defenses being unpredictable? I'm not sure Martin Gramatica will be any better though.

-You have to love what Drew Brees and the Saints are doing right now. WR Devery Henderson (154 yards, TD vs. Atlanta) is a must-own, and Terrance Copper should get a shot too as long as Marques Colston's hand is still a problem. And as I expected, Deuce McAllister (74 yards, two TDs) is a much better option than Reggie Bush (45 total yards), who doesn't really even deserve a roster spot at this point except in really deep leagues.

-You might not guess it on the surface, but if you've got Chester Taylor as one of your top two backs, you might be playing with fire. Sure, he's scored three times in the last two games and just gashed the Cardinals, but up next are the Bears, who are capable (although not always consistently) of shutting down the run and held Taylor to 74 yards and no TDs in their first meeting this season. After that, things get considerably easier for Taylor and the Vikes (Lions, Jets, Packers, Rams), but Taylor has been dealing with "body soreness" in his first full season as a featured back. Those look like appealing matchups, but I'd have a backup plan just in case he hits a wall in the near future.

-It's time to think about benching Eli Manning if you haven't already. I have to admit I had much higher hopes for young Elisha, both as a Giants fan and as a fantasy player with Manning on two of my teams. I was even so bold as to predict he'd finish with slightly better numbers than Peyton a few weeks ago, back when the G-Men actually looked like a playoff team. But if Eli couldn't break out of it against the Titans, then it's hard to imagine things getting much better the rest of the way. I'm not saying he should be benched in real life, nor should you go cutting him and picking up Bruce Gradkowski or something, because the potential is still there for Eli ... but if you've got another proven QB on your roster or a nice matchup, by all means, go for it.

-I thought Leon Washington was just starting to become a valuable commodity a few weeks ago, but the Jets' backfield has been a mysterious mess, and they couldn't even do anything against the Texans. Washington's stock has plummeted the past few weeks, while the value of his rookie trading card has skyrocketed ("East siiiide!"). You need to start thinking about a possible upgrade if you've got Leon or any of the Jets' runners as a third or fourth RB.

-Sunday was a day to forget for Willie Parker (10 carries, 22 yards) and the rest of the reigning Super Bowl champs. They were flat-out steamrolled by the Ravens in a shutout loss, though it was easy to imagine going in that Parker might not have much room to run and the Steelers would be playing from behind. Fast Willie hasn't exactly been consistent, but he's had his share of big games, and I'd expect two more in the coming weeks against the Bucs and Browns.

-That reminds me, it might be easy to forget about the weekly Thursday game now, especially if you don't have the NFL Network, but you'll want to get your Bengals and Ravens in your starting lineup ASAP.

-And by the way, It looks like the NFL is losing its battle with the major cable companies so far. It seems their hard-line stance hasn't worked out the way they had expected by now. Here's hoping the league will give in and lower its price so all of us can enjoy these Thursday games - without extra charges on our cable bill.

-It seems like ages ago but we should touch on the Thanksgiving games too:

Joey Harrington was predictably good against a bad Lions defense, though it would be great if Chris Chambers could have gotten just a little piece of the action. ...

Tony Romo was surprisingly great against the Bucs. You should basically start all your offensive players against the Bucs' D because they've inexplicably fallen off the face of the Earth and can't stop anybody - just don't expect five passing TDs all the time. ...

And Larry Johnson turned in another fine performance. I probably don't need to say this, but never bench him. I don't think anyone is sorry they drafted him, and if it wasn't for LT's otherworldly production the past few weeks LJ would be getting a lot more pub.

-And finally, for those of you who are also college football fans, or just readers of blogs in general, check out my friend Rick Burchfield's college football blog.