-The Chiefs won the Show-Me State Showdown thanks to their stars. Larry Johnson (172 yards, TD) is playing at an MVP level right now, and Tony Gonzalez (two TDs) is steadily making his case as fantasy's top TE. St. Louis' Steven Jackson showed a little Marshall Faulk flair with his 219 total yards and a TD to boot, but it wasn't enough to negate the Rams' four turnovers.
-Javon Walker was a very pleasant surprise, catching two TDs and running in for another score on a reverse against Pittsburgh. He's been a pretty steady option, and as long as Jake Plummer keeps his head on straight, Walker should keep getting a lot of looks.
-Mike Bell didn't look quite as hot this week subbing for Tatum Bell. Granted, he had a tough assignment against the Steelers, but with 28 yards on 17 carries, he'll probably be back to fantasy irrelevance as soon as Tatum's toes are OK.
-Hoping for a miracle from LaDainian Tomlinson late in the afternoon? Apparently the Bolts were too, and LT2 didn't disappoint. After two quarters of warming up, Tomlinson smacked the Browns with three TDs and finished with 172 rushing yards. What more can you say about the guy? With him on your roster, you can never count yourself out.
-This is why you never bench a healthy Peyton Manning, ever: some might have thought he'd struggle against the Pats in Foxborough (last year's playoff breakthrough notwithstanding), but Big P used his "laser rocket arm" to put up over 300 yards and two TDs. Meanwhile, his counterpart Tom Brady stunk it up a week after his MNF outburst by chucking four INTs.
-I'm about to grab a baseball bat and head over to John Cougar Mellencamp's house in my Chevy pickup truck to take care of business. Now that's an idea that I can stand behind. Who's with me? After all, this is our country ...
-Checking the two RBBCs in the Sunday night game: As we suspected, Joseph Addai was the go-to guy in the Colts backfield, getting 18 carries to Dominic Rhodes' four and adding a TD. Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney split carries right down the middle, 13 to 13, but it was the wise old veteran who got the red-zone work and crossed the goal line twice.
-Told you things would get brighter soon for Tiki Barber. He cracked 100 yards, of course, against the Texans, but more importantly he found the end zone for the first time in 2006. And for those who were expecting a little more out of the Giants' skill players against the Texans: Eli Manning did hit Jeremy Shockey for a very late TD pass, but other than that the Giants' offense was predicatbly flat in a what could have easily been a trap game. It didn't help that Plaxico Burress (back) was on the shelf ... keep an eye on him, but my gut tells me he'll want to play under the Sunday night lights against Chicago.
-Ronnie Brown had his best day as a pro on the ground (157 yards) in the Dolphins' big upset win over the Bears. Raise your hand if you started him.
-Michael Vick came back to Earth in a hurry. A TD pass to his BFF, Alge Crumpler, was nice, and so were the 80 rushing yards, but we were expecting a little more against the Lions, Mike. All of a sudden the guy isn't such a must-start against Cleveland next week. Maddening, but I'd still take a chance.
-Meanwhile, Jon Kitna (321 yards, TD) continues to put up acceptable fantasy numbers in anonymity, and Kevin Jones (110 yards, TD on season-high 26 carries) and Roy Williams (138 yards, TD) both keep looking good. Did I mention the Lions play the Niners, Cards and Dolphins the next three weeks?
-If you started a Jaguars skill player and glanced at the score Sunday, you're ecstatic. Then you realize David Garrard's in at QB, and he threw three TDs to Ernest Wilford (twice) and George Wrighster. And the defense - even though it was awesome and scored a TD on a pick-six - lost its shutout late in the fourth quarter. Kind of a bummer.
-Terrell Owens and Clinton Portis each scored a TD in that wacky Cowboys-Redskins tilt, but they both could have doubled their fun. Portis got stopped on a 4th-and-goal at the 1, and T.O. dropped a long bomb that probably would have gone for a score and possibly would have sealed a win for the 'Boys.
-Joey Galloway (97 yards, two TDs) has been incredibly hit or miss this year. His yardage totals by game: 0, 161, 8, 110, 67, 0, 32, 97. Too bad he can't play the Saints every week. By this logic, expect nothing against the Panthers next Monday night and then a huge effort against the Redskins.
-As for Cadillac Williams (39 yards), he seems like a lost cause, at least for this year until that Bucs offensive line "gels," whatever that means. The decent performances have been way too sparse for you to count on him. I'd shelve him unless you're desperate.
-I'm not even touching the field goal festival between Minnesota and San Fran. Nothing to see there. Move along.
-Ahman Green is running strong again - 122 yards against Buffalo, his third straight game topping the century mark. Green's got a tough draw with Minnesota, New England and Seattle up next, but these last three efforts bode well.
-Willis McGahee left with a rib injury - which means Anthony Thomas is suddenly a good sleeper candidate with the run-soft Colts and Texans coming up the next two weeks on the Bills' schedule. But just in case you're skeptical, Thomas did manage 95 yards and a TD when he got the call against Green Bay.
-Another clunker from Chad Johnson (4 catches, 39 yards), just when we thought the SI cover boy was getting hot. But it was against the Ravens after all, who seemingly have some offense to go with that D now that Certified Genius Brian Billick is calling the plays. Only good things can happen when Jamal Lewis gets more than 20 carries a game - congratulate yourself for scooping him up in the middle rounds.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
In my old place of work, some of us played fantasy football. Others did not and that was fine. People do what they like.
I remember this one time when one of the new guys walked up to a bunch of others who were working on their teams. Looking pretty laidback, he stopped at their desk and asked, "So guys, how's fairytale football?"
I still remember the silence that ensued. Everyone looked profoundly confused. :)
who else is about sick of Sean Alexander's damn foot?
Alexander owners are especially sick of hearing about the foot. He was originally supposed to miss only two weeks, but it seems like every Monday there's more bad news about the crack not going away. A lot of people (myself included) are counting on that damn thing to heal already.
That's the great thing about fantasy football, you're free to get as involved as you want in this totally made-up game, or you can just blow it off as a "fairytale." Very much an American idea ... to quote a great songwriter and national treasure, "from the East coast, to the West coast, this is our country..."
Post a Comment