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PreWeek 14
By:
David Bach man Fantasy Football Editor
12/08/04
Alrighty Then.....Where Was I
?
In our quest to help you get your
team into the playoffs, here's how we think Week 13 turned
out and a lead up into week 14.
Most fantasy football seasons contain many unpredictable
and surprising trends, and this season has produced several
of them. Tighten your belt now, because the fantasy playoffs
are sure to bring more surprising happenings in our direction.
The most formidable team on paper is not the one that
usually wins the fantasy championship. It's the team with
the best combination of "hot" players that often
overtakes the rest of the playoff pack. Keeping that in
mind here’s a quick rundown of this weeks fantasy
players news, oh and one more thing...... I stress
once again. Pay close attention to weather forecast for
game sites.
You have to be kidding me?
The Rams at home against the 1-10 Niners and all we get
is 16 points? Torry Holt had a huge game (Bruce owners
are pissed). Holt hauled in 10 pigs for 160 yards and
a score...most of that from Chris Chandler. Yes, he's
still alive. I was so expecting Willis McGahee to have
a monster game. After suffering the fate of having him
on my bench for last week's 4 td performance, I thought
surely he'd have another big game this week. He was headed
home to Miami, the Dolphins run D is near last in the
league and Zach Thomas was out...once again my expectations
get crushed like a little bug.
David Carr has been awful on the road. Carr has shown
flashes of brilliance and has nice potential, but he appears
to be infected with a serious case of homesickness. In
six road starts, he has thrown for an average of 238 yards
with four touchdowns and eight interceptions. Carr is
much more comfortable at Reliant Stadium, where he averages
245 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
New Orleans has the worst D in the league. Nick Goings
ripped them for 122 on the ground and 46 in the air and
I guess Muhammad had on invisible clothes because they
certainly couldn't cover him. Aaron Brooks that goof managed
to throw 3 td's, but those were come from behind scores
in garbage time. I guess the Texans couldn't handle the
New York cold? The Jets dominated this game from start
to finish as they rode...who else? Curtis Martin. Tampa
Bay absolutely dominated Atlanta in this football game.
They had Michael Vick making more turnovers than a bakery
(2 INT's, 2 Fumbles). They simply own Vick. The Bengals
Carson Palmer had 382 yards and 3 scores on the way to
a huge victory over the Ravens. Yeah, the Ravens D got
spanked. How in the hell do they let Carson Palmer put
that much air on them? The D did manage a touchdown, and
that was good because their O didn't do much.
Am I the only one that realizes Randy Moss is not back
to his normal self? You have to almost laugh at the reports
each week saying "this will be the week he's back
to 100%." No. It isn't going to happen this season.
Moss will be good underneath and dangerous in the red
zone, but I don't think we're going to see the 60 yard
go route for a score. What a joke...I had money on the
Pats in this one just knowing they were going to destroy
the rookie QB Luke McCown. McCown wasn't as bad as I thought
he'd be as he hooked up with the emerging Antonio Bryant
for 2 scores on he managed to throw for 277 yards, but
New England was up so fast, he had to throw all game.
HOLY KEVIN JONES! The kid is finally starting to break
out, and Lions fans (yeah, both of you) should be psyched
for next season. Kevin Jones had 196 yards rushing 22
receiving and a score on his way to leading the Lions
to a victory. John Navarre made his debut for the Cardinals,
he sucked at Michigan and sucked even worse in the NFL.
Chris Brown's injured toe makes him a real gamble. Brown
started this past week for the first time in close to
a month, but his sore toe forced him to leave in the second
half of a 51-24 loss to Indianapolis. The nature of the
ailment is cause for concern, as it's difficult for a
back to push and make precise cuts without at least some
discomfort. Brown expects to start in this week's contest
against Kansas City, but whether he is able and makes
it through all four quarters remains to be seen.
This is just getting ridiculous...
How many more weeks before we have to see Indy put 72
points on someone? Peyton Manning throwing only 3 td's
seemed like he had the worst game of his life. Only 3
td's? It really seems that ridiculous. Edgerrin James
had over 100 yards rushing and 2 scores because the defense
forgot about him. I don't think defenses even think about
Edge anymore. Tennessee has suffered an injury-riddled
season and they had to go this game without McNair yet
again. McNair has to be thinking about hanging it up...the
poor guy is falling apart.
Ronald Curry. Curry had 9 catches for 141 yards and
2 td's...monster fantasy game. Jerry Porter hauled in
another deep bomb from Collins as they continue to click.
Larry Johnson was pimped as late season trade bait this
week...he had 174 total yards and 2 scores...someone has
to want this kid?
Chris Chambers has found his groove. The Dolphins have
fallen from grace since the great Dan Marino retired,
and this season went up in, well, smoke when Ricky Williams
left the franchise. But in an otherwise stinker of a campaign,
Chambers has been a bright spot in South Florida. He has
found the end zone five times in his past eight starts,
and is the first option in the pass attack for quarterback
A.J. Feeley.
San Diego?? Playoffs? NAHHHH.....
LT had 113 yards rushing and 2 scores and that was all
the stingy Charger D needed to hold on for the win. Plummer
was bombs away for 278 yards, but 4 of his passes went
to the other team...ungood. Reuben Droughns was contained
all day only managing 38 yards and a score. If Denver
can't run, Denver can't win. Tatum Bell made an appearance
and actually got in the endzone. That is a small glimmer
of hope for all of us Tatum Bell Dynasty league owners...maybe...
McNabb had 464 yards passing and 5 td's. Westbrook caught
3 of those and had 193 total yards. TO had 161 yards and
a score as well. It was a virtual touchdown buffet for
the Eagles. We could really just call it a season, let
the Eagles rest and give them the NFC crown. If they stand
a chance against the AFC, they could use the rest. Speaking
of rest...really not a classy move to play all the starters
when you're up 44-3 in the 4th quarter Eagles.
The Giants continue to die with Eli Manning learning
the ropes at QB. Eli was 12 for 25 for only 113 yards...no
scores. Poor Tiki Barber faced 10 man fronts all day as
he only rushed for 38 yards. This was just a poor performance
all around by the Giants. If not for the special teams
touchdown, the Giants would have been shut out.
Only 3 TDs Peyton? What's with that, ya bum!
I was doing well spinning the Brandon Stokley start or
bench roulette wheel the past couple weeks. I sat him
down against the Bears (1-7, 0 TD) and then started him
on Thanksgiving (5-57, 3 TD). Sat him this week though.
That's why they call it gambling folks.
Everyone who benched Clinton Portis this week raise your
hand. Okay, now I'm going to type the remainder of this
article with my nose as I actually benched Portis in two
leagues. Sometimes good depth is a curse I tell you. A
curse!
Not only has the AFC kicked the crap out of the NFC this
year in head-to-head games (32-18 advantage AFC), but
how about even this week with all in-conference games
from an entertainment perspective? The headline NFC games
in my area, made me Yawn! and GB-PHI - Blowout! Plus any
of NYG-WAS/SF-STL/ARI-DET - Boring! Meanwhile DEN-SD came
down to the wire, KC-OAK went back and forth, PIT-JAC
was a nail biter and BUF-MIA was just nutty. I love my
Direct TV though.
Went out Sunday morning with the family to get some portraits
done for Christmas, which involved an hour and a half
wait so I missed all the late breaking news before kickoff,
and then later in the day (while taping the DEN-SD and
GB-PHI games), put up the Christmas lights in freezing
cold weather. Is it just me, or do you find yourself swearing
a lot more during the holiday season? Merry Christmas!
Last week I played against Kelly Holcomb (413, 5 TD)
as my deep dynasty league opponent suddenly pulled a starting
QB out of his hat where he would have normally taken a
zero. This week, same league my opponent chooses 2 from
Drew Bledsoe, Chad Hutchinson and Billy Volek, the 2nd,
6th and 10th ranked QBs for the week. These friggin' guys?
Nice!
In one of my other leagues there is a unique backup QB
rule, whereby if your starter leaves the game for any
reason, then you can add points for your backup from the
next quarter forward. So yesterday I lose Marc Bulger
as my starter after he mustered only 1.78 points before
his shoulder injury. A lot of good this rule did this
week though, as my backup Drew Brees had a grand total
of 2.44 for the entire game.
Based on these last 2 points, maybe I should have less
disdain for kickers and focus more annoyance towards quarterbacks.
John Kasay kicks 6 FGs plus 2 XPs on the day, including
a 50 yarder attempted after he refused to come off the
field when the punt team was called in. This was originally
a 40 yarder but pushed back due to penalty. Never mind.
Tatum Bell is going to start getting more carries. He
quick.
Isn't it funny how the Eagles are clearly the class of
the NFC BUT no media outlets or websites (that I've seen)
are ready to predict them all the way to the Super Bowl?
Every time you see the Eagles mentioned their playoff
path is qualified as, "should host NFC Championship
game", and nothing more due of course to their recent
failures in that game. Well, I tell you, they are going
to the Super Bowl this year. There you go, I said it.
The Eagles get over the hump this time around...
Of course, I bet the last thing the Eagles want is the
Panthers back in the playoffs this year...
But then either one of them would subsequently lose
to the Patriots anyway...
I reserve the right to change my mind prior to end of
the regular season playoff predictions at any time, so
if anyone emails me saying I'm way off base, I'll probably
just agree with you.
Hey, no mention of Nick Goings in this article so far.
What's with that? He topped 100 yards for his 3rd straight
game and scored his 4th TD in that time. Between all the
available waiver pickups like Nick Goings, Derrick Blaylock,
Reuben Droughns, Mewelde Moore, Michael Pittman, Julius
Jones, etc., etc., is it really necessary to draft RBs
at all?
Of course it is. You'd be 0-4 out of the gate before
you got your backfield settled, plus what else are you
doing to draft, a QB early like Manning or McNabb? Oh,
right...
I'd love to see the Chargers go the distance as this
year's out of nowhere upstart team. It only took 4 long
years and plenty of carries, but we can finally (almost
definitively) say, welcome to the playoffs Mr. Tomlinson.
Another Bills win! In all honesty, they didn't look
good, but it is pretty damn difficult to lose a game in
which you win the turnover battle 7 to 1. I think I'm
going to send A.J. Feeley a nice gift basket. That Pat
Williams interception and return for a TD is the funniest
thing I've seen in a while.
Shaun Freaking Alexander (yes I listen
to Rome)
HE HAS " IT "
Each year, there seem to be about five to six backs that
fantasy owners would prefer to procure at the start of
a draft. And each year, Alexander tops the majority of
those backs by years’ end. For instance, this year
fantasy owners might have drafted Priest Holmes, LaDainian
Tomlinson, Clinton Portis, Ahman Green, Jamal Lewis, Deuce
McAllister and even sometimes Ricky Williams ahead of
Alexander.
While you certainly can’t fault anyone for taking
Holmes with the top pick (after all, he did compile 15
scores in the first 7 1/2 games this year, a total which
no one except Alexander has even tied four and a half
games later) and probably would understand if someone
favored Tomlinson (who had 100 catches in a healthy year),
it is hard to see why the other players would be taken
ahead of the Seahawk.
Maybe it has a lot to do with his location. Seattle is
a team that just doesn’t generate enough football
interest, even in fantasy football circles. That is surprising
considering what Seahawks players did for fantasy owners
last year. Still, you can imagine how much more coveted
Alexander would be if he ran for a team like the Cowboys
or Washington Redskins.
It doesn’t help him that his team has been a perennial
disappointment in recent years, with the talent to get
to and do damage in the playoffs, but without the wherewithal
to make it happen. This year, the Seahawks were Super
Bowl favorites, but with a hard loss Monday night against
Dallas, the Seahawks are going to have to fight a posse
of teams just to make the postseason.
At 27, Alexander clearly has at least three more very
productive years left, especially when you consider that
he only had 64 carries in his rookie season. He is overlooked
every year, and probably will be next season too, when
he’ll no doubt be drafted behind somebody like Willis
McGahee, or another player that has not proven himself
over time. He’ll toil on in relative anonymity,
and continue to produce for those owners who know better.
What I’m Hearing
Marvin Harrison has now officially benefited from Peyton
Manning's stellar season. League sources tell WagerOnfootball.com
that the Colts and Harrison have agreed to a seven-year,
$66 million extension with a stunning $22 million in guaranteed
bonus money. The deal averages about $9 million per year
during the first four years, including bonus money, but
is still relatively cap-friendly.
According to the Denver Post, "We feel like Tatum
gives us a little threat with his speed, and he's got
some quickness and he is ready to play," Coach Mike
Shanahan said. "We wanted to rest Reuben a little
bit. He has been carrying the ball a lot, so it was part
of the game plan." -- Tatum Bell carried the ball
seven times for 31 yards and scored his first-career touchdown
in a Week #13 loss to the Chargers. Don't be discouraged
by this news out of Denver, Droughns was facing a very
good 3-4 Wade Phillips scheme in San Diego in Week #13.
Look for Bell to spell Droughns in the final four weeks
of the season and receive between 6-10 touches a game.
Top draft pick Marcus Tubbs and reserve lineman Rocky
Bernard will miss Sunday's game at Minnesota, while starting
tackle Cedric Woodard is questionable because of injuries
sustained in the team's loss to Dallas.
Coach Mike Holmgren also said Wednesday that rookie Michael
Boulware will start at safety when the Seahawks (6-6)
visit Minnesota (7-5) on Sunday.
The regular starter at safety, three-year veteran Terreal
Bierria, is questionable with an injured back. But Holmgren
also said after 12 games, Boulware is playing well after
moving from linebacker at Florida State.
"We need all the playmakers we can get right now,
and he has earned the right to start," The Walrus
"soon to be unemployed coach Mike Holmgren said.
Downgrade The Seahawks Defense –
Start Kenny Lucas at CB though. He’s headed to the
PROBOWL.
Fantasy Injury Update
12/8/2004 Steven Jackson, RB (StL) On Wednesday, after
receiving treatment the previous two days, Jackson reported
some tightness in his ailing right knee. However, the
Rams' running back said he is confident that he will be
ready for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers,
especially with veteran Marshall Faulk questionable with
a knee problem of his own. According to head coach Mike
Martz, Jackson will be evaluated on a daily basis, but
might not practice until Friday at the earliest.
12/8/2004 Marshall Faulk, RB (StL) Faulk is listed as
probable and will dress for Sunday's game against the
Carolina Panthers, but the Rams might choose to hold him
out for one more week to give his bruised left knee a
little more time to fully recover. The veteran running
back was in uniform last weekend, but did not play, allowing
rookie Steven Jackson to handle the bulk of the load.
Jackson is listed as questionable this week, nursing a
knee injury of his own.
12/8/2004 Marvin Harrison, WR (Ind) Harrison has re-signed
with the Indianapolis Colts, agreeing to a reported six-year,
$66 million contract, including a $22 million signing
bonus. The veteran receiver, who is earning $5.56 million
this season, has hauled in 67 passes for 870 yards and
12 touchdowns in 12 games in 2004. He has topped the 1,000-yard
mark each of the last five years and needs just 130 more
yards to accomplish the feat yet again.
12/8/2004 Dallas Clark, TE (Ind) Clark did some running
on his own at the Colts' practice on Wednesday, but he
failed to take part in any team drills. The tight end,
who has been limited since straining his left calf a week
ago, is listed as questionable on the injury report this
week. According to head coach Tony Dungy, Clark will be
a game-time decision for Sunday's matchup with the Houston
Texans.
12/8/2004 Ben Roethlisberger, QB (Pit) As a precautionary
measure, Roethlisberger did not work out with the Pittsburgh
Steelers on Wednesday, due to some minor soreness in his
quadriceps muscle. However, the quarterback plans to return
to practice on Thursday and be under center when the team
takes the field against the New York Jets on Sunday. Officially,
the rookie is listed as probable.
12/8/2004 Jeff Garcia, QB (Cle) According to Browns
interim head coach Terry Robiskie, Garcia is about 90
percent, and the team has listed him as probable on this
week's injury report. Even though Garcia will be available
after missing two games with a strained right rotator
cuff, rookie Luke McCown will get the start for Cleveland
this weekend against the Buffalo Bills.
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Craig Krenzel, QB
(Chi) Krenzel's high ankle sprain has landed him on
injured reserve, officially ending his 2004 campaign.
The Bears' rookie quarterback has been sidelined since
suffering the injury in a Thanksgiving Day loss to
the Dallas Cowboys. He finishes the season 59 of 127
for 718 yards and three touchdowns in six games. He
also was intercepted six times and fumbled eight times,
losing six. |
Have a Great Week. Check out the Fantasy
Football page for this weeks NFL fantasy player rankings,
studs & duds, who's Hot and who's NOT, as well as
the NFL fantasy football waiver wire.
Try out our NFL Sportsbooks
in the Review, and good luck in week 14 everyone. Dave
B. Write
Me.
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