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Wager On Football's Fantasy Football expert stops by every
week to give you the lowdown on Fantasy Football. Fantasy
insight is invaluable when it comes to gaining knowledge
about the one thing that consumes so many of us die hard
football fans for six months every year. So Listen Up!!
Post Week 3 - R U Kidding me Manning?
By:
David Bachman Fantasy Football Editor 9/29/04
Patience is a virtue -- or so they say. Over the last two
weeks, I've been deluged with questions from concerned fantasy
owners. Most were flustered over the poor performance of
their "known" fantasy commodities. To my surprise,
a decent portion of these owners wanted to dump their players
outright. I was hit with questions like "Should I release
Jamal Lewis" and "Can I drop Tony Gonzalez"?
For those that listened, I strongly suggested that they
exercise patience and remain calm. Remember, patience is
a virtue!
One or two weeks does not constitute a trend. It's not
even a blip on the fantasy radar, although some owners begged
to differ with me. Because their stars were underperforming,
they panicked. Some even suggested that their seasons were
over after only two games. Preposterous! Seasoned owners
know that most players experience highs and lows during
the course of a full 16-game season. Some players begin
the year on fire and then fizzle out during the stretch.
Others start slowly, and then rocket to stardom in the second
half of the season.
For those owners who practiced patience, several fantasy
stars returned in Week 3. After two pathetic starts, Jamal
Lewis racked up 232 total yards and a score. The Giants'
Amani Toomer rebounded with a five-reception outing for
126 yards. While appearing very rusty in the first two games,
the Kansas City Chiefs offense got back on track with a
24 point performance. Trent Green completed 21 of 30 passes
for 224 yards and three touchdowns, while Tony Gonzalez
caught eight passes for 106 yards and a score.
Remember, the season is still young and patience is still
a virtue.
A view of the NFL’s top five after three
weeks of combat:
5) Colts — Unbeatable in what Bill Walsh calls “that
clinical environment,” the RCA Dome. Still, bonehead
errors are their Achilles’ heel when things move outdoors.
Payton Manning was a BEAST. Unless you have McNABB on your
team as well ( I DO) you PLAY THIS GUY EVERY WEEK.
4) Seahawks — Two wins on the road, and it’s
still September? This is a whole new type of beast we’re
dealing with in the Pacific Northwest. GRAB THEIR D !!
3) Ravens — Brian Billick needs to use Kyle Boller
just like Parcells is working Vinny in Dallas. Minimize
the errors, come with lots of high-percentage stuff and
occasionally take shots downfield. This team can travel
to Seattle and win, and thus the No. 3 ranking. GOT WR's
?? (Heap is back next week)
2) Eagles — McNabb has taken this QB thing to a whole
new level, but loss of physical FB Jon Ritchie makes that
backfield susceptible. Don’t see a real threat on
the schedule until Week Eight versus Baltimore. (TO from
DNABB = $$)
1) Patriots — Until there’s a coup de grace,
it’s “long live the king” in Foxborough.
(Nuff said)
MY Week 4 Lock in Load in Lineup
QB Kerry Collins - Oakland Raiders
The Raiders have not been hitting on all cylinders on offense
thus far, but they had maybe their best performance of the
young season against the Buccaneers. Collins didn't light
up the scoreboards, but he did lead the Raiders on four
scoring drives, and did not turn the ball over. With Rich
Gannon out for an extended period of time, the team now
belongs to Collins, and it will have a different look; the
Raiders will now likely look to get more vertical in the
passing game. The Texans are not a bad defensive team, but
they have surrendered a league-worst eight touchdowns through
the air. The Raiders have too much speed and athleticism
at the receiver position, and Collins should be able to
exploit the mismatches.
RB Brian Westbrook – Philadelphia Eagles
With all of the hoopla surrounding the recent aerial shows
from the Eagles passing attack, it’s easy to forget
about Westbrook. A quick runner with good hands who runs
extremely hard for his size, Westbrook has averaged 5.5
yards per carry this season. But thanks to the early season
dominance of QB Donovan McNabb and WR Terrell Owens, Westbrook
has not had many opportunities to shine. That may change
this week, as Chicago will struggle mightily to score points
against the Eagles. Whether the Bears defense can come up
big against the Philadelphia offense will play a factor
as well, but at worst this will be a close low-scoring contest.
Either way, fantasy owners should look for Head Coach Andy
Reid to call Westbrook’s number a lot this weekend.
He may have not scored so far this year, but his 11 touchdowns
last season prove that he is more than able of putting the
ball in the end zone.
WR Jimmy Smith – Jacksonville Jaguars
Despite Jacksonville’s inability to efficiently move
the ball up and down the field in the first 55 minutes of
game play, the Jaguars face off against a struggling Indianapolis
defense that gave up 457 yards to the Packers last week.
The Colts secondary allowed WR Javon Walker to record 11
receptions for 198 yards and three touchdowns. In a Week
1 loss to the Patriots, the Colts allowed WR Deion Brach
to nab seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. In a
subsequent Week 2 matchup with the division-rival Titans,
the Colts allowed WR Derrick Mason to snatch eight passes
for 104 yards. Notice a pattern? Indianapolis’ defense,
which ranks last in the NFL against the pass, has allowed
each opponent’s top wideout to put up record-setting
totals this season. Smith will surely benefit, as he looks
to improve upon a disappointing 2004 campaign.
WR Tim Carter – New York Giants
After waiting two years for this oft-injured speedster to
get healthy, the patience is finally beginning to pay off.
This weekend’s game at Green Bay just might be Carter’s
coming out party. The Packers are still licking their wounds
from QB Peyton Manning’s carving session last week,
and the most telling thing of all in that entire debacle
was the inability to cover Indianapolis WR Brandon Stokely,
who torched them for 110 yards and two scores. Stokely even
dropped a wide-open third touchdown pass early in the game,
and with disgruntled DB Mike McKenzie unlikely to ride in
and rescue the secondary, expect the Giants to watch last
week’s game film and come out throwing early and often.
Giants QB Kurt Warner is developing chemistry with Carter,
and he is without a doubt the quarterback’s No. 1
speed option deep. Carter is not an every-week fantasy starter
by any means but he can definitely be useful this weekend,
especially as a bye week fill in.
MISERY INDEX
PACKERS: When an NFL team gives up 329 yards of offense
in a game, that is not so good. When a team gives up 329
yards in the first half, the defense consider refunding
the management one weeks pay.
CARDINALS: The official hard luck team of the NFL. Three
close games and three losses. It seems their only purpose
is to leave anxious fantasy leaguers with matchups against
them as depressed as Cardinal fans themselves.
BUCCANEERS: Suddenly Chuckie isn't such a genius head coach
after all. With no offensive talent, fading defensive talent,
and without the other teams playbook, he's just another
squinty eyed dork in a girlie visor.
TITANS: Let's take stock after week 3 Titan fans. You are
1-2. You have already lost to your division rival. And your
quarterback is already about to start his 13 weeks being
listed Questionable, only to hobble onto the field and gut
out another one in pain. Prediction: The Titans finish 9-7
after McNair throws a game winning TD pass from a stretcher
in the season finale, but you still miss the playoffs because
of the 2 regular season losses to the Jags.
49ers: Everybody made a big deal out of the 'Niners first
shutout since 1977. That is astounding. But the bigger picture
is that they are likely the worst team in the worst division
in all of football, and look to be at least 3 years away
from contention........at best. But at least T.O. isn't
stirring up a stink every other week, he's just helping
the Eagles to another Championship game.
CHARGERS: Drew Brees is a free agent at the end of the
season. Of course it's hard to truly judge talent when a
QB spends most of his career running for his life, and the
rest of it squashed like a bug. On the other hand it is
easy to judge a head coach well beyond his prime. Blow 'em
up and start over.
BROWNS: The Butch Davis experiment is turning out badly,
as is the washed up quarterback experiment, the injury prone
running back experiment, the wide receiver staff full of
third string quality players experiment. Blow 'em up and
start over.
DOLPHINS: At this point the only thing Miami can look forward
to is the joy of causing Ricky Williams to file bankruptcy
and force him to resort to smoking ditchweed instead of
the fine Sensi-ganja he has become accustomed to.
RAMS: Too much ego in the form of Mike Martz. Too many
players showing too little smarts. Too many plays being
called by throwing darts. Torry Holt in a tutu made me want
to turn my TV into parts. This season will break all the
Rams fans hearts.
CHIEFS: Chiefs fans need to grasp reality right now if
they already haven't. A trip to the playoffs for the Chiefs
after their 0-3 start is about as likely to happen as a
week going by without Vermiel crying. No happy tears this
year.
Have a Great Week. Try out our NFL
Sportsbooks in the Review, and good luck in week
8 everyone. Dave B.
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