Well I’m definitely changing things up this week as I haven’t been able to pick a winner in what seems like a month to me.  I was 12-7 for the year and on fire about a month ago but as you may know I am now dead cold as my overall record is 14-13 and I am in danger of dropping to .500 this week which is why I have brought out what I’ll call this point on:  The Failsafe Machine.

In the past whenever I have hit bad streaks like this there has been one stand by that works about half the time to get me out of my slump.  The game I am going to pick this week is the Bears & Lions as I have Orton and the Bears D in the fantasy world and am excited to see Drew Stanton start for the Lions as he has returned from his 2-3 year sabbatical.  The spread is -12.5 and if the machine gives me tails I am going for the Bears, Heads for the Lions.

Its heads so we are taking the Lions +12.5 this week.  Should be an interesting game and hopefully the Failsafe Machine will come through and get my picks back on track.  As you might have seen from my picks last year I’d rather fall into this slump midyear than at the end of the year as I subsequently picked the Giants to not only lose but not even cover every single game they played in the Playoffs.  I definitely should have brought out the Failsafe last year after Wildcard Weekend but hindsight is 20/20.  Good luck this week, I know I’ll need some with that dog of a pick up there.

The following teams are on bye this week: Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers

Quarterback Rankings Week 9

1. Kurt Warner At St. Louis Rams

2. Jay Cutler Vs. Miami Dolphins

3. Kyle Orton Vs. Detroit Lions

4. Peyton Manning Vs. New England Patriots

5. Donovan McNabb At Seattle Seahawks

6. Matt Schaub At Minnesota Vikings

7. Eli Manning Vs. Dallas Cowboys

8. Aaron Rodgers At Tennessee Titans

9. Ben Roethlisberger At Washington Redskins

10. Chad Pennington At Denver Broncos

11. Marc Bulger Vs. Arizona Cardinals

12. Brett Favre At Buffalo Bills

No one expected Kurt Warner to be on top of the fantasy world but right now he’s looking like money provided he stays healthy.  Kurt Warner has over 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in 7 games and faces the Rams D which averages giving up over 28 points and ranks near the bottom of the league in every category. Cutler’s finger is better so he should be back to his old form. Orton & Schaub both have been very hot and face pass defenses that should be easy to score against. Pennington/Favre/Bulger are riskier starts but I don’t see any extremely favorable match up (maybe Garrard V. Cinci) to knock any of them out of the top 12 this week as I think all 3 have at least a decent fantasy showing for your team.

Running Back Rankings Week 9

1. Adrian Peterson Vs. Houston Texans

2. Brian Westbrook At Seattle Seahawks

3. Michael Turner At Oakland Raiders

4. Stephen Jackson Vs. Arizona Cardinals

5. Matt Forte Vs. Detroit Lions

6. Earnest Graham At Kansas City Chiefs

7. Maurice Jones-Drew Ar Cincinnati Bengals

8. Marion Barber III At New York Giants

9. Ronnie Brown At Denver Broncos

10. Chris Johnson Vs. Green Bay Packers

11. Clinton Portis* Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

*Portis is listed as questionable and also faces a tough run D in the Steelers if he can go but has been on fire so hard to sit him if he’s a go.

12. Brandon Jacobs Vs. Dallas Cowboys

13. Marshawn Lynch Vs. New York Jets

14. Lendale White Vs. Green Bay Packers

15. Joseph Addai Vs. New Englanf Patriots

16. Willie Parker At Washington Redskins

17. Willis McGahee (McClain/Rice) At Cleveland Browns

18. Steve Slaton At Minnesota Vikings

19. Ryan Grant At Tennessee Titans

20. Thomas Jones At Buffalo Bills

21. Kevin Faulk/B. Green-Ellis At Indianapolis Colts

22. Justin Fargas Vs. Atlanta Falcons

23. Michael Pittman Vs. Miami Dolphins

24. Tim Hightower At St. Louis Rams

Both Peterson (130 yards & 1 score vs. the Bears) and Westbrook are coming off great performances ( 209 total yards and 2 TD’s for Westbrook) and should continue to dominate against 2 weaker run defenses this week. Turner should have a good game against the Raiders despite not being at home and Steven Jackson appears to be healthy and good to go this week. Barber is fantasy player hurt by Romo not being behind center. Against a tougher Giants D there’s a good chance they contain him as the Cowboys high octane offense doesn’t seem to run well without Tony Romeo behind the wheel.

Wide Receivers Week 9

1. Andre Johnson At Minnesota Vikings

2. Larry Fitzgerald At St. Louis Rams

3. Brandon Marshall Vs. Miami Dolphins

4. Anquan Boldin At St. Louis Rams

5. Reggie Wayne* Vs. New England Patriots

* Reggie Wayne is listed as questionable due to his knee injury. My bet is that he’ll be a 50/50 game time decision.

6. Lee Evans Vs. New York Jets

7. Roddy White At Oakland Raiders

8. Greg Jennings At Tennessee Titans

9. Calvin Johnson At Chicago Bears

10. Randy Moss At Indianapolis Colts

11. Bernard Berrian Vs. Houston Texans

12. Plaxico Burress Vs. Dallas Cowboys

13. Santana Moss Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

14. Laveranues Coles At Buffalo Bills

15. Braylon Edwards Vs. Baltimore Ravens

16. Jerricho Cotchery At Buffalo Bills

17. Terrell Owens At New York Giants

18. DeSean “Premature Celebration” Jackson At Seattle Seahawks

19. Donnie Avery Vs. Arizona Cardinals

20. Hines Ward At Washington Redskins

21. Eddie Royal Vs. Miami Dolphins

22. Steve Breaston At St. Louis Rams

23. Dwayne Bowe Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

24. Wes Welker At Indianapolis Colts

Johnson gets top billing this week because his last 4 games he has been on firewith 593 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikes rank 20th against the pass and a healthy Johnson should mean another big game. The Cardinals “posse” of receivers also have a sweet match up against the 26th ranked D vs. the pass in the Rams. The rest of the receivers pretty much are up or down based on their match ups except for TO. Since Romo has been out Owens only has 64 yards and no scores but I do feel is capable of breaking out even if it has to be a short pass where he does the rest with his YAC. Still Johnson has been a disappointment and TO has been one of the main beneficiaries of his play, but if I had him I’d still start him just in case its one of those games you need the popcorn for.

Tight End Rankings Week 9

1. Dallas Clark Vs. New England Patriots

2. Owen Daniels At Minnesota Vikings

3. Tony Gonzalez Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

4. Chris Cooley Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

5. Jason Witten* At New York Giants

*Witten might not play due to his broken rib but as you know from the video to the right Witt is pretty tough so I’d watch the injury reports but have a back up ready just in case.

6. Greg Olsen Vs. Detroit Lions

7. John Carlson Vs. Philadelphia Eagles

8. Kellen Winslow Vs. Baltimore Ravens

9. Heath Miller At Washington Redskins

10. Bo Scaife Vs. Green Bay Packers

11. Benjamin Watson At Indianapolis Colts

12. Zach Miller Vs. Atlanta Falcons

Even if Witt were a 100% there’s a good chance I would have ranked Dallas Clark in front of him as it seems like Manning is giving Clark a lot of attention as Harrison has not been the staple receiver we were used to from the past. Harrison is capable of a big game but also capable of getting shut out. Clark has 15 catches for 170+ yards and 2 touchdowns and looks in total sync with Manning. He also won’t have to worry about hard hitting safety Rodney Harrison when he’s venturing over the middle.  He’s definitely set up for another big game although predicting that for tight ends is always tons of fun.

Its Week Nine of the NFL season and the Colts are 7-0 and looking unstoppable.  They’ve played some close games but look very dominant as they have defeated some good teams and don’t look like they are going to slow down anytime soon.  Definitely looks like a Super Bowl is possible despite so early in the season.  Meanwhile the lowly Titans are 2-5 as Vince Young looks decent starting in his rookie year but the defense has let them down as well as Travis Henry who has turned out to be a pretty weak free agent aquisition.

Fast forward 2 years and its a totally different story.  The Colts are 3-4 and struggling on offense as well as on defense.  And the Titans have Kerry Collins and perhaps the best defense in the NFL leading them to a 7-0 record while Vince Young is on the sidelines due to some issues he had from earlier in the season.  Lendale White & rookie Chris Johnson are tearing up the field with the 4th best rushing attack in the NFL, and while the Super Bowl sounds like a stretch, I always favor a team in the playoffs with a great D as opposed to a great offense and a bad D (like the Broncos for example).  Its still way too early but Jeff Fisher has done a great job in Tennessee and with their win over the Colts have convinced me they are not just products of a weak schedule and are a legit contender for the top crown this year.

As for free agents this week its another I’m not crazy about as we saw some new players emerge but none I see hanging around our fantasy scoring leaders.  If you really need a player to shore up for an injured player or a bad bye week it might be worth grabbing a Weaver but this week I’m “sifting through the trash” again to see if some castaways can make their 2nd half comeback and make me look like a genius for grabbing them when I did.

Marc Bulger is one name I am targeting as the Rams seem to have new life under new coach Jim Haslett and Bulger looks like a suitable backup fantasy QB for now. Tyler Thigpen had a nice game but I doubt you see much more of that this year as there’s a reason he was behind Brodie Croyle & Damon Huard on the Chiefs depth chart to start the year. Seneca Wallace also put up some numbers but again if Hasselbeck is garbage this year I don’t expect Wallace to be any better. If you like to gamble Shaun Hill is being thrown in there to start for the Niners but I’m not very high on any Niner besides Gore. I’m also skeptical of 100+ yard receiving fullbacks as Leonard Weaver showed us just how bad the Niners D can be. Weaver had only 97 total yards all year before his 129 total yard 2 touchdown day. I think he is a perfect example of a one week wonder but if you are in desperate need and have no better options (perhaps someone forgot a Dominic Rhodes, Mewelde Moore, or a Deuce McAllister on the wire) then maybe grab him and hope Weaver catches lightning in a bottle again.

It all depends on your league as every league is different but take a few minutes and make sure no one threw out a perfectly good player down on his luck with some potential to shine for the rest of the year.  I’d rather take a risk on a Bulger than pick up a Weaver or a Bronco running back and get mad everytime I see their game and the wrong guy gets all the touches as if Shanahan knows which back of his you are relying on for a victory.

After slumping for ther last two weeks I am only taking one game this week to try and break this cycle and keep me above .500 for the year no matter what (14-12).  I’m going with a team with a good, solid, fundamental defense, and a very solid running game and a passing game that is developing pretty nicely.  Trent Edwards is back and healthy as he almost posted 300 yards against SD and I expect a decent game from him and of course I expect Marshawn Lynch and their defense which is better than their numbers to carry the Bills (-1.5) over the Dolphins.  The Fins have shown a capability to defeat some good teams this year (Chargers, Patriots) but have lost to some mediocre to bad teams as well (Ravens, Jets, Texans, Cardinals) and the Bills have shown us they are not a fluke as they are now 5-1 and have defeated their own fair share of good teams (Jaguars & Chargers) and would be undeafeated if not for that hiccup against Kurt Warner where he took their secondary (who was missing its best cover corner) to school.  With my current luck the Bills probably win 17-16, but I like them this Sunday as I see Lynch & the D coming through for them in a close game even if they get a large early lead because Jauron is so conservative.

I also like a team on Monday Night as long as that high underdog number hangs around (+4) but I’ll go through that match up in the wrap up article if that line doesn’t fall down to 3 as I fear it will.

The following teams are on bye this week: Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings

Quarterback Rankings Week 8

1. Drew Brees Vs. San Diego Chargers — Brees has Colston back but has lost Bush who was a nice option and provided many yards for Brees thanks to his YAC however Brees has been the most consistent QB this year as he averages over 315 yards per game and has 12 touchdowns compared to his 7 picks. It will be interesting as he plays his former team in London but the Chargers have struggled to get going this year and they currently rank dead last in the NFL against the pass.

2. Donovan McNabb Vs. Atlanta Falcons – McNabb should have Westbrook (and Kevin Curtis) back and should have a good game against the Falcons who rank 26th vs the pass. McNabb averages 260+ yards per game & had 8 touchdowns and 3 picks in 6 games.

3. Matt Schaub Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Schaub continues to be red hot (953 yards & 6 scores last 3 games played) and the Bengals defense really hasn’t been able to stop anyone this year.

4. Peyton Manning At Tennessee Titans — This should be a very tough match up for Manning as the Titans only average giving up 11 points per game but as Manning showed us against the Ravens he is definitely capable of putting up some great numbers against the tough defenses in the league. This should be a very interesting match up but if I owned Manning I’d hesitate to bench him unless I had a real solid play behind him.

5. Philip Rivers At New Orleans Saints — As you may know Rivers is not my fave but he should be able to put up some good numbers against a mediocre at best Saints defense. Rivers has just under 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns already this year making him a good start with this match up.

6. Kurt Warner At Carolina Panthers — A tougher D but Warner win or lose has been putting up some great numbers (1708 yards, 12 TD’s, 5 picks in 6 games). Warner prbably will have Anquan Boldin back meaning he’ll have 3 reliable targets (Fitz, Boldin,& Breaston) to throw to. The Panthers do rank 2nd in the NFL against the pass but I see them limiting Warner from having a great game not a good game.

7. Jake Delhomme Vs. Arizona Cardinals — The Cards rank 20th vs. the pass and since Jake has gotten Steve Smith back that offense is looking very potent with great balance on the ground and through the air. Minus his bad game (0 TD’s 3 INT’s) against the Bucs Delhomme is averaging 2 scores per week with 240+ yards per game his last 4 outings.

8. Brett Favre Vs. Kansas City Chiefs – Favre has struggled these last 2 weeks against some lesser defenses (under 200 yards each game with 4 picks total and only 1 TD) but he did just throw 6 TD’s 3 games ago and has 13 on the year making me think he is overdue for another big fantasy performance against the Chiefs who give up over 400 yards and nearly 4 touchdowns per game.

Other QB’s Worth A Good Look: Ben Roethlisberger Vs. New York Giants, Trent Edwards At Miami Dolphins, David Garrard Vs. Cleveland Browns, Jason Campbell At Detroit Lions, Eli Manning At Pittsburgh Steelers.

Running Back Rankings Week 8

1. Clinton Portis At Detroit Lions — The Lions have been unable to stop anyone on the ground giving up 167+ yards on the ground per game. Portis has also been red hot his last 4 games with 570 yards and 4 touchdowns. he has a minor shin injury but should be fine and poised for another big game.

2. Brian Westbrook Vs. Atlanta Falcons – Westbrook is nursing a few broken ribs but it looks like he is good enough to play according to reports. The Falcons rank 20th vs the rush but Westbrook has nearly 300 total yards and 6 TD’s in his 4 games he’s played this year and is tough to bench if he’s healthy enough to play.

3. Chris Johnson Vs. Indianapolis Colts — The Colts rank 28th vs. the run and Johnson just burned KC for 168 yards and a score (over 8 yards per carry). As I mentioned last week his biggest hurdle is than Lendale White gets more touches including all the goal line carries.

4. Frank Gore Vs. Seattle Seahawks — Even as the Niners struggle Gore has been a beacon of consistency as he has 535 rush yards, 246 receiving yards, & 5 touchdowns in 7 games. The Seahawks rank 21st against the rush but 29th in points allowed as they allow over 4 touchdowns per game on average meaning Gore may be poised for a very big fantasy day.

5. Steve Jackson At New England Patriots — The Rams seem like a new team since Haslett took over and Jackson after a slow start is really rolling now as he has 767 total yards and 4 touchdowns in 6 games. He does have a slightly strained quad muscle so watch the injury reports but it sounds very minor so far. The Pats are still a good D in my opinion but definitely aren’t as strong as they used to be and now have lossed veteran safety Harrison for the year (ranked 19th vs. the rush).

6. Steve Slaton Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Slaton has been very reliable since becoming the starting back for the Texans as he has 486 total yards & 5 touchdowns in his last 5 games and Cinci is ranked 27th in the league against the run.

7. Lendale White Vs. Indianapolis Colts — Tough to rank White this high as he loses so many carries to Johnson however he should be guaranteed to find the end zone against the Colts and have a similar day but lesser day as to what he did against the Chiefs (149 yards, 3 TD’s). White has 8 TD’s on the year and the Colts can’t stop anyone on the ground

8. Thomas Jones Vs. Kansas City Chiefs — Jones quietly (more due to being in Favre’s shadow I think) has 538 total yards and 4 TD’s in 6 games played and he faces the worst run defense in the league in the KC Chiefs who last week gave up over 300 rush yards last week.

9. Marshawn Lynch At Miami Dolphins — Lynch has 513 total yards and 5 touchdowns in 6 games and faces the Fins D who ranks 12th against the rush. Not the best match up but not a bad match up either.

10. Marion Barber III Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Bucs are a bad match up for a runner as they rank 10th against the rush and 4th in points allowed however I see Brad Johnson and the Cowboys offense looking better and scoring 2 or 3 touchdowns despite the tough D and Barber having a decent fantasy day.

11. Ladanian Tomlinson At New Orleans Saints — LT definitely has not been himself with this toe injury but still has nearly 600 yards and 4 TD’s this season and faces the Saints who rank 16th against the rush.

12. Willis McGahee Vs. Oakland Raiders — The Raiders are 24th against the run but its tough to predict who on the Ravens will show up for a good fantasy day. McGahee looked healthy last week but he has burned mein the past so be careful if you start him here as I would not be at all surprised to see McClain or Rice steal the day somehow.

13. Maurice Jones-Drew Vs. Cleveland Browns — MJD hasn’t looked the greatest this year but is coming off a great performance against the Broncos before his bye (148 total yards & 2 TD’s) and will be facing the weak Browns defense.

14. Michael Turner At Philadelphia Eagles — Turner will struggle a little against this tougher run defense at home (9th vs. the run) but Turner is too good to bench here as he has over 600 total yards and 5 touchdowns in 6 games.

15. Ronnie Brown Vs. Buffalo Bills — Brown again looked pretty normal last week but he’s tough to bench as we know he is capable of 5 TD’s in one game when he is on. The Bills have a solid defense and are 15th against the run. Since getting healthy Brown averages just under 100 total yards per game and including his passing TD has 7 TD’s in his last 4 games.

Other RB’s Worth A Good Look: Earnest Graham At Dallas Cowboys, Jonathon Stewart/DeAngelo Williams Vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sammy Morris Vs. St. Louis Rams, Mewelde Moore/Willie Parker Vs. New York Giants, Jamal Lewis At Jacksonville Jaguars, Fred Taylor Vs. Cleveland Browns, Julius Jones At San Francisco 49ers, Deuce McAllister Vs. San Diego Chargers, Brandon Jacobs At Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wide Receiver Rankings Week 8

1. Steve Smith Vs. Arizona Cardinals — In his 5 games back after the suspension Smith has averaged just under 100 yards per game and has 2 touchdowns. I expect him to have a big day against the Cards rank 20th against the pass and as Favre showed us a few weeks back are capable of giving up a few touchdowns through the air.

2. Andre Johnson Vs. Cincinnati Bengals –The Bengals rank high against the pass but primarily because they are so bad against the run as they allow an average of 26 points per game. Johnson and Schaub have been on fire lately as he has 450 yards and 2 touchdowns his last 3 games.

3. Santana Moss At Detroit Lions — The Lions look like a team with no hope and rank 31st against the pass. While the Skins passing game at times has looked pretty bad, Moss has done pretty well (except for the goose egg he laid in Philly) as he has 33 receptions, 518 yards and 4 scores in 7 games played.

4. Larry Fitzgerald At Carolina Panthers — Fitz will most likely have Boldin back this week to compete with him and the Panthers are tough against the pass (2nd in the NFL) but Fitz should have a decent day as he has been consistent all year (546 yards & 5 TD’s in 6 games).

5. Reggie Wayne At Tennessee Titans — A very tough D but Wayne struggled last week and should bounce back despite the match up. Wayne has had good performances against the Ravens & the Bears (back when their secondary was healthy) and should have a good game.

6. Lee Evans At Miami Dolphins – The Fins rank 27th vs. the pass & Evans has 521 yards and 3 scores in 6 games.

7. Plaxico Burress At Pittsburgh Steelers — A tough match up for Eli & Plaxico but since his suspension Plaxico has scored in each game back and I see him continuing that trend.

8. Terrell Owens Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Bucs only give up about 15 points per game but I see TO getting some yardage this game as Johnson gets more used to throwing to his great receivers and makes some better throws than last week.

9. Randy Moss Vs. St Louis Rams — I wtill have some doubts on Cassel but it seems like he is getting better making Moss again a must start as they scored 2 tgouchdowns last week.

10. Calvin Johnson Vs. Washington Redskins – While I doubt the Skins give up a 96 yards TD I do think the Lions will be throwing the ball a ton to Johnson for the rest of the season.

11. Hines Ward Vs. New York Giants — Ward has 5 touchdowns and has outshined Holmes so far this year and has been a solid fantasy start all year even against the tougher defenses.

12. Laveranues Coles Vs. Kansas City Chiefs – The Chiefs give up nearly 28 points a game and 400+ yards per game and favre & Coles while not very consistent have been capable of putting up some great numbers. #4 might have a big day meaning Coles & Cotchery should as well.

13. Anquan Boldin/Steve Breaston At Carolina Panthers — I expect Boldin to return making Breaston a very risky start. However if Boldin doesn’t go Breaston has showed us he can put up some numbers opposite Fitzgerald (301 yards & 1 score in 3 starts). One of them will be a good start this Sunday.

14. Santonio Holmes Vs. New York Giants — Holmes started out the year slow but has shown some glimpses of the receiver fantasy owners loved last year. I like him as a start again this week as I think he continues to bring his numbers closer to last season’s as the season progresses.

15. DeSean “Premature Celebration” Jackson Vs. Atlanta Falcons — The Eagles get WR Kevin Curtis back but Jackson has been a playmaker and I still think a viable fantasy option despite more of McNabb’s receivers getting healthy.

Other WR’s Worth A Good Look: TJ Houshmandzedah At Houston Texans, Roddy White At Philadelphia Eagles, Braylon Edwards At Jacksonville Jaguars, Wes Welker Vs. St. Louis Rams, Roy Williams Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Marques Colston Vs. San Diego Chargers, Jerricho Cotchery Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Dwayne Bowe At New York Jets, Vincent Jackson At New Orleans Saints.

Tight End Rankings Week 8

1. Jason Witten Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Definitely a tougher match up but I still rank Witt as #1 as he still is getting plenty of throws and I expect a much better game from Brad Johnson who looked very rusty last week. Witt had 6 receptions and 44 yards but was targeted even more by Johnson who wasn’t very accurate in his first start. If you league wieghs TD’s much more than yards then Gates woiuld rank higher as Witt only has 2 on the year but if you’re looking for receptions and yards and a possible score Witt is the man as he has 45 catches and 541 yards on the year.

2. Antonio Gates At New Orleans Saints — Gates only has just over 300 yards this season but he does have 4 touchdowns and has a very good chance to score against a weak Saints secondary.

3. Chris Cooley At Detroit Lions — Cooley has had 2 mediocre games his last 2 but he has 377 yards and 1 score this year and the Lions just made Owen Daniels look like Jason Witten so Cooley should be due for a big game.

4. Tony Gonzalez At New York Jets — With Croyle out again it looks like Thigpen is back but Gonzo has seemed to perform decently no matter who is back there. Gonzo has 290 yards and 2 touchdowns this year and despite being unhappy in KC he is doing pretty well considering the conditions.

5. Owen Daniels Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — The Texans passing game is hot right now as Daniels had 2 touchdowns last game (his first 2 of the year) and has brought his yardage total up to 374 yards and the Bengals D should not be able to slow them down much.

6. Dallas Clark At Tennessee Titans — Clark has had a few hot games since coming back from injury. He has 15 catches and 179 yards his last 3 starts and despite the match up is worth a risk to start at TE.

7. Heath Miller Vs. New York Giants — Miller has had a quiet season so far (188 yards & 1 TD) but has always been a red zone target for Big Ben and is a decent start.

8. John Carlson At San Francisco 49ers – Its unknown if Hasselback will return but Carlson has done okay without him as he now has a touchdown in each of his last two games.

Others Worth A Good Look: LJ Smith Vs. Atlanta Falcons, Bo Scaife Vs. Indianapolis Colts, Benjamin Watson vs St. Louis Rams, Todd Heap Vs. Oakland Raiders.

Definitely a tough week for me as my overall record is still over .500 (14-12) but I am 2-5 the last two weeks so I am definitely going to do things a little different to shake things up.  Brad Johnson hurt me a little this week in the fantasy world but I knew that was a risky play & Moss saved me on Monday Night pulling out a last minute victory (thank you Broncos “defense” & thank you Champ Bailey’s pulled groin muscles).  The Bears special teams also crushed me in one aspect but helped me on the fantasy field so its not a total loss for me but I definitely am slowing down my picks for next week and going to take less risks in my fantasy starters this week as I was nearly burned pretty badly this week by thinking too much about the match ups.  I had Orton lighting the field on fire on my bench while fresh free agent pick up Johnson was lucky to get that touchdown to make up for those picks which had him scoring negative for me until that point.  None the less Johnson will probably throw for 300 yards and 3 scores next week against a tougher Skins D as it looks like I am going to drop him for another free agent QB (perhaps Cassel who is available in that league).  But this week definitely reminded me sometimes its better to stick with a sure thing (although really we should never say a Bears QB is a sure thing in the fantasy world).

Anyways, with Bush out 3-4 weeks Deuce McAlister, Aaron Stecker, & Pierre Thomas’s stock rose but I don’t see anyone one back really getting a huge advantage there.  Pierre has some early success when Deuce was out but I’d really only play those guys if you are in desperate need.

The only other free agent who caught my eye Sunday (although I know a few shrewd owners have already grabbed this guy in many of my leagues) is new wideout Donnie Avery who is very close to passing up Torry Holt on the depth chart out there in St. Louis.  I’m not crazy about him but if you need a receiver he is hot right now.

WR Donnie Avery, St. Louis Rams — Its almost halfway through the season and Torry Holt leads the team in receiving yards. No big surprise, as we expected that. We didn’t expect him to only have one touchdown and barely over 260 yards though as these Rams started dead cold & Holt continues to be cold as Stephen Jackson has come alive these last few games. Donnie Avery also has come alive these last few games with 9 receptions for 138 yards and one score (doubling Holt’s total as Avery also has a rushing touchdown from week 4). While I do think Holt wakes up sometime this year it does look like the Rams have some life under new coach Jim Haslett and Avery looks like a very nice pick up especially if you are in a keeper league. Keep in mind Avery appears to be their deep threat so he should be expected to be an inconsistent producer (although very few wideouts are very consistent week to week) but if he keeps this trend he’ll pass Holt in a few weeks in yardage and who knows what he might be able to do the rest of the season.  Again I’m not in love with this guy but if your receiver corps is hurting he might be worth throwing into your starting lineup.

Well there were a lot of close and exciting games although I did feel this week didn’t have that marquee match up that most of the prior weeks had.  Definitely Falcons, & Cardinals fans had to be real happy as it seemed both had blown it but the Bears forgot to cover the sideline route in their prevent defense with 6 seconds left and the Cowboys after looking very dominant driving the game into overtime had some issues on special teams as they lost on a punt block.  Really they had won when they blocked Folk’s field goal but that genius Whisenhunt called a timeout to “ice the kicker” even though any onlooker could tell the Cowboys were in some disarray after the confusion of the prior play where an injured Cardinal was off sides.  I’d love to see a stat about icing the kicker as I feel it hardly ever works (right Joe Gibbs?).

Anyways the big news that came from this week is that we found out Romo has a broken finger and will miss at least the next 3 games meaning longtime vet Brad Johnson will take over the helm and probably be one of the most sought after free agent we’ll see this year despite his very journeyman-like stats.  Johnson in 17 years in the NFL has a QB rating of 83.1, 61.8 completion percentage, 28K yards, 164 TD’s & 177 Interceptions.  While Johnson is no Tony Romo he still has a very good chance of having success as he has talent all around him on offense and he appears to still be in good shape and have a strong arm per the reports I have read about him.  A risky pick up but definitely a great possible upside especially if you are having trouble finding a quality QB to start every week (see my capsule on him below).  Just remember there’s a very good chance this guy will have no value after 3 games and there’s no guarantee he’ll be a great fantasy QB even with this skilled surrounding cast so buyer beware.

With the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, & Philadelphia Eagles on bye this week if you need to find some help on the waiver wire the following players made a showing from virtually nowhere:

RB Patrick Cobbs, Dolphins — As we are starting to see with the Fins we never know what might happen from week to week with them but Cobbs definitely shined last week with 138 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns mostly due to that high school formation the Fins run that keeps defensive coordinators up all night. Unfortunately in 3 seasons Cobb only has 53 rushing yards and one score before last Sunday.  Its very, very likely we don’t hear from Cobbs the rest of this fantasy season.

RB Ray Rice, Ravens — I loved ray Rice in preseason and was shocked how McClain outshined him until last week.  If I had the roster room I’d grab him as McGahee looks like he is planning to have16 different injuries this season and Rice has some potential beyond this last week’s performance (87 total yards).  Rice is still 3rd on the depth chart but if he gets a chance I like this rookie back a lot.

WR Steve Breaston, Cardinals – I also love this receiver (I actually had picked him up in some leagues 4 weeks ago) however I expect Anquan to return after the Cardinals bye making Breaston a fringe starter depending on the match ups and how solid your receiver core is.  Still worth picking up if you need the help at wideout though.

QB Brad Johnson, Cowboys – Johnson actually didn’t emerge but with Romo getting his pinky broken in OTvs. the Cards &likely to miss 4 weeks (3 games and a bye) Brad Johnson might be the answer to your QB troubles, for the rest of October that is. He has some decent career stats in his 17 year career (83 QB rating, 28,000+ yards, 164 TD’s 117 Int’s) and it seems he still has an active arm. I like this pick up for this week (they play the Rams) but not after as they face the Bucs & Giants unless you are desperate for a fantasy starter.

I don’t know if we are just spoiled from the previous weeks slate of exciting games but this week feels somewhat lackluster to me.  Yes there should be some decent games but these last 2 or 3 weeks there have been multiple must see games on at the same time (making DirecTV very happy I would guess as without the NFL package I surmise no one would put up with their terrible customer service).  Yes I’m sure this week will have some good games: Panthers V. Bucs, Peyton Manning V. that Ravens D, & the Patriots against the struggling Chargers.  But most of these other games are games that I won’t be upset if I miss.  We’ll have to wait and see but I think this week we’ll be watching our fantasy stars instead of watching the games as much.

Anyways beyond that I am trying to stay hot with my picks as thanks to the Vikes I closed out last week pretty sweet (4-1) and am looking just to keep this momentum going (12-7).  I’m going with 3 dogs this week as no game really shoots out to me as a great pick but I feel that 2 of my dogs should outright win and the 3rd is getting too many points.  I love the way the Panthers started out the year 2-0 against some tough teams during the Steve Smith suspension and have continued to improve once Smith returned.  A great running game, a defense which looks better every week and of course a very dangerous passing game now that Smith is back.  They go to Tampa who still boasts that Tampa Two bend but not break defense which shows as they allow 318+ yards a game (18th in the NFL) but only a stingy 18.8 points per game (8th in the NFL).  I think the Bucs D contains the Panthers and forces many field goals however I see the Panthers D really shutting down the Bucs offense making it not too difficult for the Panthers to not only cover (+1.5) but to pull off the upset win in Tampa.

Although the Pack have let me down in past picks its hard for me to think Seattle is a lock against them even at home.  I think this game is a coin flip but the Seahawks have struggled enough as of late that I like the Packers here (+2).  I also think its a bad idea to tell the Patriots they are an underdog.  I think Belichick uses this as a great motivation for his team who I’m sure is having trouble getting their swagger back without Brady behind center.  I do think the Chargers win at home but (+5.5) is too many points as this game could very easily be determined by a field goal.

Note the following teams are on bye this week: Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans.

Quarterback Rankings Week 6

1. Tony Romo At Arizona Cardinals – Romo quietly scored three touchdowns last week bringing his total on the year to 11. He continues to make at least one mistake a game but makes up for his mistake with great play every week. The Cardinals have a decent pass defense but not good enough to get in Romo’s way. He should have another solid fantasy week.

2. Drew Brees Vs. Oakland Raiders — Brees has looked great considering all the injuries to his receivers. While he doesn’t get anyone back this week he does face the Raiders who average giving up 325+ yards per game and really have not looked good all year. Brees has averaged 334 yards and just under 2 touchdowns per game.

3. Brett Favre Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Favre is coming off his 6 TD performance 2 weeks ago and gets to face the 19th ranked defense in the NFL in the Bengals. I rank the Bengals lower than that and I think Favre continues his quest to make those Packers fans who didn’t want him back to be very sorry. I doubt 6 TD’s will happen but I could very easily believe Favre and Palmer get into a shootout and put up some great fantasy numbers.

4. Peyton Manning Vs. Baltimore Ravens -- Manning has a history of success against the Ravens (6 TD’s no picks in 2 games the last 3 years) but his offense still has not seemed to get into full gear yet. I expect the Colts to continue to struggle to run the ball but I think Manning has a decent game despite how good the Ravens D has been this year.

5. Kurt Warner Vs. Dallas Cowboys — I expect Warner to give Romo a run for his money this game and despite most likely still being without Boldin having another good game. Warner has averaged just under 300 yards and 2 scores per game. The Cowboys defense has looked pretty good this year but does rank 17th against the pass and Warner should be able to score some points on them.

6. Donovan McNabb At San Francisco 49ers — A rib injury to Westbrook definitely can hurt McNabb’s production as nobody on that team can fully replace Westbrook but either way I see McNabb having a good game against the Niners who rank 19th in the league vs. the pass.

7. Eli Manning At Cleveland Browns — Eli gets Plaxico back (although it didn’t seem like he missed him very much last week) and gets to face another bad defense in the Browns. Eli should have a good game however I see the running game really beating up on the Browns (22nd vs the run) meaning Eli’s stats might be as good as previous performances.

8. Jason Campbell Vs. St Louis Rams — Scratch Campbell’s week 1 & 5 performances and he has been unstoppable with over a 100 QB rating and almost 2 scores per game. Yes against the tougher defenses he has struggled however the Rams don’t fall into that category as they allow almost 37 points per game and rank 28th in yards allowed.

9. Jay Cutler Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – Another tough match up for this up and coming QB as he comes off a solid performance against the Bucs (227 yards TD no picks). The Jags are ranked 26th in the NFL against the pass but are much better than that. I expect Cutler to be limited and have a similar week to last week.

10. Carson Palmer At New York Jets — Palmer and Houshmanzedah got back on track last week as they hooked up for 2 touchdowns. The Jets are a dangerous defense but much stronger vs. the run (5th in the NFL) than they are against the pass (31st) which plays into Palmer’s & the Bengals strengths. Keep an eye on Palmer’s injured elbow this week but based off his last game he looked pretty well healed.

11. Aaron Rodgers At Seattle Seahawks — Playing injured Rodgers had a great performance against Atlanta (313 yards 3 TD’s) however I see him having a much more mediocre game against the Seahawks. The Seahawks are still pretty weak vs. the pass (28th) but I think we see a big dose of Ryan Grant who looks healthier now and only a mediocre game from Rodgers.

Others Worth A Good Look: Philip Rivers Vs. New England Patriots — A dangerous game for Philips who has been so good he’s tough to bench , Matt Cassel At San Diego Chargers – We saw some nice plays last week but a risky start against a Chargers defense due for a good game although they currently rank last in the NFL vs. the pass, Kyle Orton At Atlanta Falcons — Good match up but tough to start a Bears QB in the fantasy world, David Garrard At Denver Broncos — One of the best match ups Garrard will see all year, Jake Delhomme At Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Tough match up but Delhomme & Panthers are red hot right now,

Running Backs Week 6 Rankings

1. Adrian Peterson Vs. Detroit Lions — The Lions are the worst defense in the NFL giving up over 36 points per game and 180 rushing yards per game. Peterson looked pretty spartan last week in New Orleans but he has no ecuse not to have his best game of the year against this struggling team.

2. Marion Barber At Arizona Cardinals — Barber has been kept out of the endzone 2 weeks in a row now so he is due for a score against this mediocre defense. It looks like Felix Jones will steal some carries away from him but Barber is a must start as he seems to have a nose for the end zone.

3. Brandon Jacobs At Cleveland Browns — Against a decent defense Brnadon Jacobs shined last week with 130+ yards ans 2 scores. He should continue to stay hot against the Browns who I rank just slightly higher than the Lions D even though they currently rank 22nd vs. the run.

4. Clinton Portis Vs. St Louis Rams — Portis almost rushed for 150 yards against a good run defense in the Eagles and should continue to stay hot against a Rams D that hasn’t been able to stop anyone all year (28th vs. the run).

5. Frank Gore Vs. Philadelphia Eagles — The Eagles are tough against the run (8th vs. the run) however Gore has yet to have a bad game so far even against some better defenses as he has averaged 84+ rush yard, 36 receiving yards per game and has 4 touchdowns this year.

6. Maurice Jones Drew At Denver Broncos — MJD has struggled this year but the Broncos are 29th in the NFL in yards given up giving the Jags running game a good chance to get going this year. MJD has had 4 games where he rushed for less than 35 yards but has scored 3 touchdowns this year and rushed for over 100 yards a few weeks ago against the Colts 9over 5 ypc) so he is due for a good game this week.

7. Ladanian Tomlinson Vs. New England Patriots — Despite his toe injury that seemed to really slow him down last week LT has been able to average over 80+ total yards and has scored 4 times this year. The Patriots defense is pretty good at containing the run but unless LT’s injuries continue to worsen and affect his play worse than last week its still not time to bench him as he is still a reliable fantasy scorer.

8. Ronnie Brown At Houston Texans — I doubt he ever matches his 5 TD performance a few weeks ago but Brown followed up that with another good performance last week against the Chargers (125 yards and a score.) and looks to continue to be a fantasy starter as long as he and the Fins stay hot.

9. Brian Westbrook At San Francisco 49ers — Westbrook has 2 broken ribs and is listed as day to day but I think he plays with a flak jacket and plays with the pain as he did after the injury happened last week. I do think he loses some extra touches to Buckhalter but will still put up some decent numbers.

9. Steven Jackson At Washington Redskins — Jackson started out the season pretty slow as he is know to but the last 2 games he has 316 total yards and a touchdown. The Skins rank 9th vs. the run and have playing well as of late but Jackson should have a decent to good day against them.

10. Reggie Bush Vs. Oakland Raiders — Bush is not going to get you a ton of rushing yards but he averages over 105+ total yards (rushing & receiving) per game and should continue that pace with the Raiders D who give up over 360 yards per game.

11. Matt Forte At Atlanta Falcons — Forte has quietly accrued 555 total yards & 4 touchdowns in 5 games and should have another good game against the Falcons who rank 21st against the run.

12. Steve Slaton Vs. Miami Dolphins — Slaton has played very well since winning the starting job in the last 3 games he has 336 rushing & receiving yards and 3 touchdowns against some tougher defenses. The Fins have been playing very well and the defense has been improving (now ranked 7th against the run). The Fins might slow Slaton down but he is still a decent fantasy start here.

13. Julius Jones Vs. Green Bay Packers — Jones was kept in check by the Giants as they held him to 60 yards, however he still has averaged 100+ yards combining his last three games and has 2 touchdowns in those games. The Pack D is mediocre at best against the run (27th in the league) meaning Jones should have another good game despite the possibility of Maurice Morris coming back and stealing some carries from him.

14. Joseph Addai Vs. Baltimore Ravens — Addai & the Colts offense has struggled some this year but have faced some tougher defenses as well. Unfortunately the Raven are another tough D as they rank 1st against the run giving up less than 65 rush yards per game. If you have a better option I would think about sitting Addai but considering he has scored 4 touchdowns in 4 games while the Colts offense has been struggling means he might be worth keeping as your starter.

15. Michael Turner Vs. Chicago Bears — Turner smokes the weak run defenses he has faced but has greatly struggled against the tougher ones meaning the Bears should have some success against him (although itsa plus for Turner to be at home in the dome). The Bears rank 4th against the run but as the Panthers showed us earlier this season its not impossible to have a good fantasy day against them.

16. Leron McClain/Willis McGahee At Indianapolis Colts — The Colts are terrible against the run (dead last in the NFL giving up over 188 rush yards per game) and are still without safety Bob Sanders due to injury. The only issue is knowing who to start as McGahee is the starter but McClain has been getting a ton of carries and has performed very well through McGahee’s injury problems. If I had to guess I think McClain will continue his success but McGahee is due for a good fantasy game as he has underperformed greatly this year so far.

17. Earnest Graham Vs. Carolina Panthers –The Panthers rank 11th versus the run and are playing very well as of late as they just held Larry Johnson to 2 yards. I think Graham has a tougher day but still gets some yards on the ground and through the air.

18. Ryan Grant At Seattle Seahawks — Grant has started the season very slow due to his hamstring injury but he has looked better every week and I predict he will get 100+ yards and 1 score against a decent Seahawks run defense.

Others Worth A Good Look: Fred Taylor At Denver Broncos, Thomas Jones Vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Darren McFadden At New Orleans Saints, Jamal Lewis Vs. New York Giants, Jonathon Stewart/DeAngelo Williams At Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Felix Jones At Arizona Cardinals.

Wide Receiver Rankings Week 6

1. Larry Fitzgerald Vs. Dallas Cowboys — It looks like Boldin will miss one more week which is great news to fantasy owners of Fritgerald. With Bolding out last week Fitz hooked up with Warner twice in the endzone against a tough defense. I see this game being somewhat of a shoot out and Fitz having a great fantasy day against Dallas who ranks 17th versus the pass.

2. Terrell Owens At Arizona Cardinals — Despite the so called “drama” TO and Romo seem to be fine and continue to rack up points for the Cowboys as well as our fantasy teams. TO should have another big day against this 14th ranked defense (vs. the pass) and add to his 5 touchdown total.

3. Plaxico Burress Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars — Eli and crew seemed to be fine without Plaxico but I do think he comes back hungry and has a great game against the Browns who have a pretty porous secondary.

4. Andre Johnson Vs. Miami Dolphins — Johnson has had 2 very good games (including last week’s 130+ yards and a score) and also 2 very quiet games. It looks like QB Schaub will be back and I expect at least one score and 100 yards from Johnson against this defense which is looking better as of late but it still ranked 15th vs. the pass.

5. Reggie Wayne Vs. Baltimore Ravens — I see the Ravens stuffing the run and making it tough on Manning but I see Wayne getting a lot of receptions and decent yardage. I think he’ll have a tougher time getting a score but should see a lot of throws from Manning.

6. Brandon Marshall Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars — After being unstoppable for a few weeks (weeks 2&3: 24 catches, 321 yards, 2 TD’s) Marshall has been pretty quiet especially against the Bucs last week who keyed in on him a little. I see Marshall having another huge game (like Wk 2 or 3) as Scheffler & Royal have some injnuries and Marshall will get a ton of throws from Cutler.

7. Randy Moss At San Diego Chargers — Cassel and Moss hooked up last week for a deep touchdown and I expect to see more deep throws in the future as Cassel learns all he has to do is throw it up there and Moss will go and get it.

8. Steve Smith At Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Steve Smith has looked great since coming off suspension and the Panthers have been red hot. Unfortunate for them the Bucs defense is pretty stingy (8th in points allowed) but Smith should be able to salvage a good fantasy game as he goes all over the field to get his receptions.

9. Santana Moss Vs. St. Louis Rams — After starting the season on fire Moss was shutout last week against the Eagles. I doubt that happens again against the Rams who rank near last in the NFL against the pass & points allowed (28th & 31st)

10. Laveranues Coles Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Coles & Favre finally seem to be getting along as they hooked up for 3 TD’s before their bye week. While I doubt Favre throws for another 6 TD’s, the Bengals defense is not very good and there’s no reason Coles can’t have another good to great game.

11. Greg Jennings At Seattle Seahawks – Jennings has been very constant this year despite having a new QB. He has over 110+ yards per game on average and has 3 scores in 5 games.

12. TJ houshmanzedah At New York Jets — TJH caught 2 touchdown passes as the Bengals offense has rumbled to a very slow start but now look capable of putting some decent yards and points up on the board.

13. Calvin Johnson at Minnesota Vikings — Johnson started the year out well but only has 56 yards his last two games. I actually expect the Lions passing game to greatly improve this week against ther Vikes who rank 20th against the pass. I still see the Lions struggling but even if Kitna is playing hurt I see him and Johnson and Williams having good fantasy days (ok maybe not Kitna so much).

14. Jerricho Cotchery Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Cotchery has 3 scores this year with #4 at the helm but he hasn’t had any huge games. The Bengals D should give him an opportunity to have a more well rounded fantasy day.

15. DeSean “Premature Celebration” Jackson At San Francisco 49ers – After having 2 great games to start the year and then 2 mediocre outings, PC Jackson only had one catch for 8 yards last week as Reggie Brown is back and looks to be a preferred target for McNabb. While I see Brown continuing to get a lot of throws I expect Jackson to get at least 50 yards and maybe a score against the Niners if he can help not dropping the ball.

16. Steve Breaston Vs. Dallas Cowboys — If Boldin sits out one more week (which I think he does since they have a bye next week so he can heal to 100% the Breaston is a good start as he challenges Fitz every week for the most receiving yards for the game.

Others Worth A Good Look: Isaac Bruce Vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Bernard Berrian Vs. Detroit Lions, Roddy White Vs. Chicago Bears, Wes Welker At San Diego Chargers. Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson At New York Jets, Roy Williams At Minnesota Vikings, Braylon Edwards Vs. New York Giants, Donald Driver At Seattle Seahawks, Torry Holt At Washginton Redskins.

Tight End Rankings Week 6

1. Jason Witten At Arizona Cardinals — With Gates hampered by injuries Witten has definitely taken over as the best tight end in the NFL and is a must start every week. The Card are also pretty mediocre against the pass which should help Witt continue to average over 88 yards per game (2 total touchdowns on the year).

2. Chris Cooley Vs. St. Louis Rams — After a very bad week 1 the Skins offense has come on strong and Cooley has been getting a lot of attention from Campbell and has averaged over 70 yards these last 4 games. He got his first touchdown last week but there should be many opportunities for him to score against the bad Rams defense.

3. Antonio Gates Vs. New England Patriots — Gates only had one catch against Miami and faces a tougher match up in New England however receiver Chris Chambers looks like he will be unable to play meaning Rivers will have to rely on Gates more this week. Gates also has 3 touchdowns in 5 games and remains a must start despite a somewhat slow start to the season.

4. Kellen Winslow II Vs. New York Giants — Despite the problems the Browns offense problems Winslow has averaged just under 5 catches a game for just over 42 yards per. Winslow also has one touchdown from week 1 and is Derek Anderson’s most reliable target so far this year. When the Browns do break out of their slump Winslow should be in store for a great game.

5. Owen Daniels Vs. Miami Dolphins — Daniels has had some real solid games the last few weeks and been fairly consistent all year. I expect a good game and possibly a touchdown from him against the Fins.

6. Anthony Fasano At Houston Texans — Besides a no catch game against Arizona Fasano has been very reliable averaging just under 5 catches for 65+ yards his other 3 games. The Fins are red hot right now and Fasano should have a good chance to add to his 2 TD total for the year.

7. Dallas Clark Vs. Baltimore Ravens — Dallas Clark too advantage of the bye week to get healthy and showed us last week with 5 catches for 81 yards. I expect a similar game against the Ravens who will challenge Manning and might force him to rely on shorter throws and check downs.

8. Benjamin Watson At San Diego Chargers — Last week was the first week the Chargers did not allow a touchdown to the opposing tight end although Fasano did put up nearly 50 yards and Watson should have a chance for a breakout game. Watson has really struggled without Brady as he really has done nothing yet this year but this should be his best chance. A risky start but a good upside as Watson should get on track sometime this year and when he is is capable of putting up some great fantasy numbers.

9. Greg Olsen At Atlanta Falcons — The last 2 weeks Olsen has 7 catches 122 yards and a score. The Falcons defense should help Olsen & Orton stay hot.

10. Visanthe Shiancoe Vs. Detroit Lions — Not my favorite TE but he has a good match up against the hapless Lions and has 2 touchdowns on the year already.

Others Worth A Good Look: Zach Miller At New Orleans Saints, Dustin Keller Vs. Cincinnati Bengals, LJ Smith At San Francisco 49ers

Defense/Special Teams Week 6

1. Chicago Bears At Atlanta Falcons — If I were Matt Ryan I might come down with a serious case of the flu Saturday night as this will be the toughest defense he will face all year. The Bears defensive unit has been untouched by injuries so far this year (which is a rarity) making this a great match up for them against a rookie QB. One plus Atlanta has is Michael Turner, who at times has looked fantastic, but the Bears rank 4th in the league versus the run but should be able to key in on Turner making this a very tough game for the Atalnta Falcons offense. The Bears defense and special teams this year has scored 3 touchdowns (int. return, fumble return, blocked punt return) and has forced 11 sacks & 11 turnovers in 5 games. They are a must start this week.

2. Carolina Panthers At Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Panthers defense started out the year pretty quiet but after the shut out performance they pitched last week against KC (holding Larry Johnson to a mere 2 Yards!) it seems they are starting to come alive. They haven’t been very flashy about it but this defense has been very solid (9 sacks, 7 turnovers) and they now rank 3rd in the NFL in points against and are very solid against the run & pass. The Bucs look like they might be bringing Garcia back in to start at QB but their offense does not scare me at all. The Panthers won’t shut them out but they should make it a long day for Chucky.

3. Minnesota Vikings Vs. Detroit Lions — Despite getting rid of Millen the Lions still looked pretty harmless although some credit must be given to the Bears D. Kitna was kocked out of the game and if he can’t go the Vikings should have a field day against Orlovsky. Even if Kitna is healthy it seems to me that Roy Williams is disinterested in the game which makes sense why he has been dropping so many balls and being outshined by Calvin Johnson. The Vikings D might have started a little slow but definitely one of the better units in the NFL (3rd vs. the rush, 9th in yards against) and the Lions should have issues this game no matter who is behind center.

4. New York Giants At Cleveland Browns — No Strahan, No Umenyiora, No Plaxico, No problem, at least so far. Despite my predictions the Giants are still one of the top defenses in the league as they rank 2nd in the NFL only allowing 12.2 points per game. Next week they should have Plaxico back and they’ll face the Browns who were looking better before their bye but still had some major issues. I expect the Browns offense to put up more of a fight than the Seahawks (which isn’t saying very much) but the Giants should do pretty well against this struggling offense.

5. Washington Redskins Vs. St. Louis Rams — Its been interesting to see the Skins play so well the last 2 weeks with Jason Taylor unable to go. They’ve played 2 very good teams in the Cowboys & Eagles and surprisingly won both of them. The Rams come into this game almost last in the league on every offensive category as they have been unable to score 11 points per game on average. With Linehan out and Hasslett in Marc Bulger will be back behind center again so we might see some new things and I again expect a decent game from Steven Jackson but the Skins defense should have another good outing at home.

6. Baltimore Ravens At Indianapolis Colts — A risky start as Manning can be very dangerous especially at home, however the Colts offense has not looked like the Colts offense all year (currently 18th in the NFL & dead last in rushing yards). The Ravens D while not spectacular has been very solid as they rank 4th in the NFL in points against and 1st in all other categories (total yards, rush yards, & pass yards). The Ravens also have caused 11 turnovers in 4 games but Manning in his last 2 meetings with the Ravens has thrown for 6 TD’s and no picks so it should be interesting to see if the Colts have some success against this top ranked D.

7. Philadelphia Eagles At San Francisco 49ers — It looks like the honeymoon may be over with Martz and the Niners as the offense has come back to Earth somewhat and ranks near the middle in the NFL but they still are a somewhat dangerous offense that should continue to center around Frank Gore. The Eagles have been tough on the run (8th in the NFL) and will bring a lot of pressure on JTO Sullivan so I expect some sacks and turnovers but I also expect the Niners to have some success in a close game.

8. Indianapolis Colts Vs. Baltimore Ravens — This should be an interesting match up as the Colts rank last in the NFL vs the run and are still without Safety Bob Sanders however the Ravens have struggled to throw the ball under Flacco and have only had some success running the ball. I predict this much maligned defense has a nice game as they bunch up to stop the run (Ravens rank 4th in the NFL running the ball) and force Flacco to try and beat them Despite the Ravens running success they rank 27th in the NFL in points scored and next to last in passing yards. Its a risky start as the Ravens are a good running team but in a week where many good D’s are on bye I see Dungy’s defensive unit stepping up and containig the run.

9. Green Bay Packers At Seattle Seahawks — While the Packers D hasn’t been great, the Seahawks offense has been pretty anemic (ranked 28th in passing yards). While the Seahawks do have some excuses from injuries, after seeing Hasselbeck still struggle despite getting a few receivers back healthy makes me worry this might be a long year in Seattle. The Packers are pretty mediocre (their best rank is 13th vs. the pass) however I see them getting some turnovers and possibly yet another defensive touchdown (11 sacks, 4 fumbles recovered, 9 picks & 3 int. returns for a TD). Not a D I would start every week but in a week where 3 of the best NFL defenses are on bye this is a decent start.

10. New England Patriots At San Diego Chargers — Whiles its very hard for me to recommend this defense again after that fiasco against Miami however LT looks like his injuries have taken a turn for the worse and if LT is not playing or playing while injured (The Fins held him to 57 yards last week), this offense will struggle. I don’t expect domination as the Pats have been pretty mediocre this year but I think that bye week helped the whole team get on the same page after losing their team leader in Brady.

11. New York Jets Vs. Cincinati Bengals — A dangerous game if you are penalized for yards against as I expect the Bengals to put up some passing yards but the Jets looked great the first half of their game against Kurt Warner. The second half of that game is a different story but the Jets showed us they are capable of being a pretty good defense if they get it together. They have accrued 10 sacks and 8 turnovers in 4 games so I expect some fantasy scoring there but I do think Palmer is healthy enough to put some points and yards up against this D.

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. Carolina Panthers – This is a tough match up as the Bucs D ranks 8th in points given up but 16th is yards against (that whoole bend but don’t break Tampa Two philosophy looks to be working) however the Panthers are very hot right now with Steve Smith back in full swing and 2 very dangerous running backs in Williams and Stewart. As ‘ve mentioned above I’d normally bench the Bucs here but with 3 of the top 10 defenses in the NFL on bye this week I think this is a good start despite how hot the Panthers are. I see the Panthers gaining yards but kicking more field goals than scoring touchdowns.

**Note: Remember if you see Matthew Berry on the television change the channel ASAP as nothing good can come about from listening to his terrible weekly picks.

This week would have been very exciting if you followed my picks as the Colts definitely tried to give it away to the Texans minus Matt Schaub.  They should have slaughtered the Texans led by Sage Rosenfels but came very, very close to being 1-3 this year.  The Pats game score looks pretty safe but that game was much closer than the score.  Cassel did step up like I predicted but he is definitely not going to be replacing Tom Brady the way Brady replaced Bledsoe not too long ago.  Big Ben also came through for me big time Sunday night as despite the injuries he looked very good against a good Jaguars defense.  I hate to say it but I’m starting to think Big Ben is one of those players who likes to milk the injuries a little more than they are.  I do believe he is hurt and in pain, but based on reports it sounds like Ben can barely throw a ball and then he is playing pretty damn good Sunday night avoiding sacks making some tough throws and taking a lot of hits.  I could be wrong, maybe this guy just is a beast when it comes to playing injured, but part of me feels like he’s milking his injuries giving himself this wounded hero iconic status in Pitt.  Either way it was a near perfect week if not for those Giants.  With Plaxico gone I was sure Eli would struggle and the team would possibly see its first loss.  Of course once again, the Giants have made me feel in the league of a Matthew Berry as they destroy my perfect week and destroy what used to be the Seattle Seahawks.  Despite that loss I am 11-7 for the year and feeling good enough to say I am backing the Vikings tonight at +3.5.  The Saints are 27th in the league in yards allowed and give up an average of 120+ rushing yards per game.  Adrian Peterson has been good this year but started slow due to a hamstring injury and looking at him last week appears to be 100% now.  Peterson only has played in 2 Monday night games in his short NFL career but has performed well in both with 209 total yards and 3 touchdowns.  I do expect Brees to have a nice game and some nice YAC from Bush but I see Peterson and the Vikings D dictating the tempo and winning a close medium to high scoring affair tonight.  It definitely should be a great game as we have the 2 most talented running backs in the NFL going head to head.

As for free agents this week as the following teams are on bye this week:  Buffalo Bills ,Kansas City Chiefs ,Pittsburgh Steelers ,Tennessee Titans.  I haven’t seen anyone really shine that shouldn’t already be on a team’s roster but considering I have made some recent free agent pick ups of the Panthers D Saturday, & also Carson Palmer & Deuce McAlister last week as some teams had given up on them this might be the week to “sift through the trash” so to speak.   DeAngelo Williams is definitely a candidate although I see his owners and well as Jonathon Stewart owners going through some grief as both backs are showing how good they are and last week nearly split carries exactly in half.  But after having only 225 yards and no scores in his first four games as the rook stole the soptlight, Williams reminded me of a runner in that great ESPN series (yet shortlived) Playmakers as he stole the show with 148 total yards and 3 touchdowns against the Chiefs.  despite this great performance he has probably only cemented both his and Stewart’s benching on many fantasy teams as we don’t know who will emerge from game to game and will most likely go with a sure thing at running back depending on the match ups.  The Panthers face the Bucs next week who average giving up less than 100 rush yards per game making this tandem even tougher to start.  But if he’s lingering on the wire I’d grab him as Stewart has had some history of injury in his college career and all it would take is one injury to either back to make their fantasy values soar.

Other free agents you should grab if still out there as they are now performing (all players I highlighted in past weeks): Steve Slaton (I’m 99% sure he’s gone in your league but you never know), Steve Breaston (a good start if Boldin does not play next week), Matt Cassel (not a fantasy starter yet but I see embers glowing between Cassel & Moss, he might be figuring it out that all he has to do is chuck it up there and Moss will go get it).

Some new faces that showed us something but probably not worth picking up unless you are hurting at a certain position are:  Domenik Hixon had 100+ yards and a touchdown in less than 1 half of playing time however will he even be on the field when Plaxico returns?  And even if he is his concussion might mean he’ll miss more playing time.  Maybe a guy to keep and eye on but unless Plaxico turns into TO (Philly era TO) I don’t see Hixon making the headlines the rest of this season.  Mewelde Moore had over 100 total yards as well for the Steelers who have lost 2 backs to injury and is a good conservative free agent pick up as he’ll definitely get the carries until Parker returns (Mendenhall is out for the year) but I don’t expect too much from Moore.  I think this 100 yard game will be about the best he can do.

I have a little vested interest in the Patriots this year as I have Moss on one team and have picked up Matt Cassel on another and I have to admit I had decided I might be showing them both the bench this week until I did a little research.  I had always heard the rumor that Belichick is scary, scary good coming off of bye weeks (including the playoffs - basically anytime Belichick has 2 weeks to prepare his team for an opponent).  I didn’t know how good until I looked it up, he has won the last 10 games with the Patriots coming off of a bye week.  And even better, they avergae winning by 2 touchdowns (+13.6 points to be exact).  And yes those are all games with Brady at QB, but at (-3) I think Cassel steps up to cover that.  I also like Moss as a start here as the problem with the Pats (in my Moss favoring biased opinion) is that they have stopped throwing the deep ball.  They need to open up the field and then dink and dunk to Welker and all the other reception vultures on that team.  Without Moss and the deep ball the Pats left themselves open to the embarrassing loss to the Miami Ronnie Browns (remember that game where Brown was on your bench outscoring your entire fantasy team?).  I also expect the D to be up to par on all the college formations as  Belichick has been on the phone with Charlie Weiss to catch up on all the new college formations as obviously Belichick has never seen those before.  Anyways, I expect at least a 1 touchdown win based on previous history and also based on the fact the Niners still aren’t very good.

The Colts are another team in my personal doghouse as I keep saying they have shaken the preseason rust off and they keep showing me that they haven’t fully.  After this week they will have no excuses as the Texans are ranked 30th in the league allowing 30+ points per game.  I’m predicting a high scoring game but more importantly an easy cover of the (-3) points as you never know sometimes that Colts D comes up big for Dungy (i.e. if you bet the over they’ll pitch a shut out or something like that).  I expect Manning, Wayne, Clark, and maybe even Harrison and Addai to have very big games and remind us why we had so much respect for this offense on our fantasy draft day.

And finally, I once again am going against the Giants despite recent history.  No Plaxico means Eli will be throwing the ball to Amani Toomer and Kevin Boss and the other Steve Smith.  The Seahawks also are ranked 9th vs. the rush meaning Eli should not be able to rely on the 3 headed monster that is the Giants running game.  While I’m sure the Giants can win this game as the Seahawks haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire, I feel like (+7) points is plenty even though the Giants are in New York.  Also as a plus Hasselbeck might get a receiver or two back from injury which would be icing on the cake, but either way I like the Seahawks to hang in this game and maybe even pull off the upset win.

As a bonus pick, I also have to go with the Steelers (+4) in Jacksonville Sunday night.  I respect the Steeler D more than the Jags running game & Garrard (4th ranked D vs. 12th ranked rushing attack and 21st ranked offense in points scored).  Hopefully I haven’t shot myself in the foot this week as I’ve had some recently luck to bring my record for the season 8-6 but I feel decently good about all 4 of these games this week (which is usually not good thing but we’ll see).  Definitely should be another great week of football though.

The following teams are on bye this week: New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, St Louis Rams, & Cleveland Browns

Quarterback Rankings Week 5

1. Tony Romo Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Romo has been one of the most consistent & solid fantasy performers this year averaging 298 yards & 2 TDs per game (and 1.5 turnovers but nobody is perfect). He should continue to have success against the Bengals much maligned defense which is ranked 19th in the NFL and in my opinion much worse than that.

2. Peyton Manning At Houston Texans — I’m positive Manning used the bye week to his advantage to get more in sync with his offense and his line should be 100% healthy which is always a big thing for a player like Manning. I expect a big game from him against the Texans who are a pretty bad defense (30th in points against & 25th in yards against). He’s definitely overdue for a big fantasy game.

3. Drew Brees Vs. Minnesota Vikings — Despite being without Shockey & Colston Brees had a great game last week against the Niners (seems to be a theme with Shockey isn’t it?). The Vikings are very tough against the run (3rd) but not nearly as tough against the pass (17th) which is good news for Brees owners and also might convince some owners to snag a few of Bree’s virtually unknown receivers if they are in a bind for a bye week receiver.

4. Philip Rivers At Miami Dolphins – Rivers had a down week against the Raiders but still has 10 touchdowns in only 4 games and has another very favorable match up in the Miami Dolphins defense which is mediocre at best and ranked 26th vs. the pass.

5. Donovan McNabb Vs. Washington Redskins – The Skins might have beaten and somewhat contained the Cowboys however unless Jason Taylor returns I think McNabb has a big game against the. If Taylor does play it will make it tougher for McNabb but still a solid fantasy start, especially if Westbrook is back as that important screen pass/drop off pass element of the offense was definitely missing last week.

6. Aaron Rodgers Vs. Atlanta Falcons — If Rodger is healthy I like this match up for him as the Falcons are ranked 20th in yards allowed and Ryan Grant reminds me of Rudi Johnson last year with this nagging hamstring injury that is greatly affecting his fantasy scoring output.

7. Jake Delhomme Vs. Kansas City Chiefs — With Steve Smith back Delhomme is averaging a touchdown a game and 50 more yards a game than before. He hasn’t been great but I like this matchup and I like him and Smith to have a very good game as the Chiefs rank 29th in yards against and they don’t play as well away from Arrowhead Stadium.

8. Jay Cutler Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – He showed us he is not Elway yet as the Chiefs rattled him last week but hard to bench a guy averaging 319 yards & 2+ touchdowns per game (also 1 pick per game as well). Tampa is a top ten defense but should not be able to stop Cutler.

9. Kurt Warner Vs. Buffalo Bills — The Bills D will make this a tough game for Warner (ranked 6th vs the pass) but as we learned from Matthew Berry last week its not always a great idea to bench a good starter due to the match up (Berry advised benching Larry Johnson & Brett Favre last week). Warner already has over 1,200 yards and 8 touchdowns making him a must start. He also has 4 picks, 4 fumbles and 12 sacks against him making it a dangerous match up however.

10. Matt Schaub Vs. Indianapolis Colts — I see the Texans playing from behind forcing Schaub to throw the ball alot. Schaub is a better QB than his first 2 week stat lines and as he showed us vs. the Jags capable of some decent fantasy #’s (307 yards & 3 touchdowns). Its also amazing how much a good running game improves the QB as Slaton has been very impressive the last 2 weeks.

Others Worth A Good Look: Carson Palmer At Dallas Cowboys – If he plays (watch for his elbow injury through the week) I see the Bengals throwing a lot in a high scoring game, Eli Manning Vs. Seattle Seahawks — No Plaxico and not the greatest match up might be a good time to platoon a different QB in there for this week, Matt Hasselbeck At New York Giants — He finally gets some receivers back but the Giants D has been tough this year, Ben Roethlisberger At Jacksonville Jaguars – A dangerous game as Parker & Mendehall are out and the Jags are a better D than their #’s show them as plus Big Ben still has a lingering hand injury, Matt Cassel At San Francisco 49ers — Yes the Niners are better this year vs. the pass & Cassel looked bad against the Fins however Belichick has won 10 straight after a bye week by almost a 2 touchdown average. A risky play but one I might do this week.

Running Backs Week 5 Rankings

1. Adrian Peterson At New Orleans Saints — The hamstring looked good last week ( 4+ ypc, 80 yards & 2 TD’s against a tough D) and Peterson has an extra day to rest with them playing Monday Night. The Saints give up 120+ rushing yards per game this year so this could be a very exciting game for Peterson owners.

2. Marion Barber Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — If I were Marion I would be upset that I only got 8 rushes last game and I would take out my anger against the 28th ranked defense in the league that is giving up nearly 165 rush yards per game. Potential for a huge game here for “The Barbarian”.

3. Ladanian Tomlinson At Miami Dolphins — Analysts are saying LT is not the same LT this year but 296 rush yards (3.8 ypc), 58 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns makes LT a must start despite his nagging injuries.

4. Joesph Addai At Houston Texans — While I worry Peyton Manning is going to put on a clinic this week and not allow Addai any TD’s the odds are Addai will have a good game against the 27th ranked rush defense in the league.

5. Earnest Graham At Denver Broncos — While I’m still not a bug fan of Graham he does have 376 total yards and 2 scores making him a must start against the Broncos defense which is ranked 30th in the NFL giving up over 400 yards per game.

6. Marshawn Lynch At Arizona Cardinals — Lynch has been Mr. consistency this year averaging 84 total yards per game and scoring in 3 of his 4 games this year. The Cards have a pretty mediocre defense and Lynch should have another solid outing.

7. Steve Slaton Vs. Indianapolis Colts — Slaton has been very impressive starting the last 2 games for the Texans averaging 120 rushing/receiving yards and has one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown. The Colts are still without team leader and run stuffing safety Bob Sanders and ranked 31st in the NFL vs. the run. Some very good indicators for another good game from this back from this former Mountaineer.

8. Frank Gore Vs. New England Patriots — Despite the Pats ranking 25th in the league vs. the rush this is a dangerous game for Gore as the Pats are tough to beat coming off a bye week. Definitely don’t bench your star back as you never know he could pull a “Ronnie Brown” on the Pats but I would be surprised to see it.

9. Larry Johnson At Carolina Panthers — As LJ showed us (or ESPN “analyst” Matthew Berry at least) you should never leave him on your bench as he led the league last week in rushing and had 2 scores. he faces a tough match up in Carolina who ranks 8th in total defense but 19th against the rush. I don’t expecta huge day as the Panther D is better than their #’s so far but LJ is the only real show in town (KC) and should get tons of carries.

10. Jonathon Stewart Vs. Kansas City Chiefs — Stewart hasn’t been lighting it up when it comes to yardage as he has less than 200 yards as he splits carries with Williams however he definitely has a nose for the endzone as he has 4 touchdowns already. The Chiefs rank 30th vs. the rush giving up 175+ rush yards per game giving Stewart a chance to have a very big game.

11. Ronnie Brown Vs. San Diego Chargers – Brown is a tough start but an even tougher bench as he oustcored most teams that rightly had him on the bench week 3 as he quadrupled his prior production with 116 rush yards and 5 touchdowns (1 throwing). The Chargers are a decent defense that ranks 13th vs. the run and should be ready for some college formations and some trick plays after watching the game vs. the Pats. I won’t say to bench him but I would have conservative expectations for Ronnie this week as the match up does not favor him.

12. Matt Forte At Detroit Lions — Forte struggled last week against the Eagles but luckily for him he faces the Lions who rank DEAD LAST in the NFL vs. the rush giving up 200+ yards per game. Forte should find some success in the dome although I do think the Bears made an error as this back from Louisiana as it gets nasty around here in the winter and I’m curious to see how he holds up.

13. Michael Turner At Green Bay Packers — The Pack has been susceptible to the run this year as they have given up 150+ rushing yards per game on average meaning Turner might have a nice day although I think the Packers D steps up and limits him greatly. Turner destroys bad defenses but has some trouble against tougher ones and will be lucky to score this game.

14. Brian Westbrook/Correll Buckhalter Vs. Washington Redskins — A lot of speculation going around saying Westbrook will not go but it is very early in the week still. Whoever starts should have a good fantasy game. Buckhalter in Westbrook’s absence last week accrued 90 total yards and a touchdown against a tough Bears D.

15. Julius Jones At New York Giants — Jones has had 2 very good games against weaker defenses. The Giants won’t let him score so easily but Jones should have another decent game.

16. Reggie Bush Vs. Minnesota Vikings – The Vikes (6th vs. the run) and a healthy Deuce will greatly limit Bush’s ground game however I expect him to have a good game through the air (he currently has 257 receving yards to his 183 rushing yards). Deuve will most likely get the goal line carries as well so Bush will need some luck to find the endzone Monday night in what should be a very exciting game.

17. Brandon Jacobs Vs. Seattle Seahawks – After looking unstoppable against the Skins and very good against the Rams he was pretty quiet in Cincy besides his touchdown. He has another tough match up with the Seahawks who are 9th vs. the run however with Plaxico suspended I see Jacobs getting more touches and chance for a decent fantasy game.

18.Clinton Portis At Philadelphia Eagles — The Eagles rank #1 vs. the run holding opposing teams to less than 54 yards per game meaning Portis will be running uphill all game in the toughest match up he has seen all year.

Others Worth A Good Look: Maurice Jones-Drew Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Grant Vs. Atlanta Falcons, Chris Johnson/Lendale White At Baltimore Ravens, Felix Jones Vs. Cincinnati Bengals, Sammy Morris At San Francisco 49ers.

Wide Receiver Rankings Week 5

1. Terrell Owens Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — Minus TO’s week 3 he has been a solid fantasy start as he has 4 touchdowns and 264 yards already this season and has the capability for a huge game vs. the Bengals D.

2. Steve Smith Vs. Kansas City Chiefs — Smith’s week 3 debut of 6 catches, 96 yards and a score (after his suspension) show us he has not missed a step and the Chiefs give up nearly 400 yards per game so there is a big opportunity for Smith to make up for lost time here.

3. Reggie Wayne At Houston Texans — I predict a break out game for Wayne who only has 253 yards (2 TD’s) so far this season against this Texans D which is ranked 30th in points allowed. Manning who did not play all preseason should be 100% ready to go after thei bye week.

4. Larry Fitzgerald Vs. Buffalo Bills — Fitz has a touch match up but he might have a better week his norm this year as Anquan Boldin took a shot last week and I’d be shocked if he is on the field this Sunday. Definitely keep an eye on the injury report as for some reason Warner & Boldin have been hooking up much more frequently than Fitz & Warner. The downside is the match up as the Bills are stingy vs. the pass (ranked 6th) but Fitz is a solid start here despite the risk.

5. Randy Moss At San Francisco 49ers — Moss owners should give him one last chance as Belichick’s amazing record of 10 straight victories after a bye (by an average of 13.6 points as well) should bode well for Moss despite being without Brady. I’m hoping they open up the offense a little more as it seemed to me that they were playing too conservative before with Cassel at QB.

6. Brandon Marshall Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Marshall had a bad game last week (by his standards) with only a mere 77 yards and a score. Despite a tougher match up its impossible to bench Marshall who is averaging 132 yards and a TD per game he plays in.

7. Andre Johnson Vs. Indianapolis Colts — Besides the Colts run D being their weakness I am expecting Peyton Manning to put some points up early forcing Schaub & company to throw the ball alot meaning a possible big day for Andre.

8. Santana Moss At Philadelphia Eagles — It seems like Jason Campbell and Moss have a good connection as Moss has looked better in 4 games than he has looked in the last 3 years. Moss is averaging 105 yards a game and already has 3 scores and should be a good start in Philly.

9. Greg Jennings Vs. Atlanta Falcons – IF Rodgers is healthy this is a great match up as the Falcons give up 330+ yards per game and Jennings has been Rodger’s #1 target with 482 yards and 2 scores this year.

10. Lee Evans At Arizona Cardinals — Trent Edwards and Evans seem to building some pretty good good cohesion and this is a great match up for the long pass (Cards rank 25th in points against) so Evans shuld have another good game and hopefully another TD.

11. DeSean “Premature Celebration” Jackson Vs. Washington Redskins — Despite usually one boneheaded mistake per game, Jackson has been a prime target for McNabb as he averages 80+ yards per game and SHOULD have 2 TD’s (he only has one) on the year. The Skins D is without pass rusher Jason Taylor and their corners have been battling injury all year (23rd vs. the pass).

12. Marvin Harrison At Houston Texans — Despite not convincing me he’s truly back until Week 3’s touchdown he’s still goig to trail behind Wayne as he has lost a step. I expect a good game with this match up but don’t expect the old Harrison this year. Expect this new Harrison who is averaging a meager 44 yards per game but again will do much better than that with this week’s match up.

13. Amani Toomer Vs. Seattle Seahawks — No Plaxico & the Seahawks rank 9th vs. the run should equal Toomer’s best fantasy day of this year provided Plaxico doesn’t fall into any more trouble this year.

14. T.J. Houshmandzadeh At Dallas Cowboys — Definitely a better start with Carson Palmer in there (hard to tell how bad that elbow is right now), without Palmer I might bench him as he had only 50 yards with Fitzpatrick and 146 yards and a score with Palmer against a much better D.

15. Calvin Johnson Vs. Chicago Bears — Johnson seems to have displaced Roy as he has 276 yards compared to Roy’s 50 so far this season. Neither receiver really lit it up against the Bears last year but Johnson should be capable of having a decent fantasy day. Watch the injury report as the Bears corners were getting a little banged up and that would be a big plus for Johnson if they carry some nagging injuries into this game.

16. Chris Chambers At Miami Dolphins — Chambers has 4 touchdowns this year already despite not even averaging 50 yards a game but he should be up against his old team and has potential for a big game.

17. Santonio Holmes At Jacksonville Jaguars — Only 206 yards and 1 score this year but the Jags haven’t been that impressive either. Big Ben’s hand looked good enough for me to think Holmes is due for a bigger game Sunday night.

18. Wes Welker At San Francisco 49ers — Again I see Welker benefitting from the bye week history of Bill Belichick as I see the Pats passing game looking very healthy this Sunday.

19. Anquan Bolding/Steve Breaston Vs. Buffalo Bills – If Boldin plays its tough to bench him as he has averaged 90+ yards and a touchdown per, but if he can’t go I like Breaston who has some impressive stats for a 3rd receiver: 13 catches for 194 yards in 4 games.

20. Eddie Royal Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — A tougher match up but Royal has cemented his role as the #2 receiver on the Broncos as he has 298 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year. He’s too good a paymaker to risk leaving on the bench.

Others Worth A Good Look: Dwayne Bowe At Carolina Panthers, Roy Williams Vs. Chicago Bears, Hines Ward At Jacksonville Jaguars, Robert Meachem Vs. Minnesota Vikings, Lance Moore Vs. Minnesota Vikings, Muhsin Muhammad Vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Chad Johnson At Dallas Cowboys.

Defense/Special Teams Rankings Week 5

Click edit above to add content to this empty capsule.

1. Tennessee Titans At Baltimore Ravens — The Titans D has carried the team on its back to its 4-0 record and continues to play very well as they held the Vikings (w/ a healthy Peterson) to only 80 rushing yards while getting a pick, 3 fumbles & 4 sacks. The Ravens offense is pretty limited and as we saw last Monday night Flacco might be a solid talent but still has a lot to learn and can be exploited by a good defense.

2. Chicago Bears At Detroit Lions — After being abused by Brian Griese the week before (maybe he’s still mad the Bears had Rex Grossman ranked above him on the depth chart for so many years) the Bears looked like their former selves as they harassed McNabb and the Eagles. Watch to see how banged up they are as some defensive starters did not finish that Eagles game due to injuries. The Bears will need their starting corners to contain Roy Williams & Calvin Johnson. Another plus Hester is back and is playing at or near 100% and the Bears averaged 5 sacks and over 2 turnovers vs. the Lions last season.

3. Buffalo Bills At Arizona Cardinals — An offense capable of putting up some points however Warner was a turnover machine the week before and Boldin might not play this week after getting his bell rung. Only downside here is if your league penalizes for yards given up as Warner has the potential for big fantasy games from time to time. But the Bills (currently ranked #5 in points against & #6 vs. the pass) are still a top ranked defense and have the ability to get turnovers which should be a big plus against Warner especially after last week.

4. New England Patriots At San Francisco 49ers — Yes the Miami Browns just toasted this D two weeks ago however Belichick is scary good coming out of bye weeks. The Pats have won their last 10 games with 2 weeks of prep by an average of 13.6 points (that includes playoffs) which is a scary thought if you are a NIner fan.

5. Green Bay Packers Vs. Atlanta Falcons — Turner seems containable unless you have a very bad run D and Matt Ryan is still learning on the job making the Pack a good start at home. The Packers D & special teams have also made some plays this year (9 sacks, 3 fumbles recovered, 8 interceptions, & 4 touchdowns).

6. Dallas Cowboys Vs. Cincinnati Bengals — The Bengals have looked a little better these last two weeks but nothing near the offensive team we had gotten used to these last few years. It will be an even better start if Carson Palmer can’t go again as Ryan Fitzpatrick will have a much tougher day than he had vs. the Browns. The Cowboys D hasn’t shownus anything great this year but should be a solid start here.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers At Jacksonville Jaguars — Garrard looked pretty hard to stop last week but that was against the Texans. The Steelers defense should make things much more difficult for Garrard and the Jags running game still hasn’t taken off this year like in previous years.

8. San Diego Chargers At Miami Dolphins — Yes the Miami Browns made the Pats look bad with that college formation but the Chargers should be expecting the unexpected and we should expect the Miami Browns to come back to earth this week.

9. Indianapolis Colts At Houston Texans — Yes the Texans are looking better lately with Slaton greatly improving their running game and the Colts are still without team leader and run stuffing safety Bob Sanders I however think Dungy’s unit steps up after their bye week and has a decent fantasy day making it tough for Schaub and limiting Slaton’s success on the ground.

10. New York Giants Vs. Seattle Seahawks — Hasselbeck gets a few receivers back this week however the Giants should return from their bye week to put a lot of pressure on Hasselbeck and get at least a few sacks and turnovers.

11. Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Washington Redskins — The Eagles defense has been very hot and cold this year however I like them at home in this yet another tough divisional rivalry game.

12. Seattle Seahawks At New York Giants — Without Plaxico I see the possibility of Eli having a pretty bad game as the Seahawks rank #9 vs. the run right now and have the potential for a big fantasy game.

13. Carolina Panthers Vs. Kansas City Chiefs — The Panthers D has been looking a little better every week (now ranked #6 in points against) and really only has to contain Larry Johnson in order to have a good fantasy game.

14. Baltimore Ravens Vs. Tennessee Titans — The Ravens D has been tough to run on this year but I see theTitans dominating time of possession and running on the Ravens this week with a nice dose of Lendale White & Chris Johnson, 2 backs who run very differently but are both hard to contain. I also don’t see Collins making too many errors making me bench the Ravens on one of my fantasy teams this week.

One thing that has bugged me all day was another “tip” I saw in the morning from ESPN’s fantasy “expert” Matthew Berry.  I wanted to write an article the second I heard his advice to bench for Larry Johnson in his Sit Them segment because the Chiefs will be playing form behind and forced to throw the ball.  While I  agree that it was not the best match up for Johnson however considering all the backs who were bye this last week, and considering most who spent a first round pick for Johnson most likely don’t have a very deep bench at RB (usually I tend to back up my weakest skill positions first depending of course who’s still on the board), I think its always a huge mistake to leave one of your best players on the bench even if it is a match up that does not favor him.  Many of Adrian Peterson’s best games last year came against highly touted run defenses.  Great players can still have great games against tough defenses.  Yes its much tougher but no defense is going to always dominate every game (except perhaps Ditka’s  ‘85 Bears).  Lucky for me I never listen to Berry after one very bad experience a few years ago, in fact I try to avoid his advice because it usually ends with me yelling at the tv and looking for something to throw (such as this morning as I heard the words to bench LJ, and he’s not even on any of my teams).  Hopefully not too many people saw and/or listened to Berry’s advice as LJ’s 198 yards and two touchdowns would be quite useful towards a fantasy win.  After I post this article I am going to once again e-mail ESPN asking them to fire the incompetent and cocky Matthew Berry.

Now that I have that off my chest (that really was bugging me all day, especially after watching much of the Broncos/Chiefs game), this week definitely tested how deep our bench is and our ability to find quality free agents as it really seemed like a lot of fantasy stars were on bye this week.  Week 5 has not only less teams on bye but also less fantasy stars as the New York Bretts, Oakland Raiders, St Louis Rams, & Cleveland Browns are on bye this week.  So basically Favre, Coles, Cotchery, & Steven Jackson should be the only fantasy stars missing from your line up (sorry Braylon you have been atrocious this year).  While I don’t expect nearly as many owners to flood the waiver wires there will still be some decent activity as the week 4 byes were a nice warning to everyone that no matter how deep your bench is, byes and injuries can decimate your lineup very quickly.  Some free agents you might want to pick up this week are:

WR Steve Breaston, Cardinals – If you are a regular reader you might already have this guy ripening on your bench as I have suggested grabbing him weeks ago.  This unknown has just become known as he led the Cards in receiving yards this week: 9 grabs for 122 yards.  Throw on top of that Anquan Boldin being carted off the field and Breaston might become the most wanted free agent of the week.  If you can’t afford Breaston on the waiver wire there are some other standouts this week just even more riskier to continue their fantasy success:  Muhsin Muhammed had a great game but I attribute it to a great match up and don’t expect another game like that for him the rest of the season, Lance Moore & Robert Meachem both had good games however could very well be useless in 3-4 weeks when Shockey & Colston return,  Arnaz Battle also had a good game however I’m not sold on JTO at all and I think when it comes to 49ers Gore is the only sure thing to perform.  With most of these wide receivers on the wire its a gamble as even good receivers have games where they score no fantasy points.

Any fantasy owners of Pierre Thomas probably have found out that the Saints have finally brought back Deuce McAlister (as I saw 1 owner in my leagues start Pierre for .1 points).  After a few weeks of leaving us in total limbo about Deuce, the Saints broke him out yesterday as he rushed for 73 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.  He actually ran the ball twice as much as Reggie Bush which surprised me for a guy getting his first touches in such a long time.  If Deuce is available in your league and you need a back then he’s probably your guy as he should continue to split carries with Bush and get most of the goal line attempts.

Another player you might want to grab this week if your league lets you hoard QB’s a little is Brady Quinn.  Yes Anderson looked better this week than before and his stat line was not terrible, however watching him struggle live was pretty bad.  I was amazed after seeing that game and then looking at his stat line.  And this mediocre to bad performance was against the Bengals so called defense.  I like Anderson but maybe he needs some time on the bench to get things straightened out and if you are struggling to start a quality quarterback Brady Quinn could be lightning in a bottle.  I don’t think he’s that good but you never know.  If you have the roster space it wouldn’t hurt your team to pick him up for nothing this week and possibly use him in a few weeks.  Matchupwise (and I hate to say it as I thought DA was the real deal) I see Anderson getting the hook week 6 or 7 (Giants & Redskins).  I then see Quinn struggling through at least two games and not putting up any great numbers (Jacksonville & Ravens), but if he survives he gets the Denver Broncos in what should be a shoot out and his best chance to put up some great fantasy numbers.  You’d have to be very patient but I could see myself starting Quinn in week 10 on one of my teams this year.  Quinn might be a decent platoon fantasy QB as he faces some more mediocre to bad D’s during our end of season and fantasy playoffs (Texans Wk 12, Colts Wk 13, Philly Wk 15, Cincy Wk 16).  So it all really depends on how solid you are right now at QB.  Again I’m not crazy about Quinn, but I would not be at all surprised if I start Quinn in a few months and possibly start him in a playoff game (especially if Matthew Berry features Quinn in one of his future Sit Them segments, that is if he still has his job by then).