Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WEEK THREE RECAP-A LOOK AHEAD TO WEEK FOUR

Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards really can be a frustrating guy when it comes to fantasy football team owners.
As we all know from the constant re-running of one of his post-game rants, he profusely states "You play, to win, the game." You kind of wonder if that's just a lot of hot air on his part.
The first two weeks of the season he limits the carries of elite back Larry Johnson and the result are some pitiful fantasy numbers and a Kansas City Chiefs beat-down by opponents.
After complaining about not getting the ball, Edwards gets him the ball on Sunday for 24 carries, 121 yards and a touchdown. Very nice.
But the Chiefs still lose 38-14 to the Falcons.
Third-string quarterback Tyler Thigpen was horrid in the game (14-of-36, three INTs, 128 yards) and Edwards tells the media on Tuesday he's thinking about starting Damon Huard. Thinking about it? Huard is no Peyton Manning but he's a lot better than Tyler Thigpen.
If you play to win the game, then you have to play your best guy at quarterback and that in turn gives your elite running back a chance to keep you in the game. Granted, the Chiefs host the Denver Broncos this weekend and will probably get their rear ends handed to them on a silver platter, whatever that means. But Huard gives the Chiefs and their offense the best chance to at least be competitive.
Now that I got that out of my system....(yeah, I've got Larry Johnson in a few of the eight leagues I'm in)....

Injuries continue to plague the NFL and on top of that the dreaded bye weeks begin with six teams taking a game break - Miami, New England, Indianapolis, Seattle, Giants and Detroit.

While fantasy team owners expected to lose the likes of Ronnie Brown, Randy Moss, Plaxico Burress, Brandon Jacobs and Calvin Johnson this week, prior to Sunday no one anticipated the loss of Pittsburgh back Willie Parker (sprained knee) and New Orleans tight end Jeremy Shockey (sports hernia).
Okay, maybe some of you - a lot of you - figured the injury-proned Shockey would end up missing some games. But Parker was on fire the first two weeks and will be missed.
If you haven't picked up Parker's backup, rookie Rashard Mendenhall do so if he's still on your waiver wire.
With Shockey out 3-6 weeks following surgery (I won't be surprised if it's eight weeks), and with Marques Colston still sidelined for another three weeks, little-used receivers Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem step in and should have some opportunities to make an impact in the Saints' high-powered offense.

If you're looking for a replacement for Shockey at tight end, consider L.J. Smith, Owen Daniels, Dustin Keller or Robert Royal who are still on many waiver wires. I would suggest John Carlson and Anthony Fasano, but alas, they are on the bye this week.

And if you haven't heard, fantasy owners who have Plaxico Burress on their team will be without him for one game, giving him a personal two-week bye. The Giants suspended Burress for a game because he didn't show up for practice on Monday and gave no explanation why. Therefore, in addition to this weekend's bye, Burress will miss the Oct. 5 game against Seattle.

Matchups to consider exploiting this coming weekend include any player in the New Orleans-San Francisco game (big shootout here), Larry Fitzgerald-Anquan Boldin-Kurt Warner against the Jets secondary, Lee Evans-Trent Edwards against the Rams secondary, and back Michael Turner against the Panthers.

Seahawks injured receivers Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are due to return to the lineup in week five after this week's bye. If you have room on your roster, now's a good time to snatch these guys up off your waiver wire while everyone else is napping.....They will be very productive when they get back on the field.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

WEEK 3: SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE

Finally!
After suffering through the first two weeks owners of Chiefs back Larry Johnson are finally getting some pay back. After a slow start in the first quarter, he has been steadily getting the ball and in the third quarter Johnson had 90 yards and a rushing TD. I guess a little complaining helps in NFL.
The afternoon games have actually been brutal overall in fantasy land with elite players and elite teams struggling.
But another bright spot to go along with Larry Johnson is Falcons back Michael Turner who continues to amass double-digit returns. In the middle of the third quarter he has 85 yards rushing but a whopping three rushing touchdowns to go with the yardage for 26 points. Turner is a must start every week no matter what defense he goes up against.
The only other player to put up some decent numbers is Bears back Matt Forte. In the third quarter he had 50 yards rushing, 44 yards receiving and a receiving TD.
Another point producer has been the Vikings D/Special teams today, a defense/special teams that was rated No. 1 in the preseason. The Vikes defense/special teams has a defensive TD, two fumble recoveries and two sacks.

As far as the later games go, be advised the Colts offensive line continues to be banged up. Even if starting center Jeff Saturday plays it won't be easy for the Colts on offense to get into a rhythm. Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai are players who could be hurt by the banged up O-line.

Be advised injured Browns receiver Braylon Edwards is iffy going up against a stiff Ravens "D" and Packers back Ryan Grant is still not 100 percent with a nagging hamstring injury.

Good luck the rest of the way!