 Eli Manning (credits below) Welcome back from Thanksgiving break, folks! Hopefully you’ve all emerged from your tryptophan haze and are ready for what should be an exciting Monday Night Football matchup between the Giants and Saints. Before we get to our normal preview, I want to put tonight’s game in context for you with a look ahead at the next two MNF games: Chargers/Jaguars and Seahawks/Rams (insert Debbie Downer noise here). It gets a little better in Weeks 15 and 16 with the Steelers/49ers and Falcons/Saints, but let’s enjoy tonight while we can!
With only five weeks left, it’s definitely not too early to start looking at playoff matchups. If the season ended today, here’s what we’d be looking at (take these with a grain of salt since some are based on tiebreakers):
AFCFirst-Round Byes: Houston and New England
Wild Card Matchups: Cincinnati at Baltimore, Pittsburgh at Oakland
NFCFirst-Round Byes: Green Bay and San Francisco
Wild Card Matchups: Chicago at Dallas, Atlanta at New Orleans
Before we take a look at tonight, let’s take a quick look at what happened in the rest of the Week 12 games. I’m sure most of you saw this, but the Packers continued their quest towards perfection with a big Thanksgiving Day victory over the Lions (and yes, Ndamukong Suh a dirty player but let’s not get carried away…it’s not like he killed anyone!). Elsewhere on Turkey Day…Tony Romo avenged Leon Lett and took down the Dolphins, while the Ravens won a defensive struggle over the 49ers in the Harbaugh Bowl.
In the early games yesterday…Matt Ryan’s 3 TDs led the Falcons to victory over the Vikings, Andy Dalton led the Bengals to a comeback win over the Browns, and there was a Chris Johnson sighting in Tennessee as the Titans moved to 6-5 in beating the Buccaneers. Elsewhere, the Texans overcame Matt Leinart’s apparent season-ending shoulder injury to beat the Jaguars, and the Bills weren’t able to overcome a dumb penalty and a costly drop by Stevie Johnson in a 28-24 defeat to the Jets. The last of the early games included some nice rushing performances as DeAngelo Williams’ 2 TDs led the Panthers to a victory over the winless Colts, and Beanie Wells’ 228 yard game powered the Cardinals over the Rams.
And in the late games on Sunday…Patriots dismantled the “Dream Team” Eagles in Philadelphia, the Raiders held off the Caleb Hanie-led Bears in Oakland, the Redskins won a “thriller” over the Seahawks, and Tim Tebow did it again in leading the Broncos to an overtime victory in San Diego. Oh ya, I almost forgot since this game put me to sleep last night…but the Steelers won a “barnburner” over the Chiefs, 13-9, in the Sunday Night game.
I feel like I say this every week, but tonight’s game is a match up of teams going in two different directions. The Saints are 7-3 and riding a two-game win streak, while the Giants are 6-4 and trying to break a two-game slide. As the Saints try to keep a game up on the Falcons and the Giants try to keep pace with the Cowboys, Eli Manning’s New Orleans homecoming should prove quite interesting tonight…
Giants fans are probably sick of reading stuff like this year after year, but after starting 6-2, the G-Men seem like they’re ready to start their annual late-season slide. They’re coming off a BAD loss to the Eagles in which they only put up 28 rushing yards against one of the league’s worst run defenses, and are again without Ahmad Bradshaw tonight. The offensive line is hurting, their run offense is ranked 32nd in the league, and their normally stout defense is ranked 20th in both passing and rushing yards allowed. Ok, I’ll stop piling on there and point out the silver lining here: the Giants do boast the league’s 4th-ranked passing offense. If Big Blue is going to right the ship, they’re going to have to rely on the likes of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz tonight (and that’s music to fantasy owners’ ears). All that being said, Eli’s last trip to the bayou wasn’t all that fruitful (178 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and while I realize Tom Coughlin has that 2008 Super Bowl under his belt…he might be staring the unemployment line in the face this offseason if they don’t turn things around quickly.
If Coughlin’s going to get the Giants on-track, he couldn’t have asked for a worse opponent. The Saints are 4-0 at home this year and have had two full weeks to prepare for this game (they haven’t played since November 13th). Furthermore, Drew Brees comes into this game leading the NFL in passing yards, which (obviously) has led to the Saints being ranked 1st in the league in passing yardage as well. Statistically, the only downsides to the Saints so far this year are that their rushing offense is ranked right in the middle of the league (14th), while their defense has been just good enough (22nd against the pass and 19th against the run). They’ve been very up-and-down (beating the Falcons, but losing to the Rams), but they do play four of their next six at home and look ready to roll into the postseason as Brees chases Dan Marino’s single-season record for passing yards.
With two statistically porous pass defenses, this one has all the makings of a shoot-out and that’s great news for Brees/Manning/Colston/Nicks/Graham/Cruz owners. Rushing-wise, it should be tough sledding for Brandon Jacobs and the Saints’ three-headed RB monster (Ingram, Sproles, Thomas) so I’m not expecting much in terms of fantasy points there. If anything, I think Sproles and Thomas will have the best day of the bunch as they should see a good amount of screen passes and check-downs in the face of the Giants pass rush. In the end, I just don’t see the Giants offense being able to hang with the Saints and I might lose some Giants readers with this one, but I’m going with a prediction of 27-17, Saints.
As always, let’s end with a quick look at some of top fantasy-related news from Sunday:
- If any of you out there know Miles Austin, could you please do me a favor and ask him to take his time coming back? I’m enjoying Laurent Robinson’s recent streak (7 TDs in his last 5 games) WAY too much for Austin to ruin it…
- Last weeks’ top waiver pick-up, Kevin Smith, suffered an ankle sprain on Thanksgiving and if he misses any time, Maurice Morris looks like the guy to own in Detroit.
- Sorry Andre Johnson owners, but I think Matt Leinart’s shoulder injury might be the death of AJ’s fantasy value this year. You don’t believe in T.J. Yates, do you? (I don’t…)
- Mike Shanahan was apparently in a Roy Helu kind-of-mood yesterday as the rookie tallied 23 carries for 108 yards and a TD, while adding 7 catches for 54 yards. I’m picking Helu up again this week where I can, but I still think starting him on your fantasy team is absolute lunacy.
- Peyton Hillis made a re-appearance in Cleveland with 19 carries for 65 yards yesterday. I think he’s worth a pickup if someone dropped him, but like Helu…I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if you’re starting him week-to-week.
Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411 (November 19, 2011 - Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images North America)
 Tom Brady (credits below) Scott Pioli, Romeo Crennel, Matt Cassel, Mike Vrabel, Brian Waters, Charlie Weis… those are just a few of the common personalities that have been on both the Patriots and the Chiefs in the last couple years. The similarities between the two teams pretty much end there this year, but let’s take a look around the league before we move onto the Monday Night Preview.
For those of you who are already looking ahead to the playoffs. If the season ended today, here’s a look at the potential playoff matchups (take these with a grain of salt since some are based on tiebreakers):
AFCFirst-Round Byes: Baltimore and Houston
Wild Card Matchups: Cincinnati at New England, Pittsburgh at Oakland
NFCFirst-Round Byes: Green Bay and San Francisco
Wild Card Matchups: Detroit at Dallas, Chicago at New Orleans
If there’s anyone out there who picked Cincinnati, Houston, and San Francisco as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the NFL before the season, let’s talk… I’ve got a mortgage to pay!
There was a full slate of games this week (strangely, byes finally finish up after Week 11). In the Thursday game, the Chargers continued to prove Rex Ryan’s point while Denarius Moore and Vincent Brown made fantasy owners everywhere take notice. And don’t look now, but the Raiders are now leading the AFC West. Elsewhere, the Falcons blew a chance to even things in the AFC South, the Steelers re-asserted dominance in the AFC North with a win in Cincinnati (while the Ravens showed they’re more of a paper tiger with a loss in Seattle), and the Texans stomped the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.
In other early games... the Dolphins took down the Bills, the Browns won a “thriller” over the Jaguars, and the Lions won a real thriller over the Panthers. Elsewhere, the Packers continued their march towards 16-0 with a win over Tampa Bay, the Raiders edged the Vikings, the Cowboys survived in OT against the Redskins, and Baltimore bounced-back against the Bengals.
And in the late games… the 49ers moved to 9-1 by beating the Cardinals, the Bears continued surging with a win over the Chargers, the Seahawks pushed the Rams closer to a top 5 pick, the Falcons barely beat the Titans, and the Eagles kept their season on life-support in knocking-off the Giants on the road.
In looking at tonight’s matchup, we have two teams that look to be going in two different directions. Just two weeks ago, the Chiefs were leading their division and the Patriots were left for dead. Fast forward two weeks and we have a Patriots team that’s on the verge of putting the AFC East on lockdown, while the Chiefs look like they’re more likely to have a top 10 pick than to make the playoffs.
After two straight homes losses to Miami and Denver, the Chiefs sit at 4-5 and are probably going to be without Matt Cassel for the rest of the season. Enter Tyler Palko to lead a team that’s already missing star RB Jamaal Charles (and no, I don’t think Tyler Palko is a good option as your fantasy QB). The Chiefs passing offense is already 27th in the league and I don’t think Palko is going to help that. I actually think it’s pretty likely that we see Ricky Stanzi in at QB by the end of the season, and that is not good news for Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston, and Jon Baldwin in terms of fantasy-value. Jackie Battle has led the Chiefs rushing attack to 10th in the league, but the Patriots typically do well against the run, and I’d envision tough sledding for Battle tonight. The Chiefs defense draws a tough matchup against the Golden Boy and will have to work hard if they’re going to improve on their 16th ranking against the pass and 26th against the run. Unless their defense can come up big, the Chiefs will likely be playing from behind a lot in this game and I’d imagine Palko ends up throwing the ball a lot. The question is, how effective will he be?
A couple weeks ago after the Patriots lost to the Giants, I questioned whether Bill Belichick had lost his touch. I may have been a little premature with that assessment and after he proved me wrong last week, I apologized. Well, I’ve taken the apology a step further this week and am wearing a hoody with the sleeves cut-off while I type this, hopefully that goes a long way towards earning BB’s forgiveness (like he cares). In all seriousness, I think Bill is a little more worried with improving his team’s 32nd ranked pass defense and figuring out how to frustrate fantasy owners with a Shanahan-like RB carousel. The Patriots rushing attack is 19th in the league, while opponents and fantasy owners never know who the lead back will be. Danny Woodhead, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley, Kevin Faulk? I won’t be relying on any of them to win my fantasy matchups, and I’d advise you to do the same. The Patriots passing attack is the proverbial basket to put your eggs in as they rank 1st in the league right now. Brady isn’t on 2007 pace, but he’s still having a great year and is helping both Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski have AMAZING seasons. Aaron Hernandez and a little less so, Deion Branch, are other key cogs in this deadly passing attack and fantasy owners should definitely take advantage of any and all of the above.
I’ll be interested to see how Palko performs against the depleted Patriots secondary, and how the Chiefs defense performs against Brady and his high-powered offense. I think Palko will mostly struggle, but manage to get a TD or two to Bowe and Breaston. And I’d bet on Brady having a big game and mainly keying-in on Gronkowski, Hernandez, sand Welker. Dexter McCluster and Chad Ochocinco are two guys I could see being under-the-radars that make an impact in the game. Ultimately, I don’t see Palko and the Chiefs being able to hang in Foxborough (where the Patriots hardly EVER lose), and I’m going with the Patriots, 34-17.
And since this is the FANTASY Fix, let’s end with a quick look at some of top fantasy-relevant news from Sunday:
- I wrote about him in this very space last week, but Kevin Smith had a HUGE day yesterday and is definitely going to be at the top of most Waiver-Wire reports this week.
- Adrian Peterson left the Vikings game with a sprained ankle. X-rays were negative and an MRI will be done today. More news to come, but if he misses any time, Toby Gerhart will be the guy to pick up and Percy Harvin will benefit as well.
- Reports are surfacing that Jay Cutler suffered a broken thumb during Sunday’s win over the Chargers. If reports are correct, he’ll miss 6-8 weeks and will essentially be useless to fantasy owners.
- He’s frustrating to own, but Torrey Smith will be the Kevin Smith of this week’s waiver-wire after his BIG day yesterday (165 yards and a TD).
- Matt Hasselbeck left the Titans game with a sprained elbow and was replaced by Jake Locker. The rookie QB threw for 2 TDs in Hasselbeck’s absence and with the lack of QB depth this season, he might be a smart add if Hasselbeck misses extended time.
Good luck to all you Rodgers/Jennings/Peterson owners out there!
Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411 (November 5, 2011 - Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America)
 Matt Forte (credits below) Alright ladies and gents, it’s time to stick a fork in Week 9… but not until the Eagles and Bears have something to say about it! There’s a lot of storylines I could touch upon for tonight, but before we get to the Monday Night Preview, let’s take our usual moment to look back on Sunday’s action. Outside of a couple teams that haven’t had their bye week, we’re halfway through the season and the playoff picture is starting to become a little less cloudy (I’m not going to say “clear” just yet).
If the season ended today, here’s a look at the potential playoff matchups (take these with a grain of salt since some are based on tiebreakers):
AFC First-Round Byes: Cincinnati and Houston
Wild Card Matchups: Pittsburgh at New England, Baltimore at Kansas City
NFC First-Round Byes: Green Bay and San Francisco
Wild Card Matchups: Atlanta at New York Giants, Detroit at New Orleans
If there’s anyone out there who picked Cincinnati, Houston, and San Francisco as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the NFL before the season, let’s talk… I’ve got a mortgage to pay!
Let’s start with what I thought was the game-of-the day: the Giants at the Patriots. Eli Manning did his best Tom Brady impression in handing the Pats their first regular season home loss in about 17 years, but here’s my two questions for you to chew on: Has Eli cemented himself as a top-5 QB in the NFL? Has Bill Belichick officially lost his touch? My personal answers are “no” and “yes, a little bit”, but I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to elaborate on my thinking if you disagree with me.
Moving through the rest of the games… the Jets made it a three-way race in the AFC East by taking down the Bills at home, the Ravens continued their dominance over the Steelers this year, the Saints continued their Jekyll and Hyde routine in taking down the Bucs, and the Cowboys struggled more than they should have in a home win against a team that thinks Charlie Whitehurst and Tavaris Jackson are the answer at QB. Other less interesting games included the 49ers moving to 7-1 by beating the lowly Redskins on the road, the Texans dismantling the Browns at home, and the St. Louis Rams losing their momentum from their Saints upset by losing in OT to a John Skelton-led Cardinals team.
Out West, Phillips Rivers and Aaron Rodgers brought up Dan Marino/Dan Fouts flashbacks in a Packers shootout victory… and don’t look now, but the Fighting Tebows are sitting a game out of first at 3-5 after bringing down the floundering Raiders at home. And in the bottom-of-the-barrel news of the week: the Dolphins took a huge step away from Andrew Luck as Kansas City had a letdown at home, the Colts took a step towards Andrew Luck as their defense outscored their offense in a home loss to Atlanta.
There were a few angles I was thinking about taking with this week’s Monday Night Football Preview: Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari, Michael Vick and dog fighting, DeSean Jackson’s regression…but I’m going to take a different approach and focus on the running backs this week.
Defend Jay “I define the word, Hubris” Cutler all you want, Bears fans, but Matt Forte is the only reason that the Bears have a winning record of 4-3 right now. You’d think that would fantastic news as Forte looks to get a lucrative contract extension, but I’ve got two dirty words for Forte and any other running back out there looking to get paid: Chris Johnson. After Chris Johnson signed a 6-year deal for $53.5 Million (including $30 Million of guaranteed money) and proceeded to do absolutely nothing, teams have started playing hardball with guys like Forte and Peyton Hillis (more on him later). Forte has reportedly been offered $13-14 Million in guarantees (which doesn’t sound like enough for a guy who has accounted for 40 % of the Bears offense this year), but he might want to take that money and run before he ends up getting the extension Frank Gore just took ($21 Million over 3 years). I’m no fortune-teller, but my guess is that Forte ends up with something similar to Jamaal Charles’ 5 years for $32.5 Million (with $13 Million guaranteed). Enough about money, though…
The Bears went into their bye week with a two-game win streak, and are finally starting to protect the aforementioned Cutler a tad bit more (keyword: tad). Their running and passing attacks are right in the middle of the league (15th and 18th and 15th, respectively), but they’re going to need to improve that if they want to move to 5-3 this week. The main reason they’re going to have to rely on their offense is because their defense isn’t exactly reminding anyone of the “Monsters of the Midway” coming in at 28th in the league against the pass (albeit 11th against the run).
I said I wanted to talk about running backs, and since we already talked about Forte, it’s time for some ink on LeSean McCoy. Assuming he gets more than three points in standard leagues tonight, he’ll be the leading scorer for all running backs in fantasy football this year. He’s on-pace for 16+ TDs and he hasn’t dipped below double-digit points all year. Brian Westbrook hasn’t been gone all that long, but McCoy’s making him a distant memory in the minds of Eagles fans. I know I’m going to get some flak for this one, but I’ll throw it out there anyway: I’d strongly consider taking him with the #1 overall pick in drafts next year if he keeps this up.
The once self-proclaimed “Dream Team” (shhh…don’t tell Michael Vick. He doesn’t like that term) is sitting at 3-4 going into this one, despite having the league’s best running attack and 9th-best passing attack. Their defense hasn’t been too shabby either as the 9th-best against the pass and 17th-best against the run. The only thing that’s been holding the Iggles back this year has been what limits the talent-abundant Chargers every year: mental mistakes. We’ll see if they can overcome those at home tonight as they try to climb even with the Cowboys for 2nd in the NFC East.
Fantasy-wise, I’m looking for Vick, McCoy, Forte, and Maclin to have the big games this week, while I’m envisioning some struggles for the likes of Cutler, DeSean Jackson, Hester, and Knox. In terms of who will win, this should be a close one (it usually is between these two teams) and something’s gotta give this week as each team is looking for their third straight victory. The Bears are 1-2 on the road and the Eagles are 1-2 at home, so that’s not going to provide us with much to make a decision on either. I’ve been 0-2 on MNF picks the last two weeks, but I’m looking to right the ship with a prediction of Eagles 23, Bears 20 (sorry Bears fans…I just can’t pick Jay Cutler to win with a straight-face).
Lastly, what would a Monday be without taking a look at some of the top fantasy-relevant news from Sunday:
- Miles Austin is reportedly out 2-4 weeks after reinjuring his hamstring. Laurent Robinson looks to be a must-add at this point.
- Like I said last week…Chris Ogbonnaya isn’t worth starting (1 point in standard leagues), but with reports of Peyton Hillis potentially being IR’ed by the Browns…I think he needs to be owned. The Madden Curse strikes again!
- The RB carousel keeps spinning round and round in DC. This week, Ryan Torain is off and Roy Helu is on (41 rushing yards, 14 catches, and 105 receiving yards). Beware though…they didn’t claim Tashard Choice off of waivers for no reason.
- We had a bit of a Chris Johnson spotting yesterday (64 yards), and he doesn’t look to be in grave danger of losing his job to Javon Ringer (4 carries for 11 yards).
- Antonio Brown (5 catches for 109 yards on a team-high 11 targets) is a must-own going forward.
- Julio Jones had a beastly day (131 yards and 2 TDs), but keep in mind that he still only had 3 catches and was third on the team in targets.
- Who cares about a broken hand?!? Certainly not Willis McGahee…who went for 163 yards and 2 TDs)
Good luck to everyone who has Bears and Eagles players deciding your match-ups tonight!
Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411 (October 15, 2011 - Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America)
 Antonio Gates (Credits Below) I’m sure I don’t need to remind those of you who are reading this at work, but it’s Monday! I can’t say that this is my favorite day of the week, but at least we have the silver lining of the Monday Night Football game hanging over our heads tonight. We have an old-fashioned AFC West Showdown in Kansas City this week, but before we get to talking about Todd Haley’s beard, Antonio Gates’ toe, and the fact the KC hasn’t lost in over MONTH…let’s take a quick spin around the league to recap yesterday’s action.
The phrase “Any Given Sunday” has fallen by the wayside a bit over the last few years (I blame Al Pacino), but yesterday was a "Exhibit A" for why we can’t retire that phrase just yet. At about 3 PM Eastern, it looked very likely that the Dolphins, Rams, and Cardinals were going to take down the Giants, Saints, and Ravens (respectively). A couple comebacks later…the Rams were the only David that actually took down Goliath behind the strength of a HUGE game by Steven Jackson. Home-field advantage was the only thing that helped the Giants and Ravens avoid embarrassment (along with 349 passing yards from Eli Manning, and 3 TDs from Ray Rice).
The two “Games of the Day” yesterday resulted in some pretty thorough beat-downs by the Eagles over the Cowboys and the Steelers over the Patriots (and yes, despite the score…it was a beat-down). LeSean McCoy (most points in standard fantasy leagues) and Michael Vick led the Eagles to victory, while Ben Roethlisberger took advantage of an undermanned Patriots’ secondary to the tune of 365 yards.
Moving quickly through the rest of the league…the Titans threw the Colts a bone in the “Suck for Luck” race by handing them a loss, Christian Ponder helped the Vikings take down the Panthers despite being “out-rookied” by Cam Newton, and the Texans took control of the AFC South with a 24-14 victory of the newly-resurgent Jaguars (to whom I owe an apology for doubting them last week). In the late-games, the 49ers won a snoozer at home against the Browns to move to 6-1, Buffalo handed Mike Shanahan his first shutout as a head coach, the Bengals shot to 5-2 by beating a regressing Seahawks team, and Tebow-mania was dealt a severe blow as the Lions absolutely destroyed the Broncos at Mile High, 45-10.
As I alluded to above, the Chiefs haven’t lost in over a month after starting the season 0-3. There are folks out there who are attributing the 3-game win-streak to Todd Haley’s facial hair, but here’s the bad news, Chiefs fans: the three wins came against “juggernauts” like Indianapolis, Minnesota, and a Raiders team intent on breaking the record for interceptions thrown. With Jamaal Charles out for the season, the Chiefs have actually done a good job of rallying around 29 year old journeyman Jackie Battle en route to a having a surprising 8th-ranked run offense. Insert the Debbie Downer noise again here, but that’s pretty much where the tea leaves start looking worrisome for the Chiefs. As his fantasy owners can tell you, Matt Cassel is leading the league’s 30th-ranked passing offense, and the defense isn’t fairing much better (18th against the run and 24th against the pass). I don’t see much coming of out the Chiefs fantasy-wise tonight outside of Dwayne Bowe, and a win for the team might be ever hard to come by. That being said…Arrowhead is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, and there’s always the chance that Jackie Battle wins some fantasy matchups by taking advantage of a defense that’s been allowing over 121 rushing yards per game.
Speaking of the Chargers…they’ve been a big of an enigma this year (gee…real shocker there). They avoided there typical early-season doldrums by starting 4-1, but last week’s 2nd-half collapse against the Jets couldn’t help but remind me of the typical mental midgetry that’s plagued the talented Chargers for a few years now. Outside of the aforementioned poor run defense (21st in the league), the Chargers are once-again ranked pretty high in other categories (8th-best rushing offense, 11th-best passing offense, and 4th-best passing defense). However, as many fantasy owners can attest to…these rankings aren’t exactly translating into Philip Rivers or Vincent Jackson justifying their draft position. The Chargers’ passing game has struggled a bit this year, but Antonio Gates seemingly healthy again, Rivers should be able to take advantage of the Chiefs’ pass defense and put up some yards tonight. The Chiefs also have a pretty shoddy run defense, and Ryan Mathews should go towards winning some fantasy matchups tonight…as long as Mike Tolbert doesn’t do what he does best: vulture TDs!
The Chiefs have only beaten the Chargers once in their last eight meetings, and coincidentally, the last win was a Monday Night Football game in Kansas City last year. The whole home-field factor is really the only thing making me consider the Chiefs to win tonight, but I think San Diego is going to come out swinging as they look to get the taste of last week’s stinker out of their mouths. My pick for this one: Chargers over Chiefs, 27-13.
And as usual, let’s take a look at a few quick-hit fantasy-worthy nuggets from today:
- Not as many injury updates as last week, but Montario Hardesty left yesterday’s game with a calf injury. Peyton Hillis should be back by next week, but if not, don’t get fooled into thinking Chris Ogbonnaya is worth picking-up.
-Yes, he’s a complete diva (among other things), but can we all stop sleeping on Michael Crabtree please? He led the league in targets two weeks ago and had another nice game yesterday (5 catches for 54 yards and a TD).
-Part of this was a product of the matchup and Hines Ward being out, but it’s hard to overlook Antonio Brown (9 catches for 67 yards and a TD) tying for the league-lead in targets yesterday.
-Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams split carries again in Detroit, but it looks like Morris (58 yards and a TD) is the one to own with Jahvid Best still out.
- I can’t believe I’m writing this, but it’s becoming pretty obvious that Sidney Rice’s fantasy value in Seattle hinges upon Tavaris Jackson staying healthy.
- Eddie Royal had a team-high 13 targets for the Broncos. It’s hard to remember back to 2008 sometimes, but this guy used to be pretty good!
- Ray Rice had a GREAT day (3 TD’s) yesterday, but it’s also worth mentioning that all three of his TDs were set-up by pass interference penalties.
- Lastly, Javon Ringer and Chris Johnson split carries (14 each) for the Titans yesterday and CJ2K needs to be benched until further notice. It’s a sad day when your 1st-round pick gets out-scored by Mewelde Moore…
Good luck to everyone who has match-ups hanging in the balance tonight!
Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411(September 10, 20112011-09-10 16:00:00 - Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images North America)Tags: The Fantasy Fix, 2011 Fantasy Football Advice, Monday Night Football, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Phillip Rivers, Matt Cassel, Jackie Battle, Week 8, Waiver Wire, Injuries, Chris Johnson, Javon Ringer, Ray Rice, Antonio Gates, Montatio Hardesty, Michael Crabtree
 Ray Rice (credits below) “C’mon and get ready! I mean really ready! Are you ready for some…” Whoops! Sorry, old habits die hard. Hank won’t going to be joining us this week (or any week for that matter), but I’m back with another installment of the Monday Night Football preview!
I’m guessing the executives at “the world-wide leader” are worrying about the ratings of this game almost as much as the executives at Rupert Murdoch’s empire are worrying about the World Series ratings, but before we get into all that…let’s take a quick spin around the league to recap yesterday’s news.
The two biggest stories of the day were Arian Foster returning to relevancy with the biggest fantasy game of the day (hopefully now he’s getting nicer things tweeted at him), and DeMarco Murray EXPLODING for 253 yards…causing Felix Jones to go look-up the name “Wally Pipp”.
Elsewhere…Tim Tebow took a nap for three quarters before pulling-out a win to add to his legend, the Saints put a 62-7 thumping on the Colts, Green Bay juuuust squeaked by the Minnesota Ponders, and Cleveland and Seattle set NFL offenses back about 20 years.
Mike Shanahan once-again took fantasy owners on a Hightower/Torain rollercoaster ride (before Hightower got hurt), the Jets rode Plaxico Burress’ three TDs to a comeback victory, and Chicago and Tampa Bay continued their quest to show the English that American Football is just as boring as English Football.
And since “handshake news” seems to be the topic du jour these days…Jim Schwartz took his 23-16 beating by the Falcons like a man this week, but we couldn’t go one measly week without another “controversy” that involved Todd Haley and Hue Jackson’s post-game handshake following the 28-0 beat-down that the Chiefs put on the Raiders (maybe Hue was just a tad ornery after watching Carson Palmer and Kyle Boller combine for SIX interceptions).
Maybe this type of scenario only happens in my head, but here’s what I’m envisioning happened in the board room when the Monday Night Football match-ups were chosen all those months ago:
Executive A: “Ok, how ‘bout Baltimore at Jacksonville for the Week 7 MNF game?”
Executive A’s underling: “Yes sir. I think that’s a great idea! That game has “playoff implications” written all over it. The Ravens defense is definitely the marquee element of that but, but I’m also seeing a break-out year for Joe Flacco, a bounce-back year for Jones-Drew, and David Garrard should have the Jaguars somewhere around 4-2 by that point”
Moral of the story:It never pays to have “yes men”. A release of David Garrard, a promotion of Blaine Gabbert, and 5 losses later…here we are, with TV executive’s “dream” scenario of the 4-1 Ravens visiting the 1-5 Jaguars.
The Jaguars pretty-much put up the white flag before the season even started when they released David Garrard less than a week before the start of the season. Blaine Gabbert hasn’t looked horrible, but he also hasn’t looked much better than Jimmy Claussen last season (ok fine…he’s looked pretty horrible on his way to leading the Jaguars to the bottom of the league in terms of passing offense). It also doesn’t help that his top four receiving targets (Mike Thomas, Jason Hill, Mike Sims-Walker, and Marcedes Lewis aren’t exactly being confused for the likes of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Jason Witten). The NFL’s biggest fantasy football fan has been serviceable this year with 572 yards and 2 TDs, but Marion Jones probably has as much hope of helping this team as Maurice Jones-Drew does as this point. He’s the only Jaguar I see having any type of fantasy-worthy game tonight, and with the Ravens likely focused on stopping him…even he probably won’t do much for his owners.
If there’s any silver-lining for Jaguars’ fans at this point, it’s that your team has the 6th-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed (that, and the fact that you’re one of the front-runners in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes). Before we move onto the Ravens…one last thought on the Jaguars: how does Jack Del Rio still have a job at this point???
The Ravens come into this game looking like a lock to hit 5-1 by the end of the night. Their defense is looking 2002-like, Ray Rice is looking like a top-5 running back, and Joe Flacco is looking like he hasn’t regressed (even if he hasn’t really PROgressed all that much).
But let’s give the Jaguar faithful some hope and re-visit the fact that this very same Raven team went into a very similar “lock” game in Tennessee five weeks ago and laid an egg en route to a 26-13 loss.
Getting back to reality though (sorry Jags’ fans…it ain’t happenin’), the Ravens top-ranked defense should have a field-day with Gabbert tonight and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them put up 20+ points in standard fantasy leagues.
As much of a hard time as I’ve been giving Joe Flacco (the Ravens are ranked 26th in total offense), he should have a pretty decent game tonight as the Jags are vulnerable to the deep ball. I’m looking for Anquan Boldin to put up some nice numbers tonight (probably somewhere around 8 catches for 80+ yards and a TD), and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Torrey Smith take advantaged of the aforementioned long-ball weakness of the Jags’ secondary.
My call for the star-of-the-night is Ray Rice (thanks, Captain Obvious). The Jags have a middle-of-the-road run defense (14th in the NFL), and I think Rice will take advantage of that while also capitalizing on the screen-pass early-and-often on his way to a big game.
I don’t think I need to go into who I think will win tonight, but stranger things have happened (as evidenced by the Ravens’ loss to Tennessee in Week 2). Hopefully for those TV executives, the Jaguars put up a fight and make this one a lot more interesting than it looks on paper.
Before I let you go, let’s take a look at a few quick-hit fantasy-worthy nuggets from today:
- Nothing is confirmed yet, but it’s looking like Tim Hightower has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season if that’s the case. Ryan Torain and Roy Helu look to be the beneficiaries here, but trying to guess what Mike Shanahan will do at running back is about as easy as figuring out why Kim Kardashian is famous.
- Earnest Graham looks like he’ll miss the rest of the season as well (with a painful-sounding torn Achilles). LaGarrette Blount’s injury timetable is still up-in-the-air, and Kregg Lumpkin is the only guy left to carry the rock in Tampa Bay. Is that Tiki Barber’s cell phone ringing I hear? They’d probably be better off letting Ronde carry the ball and pretend he’s Tiki…
- Don’t kick Knowshon Moreno to the curb just yet…Willis McGahee has a fractured hand and while there’s no timetable yet, I’d have to assume he’ll miss at least a few weeks.
- Beanie Wells has some sort of knee issue that forced him to leave the Cardinals-Steelers game. If he misses any time, LaRod Stephens-Howling and Alfonso Smith look to be the ones to fill the void.
- Darren McFadden left the Raiders game with a sprained ankle, but the Raiders have a bye this week (Carson Palmer must be thanking his lucky stars) and he should be good-to-go for Week 9. If you’re worried, Michael Bush isn’t the worst insurance policy.
- Greg Jennings also had a bit of an injury worry (hand) on Sunday, but he re-entered the game and also has a bye week to nurse himself back to health.
- I hesitate to even give him any ink, but Terrell Owens is looking like he might be a Titan soon and is worth a speculative add if you need WR help.
- Santana Moss suffered a broken hand and will definitely miss some time…making Jabar Gafney and Anthony Armstrong candidates to see more targets (this could be a potential T.O. destination as well)
Good luck to everyone who has match-ups hanging in the balance tonight…I hope you’re not relying on any Jaguars!
Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411
(September 17, 2011 - Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images North America)
Tags: The Fantasy Fix, 2011 Fantasy Football Advice, Monday Night Football, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Week 7
 Mark Sanchez (credits below) With your regular Monday Night Football writer working on a pitch-count this week, The Fantasy Fix has brought me out of the bullpen to do my best Mariano Rivera impression…cue “Enter Sandman” music now (or swap-in “Hells Bells” if you’re more partial to Trevor Hoffman). I promise that’s the last baseball reference for this week…now let’s get back to the gridiron! Before we get to what you’re here for (the MNF game), let’s take a look a quick look at what happened in Sunday’s games around the league. The big news of the day had the 49ers going in Motown and taking down the undefeated Lions, but that wasn’t the only shake-up we saw yesterday. The Buccaneers scored a big win against New Orleans, the Giants rebounded from an ugly loss to Seattle by knocking-off the Bills, and the NFC East-leading Redskins were handed a home loss by the Eagles (I didn’t want to offend a certain Philadelphia quarterback by calling them the “dream team”). The Bears were able to keep Jay Cutler’s jersey relatively clean en route to victory, the Raiders picked-up the "W" despite losing Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone, and the Bengals moved to a surprising 4-2 on the year. And on the more mundane side of things, the following favorites held-serve and continued their seemingly inevitable march towards the playoffs: New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Green Bay. Look at that…I managed to get through that without referencing the Jim Schwartz/Jim Harbaugh hand-shake incident! (oh wait…I blew it) The New York/New Jersey Jets have been skating on thin-ice for the past year in terms of discipline and chemistry. They’ve managed to stay above-the-fray despite cheeseburger incidents, “foot” scandals, hardly being able to “wait”, and even criticism from Broadway Joe, himself. However, with Santonio Holmes’ proclivity for mouthing-off about his teammates’ (and offensive coordinator’s) shortcomings over their current 3-game losing streak…the Jets might finally be on the verge of coming apart at the seams. They’ve thrived off of Rex Ryan’s bravado for the past 2 seasons, but it’s very possible that Rex miscalculated this season by abandoning “Ground and Pound” and trying to turn Mark Sanchez into Tom Brady overnight (it also didn’t help that the aforementioned Holmes is the only returning wide receiver for the so-far wrongly-named “Sanchize”). Fantasy-wise, I’m looking for the Jets to get Shonn Greene involved early and often as they return to their “Ground and Pound” roots. There’s supposed to be light rain tonight, so I’m thinking the Jets will put Sanchez into Trent Dilfer-mode – taking only a few down-field shots to Holmes and Burress to appease the fan-base. Sitting at 2-3, this should serve as a bell-weather game for the Jets, and there’s no better medicine for a losing streak than a QB starting his first game of the season in Week 6… …which bring us to the Jets opponent for Monday Night: the Miami Dolphins. Much like Donovan McNabb unsuccessfully did last night, Tony Sparano’s team is likely playing for his job. After losing starting QB, Chad Henne, for the season (this might be a good thing, Dolphins fans), the Dolphins turn to the illustrious Matt Moore in search of their first victory. Their defense has been typically solid this season in not allowing more than 26 points since the opening-week debacle against New England. However, Miami’s running-game has been pretty non-existent this year (fantasy-owners are looking at you, Reggie Bush). The good news for Miami is that they’ll be bolstered by a return from rookie, Daniel Thomas, as they try to take advantage of a weaker-than-normal Jets run defense. I’m also expecting Lex Hilliard to get a decent amount of carries this week – especially if Thomas’ hamstring injury flares-up again. Matt Moore will be a fantasy football difference-maker this week, as I know there are a lot of owners whose match-ups are hinging on what Brandon Marshall does tonight (and no, Brandon, getting ejected in the 2nd-quarter doesn’t help anyone). So there you have it…will the Dolphins steal a road-win as they work Matt Moore into the offense? Will the Jets self-implode and miss the playoffs for the first time in the Rex Ryan-era? Or will they back-up their coach’s bluster by once-again overcoming a 3-game losing streak en route to a deep playoff run? Before I hand things back over to Chris for next week, here’s a few quick-hit fantasy-worthy nuggets from today: Brandon Lloyd has been traded to the St. Louis Rams. This definitely increases his value, as he reunites with the man who made him fantasy football’s surprise #1 receiver last year (Josh McDaniels). The other thing to take note of here, is that Eric Decker probably becomes the new #1 in Denver (which obviously increases his value). Jahvid Best’s status for this week is in-doubt with a concussion, and Jerome Harrison and Maurice Morris (in that order) look like the pick-ups this week. Peyton Hillis is definitely out to prove “the Madden Curse” is real as he continued his disappointing season yesterday, and even added a hamstring injury to his repertoire (MRI results pending, but Montario Hardesty looks like a good pick-up). Reports have Felix Jones missing 3-6 weeks for the Cowboys, and while DeMarco Murray looks like the best pick-up here, I’m still not counting-out Tashard Choice (who had me questioning whether offensive players can be flagged for helmet-to-helmet for the first time yesterday by head-butting every would-be Patriot tackler in sight!) Thanks for your attention in Chris’ absence, and good luck to all of you whose fantasy football match-ups are hanging in the balance tonight! Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411(October 8, 2011 - Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America)
Tags: The Fantasy Fix, 2011 Fantasy Football Advice, Monday Night Football, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Brandon Lloyd, Jahvid Best, Peyton Hillis, Felix Jones, DeMarco Murray, Montario Hardesty, Rex, Ryan, Shonn Greene, Santonio Holmes, Brandon Marshall, Daniel Thomas, Matt Moore
 Calvin Johnson (credits below) Let's start with a solemn goodbye to Al Davis. In his later days he was a punchline, but no history of the NFL can exist without devoting a significant portion to Al Davis. To put it simply, he was at times a coach, general manager, and a commissioner, "Just win baby," "Commitment to Excellence" and the "black hole" will live on forever, as will Al's impact on the sport. Moving from the passing of the an NFL legend, to the death of the "Dream Team," thanks for the jinx, Vince Young. The Eagles needed to dream about less flashy toys, like an offensive lineman or two. At some point this season they will be scrapping Michael Vick off the field with a shovel. The Eagles were unable to rebound from last week's demoralizing defeat, but the Niners took that moral boost and took out their new found confidence on the defenseless Tampa Bay Bucs. The triumvirate of the Saints, Pats and Packers faced tougher tests, but continued to march forward. On Monday, the Lions will attempt to match the Packers league-best 5-0 start.
The Lions find themselves in a Detroit Renaissance. Between the Tigers post season run, Eminem pimping Chryslers and the Lions first home Monday night football game in a decade, Detroit is the place to be. That might be a stretch, but we are in the midst of a nice little run for formerly down and out Detroit.
The Lions will only go as far as Matthew Stafford will take them. He has shown that when he is healthy and able to chuck the ball to Calvin Johnson, he is elite. The Lions are loaded with Offensive talent, but health is an issue for all of them. Stafford, Johnson and Javid Best all have a checkered injury history. What we've seen early this season is that when they are healthy they are a formidable unit. The vaunted Bears defense is giving up the 4th most points against QB's, but middle of the road against running backs and wide receivers, so the Lions offense should have plenty of room to run. Calvin Johnson is a man, a beast, an impenetrable force that nobody should be asked to cover in the open-field. The law of averages says he does not have another two touchdown game, but I'm not sure anyone can stop him.
Chicago has not been nearly as impressive as Detroit. Chicago is in the bottom third of the league in passing and rushing offense, as previously mentioned their defense has not been dominant either. Matt Forte "careered" it last week, I think it is safe to say he won't be putting up another 200 yard rushing day. While 200 yards on the ground might be out of the question, he always seems to be good for 125 yards of total offense. The Bears other main weapon is Devin Hester, who has firmly cemented himself as the greatest return man in history, despite all his talent, the Bears have not found a way to put it to use aside from the return game. Leading the Bears, the enigmatic Jay Cutler. If you ask me, his most impressive career feat was landing Kristin Cavallari and she's nothing more than a c-list celebrity. Cutler was recently complaining about the lack of protection from his offensive line, and now he has Ndamukong Suh ready to feast on him.
Monday is an important test for these young Lions. It is not the team they will be lining up against that will be testing them so much as the circumstances surrounding Monday's game. The big question is how will the Lions react to being the center of attention on Monday. They've proven a unique ability to comeback from the dead this season, how will they react when the country is watching them bring life back to Detroit?Written by Chris Summers exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.
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(September 17, 2011 - Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images North America)
Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Football Advice, 2011 Fantasy Football, Monday Night Football Preview, Week 5, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears
 Josh Freeman (Credits Below) A tale of two teams/organizations heading in opposite directions. The Bucs are a team on the rise; young, talented and hungry. That being said, the Bucs have been a bit disappointing as far as fantasy is concerned. The Colts, even if they can hold on and not completely implode this year, are a team slowly swirling down the toilet bowl. Once Manning went down for an extended period of time, nobody expect a bright fantasy season from the Colts aging stable of stars.
Through three games Josh Freeman only has two passing TD's, Mike Williams did not even have a catch last week and Earnest Graham is leading the team in receptions. The question, is this the game they turn things around? The Colts' defense is built to play from ahead and rush the passer. The Colts have been surprisingly good against the pass this year as they are giving up the 6th fewest fantasy points, that list includes Big Ben and Matt Schaub, so they have done that against solid competition. If you are hoping for a Josh Freeman breakout game, this might not be it. Sadly, as Freeman goes, so goes Williams and Kellen Winslow. That being said, the Colts are middle of the road against wide receivers and tight ends and it just feels like Tampa is due for a breakout game and to start playing like an elite team.
The Colts will be looking to right the ship, it will be difficult as Peyton Manning will not be walking through the door anytime soon. Further complicating matters is the man who IS walking through that door...Curtis Painter. That name does not inspire confidence. But, it makes sense for the Colts to finally turn to Painter; Kerry Collins, was a borderline corpse. Plus, the Colts need to see if they have anything in Painter. If they do, great, if he turns out to be a zero and they win zero games, the colts could end up with Andrew Luck or at least the value that draft pick would provide. I was worried about all the Colts heading into the season and they have not disappointed. True, heading into the year, big things were not expected, but many still thought Reggie Wayne was a front end receiver and Dallas Clark was the second best tight end in the league, needless to say, that has not been the case.
It is hard to imagine that Painter leads the Colts to a victory under the bright Monday lights against a young team that is going to be jacked up to be playing a Monday night game at home. Plus, it is time for Tampa to announce themselves as an elite team, no better place to do it than on Monday night. Written by Chris Summers exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.
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Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Football Advice, 2011 Fantasy Football, Monday Night Football Preview, Week 4, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, Josh Freeman, Mike Williams, Peyton Manning, (September 24, 2011 - Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images North America)
 Tony Romo (credits below) To the Michael Vick gamblers, like myself, the dice came up snake eyes... reports are coming out that he is uncertain for next week with a bruised right hand. The hopes of a historic fantasy season may turn out to be the wrong type of history...a historic bust. Kenny Britt is this week's Jamaal Charles after a season ending knee injury. The beginning of this year has not been kind to the fantasy heroes of yore, or last year, Arian Foster, Peyton Hillis and Antonio Gates were all inactive this week. None of this would have mattered if you had the foresight to start Torrey Smith (3 TDS and 150 yards)? The mass of carnage is an appropriate introduction to Monday night's clash between the Cowboys and Redskins.
The Cowboys enter Monday's game with a quarterback who somehow was able to regenerate tissue and self-heal a punctured lung. He attended the walk-through on Sunday, so he looks like a go, but to be safe make sure you have John Kitna on the bench. Felix Jones and Dez Bryant, the other members of the Dallas trifecta of the walking wounded, were also at the walk through, so it looks like Dallas will be able to field a full squad. Thus far this season, Dallas has been on both ends of 27 - 24 results, including last week's wild comeback against the Niners. This will be the first opportunity for Dallas fans to react to Romo after that clutch victory.
The Redskins enter Monday night's game with a chance to remain unbeaten and to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the NFC East. Their early season has been exemplified by Rex "Sexy Rexy" Grossman – both he and the Redskins have gone through the first two games in a sold, unspectacular fashion. They are in the top half of the league in passing yards and rushing yards and their defense has been above average or better in both areas. Santana Moss is a solid start and it would be difficult to sit Fred Davis after the way he played last week. The most interesting fantasy story on the Redskins sideline is how things shake out between Tim Hightower and Ryan Helu. Hightower has received the bulk of the work thus far, and has produced, but Helu had a spectacular introduction to the fantasy world. We know, Mike Shanahan trades running backs like Charlie Sheen trades in pornstars, so it would be no surprise to see Helu become the most own running back in D.C.
Monday's game is a difficult one to predict, the Cowboys main offensive weapons are kept together by using MacGyver tricks. Any hit, fall, or sneeze could change the entire outcome of the game. The Cowboys have been very good in keeping their opponents running game in check (59.5 yards per game), unfortunately, their own rushing game has been even worse (54.5 yards per game). Their passing game is ranked number 3, unfortunately, that was with a healthy Miles Austin and Tony Romo; that will not be the case on Monday night. It is tough to imagine that all three of the Cowboys' walking wounded make it through tomorrow unscathed.
Expect a lower scoring game in the 20's with one of the Cowboys main offensive weapons not finishing the game. In the end, I think the Cowboys blew their emotional wad last weekend and the Redskins sneak by 24 to 21.(September 17, 2011 - Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images North America)Written by Chris Summers exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.
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Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Football Advice, 2011 Fantasy Football, Monday Night Football Preview, Week 3, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins
 Eli Manning (Credits Below) Coming into Monday, we already had a very painful fantasy football day. Early in the morning's action a rather innocuous play might have brought an end to Jamaal Charles' season, and the seasons of all those individuals who took him in the first round. Compounding matters is the fact there is no clear back-up, both Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster will get run, meaning neither will rise above a low level #2 or a flex option. But that was just the warm-up.
Following that we witnessed the early departure of Arian Foster. His coach said it was "fatigue," but there is wide speculation that he tweaked his existing injury. Hopefully, Arian Foster fans handcuffed him with Ben Tate. This could be a blessing in disguise, remember last year, Ben Tate was going to be the starter until an injury opened the door for Arian Foster.
The Sunday games ended with Mike Kafka trying to lead an Eagles comeback, if you think this means something bad happened to Mike Vick, you are correct. Indeed, Vick was the target of friendly fire when he was concussed by the shoulder pad of one of his linemen.
A brutal weekend, for the record, I own Charles and Vick in various leagues, so I feel your pain. Monday's game is further proof that the football season is a battle of attrition.
We know the Rams' best receiver, Danny Amendola, and best player, Steven Jackson, are probably out. You know you are in trouble when in week two you are relying on the Cadillac for the bulk of your yardage. Chad Bradford was a popular choice for taking it to the next level, but a quarterback needs to have someone to throw it to. The Rams top, "healthy" receiver is the Cadillac, that ain't gonna cut it. There is a silver-lining, Bradford faces a team that rejuvenated "Sexy" Rexy Grossman to the tune of 300 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants helped bring sexy back via their depleted front line which did not have Justin Tuck or Osi Umenyiora, it is unclear if either will be available on Monday.
The Giants may also be without their top play-maker, Hakeem Nicks. He suffered a knee injury last week, he stayed in that game, but additional swelling might keep him out of Monday's affair. If that happens, Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon should receive a significant bump in looks. The Eagles torched the Rams for over 200 yards on the ground. A lot of that came from Michael Vick; Eli does not present the same challenges. Still, the Rams could not stop LeSean McCoy either. With a banged up wide receiver we could see the Giants really focus on the run.
The Giants could very well have some extra pep in there step with the knowledge that Mike Vick was hurt. I know that sounds bad and players always say they do not want anything bad to happen to their competition, but let's be honest, if Vick is out that NFC East opens up like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. As for the Rams, even with a beat up team, hope is eternal in the atrocious NFC West.Written by Chris Summers exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.
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Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Football Advice, 2011 Fantasy Football, Monday Night Football Preview, New York Giants, St. Louis Rams, Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Danny Amendola, Steven Jackson, Sam Bradford, Cadillac Williams(September 10, 2011 - Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images North America)
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