Last Minute Fantasy Looks for Week 9
Atlanta @ Detroit
The Falcons are on a tear and Michael Vick is leading the charge. He's got 7 TDs to only 2 INTs in his last two games and should continue this run against one of the league's worst passing defenses. Michael Jenkins and Alge Crumpler are the beneficiaries here and should both be starting if you own them. The Lions do actually have an better than average run defense, so don't expect anything huge from Warrick Dunn. For the Lions, it looks like they should be playing catchup so Jon Kitna and Roy Williams should be putting up decent numbers. Look for Mike Furrey to possibly cash in as well. Playing catch up and a solid Falcons run D makes for a rough day for Kevin Jones. But he should get worked into the passing game a little more if they need to dump it off to a safety valve. It looks like you should expect a pretty high scoring affair here.
Cincinnati @ Baltimore
On paper it looks like a high powered offense vs. a high powered defense, but the Bengals have been stumbling of late. The matchups on the corners, Samari Rolle on T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris McAllister on Chad Johnson, are the big story here and everyone expects the receivers to be held in check. The Ravens against the run are solid so it's going to be tough for Rudi Johnson to get going. So why am I calling for a Bengals win here? Chris Henry and Chris Perry. The best the Ravens have against Henry is Ed Reed and that's already a mismatch. Look for Carson Palmer to hit Perry on the short passes to move down field and then hit Henry for the longer strikes in the red zone. I'm not sold on Jamal Lewis one bit, so expect Steve McNair to do a lot of throwing. Todd Heap and Derrick Mason should make for average plays this week.
Dallas @ Washington
With the Skins secondary getting healthy, this no longer looks like a cake walk for Tony Romo, who needs to earn some fantasy respect here. He'll have Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, his two favorite targets, but he may not have Terry Glenn who is limited by some mysterious ailment once referred to as a quad injury. Even though he is listed as probable, he might not even be active for the game. You'll have to wait until game time for that, but even so...if you have a healthier option, use it. Look for Dallas to lean on Julius Jones a little more, making him a decent RB2 for this week. For the Skins, they could have some problems on offense. Dallas has one of the best rushing defenses which should hamper Clinton Portis and in the passing game, Mark Brunnell will be without his main target Santana Moss who will be inactive on Sunday. Expect to see a little more Chris Cooley with maybe some Antwaan Randle-El mixed in.
Green Bay @ Buffalo
The key to this game for the Bills is keeping Ahman Green in check. If the Bills can stop the run, then this game turns into a shootout. The Packers should have no problem with the always disappointing Willis McGahee, so it's going to come down to the passing games. J.P. Losman has Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish and the suddenly re-emerging Peerless Price going against a horrible secondary this week while Brett Favre seems to only have Donald Driver. Greg Jennings re-injured himself late in the week at practice and is a less than hopeful game time decision and Robert Ferguson is also chronically banged up. Maybe someone can wake up Bubba Franks, but that's unlikely. It could actually be a fun game to watch -- the Pack is playing with momentum and the Bills are rested and ready from their bye.
Houston @ NY Giants
If the Giants can focus on this week and not look ahead to the upcoming matchup against Chicago, then this could be a fantasy gold mine for Giants owners. Eli Manning has the ability to carve up the Houston secondary while Tiki Barber continues to rack up huge yardage games. **sigh** If only he could find the endzone. Plaxico Burress is a game time decision, but it doesn't look too good for him with his chronic back injuries. Look for Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer to have big days on Sunday. For the Texans, it could be a rough day. Wali Lundy will be hard pressed to find yardage and David Carr could be running for his life all day against a strong Giants pass rush...unless he gets benched again for Sage Rosenfels. Either way, you'll probably be able to expect a few Carr/Rosenfels to Andre Johnson bombs, so the wideout makes for a great play this week.
Kansas City @ St. Louis
Larry Johnson has just been explosive these past few weeks, and he's been ripping up pretty good run defenses in that time. Think about just how much damage he can do against a team ranked 27th against the run. But don't count out the Chiefs passing game. They're not going to be able to run the ball all day if they want to keep up with the Rams high powered passing game, so expect Damon Huard, who is playing with Shane Falco-esque reckless abandon (Trent Green Week 10 rumors are swirling), to try airing it out as if it were his last game. Nothing dazzling, but a few good strikes to Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison are highly probable. For the Rams, you can expect a lot of the Marc Bulger air attack. He'll be looking for his #1 guy, Torry Holt, and should hit Isaac Bruce and Kevin Curtis along the way. Steven Jackson should have a good day if the score stays close or if the Chiefs fold to the aerial assault.
Miami @ Chicago
Guaranteed ugliness if you're a Fins fan. This one is going to be abusive, somehwere along the lines of last weeks Bears/Niners matchup. But don't expect the Bears offense to be the one doing the damage. Miami has the 4th best pass defense and a pretty solid run defense, so don't expect eye popping numbers from Rex Grossman and Co. They'll put up decent numbers, but the eye popping numbers will come on defense as the Bears feast on Joey Harrington. He's going to be under the gun all day and it's not going to be pretty. Ronnie Brown should also suffer here as will Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael. None of them look to be decent plays at all. If this is the case (and trust me...it will be), then Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson should put up decent numbers as the Bears keep it on the ground to eat up the clock in the second half.
New Orleans @ Tampa Bay
You should see a nice balance on offense for the Saints this week as the Deuce McAllister/Reggie Bush tandem should fare pretty well against a horrible Bucs run D. Bush is listed as questionable but he is expected to play. The passing game for Drew Brees should fare well as long as Joe Horn (questionable -- game time decision) is in the lineup. With Horn starting, the offense will be able to spread out with targets all over the place. If not, then Marques Colston is going to see some extra coverage which could make things difficult. But not as difficult as it's been for the Bucs. Their offense has been atrociuos, and I don't really see Bruce Gradkowski breaking out here. He will have to air it out however, so atleast Joey Galloway is going to get the deep looks. I sense a lot of Carnell Williams in the first half and the team should lean heavily on him this week.
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
This should be an interesting matchup with some decent fantasy points to be found. Jaguars starter Dave Garrard gets Matt Jones back to join Reggie Williams and Ernest Wilford against one of the worst secondaries in the league. To make matters worse, it looks like Adam "Pacman" Jones will be out this week following a team suspension. Behind the steady running of Fred Taylor, the Jags should have a nicely balanced offfense that could put up some big points for you. For the Titans, the road to victory could be too tough to overcome. Vince Young is starting to get more comforatable, but he still needs to work on his passing game. 87 passing yards is just not acceptable at this level. As for the rest of the Titans, they all become risky plays against a tough Jags defense. Travis Henry may end up repeating last week's performance, and ever since Billy Volek left town, Drew Bennett has been invisible.
Minneosta @ San Francisco
So which Vikings team is gonna show up this week? Maybe it depends on their opponent. They need to feast on the weak apparently. This may be good for them as the Niners have given up the most points in the league and were shredded by the Bears last week. If Minnesota wants to win, then Chester Taylor is going to need to come up bigger this week. He's already losing more and more third down carries to Mewelde Moore. Another one that needs to step it up is Brad Johnson. If he can't put together a decent game, then we may be seeing a lot more of Brooks Bolinger. For the Niners, it's all about redemption. Frank Gore is angry and should put together a solid game which will open it up for Alex Smith to find guys like Antonio Bryant and Arnaz Battle down field. I see a 49ers upset here...
Cleveland @ San Diego
The over/under on TDs for LaDanian Tomlinson is 3 this week. The league's best running back gets a nice cushy matchup against a weak Browns run D. He should be the fantasy super stud he's always been. This should make it easier for Phillip Rivers to spread out the offense a little and hit Antonio Gates and the surprising Vincent Jackson for a couple of scores. New Browns offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson should have his work cut out for him this week as he'll see that Reuben Droughns isn't running against a weak Jets defense this week, but a strong Chargers defense that is pretty stingy on the run. I think we're going to see Charlie Frye air it out a little more as the boys from Cleveland will be behind most of the day. Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow are the only real viable fantasy options from this team and neither of them is really that strong of a play this week.
Denver @ Pittsburgh
A big defensive battle here. You've got two of the most impressive defenses and two somewhat sputtering offenses. Doesn't really make for fanatsy excitement, does it? Willie Parker is going to have his hands full this week and he's going to find it difficult to break out against a stingy Broncos D. Which means that the burden may fall on Ben Roethlisberger and that's not such a great guarantee anymore. His 4 INTs last week has guys like Champ Baily salivating. Consider Hines Ward a mediocre play at best this week. For the Broncos on offense, it doesn't look much better. Will we see Jake the Snake or Jake the Fake this week? Mike Bell will get the start this week with Tatum Bell ( turf toe) coming off the bench here or there, so they're going to need Plummer to have a decent game if they want to find success. Javon Walker and maybe even Rod Smith could see some good action here. But the real fantasy points getters will probably end up being Jeff Reed and Jason Elam.
Indianapolis @ New England
Bill Bellicheck gives nightmares to Peyton Manning and the Colts, plain and simple. The Pats are 7-1 in their last eight meetings and they usually keep Peyton from achieving his usually eye-popping stats. Fantasy wise thought he'll still be a solid play as he works his way through Bellicheck's defensive schemes. Dallas Clark, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne are all still solid fantasy options. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, maybe not so much as the Pats have the #3 ranked run defense in the league. For the Pats on offense, it's going to be all about the run. The Colts run D is awful and Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney should carve them up all day long. So maybe Tom Brady doesn't throw the ball 50 times this week. He may be facing a tough Indy secondary, but he's got enough targets in Ben Watson, Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson to keep the defense on it's heels a bit. Don't look now, but this could be the quest for the undefeated season may end here.
Oakland @ Seattle
Two teams moving in opposite directions here. The Raiders have won 2 in a row, we finally see both Jerry Porter and Randy Moss lining up together. It also looks like Lamont Jordan is ready to go this week after all. The Seahawks have shown that losing Shaun Alexander was rough, but without Matt Hasselbeck too, they have been left a complete disaster. With Maurice Morris showing his inability to be a regular back in this league, Seneca Wallace has been fed to the wolves here. It doesn't matter that they have great receivers in Deion Branch and Darrell Jackson, they've just been awful. And it's not going to help that they face one of the league's toughest pass defenses in the Raiders. It looks like Oaktown could be on a little bit of a roll here.
The Falcons are on a tear and Michael Vick is leading the charge. He's got 7 TDs to only 2 INTs in his last two games and should continue this run against one of the league's worst passing defenses. Michael Jenkins and Alge Crumpler are the beneficiaries here and should both be starting if you own them. The Lions do actually have an better than average run defense, so don't expect anything huge from Warrick Dunn. For the Lions, it looks like they should be playing catchup so Jon Kitna and Roy Williams should be putting up decent numbers. Look for Mike Furrey to possibly cash in as well. Playing catch up and a solid Falcons run D makes for a rough day for Kevin Jones. But he should get worked into the passing game a little more if they need to dump it off to a safety valve. It looks like you should expect a pretty high scoring affair here.
Cincinnati @ Baltimore
On paper it looks like a high powered offense vs. a high powered defense, but the Bengals have been stumbling of late. The matchups on the corners, Samari Rolle on T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris McAllister on Chad Johnson, are the big story here and everyone expects the receivers to be held in check. The Ravens against the run are solid so it's going to be tough for Rudi Johnson to get going. So why am I calling for a Bengals win here? Chris Henry and Chris Perry. The best the Ravens have against Henry is Ed Reed and that's already a mismatch. Look for Carson Palmer to hit Perry on the short passes to move down field and then hit Henry for the longer strikes in the red zone. I'm not sold on Jamal Lewis one bit, so expect Steve McNair to do a lot of throwing. Todd Heap and Derrick Mason should make for average plays this week.
Dallas @ Washington
With the Skins secondary getting healthy, this no longer looks like a cake walk for Tony Romo, who needs to earn some fantasy respect here. He'll have Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, his two favorite targets, but he may not have Terry Glenn who is limited by some mysterious ailment once referred to as a quad injury. Even though he is listed as probable, he might not even be active for the game. You'll have to wait until game time for that, but even so...if you have a healthier option, use it. Look for Dallas to lean on Julius Jones a little more, making him a decent RB2 for this week. For the Skins, they could have some problems on offense. Dallas has one of the best rushing defenses which should hamper Clinton Portis and in the passing game, Mark Brunnell will be without his main target Santana Moss who will be inactive on Sunday. Expect to see a little more Chris Cooley with maybe some Antwaan Randle-El mixed in.
Green Bay @ Buffalo
The key to this game for the Bills is keeping Ahman Green in check. If the Bills can stop the run, then this game turns into a shootout. The Packers should have no problem with the always disappointing Willis McGahee, so it's going to come down to the passing games. J.P. Losman has Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish and the suddenly re-emerging Peerless Price going against a horrible secondary this week while Brett Favre seems to only have Donald Driver. Greg Jennings re-injured himself late in the week at practice and is a less than hopeful game time decision and Robert Ferguson is also chronically banged up. Maybe someone can wake up Bubba Franks, but that's unlikely. It could actually be a fun game to watch -- the Pack is playing with momentum and the Bills are rested and ready from their bye.
Houston @ NY Giants
If the Giants can focus on this week and not look ahead to the upcoming matchup against Chicago, then this could be a fantasy gold mine for Giants owners. Eli Manning has the ability to carve up the Houston secondary while Tiki Barber continues to rack up huge yardage games. **sigh** If only he could find the endzone. Plaxico Burress is a game time decision, but it doesn't look too good for him with his chronic back injuries. Look for Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer to have big days on Sunday. For the Texans, it could be a rough day. Wali Lundy will be hard pressed to find yardage and David Carr could be running for his life all day against a strong Giants pass rush...unless he gets benched again for Sage Rosenfels. Either way, you'll probably be able to expect a few Carr/Rosenfels to Andre Johnson bombs, so the wideout makes for a great play this week.
Kansas City @ St. Louis
Larry Johnson has just been explosive these past few weeks, and he's been ripping up pretty good run defenses in that time. Think about just how much damage he can do against a team ranked 27th against the run. But don't count out the Chiefs passing game. They're not going to be able to run the ball all day if they want to keep up with the Rams high powered passing game, so expect Damon Huard, who is playing with Shane Falco-esque reckless abandon (Trent Green Week 10 rumors are swirling), to try airing it out as if it were his last game. Nothing dazzling, but a few good strikes to Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison are highly probable. For the Rams, you can expect a lot of the Marc Bulger air attack. He'll be looking for his #1 guy, Torry Holt, and should hit Isaac Bruce and Kevin Curtis along the way. Steven Jackson should have a good day if the score stays close or if the Chiefs fold to the aerial assault.
Miami @ Chicago
Guaranteed ugliness if you're a Fins fan. This one is going to be abusive, somehwere along the lines of last weeks Bears/Niners matchup. But don't expect the Bears offense to be the one doing the damage. Miami has the 4th best pass defense and a pretty solid run defense, so don't expect eye popping numbers from Rex Grossman and Co. They'll put up decent numbers, but the eye popping numbers will come on defense as the Bears feast on Joey Harrington. He's going to be under the gun all day and it's not going to be pretty. Ronnie Brown should also suffer here as will Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael. None of them look to be decent plays at all. If this is the case (and trust me...it will be), then Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson should put up decent numbers as the Bears keep it on the ground to eat up the clock in the second half.
New Orleans @ Tampa Bay
You should see a nice balance on offense for the Saints this week as the Deuce McAllister/Reggie Bush tandem should fare pretty well against a horrible Bucs run D. Bush is listed as questionable but he is expected to play. The passing game for Drew Brees should fare well as long as Joe Horn (questionable -- game time decision) is in the lineup. With Horn starting, the offense will be able to spread out with targets all over the place. If not, then Marques Colston is going to see some extra coverage which could make things difficult. But not as difficult as it's been for the Bucs. Their offense has been atrociuos, and I don't really see Bruce Gradkowski breaking out here. He will have to air it out however, so atleast Joey Galloway is going to get the deep looks. I sense a lot of Carnell Williams in the first half and the team should lean heavily on him this week.
Tennessee @ Jacksonville
This should be an interesting matchup with some decent fantasy points to be found. Jaguars starter Dave Garrard gets Matt Jones back to join Reggie Williams and Ernest Wilford against one of the worst secondaries in the league. To make matters worse, it looks like Adam "Pacman" Jones will be out this week following a team suspension. Behind the steady running of Fred Taylor, the Jags should have a nicely balanced offfense that could put up some big points for you. For the Titans, the road to victory could be too tough to overcome. Vince Young is starting to get more comforatable, but he still needs to work on his passing game. 87 passing yards is just not acceptable at this level. As for the rest of the Titans, they all become risky plays against a tough Jags defense. Travis Henry may end up repeating last week's performance, and ever since Billy Volek left town, Drew Bennett has been invisible.
Minneosta @ San Francisco
So which Vikings team is gonna show up this week? Maybe it depends on their opponent. They need to feast on the weak apparently. This may be good for them as the Niners have given up the most points in the league and were shredded by the Bears last week. If Minnesota wants to win, then Chester Taylor is going to need to come up bigger this week. He's already losing more and more third down carries to Mewelde Moore. Another one that needs to step it up is Brad Johnson. If he can't put together a decent game, then we may be seeing a lot more of Brooks Bolinger. For the Niners, it's all about redemption. Frank Gore is angry and should put together a solid game which will open it up for Alex Smith to find guys like Antonio Bryant and Arnaz Battle down field. I see a 49ers upset here...
Cleveland @ San Diego
The over/under on TDs for LaDanian Tomlinson is 3 this week. The league's best running back gets a nice cushy matchup against a weak Browns run D. He should be the fantasy super stud he's always been. This should make it easier for Phillip Rivers to spread out the offense a little and hit Antonio Gates and the surprising Vincent Jackson for a couple of scores. New Browns offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson should have his work cut out for him this week as he'll see that Reuben Droughns isn't running against a weak Jets defense this week, but a strong Chargers defense that is pretty stingy on the run. I think we're going to see Charlie Frye air it out a little more as the boys from Cleveland will be behind most of the day. Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow are the only real viable fantasy options from this team and neither of them is really that strong of a play this week.
Denver @ Pittsburgh
A big defensive battle here. You've got two of the most impressive defenses and two somewhat sputtering offenses. Doesn't really make for fanatsy excitement, does it? Willie Parker is going to have his hands full this week and he's going to find it difficult to break out against a stingy Broncos D. Which means that the burden may fall on Ben Roethlisberger and that's not such a great guarantee anymore. His 4 INTs last week has guys like Champ Baily salivating. Consider Hines Ward a mediocre play at best this week. For the Broncos on offense, it doesn't look much better. Will we see Jake the Snake or Jake the Fake this week? Mike Bell will get the start this week with Tatum Bell ( turf toe) coming off the bench here or there, so they're going to need Plummer to have a decent game if they want to find success. Javon Walker and maybe even Rod Smith could see some good action here. But the real fantasy points getters will probably end up being Jeff Reed and Jason Elam.
Indianapolis @ New England
Bill Bellicheck gives nightmares to Peyton Manning and the Colts, plain and simple. The Pats are 7-1 in their last eight meetings and they usually keep Peyton from achieving his usually eye-popping stats. Fantasy wise thought he'll still be a solid play as he works his way through Bellicheck's defensive schemes. Dallas Clark, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne are all still solid fantasy options. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, maybe not so much as the Pats have the #3 ranked run defense in the league. For the Pats on offense, it's going to be all about the run. The Colts run D is awful and Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney should carve them up all day long. So maybe Tom Brady doesn't throw the ball 50 times this week. He may be facing a tough Indy secondary, but he's got enough targets in Ben Watson, Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson to keep the defense on it's heels a bit. Don't look now, but this could be the quest for the undefeated season may end here.
Oakland @ Seattle
Two teams moving in opposite directions here. The Raiders have won 2 in a row, we finally see both Jerry Porter and Randy Moss lining up together. It also looks like Lamont Jordan is ready to go this week after all. The Seahawks have shown that losing Shaun Alexander was rough, but without Matt Hasselbeck too, they have been left a complete disaster. With Maurice Morris showing his inability to be a regular back in this league, Seneca Wallace has been fed to the wolves here. It doesn't matter that they have great receivers in Deion Branch and Darrell Jackson, they've just been awful. And it's not going to help that they face one of the league's toughest pass defenses in the Raiders. It looks like Oaktown could be on a little bit of a roll here.
posted by Howard Bender at
4:18 AM
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