Week 15 Picks By: Mark Bunster

Matchups ------------------- Wk 17 Quarterbacks Wk 17 Running Backs Wk 17 Wide Receivers Wk 16 QBs Wk 16 RBs Wk 16 WRs Wk 15 QBs Wk 15 RBs Wk 15 WRs Wk 14 QBs Wk 14 RBs Wk 14 WRs Wk 13 QBs Wk 13 RBs Wk 13 WRs Wk 12 QBs Wk 12 RBs Wk 12 WRs Wk 11 QBs Wk 11 RBs Wk 11 WRs Wk 10 QBs Wk 10 RBs Wk 10 WRs Wk 9 QBs Wk 9 RBs Wk 9 WRs Wk 8 QBs Wk 8 RBs Wk 8 WRs Wk 7 QBs Wk 7 RBs Wk 7 WRs Wk 6 QBs Wk 6 RBs Wk 6 WRs Wk 5 QBs Wk 5 RBs Wk 5 WRs Wk 4 QBs Wk 4 RBs Wk 4 WRs Wk 3 QBs Wk 3 RBs Wk 3 WRs Wk 2 QBs Wk 2 RBs Wk 2 WRs Wk 1 QBs Wk 1 RRs Wk 1 WRs

Jamal Lewis at OAK
The Raiders pretty well bottled up Eddie George in Week One. Since then, not so much. You could say holding the Vikings to 52 yds rushing was good, except Moe Williams and Michael Bennett also gained 139 yards via the pass. Yeah, you can pretty much thrash Oakland any way you want this year. Lewis doesn't catch much, but that's OK. Clinton Portis only had 7 yards receiving against them (plus 170 and 2 TDs on the ground).

Ricky Williams vs PHI
The way Ricky and the Dolphins looked up in New England (cold and inept), and the way Williams has tailed off the last few weeks, you wonder what he's doing up here at #8. Gotta blame the matchups and the "need" factor on this one. The Dolphins really, really need the game; the Eagles just had theirs. Plus, while Philly has been winning and winning, they have been allowing rushing and rushing. The Dolphins won't get much passing done, but look for a c-note from Ricky.

Jerome Bettis vs NYJ
Since Bettis got most of the Pittsburgh rushing job back, he's done a pretty decent job. The Jets have allowed three of four recent 100-yd rushers, and they are nearly as bad as the Raiders. Bill Cowher doesn't think the Steelers are out of it, so maybe the Bus will get one more kick start before the chop shop beckons. Hmmm, I just used motorcycle metaphors to describe a bus. Sorry.

Shawn Bryson at KC
Not only is this a bit risky because it's in Kansas City, but he also shares a time with Olandis Gary, and wasn't all that great against the Chargers. But the Chiefs are far worse against the run, and what Portis did to them was embarassing. Bryson is more of a pounder, and those are the more effective backs against the Chiefs.

Recap - 12/17

• It sounds like whining to worry about guys who "just missed being Top20," but I gotta say it sucks when the 20th place guy usually scores about 10 points, and Jamal Lewis scores 12.5...and finishes 21st, right behind DeShaun Foster at 12.6. So instead of a disappointing score of 1 on my top prediction, Jamal turns up DNA and costs me 20. The overall RB score goes up 5 full points if Jamal gets two more yards. Wahh.
  
  
• Deuce another sucker bet that failed to pan out. He had a pretty good day, well balanced, but without the TD, he fell to 17.
  
  
• Holmes had what looked like a relatively slow day for him, especially next to Green, but three TDs tends to put you near the top.
  
  
• James another disappointment. Brooks and Manning stole all the TDs!
  
  
• Bulger finished 9th among QBs while Faulk ended 14th among RBs, but make no mistake--Marshall has carried the Rams into the playoffs. Bulger has stopped being totally erratic for now, and his life has been made much easier by Faulk the last three games.
  
  
• Stephen Davis, ugh. Foster appears at 20th, as noted regarding the Jamal Debacal.
  
  
• Yes, I know how to spell debacle. It was a homonymal pun. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
  
  
• Clinton Portis and Miami Ricky were fairly decent picks; Ricky lost some time to injury in the Philly game or he might have been just high enough to get to 8th. Green was also a nice pick, one off. Jerome Bettis is the vehicular blemish in the middle of this group.
  
  
• If not for Joe Horn's 4 TDs, LT would have been the highest RECEIVER of the week for the 2nd consecutive week. Holmes, Portis and LT are all capable of simply stunning and dominant performances in any given week.
  
  
• Thomas Jones was my favorite pick of the week, and he did even better than I projected, so you got that going for you.
  
  
• Shaun Alexander I was right to downgrade, although I was a bit harsh.
  
  
• TJ Duckett another nice call, and while Kevan Barlow as a stranger to the top20 was somewhat of an unknown, I should have had him higher than 15th at least. But look at some of the names ahead of him!
  
  
• For the first time in a long while, Barber was a DNA. The Giants have sunk to an all-time low in recent games.
  
  
• Westbrook I keep shortchanging. The weeks I put him up high, Staley and Buckhalter steal his noise. He jumped 10 places above my slot of him when he caught that audacious WR pass. All the fuss about Buck vs Staley seems a little silly now, doesn't it?
  
  
• I was real happy with Shawn Bryson's performance, relative to his slot. And I don't mind losing 2 points on Henry at all; it was worth the points not to get "How could you leave Henry off, you EEEDIOT!" emails all week.
  
  
• A-Train has got to have annoyed the living pus out of his owners this year. He finished 16th, and Forsey was relegated back to the sidelines.
  
  
• A kick to the stomach on Jamal from which points-wise, I never recovered. 50% is OK, not great. It ain't 68%, for sure. Nice call last week, Mikey.