Miami loses at home, Carolina upsets Jacksonville, and the Patriots
get blanked. Warner already has his first concussion of the year,
the Colts can't score, and Detroit looks like an offensive juggernaut.
Blake trumps Warner; Stephen Davis tops Ricky Williams, and who
in the hell is the Boldin kid?
With a wild week 1 behind us it is time to look at who is pulling
points and who is riding pine when it comes to fantasy rosters.
Quarterbacks
Obvious:
D. Culpepper (Min) vs. CHI
J Garcia (SF) @ STL
J. Harrington (Det) @ GB
T. Maddox (Pit) @ KC
R. Gannon (Oak) vs. CIN
S. McNair (Ten) @ IND
A. Brooks (NO) vs. HOU
M. Hasselback (Sea) @ ARI
P. Manning (Ind) vs. TEN
B. Favre (GB) vs. DET
Start:
J. Blake (Ari) vs. SEA: Obviously the Card's are going to have
to throw the ball a ton to stay in games. Expect the Arizona to
fall behind early against Seattle and let Blake air it out again.
Interesting note: Blake is 3-0 against Seattle in his career.
M. Bulger (StL) vs. SF: Expect them to use Faulk's rushing to
set up Bulger's pass. But with a solid WR corps behind him and
one of the best pass-catching RBs in the game, Bulger should put
up good numbers against an untested San Francisco secondary.
Sit:
M. Brunell (Jac) vs. BUF: With the addition of Milloy and Spikes,
Buffalo's D is no joke. Just ask New England.
J. Delhomme (Car) @ TB: Against Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay? Don't
even think about it!
D. Johnson (Atl): Look for Washington to put lots of double coverage
on Price and use its speedy LB corps (i.e. LaVar Arrington) to
blitz the hell out of Johnson.
Running Backs
Obvious:
P. Holmes (KC) vs. PIT
C. Portis (Den) @ SD
L. Tomlinson (SD) vs. DEN
A. Green (GB) vs. DET
S. Alexander (Sea) @ ARI
R. Williams (Mia) @ NYJ
M. Faulk (StL) vs. SF
T. Barber (NYG) vs. DAL
D. McAllister (NO) vs. HOU
T. Henry (Buf) @ JAX
C. Garner (Oak) vs. CIN
Start:
E. George (Ten) @ IND: Facing a Colts D that let Cleveland's Green
rush for 80 yards, George should be more of a force this week
easily topping his week one performance with 90-100 yards rushing.
O. Gary (Det) @ GB: Gary netted 44 yards on 12 carries (including
a 19 yard jaunt) just one week after arriving in Detroit. With
another week of practice under his belt expect Gary to get 18
to 20 carries as the Lions try to establish the run against the
Packers. Last visit to the frozen tundra for O.G. equaled 37 carries
for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Sit:
S. Davis (Car) @ TB: See J. Delhomme for details.
C. Dillon (Cin) @ OAK: Facing an Oakland defense that shut down
E. George and still lost. Expect Romo to be looking for someone
new to punch in the eye. A fired up Oakland team will look to
quiet the naysayers and take away the Bengals' rushing game by
taking an early lead.
M. Williams (Min) vs. CHI: Although Williams knocked out 80 yards
on 22 carries against Green Bay last week; there is talk of Chapman
and Smith stealing more carries. Though Williams is still the
featured back, this is a wait and see situation.
Wide Receivers
Obvious:
R. Moss (Min) vs. CHI
T. Owens (SF) @ STL
M. Harrison (Ind) vs. TEN
A. Boldin (Ari) vs. SEA
C. Chambers (Mia) @ NYJ
C. Johnson (Cin) @ OAK
T. Holt (StL) vs. SF
I. Bruce (StL) vs. SF
P. Burress (Pit) @ KC
H. Ward (Pit) @ KC
L. Coles (Was) @ ATL
D. Mason (Ten) @ IND
E. Moulds (Buf) @ JAX
Start:
D. Stallworth (NO) vs. HOU: After a hot week one (8 for 101),
Stallworth will get a lot of looks this week against Seattle as
he becomes the first look for Brooks and the New Orleans passing
attack.
M. Booker (Chi) @ MIN: Look for K. Stew to improve just enough
to hit his number one WR a few more times. Seeing as Chicago still
doesn't have a running game (55 total rushing yards vs. SF in
week 1, Booker should get enough looks to match his numbers from
his last match against the Vikings (9-95-1).
D. Patten (NE) @ PHI: With the Philly D is banged up and New
England coming off an ugly week one performance, expect Brady
and the New England offense to step it up and look for redemption.
Patten's last match-up against Philly was a fruitful one with
Patten netting 7 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Sit:
Any Jet's Receivers vs. MIA: Until Vinny can get back into the
swing of things I wouldn't recommend starting any of these guys.
Especially since they are facing a hungry Miami defense.
R. Smith (Den) @ SD: Most of the offensive focus is going to
be on Portis until Plummer gets comfortable.
J. Thrash (Phi) vs. NE: What is up with McNabb? Though McNabb
does typically start off slow his 19 of 36 for 148, 1 interception
and worst QB rating in at least three years will keep Thrash on
my fantasy bench till McNabb regroups.
