Ten for Tuesday: Week 9 Fantasy Football Review

Unfortunately, this is the Wednesday version of 10 for Tuesday, this one took a back seat to some other articles I had to throw up for Tuesday’s publishing, but don’t you worry, like cheese and Barry Bonds, it only got better with time….

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6 to 7 coaches need to watch Peyton Manning and the Colts execute a game plan on any given week. Maybe then guys like John Fox, whomever is calling plays in Buffalo, Jack Del Rio, Tom Coughlin and company, and a couple other team decision makers can see what it’s like to stick to a plan. If anything, the Colts know who they are and they go after it. Watching Peyton break out into a no-huddle, so a linebacker would have to continue guarding Dallas Clark, was awesome. What a smart team….    The Giants use of Brandon Jacobs pissed me off more than anything else. How can you be at the end of a close game and looking at a box score that shows Jacobs has just 11 carries for 67 yards? Who is the tool shed that decided Jacobs’ 6 yards per carry were just too damn efficient to be used 15 more times? I just don’t get it…..   How about the Cowboys forcing the ball to Roy Williams all day in Philly? I wish that had backfired. That kind of middle school, make everybody happy by giving them the ball, get everyone in, type of crap, especially in the freaking NFL, is a joke. Fortunately, Miles Austin didn’t mind one bit and when the game was on the line, Austin did work and won the game for Dallas. It’s still clown work…..

Vince Young is a winner, sorry if you don’t like it. You have to give a guy his credit, and Vince, from the very start, came in and won football games. Sure, he’s had his troubles, he might not be the most mentally tough player in the league, and he might feel as entitled as a spoiled little rich kid, but when it comes to football, VY wins games. Even his accuracy has been solid. He’ll never blow you away with numbers, but he is a threat to run and teams have to be aware of that. That’s one more thing to think about, and so far, it’s one too many things for opponents to think about…. The Green Bay Packers offensive line is good at run-blocking. They are bad at pass blocking. Aaron Rodgers is an accurate missile thrower but he holds the ball too long. What does all that add up to? Run the damn ball. If the Packers ran to set up the pass, or at least ran the ball consistently early in games, Aaron would be able to use the play action pass to his advantage. He could hold the ball long and probably live a long productive life. The way it’s going now, he’s going to be in a cast or two watching Matt Flynn running the show….   That whole Chad Johnson business is ridiculous. That’s right, I’m just going to call him Chad Johnson like I’d call Drew Bledsoe, chump – because it makes me feel better than typing incorrect Spanish mashed together into one awkward name. He probably knew he’d get fined. He definitely didn’t think a dollar was getting him anywhere. He obviously was just having a good time with it. But this is the no fun league. What really gets my taco-loving-goat is that it’s his interview afterward, using the word “BRIBE” that is the main reason why he’s going to be disciplined. Holy shit. What the hell do you call what he was pretending to do? The fact that grown men can be so butt-tossed over the use of a no-no word sounds a little too much like “The Village” to me, or if you’re looking for a good move, “Harry Potter” will do. So if he had said, “I just wanted to hand the official a dollar to see what I could get for a dollar” he’d be okay? The fine would be cut in half? Dumb….

If Vernon Davis walked up to me and said “Click, Clack” I might pull out my wallet and “See what I could get for a dollar”. The guy is nasty. He takes hits like it’s his job to prove how much bigger and badder he is then the next guy. And you know what, that is his job. And you know what, he is probably bigger and badder than the next guy. It has been refreshing to see his transformation into a big time NFL player. People always gave him a really hard time, but the kid has always been super competitive and a very hard worker, he just needed a little help with directing his attitude. Done and done…. Mike Sellers was the Redskins leading receiver against the Falcons. You heard me. A team that has traded, drafted, and signed receiver after receiver went to Mike Sellers enough to make him the leading receiver. What else, Jason Cambell probably attempted one pass over fifteen yards. The kid has a big arm, they have a speed demon that is known for making big plays down-field in Santana Moss. They have Devin Thomas who is one big, fast, s.o.b. They have Malcom Kelly who can make some plays in single coverage. And Randle El has been known to make a thing or two happen down field. This team has no idea what they are….. I’m pretty sure JaMarcus Russell and Derek Anderson had a QB competition during the bye and Russell lost. Anderson’s reward? He doesn’t have to play in front of people anymore. JaMarcus Russell’s response, “I did pretty good, completed a couple passes, I really can’t ask for more than finishing second, second is pretty solid. You know, it’s hard when you have to look through a tunnel.” True…..  Cedric Benson, I’m sorry for anything bad I ever said about you. You win. Just before the season, some schmuck in my Dynasty Fantasy Football league traded Steve Slaton away to get Cedric Benson. That was it. Benson for Slaton. I was outraged. “How could you be so dumb?” I asked again and again. Well, I think Slaton is a stud, and I’m sorry that Gary Kubiak has gone all Mike “Splinter” Shanahan on the poor kid, but even if Slaton wasn’t being benched for the elite services of Ryan Moats and Chris Brown, I think I would take back the whole, “How stupid can you be?” question. The question I’m asking now is, “How did you know? And what else do you see in that crystal ball?”

Fantasy Football Analysis: Ten For Tuesday

“Brett Favre looked like the much better quarterback all night long, but in the end his fantasy points were very similar to Aaron Rodgers’ totals. Ridiculous.” That’s what a buddy posted on my fantasy league’s message board after Monday Night’s game. So what, the people out there that want to believe great fantasy numbers make you the best player is confused. This is fantasy football, where team wins matter little, and garbage time is tacked on just the same. Rodgers put up 380+ yards, more than a 100 more than Brett. He gave up a couple turnovers, but those high numbers kept the fantasy night close. You can’t score points based on how good you looked, it’s all about numbers in this one….    Rashard Mendenhall looked like the beast I thought he would be since he decided to leave Illinois. Now he runs a little high, and that could subject him to some big hits, but he hits the hole hard, runs with power, and often spins or bounces off that first tackle. If he continues to get touches, he’s a nice find for those owners that either picked him up or kept him during his early woes. When he came out, I thought Mendenhall would be the best back in his class. That was saying a lot considering he came out with guys like McFadden, Jon Stewart, Chris Johnson, Felix Jones, Matt Forte, Kevin Smith, Ray Rice, Steve Slaton, Tashard Choice and others. I’m not positive he’ll pan out as the best of that stellar bunch, but I still like his future….    Speaking of last year’s draft, it has been nothing short of amazing. The amount of gamebreaking players that are tearing up the league right now as sophomores is amazing, even in the fantasy realm. I count 20 guys that have been fantasy relevant this year, just in the first 4 rounds – that’s not normal…..  The 49ers dominated the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, proving once again that their “need” for Michael Crabtree isn’t as pressing as the former Texas Tech star expected. Stories have surfaced that Crabtree and his agent are ready to get back to the bargaining table. It’s about damn time. I’ve now dropped the kid in both the leagues I’ve owned him in, and I’m keeping him on the waiver wire, but if you’re looking for a chance to take, he’s a deep shot in the dark….     Eli Manning has been worth every single dollar the Giants paid him this off-season, and yes, that took a lot for me to say. He’s going to have to really bite the dust hard if he wants to have the “normal Eli year” and I don’t think it’s going to happen. But things like his little heel problem throw, are part of the reason why I’ll never like this guy. He dropped back, landed weird on his foot, lost his balance, regained it, only to try and throw and fall down in the process like someone shot him in the foot. And what happened? Dude’s heel is bruised. Please……    I predicted a huge year from Ronnie Brown, and so far he’s looking pretty good to me. The guy is a beast, his vision is perfect, his all around game is impressive, and his team will be relying heavily on him to win ball games. He’s averaging just over 90 yards per game and a touchdown per. But this might be the height of his fantasy stock for a while. The guy is legit, but he goes up against the Jets (twice), and the Saints, in the next three games. It gets easier after that, but I’m just saying, get ready for some tough sledding ahead….    The Raiders offense sucks! 6 points against the Texans, come on….   Now the Saints running attack had a pretty solid outing against one of the best run defenses in football this Sunday, Pierre Thomas is the real deal; but it’s that stellar defensive transformation that continues to amaze me. The Saints really know how to bring pressure, often fooling teams into mishaps that leave open rushers despite rushing fewer people than offensive blockers. If you can get pressure on 6 blockers with 4 and 5 rushers, often going unblocked, you’re going to win a lot of football games….     Now this is the David Garrard I know and love. His accuracy, mistake free football, and efficiency has been great over the last two games. His 5-1 TD to INT ratio is consistent with his ability, and I think he’ll continue to put up solid numbers all season long. He got Torry Holt in the off-season, and that was huge, but seeing Mike Sims-Walker become a go-to guy will do wonders for this whole team. It’s just nice to finally see Garrard not running for his life every snap, his O-line is getting better every week….    I’d like to congratulate Denver for their awesome start to the season. I warned a lot of people that the Broncos weren’t as bad as everyone thought, but not even I thought they’d be this solid. Defensively they have gotten very tough, and Kyle Orton might be starting to figure out the talent he has on the outside (though he still hasn’t discovered Eddie Royal). Knowshon Moreno is going to be a special player, and it’s beginning to look like this McDaniels guy knows what he’s doing afterall, huh? I’ve liked him from the start, and his 4-0 beginning, the way he went and gave Marshall a hug after that game winning catch and run, and his overall passion and respect for the game is encouraging. Not only is his future bright, but I expect it to be long as well.