theRUNDOWN: Week 7

For those of you new to theRUNDOWN this is what I do. I pick my best team of the week, some nice plays with a few reasons to back up my picks. After that I list a couple sleepers, either decent guys that I expect to have good weeks, or relatively unused guys I like to do well. Then, at the end I list a few usually solid guys that I would leave on the bench. This is my Week 7 group… 

QB: Jay Cutler vs. New England: The Broncos are used to beating the Patriots and Cutler has a nice arm. Eddie Royal will be back this week and I think Cutler takes advantage of the Pats weak secondary. It was a toss up between him, Manning and Aaron Rodgers, but I’m leaning on Jay this week. 

RB: Clinton Portis vs. Cleveland: The Browns were better last week, but Portis torches everyone these days, he doesn’t discriminate. I like him to have a nice day in a close Redskins win. 

RB: Marion Barber vs. Rams: Romo’s injury means a lot more carries for Barber. Marion will torch the Rams defense and I see a multiple touchdown day for him this week. 

FLEX: Greg Jennings vs. Colts: He’s one of my favorite receivers in the league to watch, and I think he’ll do some work against the Colts. He’s very physical and all Rodgers needs to do is put the ball somewhere he can get to it. 

WR: Brandon Marshall vs. New England: If the Patriots can’t stop Vincent Jackson they can’t stop Brandon Marshall (no offense to Jackson, I think he is a very good player). Marshall is my top receiver this week. 

WR: Andre Johnson vs. Detroit: Did you see Johnson big brothering the Dolphins last week? It was awesome. Need a lot of yards Schaub? Just throw it in the direction for Johnson he’ll beast anyone around and steal the ball away from them, pop it, and go home with their lunch money. I like a guy like that, especially against the lion cubs. 

TE: Jason Witten vs. St. Louis: Good secondary match-up and the TE is the easiest guy to get the ball to for a 2nd string quarterback. Either way, Romo or Johnson, I like Witten to get the rock 5-8 times on Sunday. 

K: Stephen Gostkowski vs. Denver: Versus Denver is my new kicker treat because I can’t seem to have any success at this position. I’ll just take versus Denver and do my darnedest. 

D: Tampa Bay Bucs vs. Seattle: The Bucs defense is a stout unit, no doubt about that. The Hawks are brutal and they throw a lot. There you have it, turnovers and a low score – that equals yhatzee. 

PAPA’S Week 1 SLEEPERS

Matt Cassel: Against the Broncos, you bet – the Patriots will have to get their points somewhere and I’m willing to bet that Cassel plays better this week. 

Jason Campbell: I think Jason throws two touchdowns this week against the Browns, but this game will have more than a couple scores going on. Good game to play Campbell. 

Earnest Graham: Still not getting enough touches to be a sure thing, I’m willing to bet that Graham sees 10-15 against the Hawks and that will be good for 60-90 yards and probably a score.

Darren McFadden: I like McFadden against the Jets. He’s a superb gamebreaker type back and he hasn’t really busted one for a while. I think he puts up about 80 yards and a score against New York this Sunday – but the Raiders lose big again. 

Vincent Jackson: Play him while he’s hot. All he needs is targets. He’s usually bigger and faster than anyone guarding him, and Rivers has been playing well enough to make sure Vincent gets the ball. I like him over some stars against this week. 

Lance Moore: I still like Moore for one more week. 

Devin Hester: Hester didn’t get into the zone last week, but he caught enough balls (6?) and went for 90+ yards so I think he’s a great option against the Vikings. Hester is very fast and the Vikings shut down the run and are open ended in the secondary. That should mean a nice day for Devin. 

Greg Olsen: Same with Hester I think Olsen is a nice mismatch for a mediocre Vikings secondary. 

Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys need to step up somewhere, and I think their elite talent on defense gets them attacking Bulger and causing turnovers. 

Papa’S Week 6 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Gus Frerotte: I don’t like Gus this week. He’ll turn the ball over and the Bears, in my mind, are winning this week easily.  

Willis McGahee: McGahee won’t do much – weird. Apparently Willis is off the injury report – but don’t let that excite you too much, the Ravens aren’t going to be smashing the Dolphins around this week. 

Adrian Peterson: You won’t sit him, and that’s fine, but he couldn’t really do much against the Lions or the Saints – now the Bears??? Maybe he just does what he does and goes off for 200 yards, that’s why you can’t sit him, but I predict another bad week for AP. 

Chad Johnson: So far Chad has just been the normal Chad without any big weeks. He usually goes off a couple times a season and gets some solid numbers on his side. That won’t happen this week with Fitzy throwing him the ball. 

theRUNDOWN: Week 6

For those of you new to theRUNDOWN this is what I do. I pick my best team of the week, some nice plays with a few reasons to back up my picks. After that I list a couple sleepers, either decent guys that I expect to have good weeks, or relatively unused guys I like to do well. Then, at the end I list a few usually solid guys that I would leave on the bench. Here’s Week 6’s action…

QB: Tony Romo vs. Arizona: Here’s the deal, teams haven’t been able to run against the Cardinals, so I see no reason that Romo won’t have a huge day. It should be a shootout, this game, or at least one that prompts a few pass attempts from the Dallas boys. I like Tony’s chances of 3-4 touchdown passes. Brett Favre against the Cardinals? Remember?

RB: Adrian Peterson vs. Detroit: Matt Forte didn’t kill the Lions defense like I thought he would, but I’ll give them a second shot. Certainly this beast of a man can give Detroit the old one-two punch, uppercut, jab, jab, home run, yhatzee, 200 yards and a couple touchdown dance.

RB: Matt Forte vs. Atlanta: I like Forte a lot, even in a bad week against the Lions, Forte still scored twice and put in work during a Bears route. I’m willing to bet he comes out and plays well against the Falcons.

FLEX: Ronnie Brown: I’ve always liked Ronnie, and while Houston hasn’t put up terrible rushing defense numbers, I just get the feeling that Miami is giving Ronnie 25-30 chances to make point scoring plays. The ball in his hands means good things, and against Houston he’s bound to break a couple.

WR: Greg Jennings vs. Seattle: The Hawks are lost, no doubt in my mind. Greg Jennings gets the ball a lot, and he is a beast when running after the catch. The Hawks are pretty trustworthy in that they allow big plays, you can trust them to do so. Lots of reasons to like Greg here.

WR: Terrell Owens vs. Arizona: See Tony Romo, above.

TE: Jason Witten vs. Cincinnati: See Tony Romo, above.

K: Josh Scobee vs. Denver: The Broncos defense allows lots of offense. They are coming off a week where they actually played alright, so that’s unlikely to carry over to this week’s game. This one is in Denver, so long kicks are even more likely. This one has to be a good one, despite my kicking hex.

D: New York Giants vs. Cleveland: The Giants are legit. I thought they’d struggle, I was wrong. Their defense gets the J.O.B done. I like them against and underwhelming Browns team.

PAPA’S Week 1 SLEEPERS

Jason Campbell: The Rams will pay all their attention to Portis, and respectably so. Unfortunately, that just means campbell will have to torture them. I think Jason is a nice play this week, he’ll finish in the Top 12.

David Garrard: Garrard hasn’t been the same accurate, problem free signal caller he was last year. But he’ll get back into the swing of things. He gets to throw it around on Denver’s secondary, so like I said, brighter days are soon to come.

Gus Frerotte: Still a nice option. 2nd week in a row.

Fred Taylor: I bet Fred scores his first touchdown and gets over 100 yards. He’s been a bad option thus far, sans one solid week, but Fred won’t be scoreless after Sunday’s tilt with Denver.

Willis McGahee: I like Willis’s chances to get his highest total of carries on the season, and while getting all those looks he’ll do his best work of the season as well. So far he’s been a terrible option, but he’ll pull it together against a Bob Sanders-less Colts defense.

Brandon Jackson: He’s a big chance, for sure, but the Packers might have to give him 14-16 carries right? With Grant struggling and Rodgers on the pine, I think Jackson is a big sleeper this week against the Falcons front 7.

Lance Moore: Against Oakland Moore might find more room to roam. Whew, tough one. No, but honestly, despite some alliteration excitement, Lance looks like a pretty solid play against the Raiders.

Steve Breaston: Boldin might be back, but Breaston has done enough to gain Warner’s confidence, and the former grocery bagger (Warner) has shown an affinity for getting the ball to 3rd wide receivers, so either way, he’ll be a decent option as a sleeper this week again.

Devin Hester: Hester has found the end-zone a couple times, and I still think he reaches the 10 or more scores I expect him to tally. Atlanta’s a good place to find one or two of those. As a waiver wire guy, you could have a nice bye week option here.

Greg Olsen: This young TE is a nice sleeper with Kyle Orton getting his wings recently – against Atlanta’s secondary he could be a nice waiver wire pick up with nice future upside.

Washington Redskins: Why? Because until the Rams prove they aren’t the worst team I’ve ever seen, it’s sleeper defense every week time.

Papa’S Week 6 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

J.T. O’Sullivan: Martz always has his quarterbacks throwing lots of touchdowns and turning the ball over just about as often. Against Philly it will be more turnover than TD, and that’s why I wouldn’t follow O’Sullivan to the well this week.

Edgerrin James: James had a touchdown last week against Buffalo, and has solid numbers on the season, but he won’t be doing much in terms of fantasy production against the Cowboys. Sit him.

Jamal Lewis: Back off his bye, I still don’t like Lewis as a start this week. Until New York allows some offensive action, I’m staying away from middle of the road fantasy runners against them. Just like Julius Jones last week, Jamal isn’t the best option in Week 6.

Steve Smith: I would start Steve Smith almost every single week, because you never know when he’s going to break one and take it 80 yards. However, this seems like a down week for Steve, and if you have the balls, and a decent back-up, I’d leave Steve on the bench.

2007 Fantasy Football theRUNDOWN Week 15

This Week’s Top Team: The search for 140…. I was sooo close last week, and AP pulled a 0… Lets see if I can’t get it done.

QB: Kurt Warner vs. New Orleans: How about the idea that the Saints would be the worst rated defense in the league if they didn’t play 6 games against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Carolina – you bet. The saints give up points like they’re free, and Kurt will dominate the world on Sunday.

RB: Joseph Addai vs. Oakland: Oakland’s offensive line is terrible and you can bet Addai will get the rock plenty with Indy being careful for the playoffs. I don’t know how many looks he’ll get in the 2nd half, as I imagine this game won’t be too close for too long, but I’d imagine 3 quarters of work will be just what I was looking for in terms of fantasy production.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson vs. Detroit: I have to ride LT’s hot streak out. He’s the best player in the league, and he’s trying to get his team going into the playoffs. This is a closer for them, and Detroit hasn’t been stellar at stopping anyone lately.

WR: Terrell Owens vs. Philadelphia: I know the Eagles will be hell bent on doing up TO after Owens torched them for a billion yards last time these two met up, but I just don’t think you can stop TO when he’s focused, and with all the Keyshawn talk, the Bill Parcells chatter, and the fact that he’s playing Philly this week – huge stuff, son.

WR: Greg Jennings vs. St. Louis: Jennings is in a tough situation with a platoon, Brett throw to everyone, scheme – but I like his chances against a mediocre Rams secondary in a game that the Packers really want to win. Jennings is tough, and knows how to make touchdowns happen.

TE: Antonio Gates vs. Tennessee: I have to love Gates against he Lions, even with Phillip powder-puffing him the ball. He’s always open this guy, even with a strained groin.

K: Phil Dawson vs. Buffalo: He’ll have a bad day, because I picked him, but the question is, can I jinx the Browns into a home loss to the Bills?

D: Vikings vs. Chicago: The Bears have gotten worse and worse against the run, and they play the best rushing team in the NFL this Monday Night. Chicago just lost two more defensive lineman to the IR, but their offense is even more questionable. They can’t really run, and now Kyle Orton is under center – the 3rd option in Chicago for God’s sake. What does that tell you?

LUCKY’S Week 15 SLEEPERS

Trent Edwards: Trent is accurate, the Browns secondary is wide open – this should be a second great fantasy week in a row for the young Buffalo Bill.

Kenton Keith: This pick is expecting that the Colts tear down the Raiders pretty easily. If that is the case, Keith will get 12-18 carries, and that means big yardage against a very bad Raiders defensive front.

Frank Gore: Against the Bengals, I think Gore will get over the 100 yard plateau. He’s a very good back, he’s tough, and the Bengals don’t tackle well. Tough start for the young 49er, but he’ll be solid in this one.

Shaunna Alexander: I hate to do it, but I’m actually expecting a decent day out of the former touchdown machine. 80 yards and a touchdown, is that asking too much? We’ll see.

Lee Evans: I’ve always thought the world of this kid, the Bills will have to put the ball in the end zone to stick with the Browns, and Cleveland’s secondary plays like they’re in the pro-bowl every week – I like this match-up.

Roddy White: If someone’s collecting catches, yards, and touchdowns in a blowout of the Falcons, it will be White. If someone is responsible for getting the Falcons a win, it will be this talented receiver. Good sleeper this week.

Tony Scheffler: I just really like this kid in Denver – he could have a big game against the Texans on Thursday.

Anthony Gonzalez: I’m sure the Colt is a popular pick this week after having a big day last week – but the key is, even when Peyton and the rest of the big names go out, Gonzo will still get his work. I like that, and I think he’ll have another nice day.

Buccaneers: The Falcons put up big points last week against New Orleans, but the Saints are terrible defensively. This disciplined Buc secondary will give the Falcons problems.

LUCKY’S Week 15 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Eli Manning: He’s still bad.

Samkon Gado: He may be starting for the Dolphins, but the Ravens are going to eat him alive.

Laveranues Coles: Not this week, not against this motivated Patriots team.

Todd Heap: He’s going to play! I don’t buy that for a minute. Maybe for 1 quarter until he gets hurt. I wouldn’t start him with my playoff life on the line.