Tag Archives: Patriots

Five for Friday: Week 3

Posted on by

Here goes nothing…

  1. That whole thing about Calvin Johnson being a great receiver – yeah, it’s true. This kid is going to dominate yardage totals this season in the NFL. Brandon Marshall and his destructive ways are getting a lot of hype right now, and reasonably so, he caught about 20 balls in his first week of action. But this week Calvin Johnson goes up against the rickety 49ers defense and he’s going off. Nobody in the league can guard this beast of a receiver that has elite speed. Top 3 this year – and all of those guys that did risk it a little and reach for him – nice work.

  2. Steve Smith to pull a Brandon Marshall? It seems to perfect for Smith, right? Steve goes off against the Vikings in his past, and now, after punching his teammate in the face with a blind side shot, he comes back from a two game suspension and who does he see? Purple people eaters everywhere. I’ve been dying to get Smith in my lineup, and I have to believe that he’ll have a little something special for us in Week 3. Its not like they are running against the Vikes – that’s for sure.

  3. If you have a Bronco – start him. Okay, if you own Darrell Jackson, don’t start him, but the rest of these guys are fair game. That means Cutler, Royal, Young, Marshall, Scheffler, and maybe even Andre Hall. The Saints are a bad defense when healthy, and right now they look like the Seahawks receiving corps. Pretty soon they’ll be hiring ex-players that they kicked off their team years ago – aghem, Koren Robinson drop.

  4. Is it fair to say that I was wrong about Larry Johnson? I’m kind of interested as to why he isn’t getting touches for the pathetic Chiefs offense. I understand he had 10 carries for 22 yards last week, but really, who is a better option? And why would you take one of the best bruisers the league has and remove him from goal line packages? I’m beginning to think either LJ has lost his game (ala John Daily after the turn) or Herman Edwards and the Chiefs front office are just plain crazy. It’s hard not to start him if you got him, I mean he’s not really going up a defensive front that will scare you. Take one last chance on him, that’s my best advice.

  5. I’ve already used the Giants and Patriots (in reverse order) for my survival pool, and that’s why I’m going with the Bills this week. I know, they are the Bills, but this team has a little something. I’m trying to jinx myself here I guess, but I’ve never lost a survivor pool in my life. Mind that I’ve only played two seasons of no hit ball, but I am two for two. The Bills have a great match-up against a pretty soft Raiders group. That bodes well for them, especially in Buffalo. Both the Pats and Giants are solid options as well. What was my best survivor pick of all time you ask? (Or I want to tell you, either way) The Rams over the Saints last season. If you go back, you’ll see that the Rams were winless and playing a Saints team that had won a few in a row. The Rams win. I win. And even better, the two teams I beat picked the Saints. Nothing is better than winning a survivor pool taking a big underdog against the huge favorite your buddy just took.

Ten for Tuesday: Week 3

Posted on by

1. Eddie Royal is still for real. In the one league I didn’t draft Royal in, I just traded for him. Ha. After what Brandon Marshall did to the Chargers I have a feeling more coverage is headed his way. The fact that Royal got the game tying touchdown and the game winning two point conversion thrown his way is just an example of Splinter’s trust in his young ninja turtle – grab him if you can.

2. Darren McFadden is a stud – weird. For those of you that thought D-Mac was going to fall on his face and struggle in his first year running the ball in the NFL game – you are silly rabbits. Anyone can see that this kid has all the running ability and vision in the world. He’s a beast – let that be known.

3. Jonathan Stewart is going to be the man. Yes, DeAngelo Williams will get his carries, but I’m willing to bet that J-Stew finishes the years with more carries, more touchdowns, a better ypc average, and more catches out of the back-field. Both will be an option, which is why either one is a tough start, but if you have both and have to choose one, I’m going with the rookie.

4. Jay Cutler is a top 5 fantasy quarterback – and maybe even more efficient on the football field. Right now, mine go like this for the rest of the season – Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, Donavan McNabb, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner – yes, I may be going out on a bit of a limb here, but I like three ahead of Peyton and one just behind, and Warner might push Manning for his spot.

5. Randy Moss: Now is as good a time as ever to grab the tall receiver. He didn’t do dick last week, and people were already questioning his chances with Super Tom off the field for the season. Let me tell you this – Randy is still a top 5 receiver, and anybody that thinks otherwise doesn’t deserve to have him on their team. So go for the jugular and snipe him away for something way under value – like Santana Moss (if you can). I love me some Randy touchdowns.

6. Marion Barber is a beast. I wouldn’t be stunned if Barber puts up 20 touchdowns this year, hell, I expect that much. Barber is a beast and that Cowboy offense is sadistically good. Barber is a touchdown machine and nobody runs tougher. If you didn’t listen to my predictions and grab Barber early, you are probably too late, but if someone offers him to you, take it and run with it.

7. Unless it’s LT. That’s right, don’t trade LT. He’s still going to go off, probably as early as the Jets. New York has played decent against the run in their first two games, but that won’t last. If LT plays, and I expect he will, I’m predicting 150 yards and a couple touchdowns. After two down weeks in a row, and sounds of a toe injury, it might be a good time to try and plunder superman from his unsuspecting owner. Make it happen.

8. 150, 140, 3 scores: Kurt Warner knows who to throw the ball to apparently. Larry Fitz collected the most yardage from his 6 grabs, while Boldin finished just behind him with 140 yards – but those three scores helped fantasy owners win all over this week. Both receiving options are studs, and both will have brilliant seasons if they stay healthy. If you were smart enough to draft Boldin despite all the “trade me” talk and pre-season hysteria, then you are looking brilliant now. Doesn’t it feel good?

9. J.T. O’Sullivan to the rescue: And after week 1 everyone dropped this guy figuring “no way is he going to put up Mike Martz numbers,” c’mon guys – that’s why you never practice premature edropulation. O’Sullivan will be putting the ball up a lot this year, and many of his passes will be to a running back in Frank Gore that has all the ability to make a lot out of a little. Feel free to pick him up if he’s available. Against sloppy secondaries, which there are a lot of in the NFC, J.T. will be a solid option all year long – same for Bryant Johnson for that matter. After an injury plagued pre-season, Johnson looks like a big fast Martz #1 – can’t hate on that.

10: Maybe the Patriots aren’t that bad after-all. Check out last week’s stuff – this team is still legit, and Matt Cassell will only get better as the season goes on. Remember, this last week was his first start since high-school… Take that Matt Leinart!!!

theRUNDOWN Review: Week 1

Posted on by

Not a terrible week, but I didn’t kill it either. Per usual, I’m looking for 140+ points from this group of penguins every week – that’s a huge week, but I can pick anyone so while it’s a lofty goal, it’s not impossible. Total for this week……. 114, pretty close, really, just a couple misses (QB, TE, K) hurt me. Here’s the damage:

QB: Kurt Warner vs. San Francisco: Warner didn’t approach 500 yards this time, and he was the 18th rated fantasy quarterback in Week 1. That’s good for 13 points for the old man. He’ll be better I’m sure.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson vs. Carolina: LT didn’t score. I figured as much, because he had scored every other damn opening day – ha. Anyway, he still managed solid yardage totals, good for 13 fantasy points and he was the 16th rater runner this weekend.

RB: Marion Barber vs. Cleveland: Barber torched the Browns defensive line. He didn’t even play in the 4th quarter as he had a minor injury and the Boys didn’t need him anymore. He still as the 4th overall fantasy back and scored 25 points in Week 1. Not too shabby, 16 carries for 80 yards, 2 scores, and 3 catches for 21 yards as well. My man.

WR: Randy Moss vs. Kansas City: Randy was the 5th rated wide receiver in my ppr league, scoring 21 fantasy points. Even with Tommy out of the lineup, Randy can still do work with the best of them.

WR: Terrell Owens vs. Cleveland: Owens was 7th overall with 19 fantasy points. I can’t complain. I would have liked Dallas to throw it more, but the way they were running the ball, it makes sense to hand it off.

TE: Tony Scheffler vs. Oakland: Tony had a touchdown bounce off his chest, and he got tackled at the 5 yard line after a 72 yard catch and run. Those were his only points on the day, and on a big day for no-named tight ends, this wasn’t a great pick. Still, 8 points isn’t horrible for a TE.

K: Josh Brown vs. Philadelphia: 1 field goal. 3 points. I really can’t pick a good kicker to save my life.

D: Patriots vs. Kansas City: The Patriots ranked 8th overall with 14 fantasy points. Not a great day, but I should have expected KC to play it safe and limit mistakes. Still, 8th isn’t bad.

Papa’s Week 1 SLEEPERS

Matt Schaub: Matt had a tough time of it against a Steelers team that was out for blood. Still, late in the game he tossed a couple touchdowns and ended up the 15th rated passer, scoring 14 fantasy points. He’ll have better days. B-

Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers was super efficient. He tossed 22 balls and completed 18 of them. He also scrambled around a few times and added a rushing touchdown to his passing touchdown. 22 points, 5th overall for quarterbacks, yep – that’s what I was thinking. A

Chris Johnson: The NFL’s version of Usain Bolt killed it in Week 1. Getting half the carries he still put up 21 fantasy points, good for 8th overall. He caught passes, ran well, and scored a touchdown on 93 rushing yards. He’s going to be a good one. A

Maurice Morris: The Hawks were bad, but Morris was getting the carries before he went down with a knee injury that will sideline him for a few weeks. 6 carries for 31 yards is all he could muster. I’ll take a D, it would have been an F if he played the entire game and tallied these totals.

Matt Forte: 7th rated runner in Week 1- I told ya. A

Nate Burleson: Despite getting lost for the season because of a knee injury, Burleson had a nice game. He caught 5 balls for 60 yards and a touchdown. He was in the Top 10 amongst receivers. I’ll take that for a nice: A.

Roddy White: Roddy had 2 catches for 54 yards, and just 7 fantasy points for a receiver in a ppr isn’t good. But the Falcons didn’t have to throw ever if they didn’t want to. He’ll be a better option against better teams, believe it or not. C-

Robert Meachem: Meachem didn’t even play. He was inactive. I don’t know why New Orleans would do this to the kid, talk about crushing any pre-season momentum whatsoever. I’ll take my F, but crap, what a raw deal – for both of us.

Zach Miller: 34 yards for Miller – not the worst thing that could have happened, not like he was Todd Heap or anything (-1 point for that glass man). Still, I’ll take my C- here, it wasn’t good enough.

Bengals: This was surely a sleeper pick I won’t go back to. Still, the Bengals had a nice return score on a fumble and held the Ravens to just 17 points. They had a nice day, and if you started them you probably liked the points you got, but hated watching them play football. B+

LUCKY’S Week 1 Splinter-Butts (bench him, son)

Drew Brees: Brees killed it. 2nd to only McNabb amongst QBs with 29 points. Yeah, I was wrong, okay.

Ryan Grant and Adrian Peterson: Grant had 91 yards and Peterson had 103 and a touchdown. Neither had great days, but both were definitely solid. Still, like I said, if you have a nice #3 option, I would have used him.

Bernard Berrien: Berrien had 30 yards, 3 fantasy points, and the Packers corners owned him again. Still, now might be a good time to go get the speedy receiver, he’ll have better days.

Willie Parker: I couldn’t have missed this by a bigger margin. Parker had 3 touchdowns and was #2 amongst all running backs with 31 fantasy points. He also rushed for 138 yards I reckon.